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| Chapter 16 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ Then Paul came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a certain woman who was a Jewess who believed, but whose father was a Greek. 2 He was well reported of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Him Paul wanted to have go forth with him, and took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those quarters, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 And as they went through the cities, they delivered unto them the decrees to keep, that had been ordained by the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem. 5 And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily. 6 ¶ Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the Word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered permit not. 8 And passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: there stood a man of Macedonia beseeching him, saying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us." 10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the Gospel unto them. 11 Therefore casting loose from Troas we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day Neapolis, 12 and from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony. And we stayed in that city a number of days. 13 And on the Sabbath, we went out of the city by a riverside where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down and spoke unto the women who resorted thither. 14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God, heard us; and the Lord opened her heart to give heed unto the things which were spoken by Paul. 15 And when she was baptized with 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. 16 ¶ And it came to pass as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed by a spirit of divination met us. She had brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. 17 The same followed Paul and us, crying out and saying, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who show unto us the way of salvation." 18 And this she did many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, "I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And he came out that same hour. 19 And when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they caught Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace unto the rulers, 20 and brought them to the magistrates, saying, "These men, being Jews, trouble our city exceedingly, 21 and teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive nor to observe, being Romans." 22 And the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded that they be beaten. 23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely. 24 He, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks. 25 ¶ And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them. 26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s bands were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison, awakening out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had fled. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Do thyself no harm, for we are all here!" 29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." 32 And they spoke unto him the Word of the Lord, and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. 34 And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. 35 ¶ And when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, "Let those men go." 36 And the keeper of the prison told these words to Paul, saying, "The magistrates have sent to let you go; now therefore depart and go in peace." 37 But Paul said unto them, "They have beaten us openly, uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison. And now do they thrust us out privily? Nay verily! Let them come themselves and fetch us out." 38 And the sergeants told these words unto the magistrates, and they feared when they heard that they were Romans. 39 And they came and besought them and brought them out, and entreated them to depart out of the city. 40 And they went out of the prison and entered into the house of Lydia. And when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them and departed. |
A new member of the team? Paul and Silas have been to Derbe and have now moved onto Lystra. They probably visited the various groups of believers in each town. While in Lystra they meet Timothy. His mother, Eunice was Jewish but father was a Greek. Timothy may have been converted during Paul’s first visit as Paul referred to him as "his own son in faith." 1 Tim 1:2 and "my beloved son" 1 Cor 4:17. In 2 Tim 1:5 we are told that Timothy’s grandmother and mother had been first to become believers. Timothy may have also seen the problems that Paul had during his last visit. Acts 14:19-20, Paul refers to them when he wrote to Timothy. 2 Tim 3:10-11. Timothy came with great recommendation by the church members v2 so Paul wants to take him with him on his missionary journeys. However, Paul felt there could be a problem. v3 Circumcision was discussed at the Jerusalem meeting. Act 15:1ff and it had been agreed that circumcision was not required for salvation, so why does Paul circumcise Timothy as this could be agreeing with the legalistic Jews? Timothy would be working with Jews and Gentiles in the churches and Paul felt that the Jews might be offended by an uncircumcised person teaching them. Paul was concerned for Timothy’s ministry, not his salvation. Rom 14:13-15. Timothy was to be used by the Lord over many years, helping the churches grow, often travelling with Paul. Becoming the pastor of the church in Ephesus 1 Tim 1:3 and appears to have joined Paul in the Roman prison. 