College Notes
The Acts
Chapter 16
Revisiting Churches, Timothy (15:41-l6:10)
vs. 1
About 5 years since last visit.
Timothy:
Note: You cannot be a Jew unless your mother is a Jew.
vs. 3
Point: Paul thought it better part of
wisdom to have Timothy circumcised because of the offense an uncircumcised
Jew might be to others.
vs. 7
Peter -- northward and
eastward to Babylon, I Pet. 1:1
Paul -- westward. Did not go to Bythinia.
vs. 9
Paul's vision --
Perhaps Alexander the Great.
Some think it was Luke.
vs. 10
Luke joins group. Verse 8 “they” verse 10,
“us”.
Change in narrative (see vs. 17) from 3rd person to lst person.
Also another first message to
Europe
Philippi
(16:11-40)
Journey (16:11-12)
vs. 12
Philippi -- northern area of
Greece.
Scene of one of the most famous battles in the world -- when Augustus won for himself the Roman Empire.
Gospel to Europe, Pentecost (16:13-15)
vs. 13
Either weekly Sabbath or Pentecost.
Genitive -- ton -- sabbaton (e.g. “of”) Day of the Sabbaths (Feast of Weeks) Sabbath probably Pentecost, 50 A.D. l9 year time cycle to the day.
vs. 14
Lydia from top-end of social scale; was a purple merchant. Purple dye had to be gathered drop by drop from a certain shell-fish. Very expensive. (l lb. of wool to be dyed = (L l50) or equivalent to $300 in our money today.
Diviner (16:16-21)
vs. 16
Slave girl known as Pytho = gives oracles
to guide men about the future.
vs. 17
Luke refers to vs. 5
vs. 18
Example of casting out a demon and how it was
done.
Point: Paul didn't go seeking them out (demons).
Beating, Jail and Release (16:22-34)
vs. 25
Pray and sing = formula for
escaping.
vs. 27
Roman law -- According to it, the jailer
would have to suffer the penalty the prisoner would have suffered if the
prisoner escaped.
vs. 30
No doubt, this man had heard Paul (speak)
preach.
vs. 32
They discussed it in
length -- it didn't happen all at once.
Departure (16:35-40)
vs. 37
Paul used his rights
as a Roman.
Point: We as Christians should exercise our rights under the law.