In the first part of this new series, we discussed the apostle Paul’s first missionary journey which is described in Acts 13 and Acts 14. We saw that he was accompanied, at times, by John Mark and Barnabas. They traveled to Syria, Cyprus and Southern Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Their return to Antioch was described in Acts 14:26-28:
In this second part, we will begin to discuss Paul’s second missionary journey which would last for about three years. The preparation for this trip is reported in Acts 15:36-41.
“Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing.’ Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.”
As we saw in the first part of this new series, John Mark had departed from them to go back to Jerusalem where his mother lived; the exact reason for his return is not revealed. As Paul and Barnabas could not agree on their course of action regarding Mark, they separated. From then on, we do not find anything further in the Bible about Barnabas.
After spending some time in Syria and Cilicia with the brethren, Paul and Silas went on to Derbe and Lystra (Acts 16:1). There they found a young man with the name of Timothy, “the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek” (Acts 16:1-3).
Paul’s conduct in circumcising Timothy may sound rather strange, as decrees had just been made in Jerusalem finding that circumcision was no longer necessary. In fact, Paul and Silas even delivered these decrees to the people (Acts 16:4: “And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem.”) Some say that the decrees only determined that Gentiles did not have to be circumcised, but Jews still had to be, and so Timothy was circumcised because he was a half-Jew. This conclusion is false. There is neither Jew nor Greek nor Gentile (Galatians 3:28-29), and God would not demand of Jews to do something that Gentiles would not have to do.
On the other hand, the Bible does not prohibit physical circumcision, and Paul chose to circumcise Timothy because he wanted him to be used in God’s service, and the fact that he was not circumcised would have been a hindrance in reaching Jews. By circumcising Timothy, he became accepted as a Jew, and avoided unnecessary disputes. Paul did not want Timothy to become a stumbling block to the Jews. The circumcision of Timothy was an action performed to prevent unnecessary conflict.
On another occasion, Paul refused to circumcise the Gentile Titus as that would have given a wrong signal, since some Jews believed that physical circumcision was necessary for salvation—a concept strongly opposed by Paul (Galatians 2:3-5).
Paul and Silas stayed in the cities for a while, and “the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily” (Acts 16:5).
They then wanted to go to Asia and Bithynia, but at that time, they were prevented by God from going there. We read in Acts 16:6-8:
“Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.”
Jesus Christ, through His Spirit, may inspire us to make certain decisions. Here, it was clearly Christ who did not want Paul and Silas to go to those places at that time to preach the gospel there (At other times, Satan prevented Paul to go somewhere, and God permitted Satan to hinder him, compare 1 Thessalonians 2:18). We don’t know the reason why they were not permitted to go to Asia and Bithynia, nor do we know HOW exactly God’s Will had been made manifest to them. The point being, Christ leads His Church, and we must respond to that lead and follow wherever He goes (Revelation 14:4).
In Acts 16:9-12, a remarkable episode is described:
“And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days.”
The report states that “we” went on to Philippi. Luke, the author of the Book of Acts, had joined Paul and included himself now in the narrative.
Philippi was a Roman colony. It was the first European city visited by Paul who arrived there about 50 AD.
Acts 16:13 continues that “on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there.” Apparently, there was no synagogue in Philippi, but certain places for prayers had been chosen.
The Sabbath day mentioned above was apparently an annual Holy Day—the Feast of Pentecost, which always falls on a Sunday. In the Greek, it says, “on the day of the Sabbaths,” referencing the weekly Sabbath and the following Holy Day of Pentecost. Something similar is described in Acts 13:14 where Paul went into the synagogue “on the Sabbath day” or better, “on the day of the Sabbaths.” In all likelihood, that was Pentecost as well; it could also have been a Holy Day which fell on the weekly Sabbath.
Acts 16:14-15 introduces us to a wealthy woman in Philippi with the name of Lydia who listened to Paul and his helpers and became converted and was baptized with her household–the first recorded conversion in Philippi. It is noteworthy how this conversion began. She “worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul” (Acts 16:14), leading to her baptism. God had to open her heart AFTER she listened to Paul and accepted his teaching.
Another chain of events follows, beginning in verse 16. A possessed girl followed Paul and his helpers, so that Paul, greatly annoyed, commanded the demon to leave the girl which occurred “that very hour”—not necessarily immediately. The possessed girl had brought her masters much profit by “fortune-telling” (verse 16), so when the demon left her and “her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas” and “brought them to the magistrates” (verses 19-20). The spineless and hypocritical magistrates, siding with the accusers, had Paul and his companions severely beaten and subsequently imprisoned. They were put into the inner prison and their feet were fastened in the stocks.
But at midnight, “Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 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 chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, ‘Do yourself no harm, for we are all here’” (Acts 16:26-28).
The keeper of the prison was responsible for his prisoners. If they escaped, he could be executed. Paul, knowing this, did not flee, sensing a deeper purpose in all of this. The keeper was overwhelmed, sensing a deeper purpose in all of this as well, and after Paul taught him and his family, they were baptized. Their repentance, belief in God the Father and Jesus Christ and their obedience had become obvious to Paul (note verses 29-34).
It is true that Paul answered the keeper’s question regarding salvation with the words, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31). But he spoke of “obedient” faith. Paul did not tell the Philippian jailor that all he had to do was just to believe in Jesus Christ. James tells us that even the demons believe in God (James 2:19). Rather, Paul was teaching that we need to OBEY God, once we come to believe in Him.
We read Paul’s words in Romans 1:5: “Through Him we have received grace and apostleship FOR OBEDIENCE TO THE FAITH.” He also stated in Romans 16:26: “… [the mystery] has been made manifest… according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for OBEDIENCE TO THE FAITH.” We read in John 3:36 (correctly translated from the Greek, compare the Revised Standard Version): “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does NOT OBEY the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him.”
With the exorcism of the demon-possessed girl, this described chain of events started, culminating in the baptism of more believers.
The next day, the magistrates wanted Paul and his companions to leave secretly, but Paul demanded an open recognition of their wrongdoing and that he and Silas had been innocent, being “uncondemned Romans,” which included Silas as well, as he was also a Roman citizen (verse 37). Under Roman law, scourging a Roman citizen was prohibited. Acts 22:18 confirmed Paul’s citizenship as a Roman; he was born as a Roman, since his parents had apparently acquired Roman citizenship before Paul was born. The magistrates were afraid when they heard that they had mistreated Roman citizens and asked them to leave the city.
Acts 16:40 concludes this episode:
“So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.”
(To Be Continued)
Lead Writer: Norbert Link