Acts 16:11-15 Philippi

Acts 16:11-12 They sail to Macedonia and travel to Philippi. Luke gives the waypoints on this ocean voyage, which takes them Asia Minor to Greece; Samothrace, Neapolis, Philippi. They evidently spent little time in the first two locations. Neapolis being a seaport, they traveled overland to Philippi, about 15 km inland, where Luke notes they stayed for some days. This was the first venture of the gospel into Europe. Perhaps this was the first place in some time that the Holy Spirit gave them rest to be, rather than impelling them to continue to move on. If so, would this imply or confirm that He had led them there?

Acts 16:13-15 Paul preaches to some women, and Lydia believes. It is not clear why Paul and his companions thought that the riverside outside the gate would be a place of prayer. They were in a Greek city with its attendant pagan idolatry; perhaps the riverside would be a place where people who feared God but did not want to be involved in the idolatrous worship could come to pray? Women assembled there, but no men are mentioned. Perhaps the idolatry was so tied to temple prostitution that men were pretty much slaves to their carnal addictions, but women were not, and sought a place for spiritual contemplation. Lydia was from Thyatira, far from Philippi, actually in Asia Minor, and also mentioned in Revelation 2:18-29, in which Jesus sends a letter to the church located there.

          Lydia worshipped God, and listened to Paul. Since her profession is mentioned, it suggests she was not married, and ran her own business. Purple garments usually represented royalty, so perhaps this was a lucrative profession. Paul's message here is not recorded, nor Lydia's affirmation of faith. She and her household were baptized. She invited them to stay with her, if they deemed her faithful to The Lord.

          It is a sad commentary on the human condition that only women seemed to be gathered at a place suitable for prayer and worship of God. At times in the church, there have been a predominate participation by women compared to men. This was not the case in the early church until this point, and in fact this was not the church, this was women eschewing pagan idolatry, seeking the true God but doing so without men. The question of men's role in the church vs. women's role in the church has been hotly debated, but that is not really the point here. In this pagan Greek culture, worship of the true God was evidently not a manly option. Either men were in the army, or else they were in the temple patronizing the temple prostitutes. A masculine leadership role for seeking the one true God can certainly be envisioned, but was lacking here. When the worship of the one true God, of Jesus the Messiah, is eviscerated to the point of being effeminate, it becomes ineffective in being received by men. Lydia had clung to some pagan form of worship, with enough truth in it to recognize the truth of the gospel when presented by Paul. It did not remain the sole province of women in Philippi for long.