2 Tim 4:21. New Doors to Open v6-40. The team moves out into the area moving about present day Turkey, preaching and seeing many turn to Christ. Then the Holy Spirit somehow commanded them not to continue into Asia. God then leads them North West towards Troas. This must have been a surprise to Paul as the outreach was so successful in the area. v9 Paul is given a night vision to go into Macedonia, which is the start of Europe. v10 The report by Luke now refers to "we" instead of "they," so we can assume that Luke had now joined the team as they crossed to Macedonia. v11 From Troas to Neapolis the port of Philippi was a sea journey of about 150 miles, the passage indicates it took two days. v12 Arriving at Philippi, which is about ten miles inland from the port. Luke tells us that they remained there many days. He does give a detailed report of this visit which suggest he may have come from the area. v13-15 Philippi was a Roman city, and Paul’s action suggest there may not have been a synagogue in the city. (It required ten Jewish men to open a synagogue) They "go down to the river where prayer was offered" and meets a group of Jewish women including Lydia, she was probably not a Jewess but a gentile who was seeking the truth, "worshipper of God" indicates this. Paul had been called to the country by a "man "in his vision, yet the first contacts were Jewish women. The Jewish rabbis were known not to encourage teaching women, so it may have been strange for Paul and his party to make this contact. However, Paul was open to God’s leading and it is obvious that God had prepared the way as the woman opened her heart to the message and then opened her home to the apostles. Lydia must have been successful, she was a purple dye supplier from Thyatira, this purple dye was very expensive, being made from a mollusc (snail) found in this area of Thyatira. v16 As soon as the Good News message arrives Satan moves in to try to destroy it. A young girl, possibly a slave, is demon possessed and pretended to tell fortunes. This had created much money for her masters. As Paul and his team obviously went to the river side to pray regularly, as they passed this girl would shout out to them, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." Paul does not want the message of salvation to be announced by Satan’s slaves. Note that Satan will often appear as an angel of light, but changing the truth slightly. In this case the people would link the girl with the apostles message. Paul therefore turns to the girl, and in the Name of Christ tells the evil spirit to leave the girl. Her masters have now lost their source of money and wanted Paul and Silas punished and drag them before the town officials. As is usually the case the charge had nothing to do with the real problem, there was prejudice, "these Jews," exaggeration (made it appear bigger than it was), for the city was not in trouble. Finally there were lies, Paul and Silas were charged with teaching "customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice." The magistrates response is to take off the apostles clothes and command them to be beaten with rods, they are then thrown into prison. The jailer was commanded to guard them well, so throws them into the inner prison and fastens their feet into a stock (this is constructed of two pieces of wood, mounted on top of each other and hinged at one end, the other end would have a lock. holes are cut so that the legs of the prisoner could be placed between the two pieces of wood and locked in place). v25-32 Paul and Silas must have been in considerable pain, having been beaten and now restricted in their movement by the stocks. Instead of sleeping they are praising God, giving Him the glory in prayer and song. It must have been loud as all the prisoners could hear them and probably the jailor, these two prisoners were so different! God now reveals His presence with an earthquake, the foundations of the prison building are shaken, all the prison doors swing open, and all the chains and stocks holding the prisoners open. The jailer is very frightened, not because of the earthquake but because under Roman law, if any prisoners escape he will be punished in the same as the escaping prisoner, obviously there were prisoners awaiting the death sentence. The jailor decides to save them the problem and is about to commit suicide when Paul calls out, "Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!" In love and compassion Paul has stopped the man killing himself he now shows him the way of salvation. "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?," a cry from many people in the world, the answer "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" Acts 2:38,39; Acts 4:12; Acts 8:37; Acts 13:38,39. The words "and your household." does not mean that the jailors faith will save all his family, salvation has to be a personal action, each must trust Christ personally. Children cannot be saved by their parents salvation, they must also accept Christ as their Saviour. v33 The jailor is a changed man, with love and care he looks after Paul and Silas. Luke does not tell us about the other prisoners, possibly some were also saved. v35 The next day the magistrates, realizing that they did not really have a case against Paul and Silas, sent word to the jailer to release them. Paul, however, was not willing to be ignored, they had not committed a crime and if they now left it would affect the local believers. Paul wants to prove that they were not guilty so he responds with "You have beaten us openly, uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison. And now do you thrust us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and fetch us out." Paul has used his Roman citizenship, he challenges the officials on their actions being illegal, a Roman citizen have to have a proper trial and could not be whipped. Saul could also have referred the incident to the Emperor. v39 The alarmed officials came and request Paul and Silas leave the city. We are not told that they apologized for their action but this action of Paul would have meant that the officials would be careful with the local church, incase Paul chose to raise the matter with the Emperor later. v40 The apostles remain in the city long enough to encourage the believers before they departed. God plans and controls all events of His people, some may be involved in dramatic events to bring salvation, the jailor, others, like Lydia, found Jesus with a quite talk by the river. |
Easy English Translation
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