Acts 16:11-15--The Conversion of Lydia

Acts 16:11-15
English Standard Version
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The Conversion of Lydia
11 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

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Lat time we saw Paul, Silas, Timothy Luke, and Paul's other travelling companions prevented from going into certain areas they wanted to minister and then Paul finally being given a vision to give him direction as to where to go next.  The vision was a of a Macedonian man calling for Paul and the others to come to Macedonia help them, so Paul and his companions made for the port city of Troas which was across the Aegean Sea from Macedonia.  The ESV Study Bible maps that I've linked to before show the island of Samothrace mentioned here, where they put in for the night before proceeding the rest of the way to the Macedonian port city of Neapolis (literally "New City" and currently known by the name of Kavala, Greece).

From there, the missionaries travelled north-west to the nearest major city of Philippi--that name should probably be familiar to you because of the book of Philippians in the New Testament and also because there are verses from the book of Acts that many of us memorized such as the answer Paul gave to a Philippian jailor who asked, "What must I do to be saved?."  We'll be getting to those verses in a few more journal entries as they are at the end of chapter 16.  For now though, they are going to stay in Philippi for some time as it is both a Macedonian city but a Roman colony (named after King Philip II of Macedon who protected the city in the Battle of Philippi and named the city after himself).  The city was located close to a couple of different rivers making it an ideal place for trade and business, and they were close to some gold mines that attracted wealthy and powerful people.  However, it was not a place that many Jews had travelled to as we would typically see a group of 10 Jewish men gathered together for prayer on the Sabbath (this is the group Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke were looking for), but it appears by Luke's description that they instead found Lydia--a woman who was a worshiper of God who had come to Philippi from Thyatira (one of the seven cities mentioned in the book of Revelation).  Lydia was living there to sell her purple cloth that she made--purple cloth in that day was very expensive and was usually a sign of royalty because of its high cost.  This was a market for such a business opportunity as it seems the people in this area were very wealthy.

Does the mention of Lydia mean that Paul and his companions found no Jewish men worshiping and praying together?  Not specifically, but verse 13 tells us that this group was comprised only of women.  There were no Jewish men in Philippi giving spiritual leadership to their families that were there.  It was the Jewish women who were gathered together to observe the Sabbath and to have a time of prayer and worship.  They were probably excited to see several Jewish men joining them that day and one of them even a Jewish Rabbi (that would be Paul).  Paul taught these women and Lydia specifically took an interest in what Paul was teaching--so much so that she and her entire household would be baptized, and she invited Paul and his companions to stay at her house so that she could take care of them while they were there in Philippi.