Acts 16:11-15 meaning

We are told of Paul’s journey to Macedonia and the beginning of his ministry there in Acts 16:11-15.

After being forbidden by God to preach in the province of Asia and Bithynia, Paul finally has clear direction from God to go to Macedonia and share the gospel there. He is accompanied by Silas, Timothy, and Luke, the author of Acts.

Luke briefly describes their sea voyage from Troas to Philippi.

He writes,

So putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis (v. 11).

The most direct route to Macedonia from Troas would be by sailing straight across the Aegean Sea. The Aegean Sea is a part of the Mediterranean Sea that extends north but narrows between the Greek mainland and the western shore of modern-day Turkey. It is considered an embayment which branches off from the main waters of the Mediterranean.

Paul and company buy passage on a boat to cross the Aegean sea from Troas, first running a straight course of about 70 miles to the little island of Samothrace. Samothrace is a mere eleven miles long, and for the purposes of Paul, it served as a layover. They stayed the night in Samothrace, and on the day following they sailed to Neapolis. The distance from Samothrace to Neapolis was another 70 miles. Neapolis was a port city in Macedonia. The city of Philippi was quite near, only 10 miles away, a half-day’s walk. 

Luke reports nothing of interest in Neapolis, writing that from there they journeyed 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 (v. 12).

Philippi seems to have been Paul’s goal since receiving a vision urging him to go to Macedonia, and Luke explains why. It was a leading city of the district of Macedonia. Its population was about 10,000 during the time of Paul’s visit. Alexander the Great’s father, Philip of Macedon, named it after himself when he conquered it. 

Of some historical note, the deciding battle between Octavian (later Caesar Augustus) and the remnants of Julius Caesar’s assassins was fought on the plain of Philippi to the west of the city in 42 B.C., some ninety or so years before Paul’s arrival there. It had grown as a Roman colony due to Caesar Augustus handing it over to many of the Roman soldiers who had fought in the battle of Philippi. It was a Roman colony through and through, complete with its own forum and amphitheater.

Paul intended to minister there for a long while, as Luke notes we were staying in this city for some days. After the long journey from Pisidian Antioch to Troas, during which the Holy Spirit had forbidden Paul to preach the gospel, and the uneventful voyage across the Aegean Sea, now Paul and his team had come to a city where they could roll up their sleeves and get to work. 

Paul’s tradition is to begin preaching in a place where there are people who are seeking God. This has typically been in the Jewish synagogue. In the next chapter, Luke outright states that preaching in synagogues first is “according to Paul’s custom” (Acts 17:2) when he describes how Paul preached at the synagogue for three weeks in a row in Thessalonica. But in Philippi there seems to be no synagogue, based on what Luke writes:

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 (v. 13).

The Sabbath day was set aside for Jews to rest from their work and commune with God and one another. In the first century, they would attend a synagogue meeting to hear readings from the Law and the Prophets. But in Philippi, a Roman colony populated mostly by Romans and Greeks, there is apparently no synagogue to speak of. According to Jewish custom, there must be ten Jewish men to form a synagogue. Given that Paul and his team went outside the gate to a riverside implies that the Jewish population in Philippi was incredibly low and there was no significant Jewish community present. 

However, Paul does find a reverent gathering of people, specifically women who had assembled at this riverside. Tradition holds that this was the Gangites river, which was about 1.25 miles beyond the city walls. Luke writes that we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer (v. 13). 

Paul and his team did not randomly guess this, but were supposing it, probably having been told about it. After asking around, they had learned that some people went to the Gangites riverside on Saturdays (Sabbath day) for prayer. Paul understood this riverside group of worshippers to worship and pray to the true God, Yahweh. 

With no synagogue to meet in, those who believed in Yahweh went to this riverside to offer prayer to God. There, Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled (v. 13).

They preached the gospel to these women. Some of the women who had assembled at the riverside were probably Jewish, but among them were Gentiles who believed in the Jewish God as well. 

There was A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening (v. 14).

Thyatira was a city in the region of Lydia, in the Roman province of Asia (the western part of modern-day Turkey). Luke says this woman was named Lydia, which might mean her actual name was Lydia, but more probably means Luke was identifying her place of origin as being from Lydia. Lydia was a region in Asia. In a manner of speaking, Luke is saying “We met a Lydian woman originally from the Lydian city of Thyatira.” 

Eventually there would be a church in Thyatira, perhaps started by this Lydia. The church of Thyatira would be one of the seven churches to whom Jesus would send messages through the Apostle John in the book of Revelation (Revelation 2:18). Many of the seven churches in Revelation 1-3 were in cities in the province of Lydia, or very nearby in the province of Ionia. 

Lydia was a seller of purple fabrics, which means she was most likely wealthy. Purple fabrics were rare and costly. Most purple in the ancient world was extracted from murex mollusks, a type of rock snail. The Phoenician/Canaanite city of Tyre was made famous and wealthy from selling purple cloth harvested from murexes. “Phoenicia” (“Purple Land”) is what the Greeks named what is now modern-day Lebanon. 

Alternatively, it is possible that Lydia’s inventory of purple fabrics was dyed by color derived from the roots of the madder herb. Whatever the case, purple fabrics in the first century took a lot of skill and time to make, and so were sold for a lot of money to wealthy and powerful people. Jesus was clothed in a purple robe at His trial by Herod to mock Him as the supposed “king” of the Jews, since purple was costly and rare (John 19:2). 

