Paul and Silas arrived in Derbe, which was the place where he had great success, Acts 14:20-21, and Lystra, is the place where a crowd tried to worship Paul and Barnabas as pagan gods on the first missionary journey, and where the apostle Paul was stoned almost to death, Acts 14:8-20.
That alone might have discouraged some men from returning. However, Luke told Theophilus that Paul and Barnabas went back through the city as they were strengthening the churches at the end of their missionary tour.
Paul returned with Silas and discovered a young convert with great potential. His name is Timothy, whose mother was Eunice; he was a Jewish convert with a Greek father but more importantly, he was highly recommended by the brethren, Acts 16:1 / 1 Corinthians 4:17.
Sometimes in the Scriptures, we come across an event that appears, on the surface, to be confusing, misleading or contrary to other Scriptures. One such event is recorded in here, when the apostle Paul took his young friend Timothy and had him circumcised, Acts 16:3.
Paul knew the old covenant was nailed to the cross, Colossians 2:13-15, and he was very much aware that there’s no need for anyone to be circumcised anymore, 1 Corinthians 7:19 / Galatians 5:2 / Galatians 5:6, but why would Paul have Timothy circumcised? Acts 15:2 / Acts 15:12.
We also know on another occasion, Paul refused to let Titus be circumcised, Galatians 2:3-5. Why was that? Was he hypocritical in his dealings with Timothy and Titus? Before we answer these questions, let’s go ahead and look at the context of both these events.
On the surface, it appears as though Paul had Timothy circumcised because of peer pressure from the Jews but notice that these same Jews knew that Timothy’s father was Greek, Acts 16:3.
They concluded that because his father was a Greek, not a Jew, Acts 15:2 / Acts 15:12. Timothy wouldn’t be circumcised, and just like his father, wouldn’t be practising Judaism.
Of course, they may have come to the wrong conclusion about Timothy being circumcised because many people from other cultures became Jews throughout history, Joshua 5:6-7.
On this occasion, their conclusions were correct concerning Timothy, and so, in accordance with the Law of Moses, Timothy was circumcised because he had the legal right to do so.
It’s important to remember that Paul is dealing with legalism and false teachers throughout the Book of Galatians, Galatians 2:3-5. These people were insisting that Jesus didn’t do enough for people to be saved, and so, they were teaching that everyone needed to be circumcised too, Acts 15:1.
Notice that it says the reason Titus wasn’t circumcised was that it would have ‘made them slaves’ and ‘the truth of the Gospel might be preserved,’ Galatians 2:4-5.
In other words, if Paul had given in to Titus being circumcised, to please these false believers, then that would have nullified the Gospel; it would have discredited everything Jesus had taught and done.
It would have undone everything which had been taught about being right with God by faith and enforced on others the idea of being right with God is through law-keeping, i.e. circumcision.
When we look at Timothy and Titus, we can see that they are both completely different characters. The first difference is that Titus had parents who were both Greek, Galatians 2:3, while Timothy had a Jewish mother, Jewish grandmother, 2 Timothy 1:5, but a Greek father, Acts 16:3.
Titus doesn’t appear to have had any Jewish upbringing, whilst Paul tells us that Timothy had been raised by being taught the Old Testament Scriptures from childhood, 2 Timothy 3:15.
This implies that his Jewish mother, Eunice and his Jewish grandmother, Lois, brought him up as a Jew. Although we don’t know, it’s highly possible that Timothy’s Greek father was happy for him to be raised as a Jew but refused to allow him to be circumcised.
Imagine having parents, one is a believer, and the other isn’t, the father is happy for their son or daughter to go and worship God and study His Word with their mother and other Christians. However, he won’t allow their son or daughter to be baptised to become a true Christian.
When we look at the events surrounding Timothy being circumcised and Titus not being circumcised, we can see that they are both completely different circumstances.
For example, in Galatians, Paul was dealing with those false believers, those so-called Christians, who were insisting that all Christians must also be circumcised. The genuine Christians in Galatia were being pressured into being circumcised by these legalistic Christians in order to be accepted.
But notice in the Acts event, that ‘the believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him’, that is Timothy, Acts 16:2. In other words, there were no Christians, no legalistic Christians putting any pressure on Timothy to be circumcised, as Titus had.
Many people believe that Paul was being a hypocrite in the way he dealt with Timothy and Titus concerning their circumcision, but we must take into account that these are two different characters in two different circumstances.
Paul refused to allow Titus to be circumcised in Jerusalem, Galatians 2:1, because that action would have nullified the whole Gospel, but he had Timothy circumcised simply because he was going to be travelling with Paul and it would make his ‘outreach’ efforts to the Jews much easier, Acts 16:3.
