Acts Chapter 16

Acts Chapter 16

He came to Derbe and Lystra and behold!  A certain disciple name Timotheus, who was the son of a certain women, a Jewess!  And a devout Jewess at that but his dad was a Greek.  The brethren at Lystra and Iconiusm spoke well of Tim.  Paul would go forth with Tim and circumcised him to please the Jews in the area because they all knew his dad was a Greek.

Wow, this whole circumcision issue just goes on and on.  JC never even mentions it.  It is crazy.

As they went through the cities they told them rules to obey, you know the ones ordained by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.  So the churches were establish in the faith and more people joined every day. 

Now after they had gone throughout Phrygia and Galatia they were forbidden by the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia.

Really?  The Holy Ghost forbid that?  God doesn’t want to include Asia in his loving embrace and plans for everlasting salvation?  That doesn’t seem very nice.

After then went to Mysia and they thought about going to Bithynia but the Spirit didn’t move them to go there. After passing by Musia they came down to Troas. 

Paulie had a vision that night.  It was a Macedonian who prayed for him to come to Macedonia to help them.  After his vision he told his pals that they should go to Macedonia to preach the good news, because the Lord wanted it.  He told them their route, they should go form Troas strait to Samothracia and the next day to Neapolis, and then to Philippie, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony.  So they were in that city for certain days.  On the Sabbath they left for the city’s riverside where people didn’t pray and he sat down and spoke with a woman who lived there and a certain woman named Lydia who was a seller of purple…

I have comment here, Lydia might have just become my new biblical favorite, because she sells purple, not purple dye, purple cloth, purple pigment, it just says she sells purple.  Purple is one of my least favorite color but I can help but be intrigued by her selling a color. 

Lydia is firm the city of Thyatira, where they worshipped the Lord openly and she followed what Paul said.  When she was baptized and she sought them saying if you think I’m faithful, come stay at my house.

As they went to pray a certain girl who was possessed with a spirit of divination met them.  Her masters mad a lot of money off of her fortune telling, which good for her, it’s better than turning trick.  Well, this girl followed them around telling people that they were servants of God and where here to show the way to salvation.  She did that every day for a while until one day Paul turned and said “I command you in the name of JC to come out of her” and that spirit came out within the hour!

Okay wait a minute, doesn’t this directly contradict the who JC argument about the house divided falling. You know the one that JC mentions that if he were the devil he wouldn’t be able to cast out devils. I mean one has to believe this spirit that she was possessed with was evil or why would Paulie banish it from her.  So why would she be telling folks that these guys are preaching the good news?  I mean wouldn’t that be doing God’s bidding, and if she was possessed by evil wouldn’t the devil’s house be divided?  So was she possessed by a good spirit?  Could the devil cast out a good spirit?  Is Paul the Devil?

Anyway when the girl’s masters saw that she couldn’t see the future anymore, and they lost their easy income was easy.  They were pissed so they caught Paul and Silas and brought them to the rulers and the magistrates saying “ These guys are Jews and  they are causing trouble in our city.  They teach unlawful customs to us Romans!”  As the crowd rose up, the Magistrates stripped Paul and Silas and beat them, throwing them in jail for safe keeping.  They chained their feet and trust them into the inner prison.

At midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises to God and the prisoners hear them.  All of a sudden there was an earthquake!  The foundations of the prison were shaken, the doors were opened and their bonds on their hands were loose.

The warden of the prison woke up and saw the prison door were open so he drew his sword to kill himself, assuming the prisoners had fled.  But Paul stopped him, saying “Don’t hurt yourself, we are all here!”  So the warden called for a light and sprang in, trembling and he fell down in from Paul and Silas and brought them out, asking what he could do to be saved.  Of course they told him to belive in the Lord JC and he and his household would be saved.  And they spoke the word of the Lord to his household.  The Warden took them that hour, washed their wounds and he and his family were baptized right away. When he brought them into his house and gave them meat they all rejoiced.  

Then next day the magistrates sent the sergeant out telling them to let those men go.  The warden told Paul that the magistrate had freed them go in peace. 

But this wasn’t good enough for Paul. After all they beat him openly being Romans, and cast them into prison, and they want to free him privately.  No they could come get Paul themselves. The magistrates were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. So they let them out in a more public manner but asked them to leave the city.  And when they left the prison, they went back to Lydia’s to  see the brethren and comfort them but then they departed.