In Thyatira, where Lydia was from, the Greek sun god Apollo was specially worshipped. But Lydia was a worshiper of God, Yahweh, the Living God of Israel. This designation, worshiper of God, is similar to others in Acts describing proselytes (Gentile peoples who converted to Judaism) or Gentiles who were reverent of God, who feared and worshipped Him, such as Cornelius the centurion (Acts 13:16, 43, 10:1-2, 17:4, 17, 18:7). 

Lydia believed in the one true God, and probably had some working knowledge about the Old Testament, about the prophecies that a Jewish Messiah would come. So Paul, in preaching to this small group of Jewish and God-fearing Gentile women who were assembled at the riverside, likely gave a sermon similar to the ones he had given in synagogues on the Sabbath day in previous cities. Since his audience knew about the promises of the Messiah, Paul could readily explain that the Messiah had come, and He was Jesus of Nazareth. 

Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to this good news. She was captivated by the message of the gospel. She was taking every word as serious and important. After Paul spoke, Lydia believed in Jesus as the Messiah who had died and resurrected for the forgiveness of her sins.

Luke writes that as she was listening, the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul (v. 14). The Greek word translated as opened is “dianoigō” and is used in many other places in scripture, such as when Jesus opens the ears of a deaf man (Mark 7:34-35). Elsewhere, Jesus spiritually opened the eyes of some disciples who did not recognize Him after His resurrection (Luke 24:31), and opened up the scripture and understanding of the scripture in the minds of the disciples (Luke 24:32, 45). 

“Dianoigō” is when a barrier or impediment is lifted, when God divinely reveals clarity, meaning, or even Himself to the one listening. Lydia heard the message of the Gospel, and the Lord opened her heart so that she understood it, and could respond to the things spoken by Paul. Once we see God and understand the reality of His good news, we are faced with the choice to respond to the things we understand. Lydia chose to respond by putting her faith in Jesus Christ.

She obviously confessed her faith to Paul and the others, and they baptized her, probably in the Gangites river where they were having their informal worship service.

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 (v. 15).

Not only was Lydia baptized, but also her household. Luke does not specify who was in her household, but neither a husband nor children are mentioned. Since she is a wealthy seller of purple fabrics, she has the means to employ servants. They were apparently at the riverside too, each also a worshiper of God. Whoever was in her household had heard the gospel message and had also believed in Jesus. So she and everyone in her house were baptized. 

After this was done, she urged Paul and his team to come live in her house for their time in Philippi. She insists that they come but also speaks with humility, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” She wants to know if she is accepted into their faith community, and if so, if they are now brethren and sisters in Christ, then they ought to come into her house and stay (“menō,” Greek, most often translated “abide,” to live in her house as long as they are in Philippi). 

Luke makes it sound as though Paul and his team try to politely reject this offer. They clearly had judged Lydia to be faithful to the Lord, to have believed in Jesus, because they baptized her and her household. But Paul was always wary of imposing on others. He went to great lengths to distance himself from even the appearance of being a preacher who took money or gifts in exchange for providing any sort of ministry in return. Paul went above and beyond to avoid any appearance of using his position to take advantage of others (Acts 20:33-35, 1 Thessalonians 2:9, 2 Thessalonians 3:7-8, 1 Corinthians 9:15, 18, 2 Corinthians 11:7). 

Having been educated and apprenticed as a Pharisee, he knew firsthand what exploitative religious leaders were capable of, and what a harmful stain that would put on his ministry. Throughout all of history, men and women have financially profited from religion and spirituality. Paul defended the practice of ministers living from their efforts through the gifts of others (1 Corinthians 9:7-11). He encouraged believers to be generous to those who ministered in the gospel (Galatians 6:6-7). 

However, there have also been those who take advantage. Paul acknowledged that some preach out of bad motives (Philippians 1:15). He also asserted that some preached for financial gain, but went out of his way to avoid even the appearance of doing so himself (2 Corinthians 2:17). Whether through false prophecy, sorcery, priestcraft, and more, there are grifters who prey on others’ goodwill and desire to find favor with God. Paul was so committed to not having such a possibility be a stumbling block to his ministry that he decided to pay his own expenses (1 Corinthians 9:11-12). 

The Pharisees and Sadducees among whom Paul had lived much of his life were more than guilty of taking financial advantage of others (Luke 16:13-14, 20:25, 46-47, Matthew 21:13, 23:25, John 2:14-16). Paul, on the other hand, worked while abroad as a missionary (Acts 18:2-3). It does not mean he never accepted charity and help from others, as seen here in the case of Lydia, but he primarily earned his own way and strove to never be a burden to others. 

Usually, if Paul accepted financial support, it was from churches far away, to provide for him while he ministered to a new area. He tried not to impose himself upon the people he was ministering to face-to-face (Philippians 4:15-18, 2 Corinthians 11:8-9). 

Lydia, however, as a successful salesperson, would not take no for an answer. At the outset, she urged Paul and company to stay in her house. Luke writes, And she prevailed upon us. She insisted upon it, and she had her way. 

Thus “the first European Christian,” as Lydia is sometimes known, played hostess to Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke. 

But trouble would soon find Paul in Philippi, as it almost always did.