Overview
God has us where He needs us, so we can trust Him even when the place is uncomfortable: in Acts 16 God put Paul, Silas and Timothy into a Philippian prison, and that is exactly where the man of Macedonia was waiting to be rescued. Rev. Jon Ryan starts in Numbers 12, where Moses writes that he is the meekest man on the face of the earth, and adds Jesus Christ in Matthew 11 and Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:1 to show that meekness is what lets God place a person. He then follows the closed doors in Mysia and Bithynia, the vision at Troas, Lydia of Thyatira, the damsel with a spirit of divination, and the midnight earthquake that saved the jailer’s life.
Transcript
When God Answers Prayer Through Another Person
God puts us where He needs us, so trust Him. Please turn to Numbers chapter 12, please. You know, you may have experienced this. I have run into situations where I’ve seen times when I’ve prayed, and someone comes across my path or gets a hold of me, and I’m very aware that this is the answer to my prayer. And I’ve also been on the other end where I’ve contacted somebody, or, you know, however we came together, and it was somebody else that was praying. It’s such an exciting thing when that happens. It really puts a stamp that, you know, you’re walking with God, that God’s aware of your situation, our situations.
Moses Leads Israel Out of Egypt: The Red Sea and Water from the Rock
So, here in Numbers chapter 12 is a great section here. Moses is leading the children of Israel. He’s taking them away from the captivity that they were in, in Egypt, and he’s teaching them how great God is by His decisions, by His example, by just, you know, when they’ve faced very challenging situations, he’s gone to God. They had the Egyptian army bearing down on them, and he tells them to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. And then he goes, and with God’s direction, he parts the Red Sea. They walk across on dry ground.
Later on, this large group of people, it’s estimated two and a half million, it said 600,000 men plus women and children. So, if you had 600,000 men and 600,000 women, that’d be 1.2 million. And if they had an average of two kids per family, there’s two and a half million. And they were running out of water, and water is essential to life. And they turned to Moses, who turned to God, and God told them, well, just tap on this rock with your staff and tell them about the rock of ages, Jesus Christ. And you can read the record, and Moses did, and water came out to quench the thirst of this amazing multitude.
How God’s Word Passed by Word of Mouth Until Moses Wrote It Down
So, here in Numbers chapter 12, I want you to take note that these books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, were the first books written in the Bible. Previous to this, they had the word of God via word of mouth. God had spoken to Adam and Eve and told them all that he needed to tell them. And then Adam and Eve had taught their progeny, taught Seth and the lineage that goes down all the way through to Noah. And then Noah and his three sons and their families escaped the flood.
And you can trace how the word continued from Noah and his progeny. Shem was one of his sons that moved into the land, and Shem moved into the land where Abraham grew up. And Abraham learned about God. And so, it was all word of mouth until you get to Moses. And Moses was 400 years after Abraham’s son Isaac was born.
Miriam and Aaron Speak Against Moses in Numbers 12
So, here Moses gets to write this book of Numbers, and in chapter 12, we read, and Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses. Miriam and Aaron were Moses’ sister and brother. And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married. Well, they’re no longer living in Egypt, but Moses had escaped Egypt 40 years earlier. And he was living in this place called Midian, and he married a woman who was obviously an Ethiopian woman. But God didn’t hold that against them, but his brother and sister are. So, they spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married, for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
And they said, hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? So, there’s some jealousy here. Instead of being excited about how their brother has walked with God and delivered them and done all these great things I just mentioned, and so many more than what I just mentioned, they said, is God only talking by you? Hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it. They’re complaining to Moses, and God’s listening.
The Meekest Man Upon the Face of the Earth
Now, the man Moses, now this is, Moses wrote this, which kind of flabbergasts me at times, because look what he writes. Verse 3, Now the man Moses was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth. Imagine having the meekness to be willing to write those words and say that you’re the meekest man in the whole world. But obviously it was true, because it says God told him. So, this is, it’s incredibly meek to be able to speak that of yourself.
