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Tag: Alexander the Great

Mission to Macedonia with more exhortation
Now after the uproar had ceased, Paul having summoned and exhorted the disciples, said farewell and left to go to Macedonia.
Acts of the Apostles 20:1 Legacy Standard Bible

Paul’s mission returns to Macedonia

When we last left Paul in Ephesus the Apostle had been acquitted of causing a riot and was preparing to sail back to familiar destination of his second mission. Today we’ll briefly return to Macedonia and remind ourselves of the role of exhortation of Christ’s faithful.

RIOTING TODAY! – Testimony from many stakeholders

NOTE the Gallery of riots up to the Common Era that go back as far as Assyria in 722 B.C. & Babylon in 537 B.C.

ACTS 20:

2 And when he had gone through those districts and had given them much exhortation, he came to Greece. And there he spent three months, and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.

μέρος – 1st. c. districts

In order to think like these apostles to the gentiles we must not picture countries from a 21st century Common Era map.

..Jesus withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon.

..Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi..

..He entered the boat with His disciples and came to the district of Dalmanutha.
Matthew 15:21, 16:13: Mark 8:10 – Strong’s G3313 – meros

Now it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper regions G3313 and came to Ephesus and found some disciples.
Acts of the Apostles 19:1 – when Paul first came to Ephesus – [‘through the upper country,’ – KJV ]

Paul has just left Ephesus (a major Roman city). But think BIGGER: the mission of these apostles leaves Asia.

The apostle Paul goes out again on mission to Roman Achaia (Greece in some translations) with rebuilt ancient Greek city-states [districts] of a former empire.

Ancient districts and kingdoms including those of the Jews had all fallen in time to EMPIRES of

Egyptians, Babylonians and Persians.

More recently Greece had been conquered by a Macedonian King Philip (as in Philippi) and his son.

Alexander the Great conquered most of the world to the west only to have his fourth century B.C. Greek-speaking Empire later fall to Rome in the East.

An even more ancient Kingdom of David and far-reaching Empire of Solomon had fallen into a distant memory of a thousand years before. The Jews, however, had been dispersed into all the nations.

In the first century A.D. time of a Galilean Jewish Messiah Jesus and a Cilician Jewish Roman citizen Paul, Jews sailed and traded from district to district with cultures within Empires from east to west.

much exhortation

THE EVANGELISM OF PAUL’S MISSIONARY JOURNEYS ALL INCLUDE EXHORTATION.

If any thread of witness of the Lord Jesus Christ continues throughout Paul’s three missions none is more evident than his exhortation or ongoing encouragement of these new churches by letter and in person.

Exhortation defined:

π αρακαλέω – parakaleō – beseech (43x), comfort (23x), exhort (21x), desire (8x), pray (6x), intreat (3x), miscellaneous (4x), variations of ‘besought’ (1x).

Encouragement practically jumps off the page of Luke’s account outlining Paul’s travel from Ephesus to Achaia and Macedonia

+ to call to one’s side, + to address, speak to, (call to, call upon), which may be done in the way of exhortation, entreaty, comfort, instruction, etc.

ALL saints and members of the churches baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior and changed forever by the Holy Spirit need exhortation.

Paul is a humble teacher who loves and mentors his disciples or students. The Apostle encourages the Ephesians as he departs to Macedonia and later will exhort the Ephesians, Philippians as well as others by letter.

Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them – KJV

Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them and saying farewell – NET

and when he had exhorted them and taken his leave of them, he left to go to Macedonia. – NASB95

He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece,
Acts of the Apostles 20:2 NIV
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Do you recall a few years earlier when Paul had first been called to GO TO MACEDONIA?
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Come over to Macedonia and Help us

The Apostle’s heart longs to build up the living stones of Christ’s Church in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

an 18th c. A.D. view of Macedonia
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Cultural commentary expressed here by a notable 18th c. A.D. American should not be read as a 21st c. C.E. commentary of TalkofJESUS.com and is provided as another historical perspective.

You may see his name on source links or at the bottom of this section. - R.H.
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Source: “The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution”.

1-..advocate for erecting three new independent republics on the European territory of the Ottoman Empire: Greece, Macedonia and Illyricum.
2- Macedonia is mentioned separately from Greece, and with that, Macedonia is not part from Greece.

