PT-1 "The Liberated Woman" (Acts 16:11-15)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/15/2018 7:11 AM

My Worship Time                                                               Focus:  PT-1 “The Liberated Woman”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 16:11-15

            Message of the verses:  “11 So putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled. 14 A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us.”

            I remember a long time ago I was listening to a preacher preach from the book of Acts and he stated that Dr. Luke could really describe a sea voyage in great detail.  We begin looking at verse eleven with Dr. Luke describing a sea voyage as the missionary team of Paul, Silas, and Timothy, where Luke begins to describe their trip from Troas.  Troas was located across the Aegean Sea from Greece, on the western shore of Asia Minor which is Modern day Turkey, near the site of ancient Troy.  We saw when we were looking at Acts 16:6-8 that it was the Holy Spirit who was directing them to where He wanted them to go.  We noted that after Paul had received a vision from a man in Macedonia that he wanted help, that Luke writes “immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them” (16:10).”

            From Troas, Luke writes that they “ran a straight course to Samothrace,” and Samothrace is an island in the Aegean Sea, approximately half way between Asia Minor and the Greek mainland.  It was there that they stayed overnight, so the trip must not have taken too long.  Next they went to Neapolis, which is the port city of Philipi.  It looks like they must have had a favorable wind for we read from Acts 20:6 “We sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at Troas within five days; and there we stayed seven days.”  This verse speaks of Paul being on his way to get to Jerusalem and it took five days for this part of his journey which only took one day going in the opposite direction.

            They then went to Philippi which was about ten miles inland.  Philippi was a Roman colony and the city was named after Alexander the Great’s father Phillip. This was an important city as in 31 B.C. it was named a “Roman colony” by Octavian, following the battle of Actium in 31 B. C.  John MacArthur writes: As a colony Philippi

‘possessed the ius Italicum, which carried the right of freedom (libertas), that is, they were self-governing, independent of the provincial government; the right of exemption from tax (immunitas); and the right of holding land in full ownership, as under Roman law, and of using Italian legal procedures and precedents.  In 16:16-40 we have a clear picture of this procedure and one, moreover, that belongs precisely to this time.(David J. Williams, New International Biblical Commentary: Acts [Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson. 1990], 284).’

“Although eight other cities known to be Roman colonies appear in Acts, Philippi is the only one Luke refers to as a colony.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.”

Today’s Bible question:  “Who was Elisha’s servant?”

Answer in our next SD.

4/15/2018 7:39 AM