Jesus Christ and Paul: Meek and Lowly in Heart
You know, there’s a place, we’re not going to turn there, but in Matthew chapter 11, Jesus Christ says to his followers, Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. For I am meek and lowly in heart, he goes on to say. He explains to them that he was meek to God, that he walked with the Father, and ultimately he’s going to tell them before the end of his, before he’s crucified, that they can walk in his steps, that they can do the things that he did. He’s teaching them how to be meek to God.
Go to 1 Corinthians, please. 1 Corinthians. And here we see in 1 Corinthians, we’re going to go to chapter 11, that the Apostle Paul, who at one point was Saul, the terrorizer, and he was part of the religious echelon, the Sanhedrin, the ruling body in Jerusalem, and they were the ones that orchestrated the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t say Paul specifically did that, but the religious leaders were the ones that set that up with the Romans.
And Paul was very much against the people that called themselves followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, until we read about how he was converted in Acts chapter 9, as he was trying to go to Damascus to get some other men and women and bring them into custody in Jerusalem, because only for the reason that they were followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet he turns, does an about face, 180 degree turn, and he becomes a great man for God.
And here, some years later, he writes 1 and 2 Corinthians, among with other epistles, and in 1 Corinthians 11 verse 1, we read, be followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. That takes amazing meekness, to say, follow me. He learned how to follow Jesus Christ, and he says, follow me as I am a follower of Christ. So what an amazing man. And think about the, that’s what I wanted to note, is the meekness that has to be involved for these men, for Moses, certainly Jesus Christ, Paul, to declare such things.
God Knows Where the Hungry Hearts Are
Now let’s go to Acts chapter 16. So to an example of Paul’s meekness and how God will bring us to where we need to be, we just need to trust him. God knows what lies ahead. We’ve looked at that recently, and he knows the pitfalls and the challenges that are in front of us, but he also knows where the hungry hearts are, the men and women that he’s called, that need someone to speak the word to them. How can they hear without someone to speak to them? And we can be those, those ambassadors, he calls us in Corinthians, to let them know, here’s who Jesus Christ is, and here’s what’s available to you.
So Paul has started a journey in Acts chapter 16. We pick up this journey. He’s been in what’s part of Asia Minor, the cities of Lystra and Iconium and Derbe, where he’s invited a young man that he met in a previous journey to travel with him, and he’s got permission from the young man’s parents. In Acts 16, verse 1, then came he to Derbe and Lystra, and behold, a certain disciple was there named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess — so she was a believer — and believed, but his father was a Greek. So his father was not part of the believing of the wife, but they were married. And it says, which was well reported of, speaking of Timothy, the son, which was well reported of by the brethren that were in Lystra and Iconium. Him would Paul have to go forth with him and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
Why Circumcision Signified God’s Grace, Not Human Ability
There was great teaching that was to accompany circumcision, the teaching that God gave to Abraham 2,000 years before this when he told Abraham that he and Sarah were going to have a son and that it was going to be because of what God was going to do, not because of their physical abilities. And so that’s where circumcision started to show in one respect that it’s not by your five senses abilities that you’re going to have this son, but it’s by my grace. And so they continued to have circumcision to trust that it was by God’s grace.
When they left the, when they were in wars at times with the unbelievers, they were going to go into the promised land, the land that God had promised to Abraham and where Abraham had lived. And now Moses years later is bringing them to this land that belongs to them. And yet it’s inhabited and they’re not an army. They’re just this people that were slaves in Egypt. And before they go in, God said, let’s make sure we do the circumcision again. Because the circumcision was to show that it was not by their prowess, their physical abilities that they were going to go in and be able to take this land.
The first city they were coming up against had 40 foot tall walls, but it was going to be by God’s grace. And that’s what circumcision meant and signified. And sure enough, they had this circumcision. And then when they were healed, it took a few days to get healed. And then they’re going to go into Jericho and the walls fall down, God’s grace. And they moved in and took the city.
