“You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it...”
—Exodus 30:18
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. 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. 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.
—Acts 16:13-15
The description of the Sabbath river-side scene in Philippi takes only seconds to read. But it tells us a great deal about Paul's journey of transformation.
It was a Greek city and a Roman colony. Paul and his companions may have been looking for believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Or perhaps they were just looking for a place outside the noise and crowds of a city filled with pagan culture. In any case, they found a group of women gathered there. And Paul taught them.
The text doesn't record anything as dramatically overt as Peter's rooftop vision in Joppa of the “great sheet“ or the demonstration of the Spirit's presence at the house of Cornelius. But Luke recognized that the Lord was present. And the fruit of the Spirit was evident in Lydia's invitation and hospitality. Not to mention her refusal to take "no" for an answer.
This scene, including the acceptance of Lydia's hospitality, emphasizes how far Paul had come—from a violent opponent of the infant church based on his background as a Pharisee to a humble midwife assisting in the birth of new life throughout his journeys. Accepting the hospitality of a Gentile woman.
After being assaulted by a mob, publicly beaten, and spending what had to be a physically miserable night in prison stocks, Paul and Silas were released by the magistrates who had come to understand the seriousness of their own breach of Roman law. Paul's concern for the new believers in Philippi is clearly displayed in the fact that he did not leave town before first visiting with and encouraging those believers.
Bronze Mirrors (part 1)
Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
—Psalm 90:1-2
“You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it...”
—Exodus 30:18
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. 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. 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.
—Acts 16:13-15
The description of the Sabbath river-side scene in Philippi takes only seconds to read. But it tells us a great deal about Paul's journey of transformation.
It was a Greek city and a Roman colony. Paul and his companions may have been looking for believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Or perhaps they were just looking for a place outside the noise and crowds of a city filled with pagan culture. In any case, they found a group of women gathered there. And Paul taught them.
The text doesn't record anything as dramatically overt as Peter's rooftop vision in Joppa of the “great sheet“ or the demonstration of the Spirit's presence at the house of Cornelius. But Luke recognized that the Lord was present. And the fruit of the Spirit was evident in Lydia's invitation and hospitality. Not to mention her refusal to take "no" for an answer.
This scene, including the acceptance of Lydia's hospitality, emphasizes how far Paul had come—from a violent opponent of the infant church based on his background as a Pharisee to a humble midwife assisting in the birth of new life throughout his journeys. Accepting the hospitality of a Gentile woman.
After being assaulted by a mob, publicly beaten, and spending what had to be a physically miserable night in prison stocks, Paul and Silas were released by the magistrates who had come to understand the seriousness of their own breach of Roman law. Paul's concern for the new believers in Philippi is clearly displayed in the fact that he did not leave town before first visiting with and encouraging those believers.
Beginning with Lydia.