Acts 16:1-5--Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

Acts 16:1-5
English Standard Version
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Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
16 Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.

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Once Paul and Silas finished delivering the message to the churches in Syria and Cilicia, they headed west for Derbe--the last place that Paul and Barnabas had visited before turning around on the First Missionary Journey.  Derbe is almost always mentioned in conjunction with the nearby town of Lystra.  There Paul and Silas will find Timothy (you probably recognize his name from the books of 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy).  Luke tells us that Timothy is the son of Jewish woman who was also a believer, but that his father was Greek.  This would make him Jewish in the eyes of the Jews, for a boy's "Jewishness" came from his mother, but he would have not officially been part of any tribe of Israel because that would come from his father, and his father was a Gentile.

Timothy, though quite young in comparison to Paul, already had a good reputation not just in Derbe, but also in Lystra and Iconium (which make up most of the cities that we know about in Galatia).  Imagine being a young believer and having that kind of reputation where everyone in your region knew about you.

Paul desired for Timothy to accompany them on the rest of the journey, but because Paul would fear the Jews in the regions that he had been in before--remember that they already stoned him one before--he circumcised Timothy.  This is a decision that it seems he will regret later for when he will come across Titus, he will not circumcise him because the Jews pointed to the circumcision of Timothy as evidence that they thought Paul preached a gospel where one must become Jewish first and obey the righteous requirements of the Law of Moses in order to be saved.  Paul's fear was that the Jews who knew Timothy by reputation would not listen to him if Timothy were not circumcised because they knew his father was a Greek.

So Timothy joined Paul and Silas and together they travelled back through the towns that Paul and Barnabas had previously visited as far as Pisidian Antioch, and they read the letter from The Jerusalem Council so that the churches were strengthened in their faith and there were more being added to their numbers.  Next time we'll see that Paul, Silas and Timothy will head in a different direction under the direction of the Holy Spirit--a direction where Timothy will be most welcome because of His Greek father.  God knew exactly what He was doing bringing Timothy to them at this time.  If Barnabas and Mark had been with Paul, he probably would have desired to turn back south towards Cyprus so they could revisit the work they had done among the people of Cyprus, but God's next destination for Paul, Silas and Timothy will be on the coast of the Aegean Sea.