So circumcision was to accompany these teachings. And Timothy had grown up with his dad being a Greek, he wasn’t circumcised, but now they have him circumcised. Verse four, as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep and were ordained of the apostles and elders, which were at Jerusalem. So were the churches established in the faith and increased in number daily.
Closed Doors in Mysia and Bithynia Bring Them to Troas
So here Paul and Silas at this point are traveling through this part of Asia Minor and they’re teaching people the word. Now, verse six, when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, after they were come to Mysia and they assayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not. So they’re endeavoring to go to find people, but the doors are closed. No, it’s not going to be here where people are going to believe. No, it’s not going to be this other place in Bithynia, but they keep moving.
And they passing by Mysia, verse eight, came down to Troas. Now, Troas, we will learn through other records in the word, appears to be the place where Luke, the physician, the one who wrote the gospel of Luke is also attributed with writing the book of Acts. This appears to be where Luke lived. And Luke is the one, like I said, that is understood and recognized as the one that wrote the book of Acts. It’s God’s word, but he wrote it down, just like Matthew wrote the gospel of Matthew and Mark wrote the gospel of Mark. Luke wrote the gospel of Luke, but he also wrote the book of Acts.
And in the first chapters of Acts, it refers to the former treatise that I had written to you, speaking of the gospel of Luke, as he introduces the book of Acts. And it’s showing these records of the first century believers, how they moved and how God worked in their lives. So they’ve come to Troas, and this appears to be Luke lives here because we see the pronouns change to include the writer. The pronouns change from they moved to we moved.
The Vision of the Man of Macedonia
It says here in verse eight, and they passing by Mysia came to Troas and a vision appeared to Paul in the night and there stood a man of Macedonia and prayed him saying, come over into Macedonia and help us. And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia. So see how the pronouns change from they to now we. Luke, as the writer of Acts, is including himself. So they’ve come to Troas, apparently to Luke’s home, and Paul receives this vision.
And the vision, again, read that again. It says in verse nine, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night and there stood a man of Macedonia. Now, it’s very clear in all the different translations of records. It’s a man of Macedonia. Now, Macedonia is there on the eastern side of the Aegean Sea. That’s where Troas is. You go across the Aegean Sea, and that’s Macedonia. So they’re heading towards this place called Macedonia, and apparently there’s a man there that needs help because it says a man of Macedonia prayed him saying, come over into Macedonia and help us.
What the Word Help Means: The Woman of Canaan in Matthew 15
Keep a marker here and look at Matthew chapter 15, please. Matthew 15. Come over into Macedonia and help us. Here, this record of Jesus Christ as he’s traveling encounters a person that needs help. And I want to show you that this word help more literally could be translated rescue.
In verse 21, of Matthew 15, then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts and cried unto him saying, have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed with the devil, but he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, send her away for she cried after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent unto the lost sheep of the house. I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped and saying, Lord, help me.
Now remember, Paul saw a vision of a man of Macedonia saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. This is that same word help. But he answered and said, it is not meet to take the children’s bread and to cast it to the dogs. And she said, truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from the master’s table. So her daughter is in this terrible state and she needs help. She needs rescuing. She’s, it said, she’s possessed with the devil spirit.
Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee, even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from the very hour. So when someone needs help, they’re in a desperate situation. This is more than just, can you help me? I locked my keys out of my car. This is a much more intense request.
Lydia of Thyatira, Whose Heart the Lord Opened
And so go back to Acts 16 again and we’ll see how this progresses. This vision Paul had is a man of Macedonia saying, come over into Macedonia and rescue us. I need help. He needs delivering from a real severe situation. So Paul travels over there to Macedonia. Verse 10, after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. Therefore, loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, excuse me, and the next day to Neapolis and from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia and a colony. It’s a Roman colony. And we were in the city abiding certain days. And on the Sabbath, we went out of the city by a riverside where prayer was wont or known to be made.
