Acts Chapter 16

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

1 He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. 2 The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

1. Why would Paul have Timothy circumcised?

The real difficulty of the case is made apparent by putting into juxtaposition two of Paul’s statements, and two of his deeds. He says to the Corinthians, “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing;” yet to the Galatians he writes: “Behold, I, Paul, say to you, that if you are circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.” When he was in Jerusalem upon the appeal of the Antioch Church, brethren urgently insisted that he should circumcise Titus, who was with him, but he sternly refused, and says, “I gave place to them by subjection, no, not for an hour.” Yet we see him in the case before us, circumcising Timothy with his own hand, and this “on account of certain Jews who were in those quarters.” In order to reconcile these apparently conflicting facts and statements, we must have all the leading facts concerning this rite before us.

Circumcision preceded the Mosaic Law much like the eating of blood prohibition. Paul had no problem with Jews continuing circumcision because it was an identification of one as a descendent of Abraham therefore a separate people. Circumcision did not bring Abraham into fellowship with God. Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. Then he was circumcised as an identification, much like baptism for the Christian.

 These two seeming contradictions can be cleared up when we understand that Titus was a gentile, so Paul refused to have him circumcised on that basis. Timothy, on the other hand was half Jewish. But the case is even more unique in that Timothy’s mother and grandmother were Jews who had converted to Christianity, and his father was a Greek. It was prohibited by Mosaic Law for a Jew to marry and gentile. Neh 13:26 “You will not marry off your daughters to their sons, and you will not take any of their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves! According to the Rabbis the mother needed permission from the father before circumcision could take place and apparently his father would not permit this when Timothy was a child. Paul obviously did not circumcise Timothy because he believed that rite was necessary for his justification or sanctification . He did so because it was necessary for effective evangelistic ministry among Jews. Unbelieving Jews would not have given Paul a hearing if he had travelled with an uncircumcised Gentile even though Timothy was half Jewish.

 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews; to those under the law, like one under the law—though I myself am not under the law —to win those under the law. 21 To those who are without ⌊that⌋ law, like one without the law—not being without God’s law but within Christ’s law—to win those without the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some. 23 Now I do all this because of the gospel, so I may become a partner in its benefits.1 Cor 9:20-23

2. Is it possible that the church continued to grow as a result of the satisfactory conclusion of the issue of how gentiles were to be treated?

This issue could have split the church and left it as a bunch of faction. One of gentile Christians, one of Jewish converts who were still observing the Mosaic Law, one of Jewish converts who rejected the Mosaic Law, and then groups who tried to mix both law and grace. Paul had to use wisdom is dealing with these touchy issues. When we do the proper thing, God grows the church.

 Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia

6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

3. The Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to enter Asia?

Spirit of Jesus. As the “Holy Spirit” was used at times interchangeably with “God” (5:3–4), so here “Holy Spirit” (v. 6) is used interchangeably with “Spirit of Jesus.” not allow. We are not sure exactly how the Spirit went about “not allowing” them to go into Asia to the south.

 4. Who was this man in the dream?

“Paul could have recognized the man in his dream as a Macedonian from what he said; but it has been conjectured that the man might have been Luke himself, who indicates his presence at this point by changing the narrative from ‘they’ to ‘we’ in the following verse. If this were so, it would suggest that Luke, a Macedonian or of Macedonian ancestry, had encountered Paul at Troas, perhaps as a medical attendant, and pressed him to preach the Gospel to the Macedonians. In this case, his appearance in Paul’s dream would make him seem to be a God-sent messenger, and would clinch the matter. This is, of course, no more than an attractive speculation.”It is interesting thatLuke was probably from Greek Macedonia and that he did join the group at this time.

Macedonia was a Roman province that comprised roughly the northern half of ancient andmodern Greece. Its name honored Philip of Macedon, Alexander the Great’s father.

Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi

11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. 13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

5. Who was Lydia?

Normally Paul went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, but evidently therewas not a synagogue in Philippi. This suggests that there were probably very few Jews there since it only took 10 Jewish men to establish a synagogue. Lacking a synagogue, worshippers of Yahweh met beside the Gangites River one and one-half miles west of town to pray together and to do what the Jews did in a normal synagogue service.

 Thyatira is over in Asia Minor. It is the place where one of the seven churches was located which received admonition from our Lord in the second chapter of the Book of Revelation. This woman had come from over there. She worshiped the living and true God, but she had very little knowledge.

