Bible Study Lesson for Acts 16:11-15: Lydia's Conversion in Philippi

Read Acts 16:11. Samothrace is an island in the northeastern Aegean sea. It was a convenient place for boats to anchor, rather than to risk sailing at night. Neapolis is the seaport for Philippi, which is about 10 miles away. I'd like to take a short rabbit trail and show some pictures of what the Roman merchant ships, which Paul would have traveled on, looked like. { Show picture from "The Romans" pg. 42, "Great People of the Bible & How They Lived", pg 390, "Macmillan Bible Atlas", pg. 247 } There was no such thing as passenger ships; one would have traveled on a merchant or grain ship.

Read Acts 16:12. { Point out Philippi on the flannel map } My commentary provides more information about Philippi. The city of Philippi was named after King Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great. It was a prosperous Roman colony, which meant that the citizens of Philippi were also citizens of the city of Rome itself. They prided themselves on being Romans, dressed like Romans and often spoke Latin. Many of the Philippians were retired military men who had been given land in the vicinity and who in turn served as a military presence in this frontier city. That Philippi was a Roman colony may explain why there were not enough Jews there to permit the establishment of a synagogue and why Paul does not quote the OT in his letter to the Philippians. Today, all we have left of Philippi are some ruins. { Show picture of Philippi from "Wind and Fire", chapter 8 }

We have all sorts of images from Roman art that we can look at to see what Roman life was like. Theirs was a very sophisticated culture with incredible architecture and art that easily rivals anything modern day artists have created. I would like to take some time and look at some pictures from the book "The Romans" and "Pompeii" to see examples of how they lived and dressed. { Show pictures from these two books }

Read Acts 16:13. Because there were so few Jews living in Philippi, there wasn't a synagogue for Paul to visit, as he had done when visiting other cities. Apparently it was customary for the Jews that did live in the area to go to the banks of the Gangites River and meet there, instead. It was customary for such places of prayer to be outside, near running water. Apparently there were only women gathered there at that time. Notice that Paul and his companions do not at all hesitate to share the gospel with women. They immediately start talking with them. There is no indication that Paul saw this beneath them or that he did not value them or that it would have been a breech of cultural mores for a strange man to speak with a woman he has not been introduced to.

Read Acts 16:14. Now the city of Thyatira is in Myasia. Why Lydia is currently living in Philippi is unknown; as a businesswoman perhaps she moved back and forth between the two cities annually or perhaps that was where she was originally, but now had settled permanently in Philippi. Thyatira was famous for its dyeing works, especially royal purple (or crimson). It could be that she had people working for her in Thyatira, producing the purple cloth, that was then shipped to Philippi where she arranged for it to be sold. As a short rabbit trail, Thyatira is the last of the seven church cities mentioned in Revelation 2. Read Revelation 2:18-20. Interestingly, with the exception of the mention of this city when describing Lydia, this is the only other place in the Bible that Thyatira is mentioned. Clearly, at some point, a church was planted there.

We get an insight in to Roman society here: apparently it was not at all unusual for a Roman woman to be a businessperson in her own right. As we read on there will be no mention of a husband in her life. It says here that she was a "worshiper of God." She was probably like Cornelius, the centurion, which we met in Acts 10. Read Acts 10:1-2. Both these two were Gentiles and followed the moral teachings of the Old Testament, however they did not convert to Judaism.

Read Acts 16:15. Just like with Cornelius, she accepts Christ, and because of her faith, all the members of her household (most likely servants or young dependents or other single women) also accept Christ and are baptized. She opens up her home to Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke. We can probably read between the lines here by what she says "If you consider me a believer" - in other words, if you consider me a sister in Christ, an equal spiritually, you should not have any difficulty accepting my hospitality. The fact that Luke says "she persuaded us" seems to hint at someone of a very strong personality, perhaps of a very independent spirit. I would think she would have to be, if she were to be a successful businesswoman. The fact that she had her own household and could offer hospitality to four men seems to indicate that she was at least moderately well off.

Unfortunately we won't hear anything else about her in Acts, except at the end of this chapter when Paul and Silas will return to her home briefly, after being in prison. She was Paul's first recorded convert in Macedonia and in all of Europe.

To be continued...

Sources
Editors. Compton's Interactive Bible (software)
Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford (notes). The Student Bible. NIV Version
Macdonald, Fiona. The Romans.
Aharoni & Avi-Yohan. The Macmillan Bible Atlas.
Editors. Great People of the Bible & How They Lived.