So they’ve arrived in Macedonia. They know that there’s a big need here. They’ve got, Paul had this vision of a man that needs rescuing, a man of Macedonia. And so they’re, I’m sure, asking questions and they find out there’s this group of women down by the river that gathered together for prayer. Again, on verse 13, and on the Sabbath, we went out of the city by a riverside where prayer was known to be made. And we sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us.
Well, God doesn’t waste words. So he’s telling us something here when it tells us this woman was of the city of Thyatira. And so I looked on my Oxford Bible atlas. Where is Thyatira? Well, Thyatira is about 50 miles southeast of Troas, right where Paul and Silas and Timothy had been traveling. The doors were closed to speak the word in Mysia and Bithynia, but that’s right where Thyatira is. And it was known to have this purple dye. And perhaps that served to open up this conversation that Paul has with this woman. She’s a seller of purple from Thyatira.
You know, sometimes the doors have to open and it can just be a kind word that opens the door. It doesn’t say that Paul got into a discussion with her about Thyatira, but it mentions that she’s from there. And perhaps that allowed for an introduction to be made because Paul is just sitting there with a group of women. Paul and Silas and Timothy. Doesn’t mention any men. It specifically mentions there’s women that have gathered by the river.
So let’s read it again here. Verse 14, and a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. So Paul has gained her attention and she is listening intently. It says God opened her heart. She’s listening intently to the words that Paul is speaking to her. Verse 15, and when she was baptized, I guess that’s listening intently. She’s going to be baptized. Paul’s able to teach her about Jesus Christ and what’s been accomplished and he gets her born again. And when she was baptized and her household, she besought us saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there. And she constrained us.
Well, this tells us a little bit about the woman also. She’s meeting with a group of women down by the river. She’s able to invite Paul back to her house. There’s no mention of a husband or any male that she would be married to, for instance, or serving with. She must be either maybe a widow or not married, but she has the freedom to invite these men back to her home, and it’s acceptable. So this woman, we’ve started to put some pieces together about who she is.
The Damsel with a Spirit of Divination
Verse 16, and it came to pass as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. The same followed Paul and us and cried saying, these men are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of salvation. Well, that doesn’t sound too obnoxious, unless the timing is obnoxious. Perhaps as Paul’s teaching, she’s interrupting and yelling these words out, because it says, and this she did many days, but Paul being grieved.
So she’s not adding to the meeting. These statements that she’s declaring are grieving Paul, and yet he’s allowing her to be a part of the company. He’s allowing her to be a part of the meeting. He’s not telling Silas, hey, here comes that woman again. Would you kind of get her out of here, move her to the back? No, he’s putting up with her. You know why? Because he’s meek. He’s learned how to walk with God.
And look what it says, that Paul being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he or it, that spirit, came out the same hour. And when her masters saw, the hope of their gains was gone. So this woman, this woman that was a soothsayer, had a business that these men were making money from.
Sometimes when I travel into Boston, there are these shops that are on the side of the road that speak of fortune tellers, even today. And you can come and get your fortune told. You can come and they’ll read the cards or whatever they do. But they’ve obviously got a business going because they’ve got a place with a big sign on the commercial avenues of Massachusetts. And these men are now distressed because this woman that was making the money for them has shut down her business.
See, she was coming to these meetings where Paul is teaching. You’re never totally possessed. She was hearing the word. Even though the spirit was provoking her to interrupt the meetings, the spirit probably wanted her to get the heck out of there. But she’s listening. And eventually her heart is softened to where Paul has got the green light to heal her, to cast this spirit out of her. And I used to think, well, that’s the person from Macedonia that Paul needed to come and rescue. But I was confused because this is clearly a woman and his vision was a man of Macedonia. Let’s keep reading.
Beaten and Cast Into the Inner Prison at Philippi
So it says in verse 20, and they brought them to the magistrate saying, these men being Jews do exceedingly trouble our city and teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. And he, or I’m sorry, and the multitude rose up together against them. And the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded to beat them. So this is quite a stir. These businessmen have come and said, look what’s going on. These folks have come in here and they’re messing up our commerce.
