Acts 20:1-6--Paul in Macedonia and Greece

Acts 20:1-6
English Standard Version

Paul in Macedonia and Greece
20 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

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Last time we saw Demetrius the silversmith start a riot and drag two of Paul's companions into the theater for a dose of mob justice, but the clerk of Ephesus quelled the riot and told everyone to go home before charges were filed against them.  When the commotion died down, Paul met with the disciples to encourage them that they should not loose heart or give up on their faith even with such opposition against them, but he did think that it was time for him to move onto Macedonia at this time so that he could encourage those bothers and also the brothers in Greece.


He did not seem to spend much time in Macedonia.  After this time though, another plot from the Jews was made against him as he was about to set sail for Syria (to return to Syrian Antioch), so he changed his plans and decided instead to return through Macedonia, and several of the brothers from that region joined his party and went ahead of him as his advance team while Luke and some others stayed with Paul.

Paul waited until after the Feast of Unleavened Bread (the Passover) was over before catching a ship from Philippi to Troas, where he met the Gentile brothers after five days, and they stayed in Troas for seven days.  Even Paul needed to stop and rest sometimes and we shouldn't be afraid to do that either--even when we are set on getting somewhere (like Paul knowing that God wants him back in Jerusalem for Pentecost), we should trust God when He tells us to stop and rest and we should also continue to preach and minister along the way--as we will see Paul doing next time.