Timothy would still be a Christian, but he would be accepted in Jewish society, therefore this would make his ‘outreach’ efforts easier in the long term.
A question that comes up from time to time is, how would anyone know if Timothy or Titus were circumcised in the first place? In Bible times sharing the bathing facilities and toilet facilities was common practice, so it would be very easy for someone to notice if a person was circumcised or not.
I guess that Paul, Timothy and Titus could have bluffed their way through meetings with the Jews, but this would imply lying. The reality is that people would simply ask, kind of like what people do today when they are asked if they are a Christian.
When we look at all the evidence, it’s clear that Titus’ case was all about defending the freedom Christians find in Christ, whilst in Timothy’s case, it was all about utilising that same freedom to win more souls for Christ.
It was freedom that led Paul not to allow Titus to be circumcised, and it was freedom that led Paul to allow Timothy to be circumcised, 1 Corinthians 9:20 / 1 Corinthians 10:23-24.
Paul left with Timothy and Silas to carry the message from the meeting at Jerusalem to all the churches with which the apostle had previously worked, Acts 16:4 / Acts 15:30.
In this way, he prepared them to fend off the potential attacks of the Judaizers. Paul avoided another possibility of division, Acts 15:1, and the churches were strengthened in the faith and continued to grow in number, Acts 16:5.
Just west of the cities in south Galatia was the Roman province of Asia, and Luke says Paul was forbidden by the Holy Spirit to enter that region to teach, Acts 16:6. This might have been done directly or through the agency of a prophet inspired by the Spirit, Acts 20:23 / Acts 21:10-11.
How it happened is not important, but one thing we do know is that it wasn’t a part of God’s plan at this point. Because, as we will see later in Acts 19, Paul did get his opportunity to preach in Asia and the church grew there, Acts 20:13-37, as is evidenced by the Lord’s letters, Revelation 2-3.
In the meantime, Paul and those with him continued to work their way along until they came to Mysia, which was at the northern border between Asia and Bithynia, 1 Peter 1:1. They would have gone into Bithynia, but again, the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t let them go, Acts 16:7 / Romans 8:9.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The Spirit of Jesus is here recognised as exactly the same as the Spirit of God, indicating forcefully that the full deity and godhead of Jesus Christ was fully accepted and received by the Christians at that mid-point of the first century.’
They turned westward to Troas, Acts 20:5, and it was during this time that Paul received a vision, Acts 16:8.
They may not have understood why the Lord wouldn’t allow them to go to Asia. They may not have even understood why the Lord wouldn’t allow them to go to Bithynia.
But Paul and his company determined, after a vision the apostle had in the night, that the Lord wanted them to preach in Macedonia, Acts 16:9-10. Luke has already recorded other people who experienced visions, Acts 9:10 / Acts 10:3 / Acts 10:17 / Acts 10:19 / Acts 11:5 / Acts 12:9 / Acts 13:4.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following concerning Macedonia.
‘The Macedonians were a distinct national group, though they had strong ties to the Greeks. They had offered the most stubborn resistance against Rome’s efforts to extend its influence. In an attempt to break down their strong nationalistic spirit of independence, Rome divided Macedonian territory into four districts, each of which had its own local government under Rome. We see this stubborn character in the Macedonians’ reaction to Paul’s preaching. Nevertheless, once won over, the Macedonian converts became just as loyal to Paul as they had been hostile to him at first.’
Hughes, in his commentary, says the following concerning their trip by boat, Acts 16:11.
‘That they ‘sailed straight for Samothrace’ is quite revealing, because this is a nautical expression that means the wind was at their backs. So perfect were the winds that they sailed 156 miles in just two days, whereas returning the other way at a later time, Acts 20:6, it took five days.’
Note the word ‘we’, Acts 16:11, indicating that Luke himself is with them. We have this from Acts 20:5, to Acts 21:18 and Acts 27:1, to Acts 28:16. So, they immediately made arrangements and set sail from Troas to Samothrace, then Neapolis and, finally, Philippi, which was a Roman colony and which Luke described as ‘the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony’, Acts 16:11-12.
Hughes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Philippi was “the place where the armies of Mark Antony and Octavian defeated Brutus and Cassius in the decisive battle of the second Roman civil war in 42 B.C.’
It’s in Philippi that we’re introduced to a woman named Lydia.