And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison. Now, I want to mention that Paul is a Roman citizen, and he could have stopped this whole proceeding at any point by just declaring that he’s a Roman, that they have no right to judge him and treat him this way without going through the law, the legal system that they’ve set up with the Romans. But he doesn’t mention that he’s a Roman.
So it goes on verse 23 again. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely, who having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks. So this is not just the holding cell while you’re awaiting trial. These men are condemned, and they’re on the inner prison, and they’re made fast in these stocks.
Praying and Singing at Midnight When the Earthquake Came
And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God. Amazing. These two wonderful men, they apparently didn’t take Timothy, the young boy, but Paul and Silas are arrested, put into this inner prison. And who else is in the prison? These criminals are in the prison. And Paul and Silas are at midnight praying and singing. I mean, maybe that’s not going over so big with all these prisoners at midnight. But nonetheless, they are not distressed and crying and saying, woe is me.
In one record, I saw it may be that they were singing the songs from the book of Psalms from 114 to 116. And those are songs. The Psalms were sung many times in the Old Testament. And those Psalms speak of God delivering his people. But here, it doesn’t tell us what they’re singing, just that they are.
And the prisoners heard them, verse 26. And suddenly, there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. So here, this earthquake happens. They’re in the inner prison. They’re down in the depths. That’s not a good place to be in an earthquake. And yet, this earthquake is so specific. Apparently, it’s not crumbling all around them and burying them. It’s just shaking off their shackles. However, that specific earthquake can happen to shake off their shackles. So that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately, all the doors were opened. That’s, again, pretty specific.
Now, this is midnight. They don’t have any electricity, right? There’s no electricity back 2,000 years ago. So the earthquake’s happened. You can imagine any lights that were lit, if any, at midnight—very few, perhaps, were lit—are doused with this earthquake that’s happened, that’s rattled and shaking the doors and shaking off their shackles. And all the doors are opened, and everyone’s bands were loosed.
The Philippian Jailer Rescued: God Put Them Right Where They Needed to Be
And the keeper of the prison, awaking out of his sleep—it’s midnight—he somehow has fallen asleep, but he’s responsible for these prisoners. Awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. He wakes up to this earthquake, the doors are open, and he’s responsible. If your prisoners get away from you, you have to serve their sentence, which apparently was a death sentence, because he’s going to kill himself rather than taken and be killed by his overseers.
He drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. Verse 28, but Paul cried out or cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. It’s dark. You can’t see what’s going on in this prison. Paul, with inspiration, yells these words. He doesn’t know what’s happening. He doesn’t know that this man is about to take his own life. But he yells these words that save the man’s life.
I venture to tell you, this is the man of Macedonia. He’s about to take his own life, and he’s rescued by the words of Paul. Do thyself no harm. We are all here. Then he called for a light. See, it’s dark. The jailer calls for a light and sprang in and came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. How incredible.
And this man takes him to his own home. The prison is not functioning anymore. The doors are all off their hinges. The prisoners have been released. But he takes Paul and Silas. I don’t know if he takes the whole group of them, but he takes Paul and Silas to his own home and mends them, tends their wounds. Verse 32, And they spake unto him the word of the Lord and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into the house, he set meat before them and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
And when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeant saying, Let those men go. And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart and go in peace. But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly, uncondemned, being Romans. Now he plays the card that, you know, we’re Romans. We should have never been treated this way. Being uncondemned, being Romans and have cast us into prison. And now do they thrust us away privately? Nay, verily, but let them come in themselves and fetch us out. And the sergeants told these words unto the magistrates and they feared because you can’t treat Romans this way. And they feared when they heard that they were Romans and they came and besought them and brought them out and desired them to depart from their city. They took a whole different town.
