The Second Missionary Journey
Text: Acts 16:11-15 KJV 11 Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with
a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis; 12 And
from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia,
and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days. 13 And on the
sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to
be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted
thither. 14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the
city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord
opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. 15
And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying,
If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and
abide there. And she constrained us.
Introduction
Previously, we saw Paul and company arrive in Troas. Troas was a major Aegean Sea port about ten miles south of the ancient city of Troy. Paul had intended to into the province of Bithynia, which was in the Roman province of Asia, but the Holy Spirit would not allow that to take place. It was there that Paul determined that the Holy Spirit wanted them to go into Macedonia.
Macedonia was not a city but rather a region; we would probably compare it to one of our states. In Paul’s time, the area that we know as Greece was actually divided into two different provinces. The northern province was Macedonia while the southern portion was Achaia.
Paul has a dream -- or vision -- or whatever. In it, a Macedonian begs him to come to Macedonia and help them.
Macedon, of course, had once been the realm of Philip II of
Macedon (382-336 BC), father of Alexander the Great (356-
323 BC). But control passed in 168 BC from the Greek 96
Seleucid Empire to the Romans. Macedonia was established
as a Roman province in 146 BC, incorporating the ancient
lands of Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaly, and parts of Illyria, Paeonia, and Thrace.
Paul, who has had years of experience following the Lord's
direction, draws the conclusion from his vision that this is indeed a call from God. They sail for Macedonia and have
powerful ministries in the Macedonian cities of Philippi, Thessalonica,
and
Berea.
http://www.jesuswalk.com/paul/05_macedonia.htm
Luke the Beloved Physician
It's easy to miss unless you're looking for it, but in verse 10, the person changes from the third person ("they") to the first person ("we"). Tracing the use of "we" throughout Acts we find that, Luke, the author of Acts, seems to join the apostolic team at Troas and travels with them to Philippi, where he seems to stay. Then he rejoins the apostles at Philippi to take a gift to the church at Jerusalem. Some years later he joins Paul, who is now a prisoner, on his voyage --
by
way
of
shipwreck
--
to
Rome.
http://www.jesuswalk.com/paul/05_macedonia.htm
We see that Luke has now joined Paul’s company at Troas. From this point on, Luke is writing from a personal eyewitness viewpoint.
The Route to Philippi
When their ship left Troas, the first port of call was in Samothracia.
Samothracia is a high mountain island that is located north of Lemnos that lay off the coast of Thrace. It was located about halfway between Troas and Neapolis. [The distance between Troas and Neapolis was approximately 100 miles, traveling all by the Aegean Sea.] It appears that the Company spent the night in Samothracia. At the next day’s morning, they set sail to Neapolis. Neapolis was a seaport on the northeastern coast of the Aegean 97
THE CHIEF
Sea. It is now known as Kavalla [some would spell it without the second
“l”] with some 25,000 inhabitants. When they arrived in Neapolis, they were in what we know as Europe. [Neapolis actually means “new city”]
From Neapolis they journeyed inland for approximately twenty miles.
[Some say that it was only 10 or 12 miles. At this point in time, it is impossible to tell which is the true figure.] Regardless, their destination was the city of Philippi.
Neapolis was the regular landing place for those who desired
to travel by the Egnatian Way, the great Roman Military highway stretching some 490 miles across Macedonia,
linking the Adriatic with the Aegean Sea. Padfield, David, Philippi Greece; www.padfield.com, p 2
Photograph by Janet Oakes, https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/tools/image-gallery/p/philippi-via-egnatia
Philippi
Philippi was an ancient town which had been renamed by Philip of Macedon c. 360 BC. It was the site of the defeat of 98
Julius Caesar’s murderers, Brutus and Cassius, by Antony
ad Octavian (the later Emperor Augustus) in 42 BC. The town then became a Roman colony, i.e. a settlement for veteran Roman soldiers who possessed the rights of self-government under Roman Laws and freedom from taxes.
Further veterans were settled there after the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at Actium in 1 BC. According to RSV it was
the leading city of the district of Macedonia, which s it stands is a meaningless phrase. Macedonia was unusual as a Roman
province in being divided into four subprovinces, of which
Philippi belonged to the first, although its capital city was Amphipolis. The Greek text is confused, the manuscripts offering several different versions of a phrase that had evidently been garbled at an early stage, but the rendering in GNB and TNT, ‘a city of the first district of Macedonia’, probably represents the intended sense. Luke’s description betrays local knowledge and is intended to prepare the way
for the account of Paul’s first encounter with a Roman situation and the Roman local administration. (Howard
Marshall, Acts: An Introduction and Commentary) Padfield, David, Philippi Greece; www.padfield.com, p 3
Philippi was the site of one of the most significant military engagements in Roman history. In a series of battles there in 42 B.C.E., Mark Antony and Octavian (later endowed with
the title ‘Augustus’) conquered the republican forces of the
assassins of Julius Caesar, Cassius, and Brutus. In some ways this battle marked the turning point between the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. The poet Horace
fought in this battle, on the side of Cassius and Brutus, though he reports that he threw away his shield and ran for
his life when his defeated leader Brutus killed himself. Little more than a decade later, when Augustus defeated Antony,
his sole remaining competitor for Roman rule, at the battle
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of Actium (31 B.C.E.), Augustus turned Philippi into a Roman colony which he named Colonia Julia Augusta
Victrix Philippensis. Here he planted veterans of the civil wars and the supporters of Mark Antony whose lands he took
over and whom he dismissed from Italy. Special privileges
were allowed to these Roman colonists, such as exemption
from taxes and the right to own and market property.
( Eerdman’s Dictionary of the Bible) Padfield, David, Philippi Greece; www.padfield.com, p 3
There were in fact so few Jews in Philippi that there was no
synagogue (ten married men were required to establish one),
so the Jews who were there met for prayer along the banks
of the Gangites River. It was customary for such places of
prayer to be located outdoors near running water. (John H.
Walton, Archaeological Study Bible) Padfield, David, Philippi Greece; www.padfield.com, p 4
Paul and Silas in Philippi
Paul and his company spent several days in the city. The Scriptures give us no hint as to what they might have been doing on those days. On the Sabbath Day, they went out to the riverside of Gangites River and met with the women that were there for prayer. There seems to be no men present with the exception with Paul and his companions. Albert Garner writes, “It is altogether possible that some of these who were coming together for prayer had been saved on Pentecost and returned to carry on a simple mission fellowship before Paul's arrival.”1
It seems that a woman named Lydia, from Thyatira, a seller of purple-dyed fabrics and garments, was present with the women. “Paul preached, Lydia gave heed, but the Lord opened her heart (her understanding and affections) by His word, and convicting spirit.”2 It is apparent from verse fifteen that not only she was saved, but also her entire household. She was then baptized
[we are not given any evidence as to whom actually carried out the baptizing] along with her household.
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Lydia insisted that Paul and his companions reside in her house while they were in Philippi. Thus was the first converts in the city of Philippi.
Philippi was to become the place where one of the first churches in Europe was established. It would not be without its problems. There would arise some persecution before they would be finished in the city.
1 Albert Garner, Power BibleCD, his comments on Acts 16:11-15
2 IBID
Conclusion
We will see how in the next chapter these problems came about while Paul and company were serving the Lord there.
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