SUMMARY
Paul and others visit Philippi, where they meet Lydia. God brings her to faith in Christ, and she hosts the missionaries and a developing group of believers in her house (16:40).
ANALYSIS
In Philippi, Paul and his companions find a place of prayer outside the city gateGates are openings in walls or fences for entrance and departure. In the Bible (as in Ruth and the prophets) the city gate was a commercial center where business and social transactions took place. In Amos the gate is the location of the law court... More on the SabbathSabbath is a weekly day of rest, the seventh day, observed on Saturday in Judaism and on Sunday in Christianity. In the book of Genesis, God rested on the seventh day; in the Gospel accounts Jesus and his disciples are criticized by some for not... More. This deviates from Paul’s normal practice in Acts of first preaching in a synagogueA synagogue is a Jewish house of worship. Jesus often taught in synagogues where he sometimes ran afoul of Jewish leaders. In the book of Acts, Paul and others attend synagogues and teach in them. More within the city. The missionaries encounter a group of women on the riverbank, presumably part of the praying assembly. Among them is Lydia, a sojourner in Philippi, characterized as a “dealer in purple cloth.” This designation puts Lydia among those first-century women who ran a householdA household is a living unit comprised of all the persons who live in one house. A household would embrace all the members of a family, including servants and slaves. In the book of Acts, stories are told of various persons and their households, like... More and a business. She speaks a succinct line that encapsulates the social inclusiveness of Christ-centered faith and practice: “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” Lydia is a God-worshipping woman, but probably not of Jewish descent. She is therefore not the ideal hostess for Jewish men who have recently come to town. But she knows that faithful hospitality, not least at meals, is a primary value of those who assemble in the Lord’s name; it is not optional or a matter of convenience. Shared space is part of shared faith. Paul and the others accept Lydia’s invitation; at the end of the chapter, after the imprisonment of Paul and Silas, they return to her house to encourage the congregation gathered there (16:40).