But I venture to tell you that the vision that Paul received back in Troas of a man of Macedonia needing rescuing, I’m putting before you that perhaps this is the man, this jailer that gets saved and his whole house as he’s about to take his own life. God put Paul and Silas and Timothy right where they needed to be. It wasn’t the most comfortable situation. They got beat. They got treated terribly. And yet they just continued to walk with God. And at midnight they were praying and singing. They didn’t give up on God because God will always make a way no matter what goes on. That’s how we can walk. That’s how we can be followers of Paul and his ways in Christ.
So Father, I thank you for your love for us. I thank you for these great records in your word that we can learn how to walk with you. That we never have to be so in such trouble that we think that you can’t help us. But that you’re right there to help us at our most dire times and their most challenging times. And that we can be there for others that need rescuing, that need help, that need deliverance. And that we can have the meekness of Paul, of Jesus Christ, of Moses to just walk with you and follow your lead. Thanks God, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Key Takeaways
- God knows what lies ahead and where the hungry hearts are; the closed doors in Mysia and Bithynia were part of moving Paul to the place he was needed.
- Meekness is what Moses, Jesus Christ and Paul held in common: Moses wrote that he was the meekest man upon the face of the earth, Jesus Christ said he was meek and lowly in heart, and Paul could say, be followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
- The word translated help in the Macedonian call is the same word the woman of Canaan uses in Matthew 15, and it carries the force of rescue, not a small favour.
- Circumcision signified that the son promised to Abraham, and the taking of Jericho with its 40 foot tall walls, came by God’s grace and not by human prowess.
- Paul let the damsel with a spirit of divination stay in the meetings for many days because he was meek, and eventually her heart was softened enough for the spirit to be cast out.
- Paul and Silas were beaten and put in the inner prison, yet they prayed and sang at midnight, and that placed them in front of the jailer who was about to take his own life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was the man of Macedonia in Paul’s vision?
Rev. Jon Ryan puts forward the Philippian jailer as the man of Macedonia. He says he used to think it was the damsel with the spirit of divination that Paul needed to come and rescue, but was confused because she is clearly a woman while the vision was of a man. The jailer is the one about to take his own life, and he is rescued by Paul’s words, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here.
What does the word help mean in the man of Macedonia’s call in Acts 16:9?
It carries the sense of rescue rather than a small favour. Jon Ryan turns to Matthew 15, where the woman of Canaan whose daughter is grievously vexed with the devil says, Lord, help me, using that same word. As he puts it, when someone needs help they are in a desperate situation, and this is more than just, can you help me, I locked my keys out of my car.
Why did Paul have Timothy circumcised in Acts 16:3?
Because of the Jews which were in those quarters, and because of the teaching that was to accompany circumcision. God gave it to Abraham 2,000 years before, when he told Abraham that he and Sarah would have a son because of what God was going to do and not because of their physical abilities. Israel was circumcised again before Jericho, to show that a city with 40 foot tall walls would not be taken by their own prowess.
Scripture References
Numbers 12; Numbers 12:1; Numbers 12:2; Numbers 12:3; Matthew 11:28-29; 1 Corinthians 11:1; Acts 9; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Acts 16:1; Acts 16:2; Acts 16:3; Acts 16:4; Acts 16:5; Acts 16:6; Acts 16:7; Acts 16:8; Acts 1:1; Acts 16:9; Acts 16:10; Matthew 15:21; Matthew 15:22; Matthew 15:23; Matthew 15:24; Matthew 15:25; Matthew 15:26; Matthew 15:27; Matthew 15:28; Acts 16:11; Acts 16:12; Acts 16:13; Acts 16:14; Acts 16:15; Acts 16:16; Acts 16:17; Acts 16:18; Acts 16:19; Acts 16:20; Acts 16:21; Acts 16:22; Acts 16:23; Acts 16:24; Acts 16:25; Psalms 114-116; Acts 16:26; Acts 16:27; Acts 16:28; Acts 16:29; Acts 16:30; Acts 16:31; Acts 16:32; Acts 16:33; Acts 16:34; Acts 16:35; Acts 16:36; Acts 16:37; Acts 16:38; Acts 16:39
This text was prepared from the teaching audio. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
