Bible Study Lesson for Acts 16:1-5: Paul's Second Missionary Journey Begins

(Note: When I taught my Bible study on the Book of Acts I used a flannel map as a visual aid. In my lecture notes you will find reference to this flannel map. The primary commentary I used was Compton's Interactive Bible, a software CD; I sometimes refer to this as my Interactive Bible CD.)

Paul's second missionary journey is described in Acts chapters 16, 17, & 18. I would like to start this chapter by showing maps of this journey, so that people can have them handy as a reference. My flannel map does not have all the cities mentioned in the Bible listed. { Hand out books with Paul's missionary journey maps }

Chapter 16 can be broken down into four sections.

Verses 1-5 describe when Timothy joins Paul and Silas on their journey
Verses 6-10 describe Paul's vision of a man of Macedonia
Verses 11-15 describe the conversion of a woman named Lydia in Philippi
Verses 16-40 describe Paul and Silas being thrown into prison

Read Acts 16:1. { Point out Derbe and Lystra on flannel map; have group find on their maps } Timothy probably became a believer during Paul's first missionary journey. Since his mother is also a believer, she probably accepted Christ at the same time. Paul calls Timothy a "young man" some 15 years later in 1 Timothy 4:12, so we can probably assume that Timothy is a teenager at this time. We have other statements about his mother's faith, 2 Timothy 1:5, but the Bible is silent about his father, so it is likely that his father was neither a Christian nor a convert to Judaism. I can't help wondering what sort of relationship Timothy had with his father and whether or not he was particularly pleased with him traipsing around the world preaching a religion he did not believe. Knowing his father was not a believer probably helps explain why Timothy and Paul had such a close relationship; Paul probably became an important father figure to him.

Read Acts 16:2. This is quite a statement to be associated with a teenager that the brothers (or elders of the church) "spoke well of him."

Read Acts 16:3. Something about this young man really appealed to Paul, so much so that he wanted him to travel with him and Silas. As his mother was Jewish, even though his father was Gentile, in that culture this made Timothy Jewish. Because the Jews of the area knew that Timothy's father was a Gentile and that Timothy had not been circumcised, Paul takes the step to see that Timothy is circumcised, so as to not cause dissension among the people they are trying to witness to. This was to help Timothy be more effective and not to be a stumbling block. This was a different situation than with Titus, a Gentile, in which some people were demanding that this was necessary for salvation. Read Galatians 2:1-3. { Put down Timothy symbol on flannel map near Lystra }

Read Acts 16:4-5. Part of Paul's mission in revisiting the churches planted during his first missionary journey was to give the churches a copy of the council's letter to Gentile believers, as we read about in chapter 15. The churches continued to flourish during this time. It is believed that Paul's group traveled, then, from Lystra to Iconium and then to Pisidian Antioch.

To be continued...

Sources
Editors. Compton's Interactive Bible (software)
Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford (notes). The Student Bible. NIV Version