Source: “The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution”.

At first, within the Roman province of Macedonia were ancient territories of Boeotia, Southern Epirus, Thessaly, Lower Macedonia, Attica, Peloponnese (present-day Greece), Upper Macedonia and Paeonia (present-day northern Greece and southern FYROM), Northern Epirus and Southern Illyria (present-day Albania).

After the defeat of Andriscus of Macedon (last Ancient King of Macedon) from Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus in 148 BC, region of Macedonia was divided into four client republics.

After that in 27 BC, with establishment of the principate territories of Attica and Peloponnese were split off from Macedonia, and was founded new senatorial propaetrorial province named as Achaea.

Province of Achaea included all Greece south of Thessaly, Macedonia and Epirus. It proves that separation, isn’t made by ethnic dimension (because if Greek inhabitants of Macedonia and Epirus, are questionable for Slavomacedonians and Albanians, then the case with Thessaly isn’t such).

Also at 67 AD, whole Epirus (Epirus vetus and Epirus nova) has become imperial procuratorial province separated from Macedonia. Thessaly remained as part of Macedonia.
Source: “The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution”.

“Conclusion: Alexander and Ptolemy are mentioned as examples for understanding between Jews and Greeks.

John Adams for Boston Gazette

– series of papers signed as Novanglus [Newenglander], written in 1774.

Timeline
- 332 Before Christ – Alexander the Great captures Judea and Egypt, Hellenization begins
  - 330 Before Christ – Alexander captures Persia
  - 323 B.C. his Empire divided after Alexander dies in Susa
- 42 B.C. – Battle of Philippi involving 200,000+ Romans in a civil war
- 37 B.C. – Herod the Great becomes client King of Judea
- 27 B.C. – Augustus [Octavian, victor at Battle of Philippi] becomes Caesar of the Roman Empire
  - Philippi named a Roman colony Colonia Victrix Philippensium built for veterans of the Roman civil war not returning to Italy.
- Anno Domini 30 – Crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ
- ~A.D. 55 – Paul DEPARTS EPHESUS for MACEDONIA
- ~A.D. 67 – Paul will write a second letter to Timothy (who accompanies the Apostle on this mission and will become the Pastor of the church at Ephesus) just prior to Paul’s martyrdom by Nero in Rome.
~ in the year of our Lord 55

The Jews plotted against him when he was about to set sail for Syria, and so he decided to go back through Macedonia.
Acts of the Apostles 20:3 – Christian Standard Bible

To be continued.. God-willing..

In ACTS of the Apostles 20

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
October 31, 2023
Lydia a Worshipper Down By The River
|:”WE’RE GOING DOWN TO THE RIVER TO PRAY”

Lydia, a worshiper of God

A brief outline of the opening of Europe to the Gospel of Jesus Christ beginning with the baptism of Lydia, a Jewish woman near a city with with few Jews.

I’ll take you back to Philippi, Macedonia (geographically part of Greece) in the 1st c. superpower Empire of Rome and then continue with details of this apostolic account.
Lydia, a worshiper of God
Acts of the apostles 16:12
Philippi
Philippi at a cultural crossroads between East and West
Philippi – Battleground for the Roman Empire
Acts 16:13 – Morning Prayer Outside Philippi
Lydia
And after she was baptized..
Acts of the apostles 16:12
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~ A.D. 50
Paulos, Silas & Timotheos
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Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.

We remained in this city some days. – v.12b

Don’t miss it:

These three apostles sent out by the Holy Spirit, worshipers of the risen Lord Jesus Christ whom Paul had encountered in Person, have just sailed across to Philippi after Paul had received a vision of a man of Macedonia asking for HELP.

Come over to Macedonia and Help us

And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. – Acts 16:10

13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.

illustration of Krenides River near Philippi

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia.. she was baptized, and her household as well..
Acts of the Apostles 16:14-15 excerpt ESV

Before we introduce you to Lydia, the woman who will become Europe’s first VIP of our second missionary journey — now arrived and residing in Macedonia — let’s glance again at the map and background of this 1st century Roman entry point to Europe across from Asia.