It was customary to take ten Jewish heads of households and form a synagogue within a community. But here in Philippi, there was no synagogue; there was just a group of Jewish women who met by the riverside for prayer, Acts 16:13 / Psalms 137:1 / Ezra 8:15 / Ezra 8:21.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Claudius had banished the Jews from Rome and therefore from the colonies, Acts 18:2, and it may be that Philippi had obeyed this order.’ The river in this case was the Gangites.’
Paul’s company joined the women on the Sabbath day and spoke to them, and one of the women, whose name is Lydia, was a seller of purple and a worshiper of God, Acts 16:14 / Acts 13:43 / Acts 18:7.
The purple she sold was an expensive purple dye, made of the murex shell, and it was one of the most valuable commodities of antiquity. Lydia’s engaging in the trade of such a product surely indicates some considerable capital.
Did you notice where Lydia’s home city is? Lydia’s home city was Thyatira, Acts 16:14. We might wonder what’s so significant about that? Well, Thyatira is in the province of Asia. And so, even though Paul had been forbidden by the Lord to go to Asia personally, Acts 16:6, he actually got to teach one of its citizens.
Thyatira is also one of the seven churches in Asia minor who Jesus wrote to, Revelation 2:18. Some believe it was Lydia, who found Christianity clashing with her business.
She wanted the church to compromise and attend some heathen festivals, hence why Jesus writes to this church in Revelation, but there is no evidence of this.
Thyatira was a town long recognised as a garrison town, and it was the gateway to the important areas of Asia Minor. It had no real religious significance, but it was a town of trade unions of every kind, and we know that Acts 16:14 tells us that Lydia, the seller of purple garments, lived there.
Metal work flourished there, especially working with bronze. We know nothing about how church was established, but it is possible, like some of the other churches, that Paul or some of his students according to Acts 19:10 may have established the church there. It may also be possible that Lydia went back home to establish the church.
The town of Thyatira lay in the mouth of a long valley, which connected the valleys of Hermus and the Caicus River. Today, there is still a railway that runs down the valley. And because of the great roads of the trade routes from Syria to Pergamum, it would have had some sort of strategic importance.
There must have been some sort of settlement there because in 290 BC its name emerged in history, and it was discovered as a military centre. If Thyatira fell, Pergamum lay open to attack. There was no hill to erect a lookout point, and this resulted in a town being fated to fight, be knocked down and built up again.
It was a great commercial centre because of its road and the valley brought trade from all over the world, and it was most famous for its wool trade and the dyeing industry.
Purple dye was very expensive, and it came from a little shellfish called a Murex. The dye was extracted from the throat. The Roman writer Pliny said that 1lb of purple dye cost around £100, and so Lydia must have been a wealthy woman, dealing in one of the costliest substances of the ancient world, Acts 16:14.
Thyatira was the centre for temples of Artemis and Apollo, but they were not especially famous. It’s interesting that though this was the smallest of the churches addressed in the book of Revelation, it’s the longest letter written, Revelation 2:18-29.
Notice the Lord opened her heart to respond to the message, Acts 16:14. God can only open the hearts of those who are willing to open their hearts, John 6:44 / Romans 10:17 / 2 Corinthians 4:4.
Luke doesn’t go into the details of Paul’s message to Lydia but common sense tells us it must have been the central message of the Gospel, Acts 16:15 / Matthew 28:19-20 / Mark 16:15-16 / 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.
Paul shared with Lydia the story about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and Lydia and other members of her household obeyed the spoken word by being baptised, Acts 16:15 / Acts 8:36.
Paul must have explained the importance of baptism in terms of being united with Christ, Romans 6:3-5. Paul tells the Galatian Christians that they were all children of God by faith, Galatians 3:26-28. How did that happen?
It happened because when they were baptised into Christ, they entered by faith into Christ and clothed themselves with Christ so that there was no longer anything to divide them.
In other words, when Paul was preaching to Lydia, he explained the whole story about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, and he explained what she needed to do to be right with God.
Lydia understood how the old covenant worked in relation to sin, but now she had her heart opened to the new covenant, Jeremiah 31:33, and she understood that to enter this new covenant with Christ, she needed to be baptised into Christ for the forgiveness of her sins, Matthew 28:19-20 / Mark 16:15-16 / Acts 2:38.
DeWelt, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The New Testament conversions all end with the baptism of the convert. Not with their prayer experience but with their baptism; not with their testimony, but with their baptism.’
After Lydia and her household were added to the Lord’s church, Acts 2:47, she then pleaded with Paul and the others to stay as guests in her house, Acts 16:15 / Romans 12:13 / 1 Peter 4:9.