Lydia. A businesswoman. Her name may be associated with her place of origin, the

Hellenistic district of Lydia. Thyatira. In the Roman province of Asia, 20 miles southeast of Pergamum (in the Hellenistic kingdom of Lydia. It was famous for its dyeing works, especially royal purple (crimson).worshiper of God. Lydia was a Gentile who, like Cornelius (see 10:2), believed in the true God and followed the moral teachings of Scripture. She had not, however, become a full convert to Judaism.

 opened her heart. After the resurrection the minds of the disciples were opened to understand the Scriptures; similarly, Lydia’s heart was opened to respond to the gospel message of Paul. Lydia was a remarkable person. She was a dominant person and a leader. Apparently she was the leader of the prayer meeting. She will be the first convert to Christ in Europe. A seller of purple. Purple was a most valuable colour, obtained usually fromshell-fish. It was chiefly worn by princes, and by the rich; and the traffic in it might be very profitable. It’s interesting that she asks Paul if he considered her a believer in the Lord. Apparently he considered her a believer and baptized her along with her entire household.

 Paul and Silas in Prison

16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

6. Since she was aware that Paul and the rest were from the Most High God, was she a prophet of God?

spirit by which she predicted the future. A demonic python spirit. The python was a mythical snake worshiped at Delphi and associated with the Delphic oracle. “a python spirit.” That expression comes from Gr. mythology; Python was a snake that guarded the oracle at Delphi. Essentially, this girl was a medium in contact with demons who could supposedly predict the future. The term “python” came to be used of the persons through whom the python spirit supposedly spoke. Since such persons spoke involuntarily, the term “ventriloquist” was used to describe them. To what extent she actually predicted the future is not known

 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, 7 And criedwith a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. 8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. 9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. Mark 5:6-9 (KJV)

Satan and his demons know who God and his workers are.

You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. James 2:19 (NLT)

19 When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

7. Why were Paul and Silas arrested?

Paul and Silas were seized not because they were preaching the Gospel but because they had disrupted a profitable business. Luke and Timothy for the time drop out of sight. Luke was concerned to trace the relations of Roman officials with the emissaries of the Gospel and to show that hostility came from other than official sources. 20. The government of a Roman colony was vested in two magistrates, sometimes called “praetors.” The Greek word translated “magistrate” is the equivalent of the Latin praetor.

21. Roman law permitted Jews to practice their own religion, but it forbade the propagating of foreign religions among Roman citizens. Paul and Silas were not recognized as Christians but as Jews who transgressed the prerogatives that Roman law allowed them.

 The judicial system at Philippi was much like here in our country. You can murder you next door neighbor and get out of prison in 7 years, but if you embezzle money from your employer, you get a 150 years sentence. 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.

8. Why kill himself over a few escaped prisoners?

 If a prisoner escaped, the life of the guard was demanded in his place. To take his own life would shorten the shame and distress. It should be added, that it was common, and approved among the Greeks and Romans, for a man to commit suicide when he was encompassed with dangers from which he could not escape. Thus Cato was guilty of self-murder in Utica; and thus, at this very place at Philippi-Brutus and Cassius, and many of their friends, fell on their own swords, and ended their lives by suicide. The custom was thus sanctioned by the authority and example of the great; and we are not to wonder that the jailer, in a moment of alarm, should also attempt to destroy his own life. It is not one of the least benefits of Christianity, that it has proclaimed the evil of self-murder, and that it has done so much to drive it from the world.

28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” 29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized.

9. Does this mean that if I accept Jesus as my savior and am born again my whole family is automatically saved also?

 How can a man be saved? By believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Could he believe for someone else? No. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and if thy household believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, they shall be saved also. That is the meaning here. All of his family, servants, and guests who could comprehend the gospel and believe heard the gospel and believed. This does not include infants.

 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God–he and his whole family. 35 When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” 36 The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No!Let them come themselves and escort us out.” 38 The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed.39 They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. 40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left.

10. What was the issue about Roman citizens?

Public beating of a Roman citizen (see v. 38) was illegal, let alone a beating without a trial. Let them come themselves. Paul and Silas were not asking for an escort to salve their injured pride as much as they were establishing their innocence for the sake of the church in Philippi and its future. This was quite an embarrassment for the Roman government and could have turned into a big scandal so they wanted to hush things up, but Paul wanted a public display of his release and declaration of his innocence.

References:

Acts of the Apostles, by J. W. McGarvey 1872

ESV Study Bible Notes.

John MacArthur NASB Study Notes

NIV Study Bible Notes.

J Vernon McGee, Through the Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke’s Commentary

Barnes Notes on the New Testament

The Wycliffe Bible Commentary

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