Paul may have hesitated because she was a single woman, which appears to be indicated by the reference to her house, Acts 16:15. However, when she prefaced her request by saying, ‘if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord’, Paul yielded. And so, here we have the first European converts to Christ.
Lydia didn’t wake up one morning and think to herself, I’ll go down to the river and pray, and I’ll become a Christian. No! God sent Paul to share the message with her.
She heard the message of Christ through Paul and God opened her heart to respond to the message, Romans 10:17. What Luke records next is just that very thing, but the reaction to the healing is interesting to say the least.
Luke reported that the group went for prayer, possibly daily and this demon-possessed slave girl who alleged could predict the future, followed them crying out, ‘these men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation,’ Acts 16:16-17 / Mark 1:24 / Mark 3:11 / Mark 5:7 / Luke 4:34 / Luke 8:28.
Boice, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It actually says, ‘She had a spirit of Pythona.’ That does not mean much to most of us, which is why it is not translated literally. But ‘pythona’ was a certain kind of snake, a python. It is used here because the Python was associated with the god Apollo, not far from Philippi, in this very area of Europe, there was a shrine to the Pythian Apollo.’
Let me share a few thoughts about so-called modern-day psychics and fortune-tellers, etc. I have often wondered how many of the speculative predictions that fit in the realm of the fantastic but have failed are ever revisited.
I am persuaded that the reason psychics, astrologers, fortune tellers, and such, like are an abomination to the Lord is because they encourage people to place their confidence in someone or something other than God and His will for their lives.
The only place we should be looking for guidance is in the Scriptures, Psalm 119:105, and there’s no place on earth or in heaven that God cannot guide us, Psalm 139:7-10. God has blessed us with two compasses to help guide us; He has blessed us with a conscience and the Bible.
But our conscience is affected by our surroundings and by the way we have been taught or trained. The conscience has a history of giving inaccurate readings, Proverbs 14:12 / Proverbs 16:25. God has also blessed us with His Word, the Bible, and it is given to us as the more reliable compass to guide us when those big decisions of life are to be made.
Back in the Old Testament before God’s people entered the Promised Land, God warned His people to stay away from people who are involved in any form of fortune-telling and He told them not to get involved with that kind of sinful acts, Deuteronomy 18:10-12 / Leviticus 20:27.
Make no mistake about it, people who practice these things or people who place their trust in these things will not enter the kingdom of heaven, Galatians 5:19-21 / Revelation 21:8.
Normally, we would think that anyone who proclaimed that these men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved, Acts 16:17, day after day, Acts 17:18, would be very helpful in furthering the Gospel, but Paul clearly did not think so. After all, the people believed this girl could foretell the future, and her masters made a considerable profit in the process, Acts 16:16 / Acts 16:19.
But to accept the recommendation of demons would have been to lend credence to anything else the demon might have made her say, even lies, Matthew 8:28-34 / Mark 3:11-12. And so, Paul cast out the demon by the authority of Jesus, Acts 16:18 / Matthew 17:21.
Look at the reaction of her masters, after Paul had healed her, they only saw one thing, they saw their income going right out the window, Acts 16:19 / Acts 19:24-27.
McGarvey and others have pointed out a somewhat humorous pun in Luke’s Greek at this place. He said, ‘that when the evil spirit WENT OUT, the masters saw that the hope of their gain WENT OUT.’
I often wonder if this young slave girl ever became a Christian. They grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities in the marketplace, Acts 16:19.
They took them to the magistrates and accused them of being Jews, throwing their city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice, Acts 16:20-21.
Tannehill, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The accusation against Paul and Silas in Acts 16:20-21 is one of a series. In Acts 16-19 we find four scenes that feature accusations against Christians, and these accusations are parts of similar sequences of events. The sequence contains three basic elements: 1. Christians are forcefully brought before officials or a public assembly. 2. They are accused, and this accusation is highlighted by direct quotation. 3. We are told the result of this attempt to curb the Christian mission.’
Once again, we see the mob rule and the magistrates had Paul and Silas beaten, 2 Corinthians 11:23 / 2 Corinthians 11:25, cast into the inner prison and their feet placed in stocks, Acts 16:22-24.
Bruce, in his commentary, says the following.
‘These stocks had more than two holes for legs, which could thus be forced apart in a such a way as to cause the utmost discomfort and cramping pain.’
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Acts records only two instances in which Gentiles threatened or harmed Paul, Acts 19:23-41. In both cases people were losing money in vested interests, and in both cases a Roman official vindicated Paul.’
We would think her masters would be grateful that this girl was now demon-free and healed, but if our values are in the wrong place and all we see is an income and not a human life, then we won’t place much value on human life.
Paul and Silas are in prison for doing good, but what they are doing is just amazing, they are rejoicing. Luke tells us that at midnight, while the other prisoners listened to Paul and Silas singing and praying, Psalms 42:8, and a great supernatural earthquake shook open all the prison doors and released all those bound in stocks, Acts 16:25-26 / Acts 5:18-20 / Acts 12:3-11.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘In some circumstances it is impossible to draw a line between the natural and the supernatural; but the conduct of the mistreated apostles in that jail was such that, when the earthquake came (from whatever cause), every listener who had heard them praying and singing would at once have concluded that God had thus answered their petitions; and we do not hesitate to draw the same conclusion. The circumstance of every door being opened and all stocks being released encourages the deduction that God here acted on behalf of his servants.’
Believing his prisoners had escaped, the Jailor prepared to kill himself rather than face the torturous Roman judgment. But Paul stopped him by crying out that they were all there and he should not harm himself, Acts 16:27-28.
Longenecker, in his commentary, says the following.
‘In Roman law a guard who allowed his prisoner to escape was liable to the same penalty the prisoner would have suffered (Code of Justinian 9.4.4).’
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Not many suicides are mentioned in the Bible. There are those of Samson, Judges 16:29-30, Saul and his armor-bearer, 1 Samuel 31:4-5 / 1 Chronicles 10:4-5, Ahithophel, 2 Samuel 17:23, Zimri, 1 Kings 16:18, and Judas Iscariot, Acts 1:18. In pagan lands, however, suicide was an accepted manner of solving a problem, as in the case before us.’
The jailor saw no reason to carry on living, but Paul is about to give him one good reason: Jesus. The jailor called for lights, leapt into the prison in trembling fear, fell before Paul and Silas, brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ Acts 16:29-30 / Acts 2:37 / Acts 16:30 / Acts 22:10.
The inspired response was the same as any other conversion we find in the Book of Acts. The questions were similar, but the response was always the same. It was the same in the beginning when Peter preached to the Jewish brethren on Pentecost, Acts 2:37-39. It was the same on the Damascus road for the apostle Paul, Acts 22:10.
The jailor was told, ‘believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household,’ Acts 16:31. And so Paul and Silas spoke the Word of the Lord to him so that faith could be produced, Acts 16:32 / Romans 10:17.
At the same hour of the night, he washed their stripes, Acts 16:33, which is clear evidence of repentance, Acts 2:38 / 2 Corinthians 7:10. It’s possible that some of the wounds were caused by the guard in the first place.
Immediately afterwards, he and all the members of his household were baptised, Acts 16:33, just like Peter’s audience did, Acts 2:38, and just like the apostle, Paul himself did, Acts 9:18.
Luke tells us then, and only then, ‘he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household’, Acts 16:34. The jailor and his household weren’t saved just because they believed. They had to do something with that belief, they needed to express that belief in action.
Their action was to follow the commands which Paul and Silas gave them, and that was to be baptised into Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. The rejoicing didn’t begin until after they had been baptised into Christ. Why?
Because that was the point in time when their sins were washed away, and they received the gift of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:38, and they entered into a new relationship with Christ Himself, Matthew 28:19-20 / Romans 6:1-4. And so the church which meets at Philippi is beginning to grow, thanks to God adding to their number.
Luke tells us that the next morning, the magistrates were sent to the prison to quietly release Paul and Silas, but the apostle refused to go quietly, Acts 16:35-37. Why? One possibility is that Paul wanted the authorities to realize even Roman citizens had believed in Jesus.
Remember that a Roman could not be beaten and imprisoned without due process of law, Acts 16:37, and so it is possible that Paul had tried to stop the previous day’s actions by appealing to his citizenship but he had been ignored, Acts 16:38 / Acts 22:22-23:11. And now, he would only leave the jail if the magistrates personally escorted him, Acts 16:39 / Acts 16:37.
Instead of being run out of town, they were asked to leave but before they went, they, probably including Luke, returned to Lydia’s house and encouraged the brethren there first before they bid them farewell, Acts 16:40.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘There is something astounding about this. Those men who had been so shamefully treated, abused, beaten, illegally cast into prison, suffering the torture of stocks in the inner dungeon, those men comforted the brethren! How noble, unselfish and beautiful is that scene in which men whose backs were still raw and bloody from the scourge are cast in the role of comforters for young Christians whose distress at such events, while real enough, was nevertheless mental rather than physical. This is one of the grandest statements in Scripture.’