Philippi

Founded in 356 BC by the Macedonian King Philip II, the city developed as a “small Rome” with the establishment of the Roman Empire in the decades following the Battle of Philippi, in 42 BC.
source: unesco
A.D. 50 – The Roman Empire of Paul’s missionary journeys was vast and dominated the west or European part of Afro-Eurasia connected by the Mediterranean.

Much of it had once been part of a larger Alexandrian Empire founded by the MACEDONIAN King Philip for which Philippi was named.
Alexander III and a Macedonian army of his father Philip had conquered much of Afro-Eurasia in the 4th c. B.C.
- 340 BC – At age 16 he is left in charge of Macedonia during Philip’s attack on Byzantium
- 336 BC – Philip II assassinated; Alexander III becomes King, assassinates rivals, along with the League for Corinth he conquers Greek city-states and amasses an army to invade Persia.
- 334 – 325 BC – Alexander defeats Darius III, king of Persia; Tyre (just S. of 1st Antioch, the church home of Paul’s missions); and Egypt, where he founds the city of Alexandria.
- Alexander now occupied Babylon, city and province.. & invades India, defeating several local rulers.
  - source: Britannica.com
Philippi at a cultural crossroads between East and West

Mazaios)[1] (died 328 BC) was an Achaemenid Persian noble and satrap of Cilicia and later satrap of Babylon for the Achaemenid Empire, a satrapy which he retained under Alexander the Great.[2]

As a reward for his recognition of Alexander as the legitimate successor of Darius, Mazaeus was rewarded by being able to retain the satrapy of Babylon, as a Hellenistic satrap.

– source

As Mazaeus’s appointment indicated, Alexander’s views on the empire were changing.

He had come to envisage a joint ruling people consisting of Macedonians and Persians, and this served to augment the misunderstanding that now arose between him and his people.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexander-the-Great

This same cultural cohesion of Alexander (from ancient Greek areas and philosophies admired by Rome) is a forerunner of the Pax Romana required of Greek, Roman, Persian, Jewish and all other peoples incorporated in the the Roman Empire.

Continuing in Britannica’s description of Alexander’s final years:

This policy of racial fusion brought increasing friction to Alexander’s relations with his Macedonians, who had no sympathy for his changed concept of the empire.

His determination to incorporate Persians on equal terms in the army and the administration of the provinces was bitterly resented.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexander-the-Great

Philippi – Battleground for the Roman Empire

To what extent Paul and Silas, both Roman citizens, Timothy born of a Jewish mother and Greek father, and Lydia from Thyatira in Asia Minor across the Aegean from Philippi knew this Alexandrian background of their combined cultures we cannot be certain. However we can be confident that all would be familiar with a more recent and decisive incursion here known as the Battle of Philippi.

3 and 23 October 42 B.C.
involving up to 200,000 men in one of the largest of the Roman civil wars

Brutus pushed back Octavian and entered his legions’ camp.

to the south, Cassius was defeated by Antony and committed suicide

the Republican fleet was able to intercept and destroy the triumvirs’ reinforcements of two legions ..The strategic position of Antony and Octavian became perilous

Octavian’s soldiers were able to capture the gates of Brutus’s camp.. Seeing that surrender and capture were inevitable, Brutus committed suicide
Roman ports included Roman cities including Philippi modeled after ROME itself.

Paul and Silas, Roman citizens, traveled on Roman-approved commercial ships and Roman roads to Roman cities like this leading city of Philippi where they met Lydia.

It is neither Greek in one sense nor as Macedonian as its namesake. And one cultural certainty these travelers encountered after a few days in the city, PHILIPPI is NOT Jewish.

Acts 16:13 – Morning Prayer Outside Philippi

It’s now the Sabbath. Have Paul and Silas found some Jewish men in Roman Philippi?

(IF there are at least 10, then these men would gather in a synagogue in their Macedonian/Roman city.)

16:13 τῇ τε ἡμέρᾳ τῶν σαββάτων ἐξήλθομεν ἔξω τῆς πύλης παρὰ ποταμὸν οὗ ἐνομίζομεν προσευχὴν εἶναι καὶ καθίσαντες ἐλαλοῦμεν ταῖς συνελθούσαις γυναιξίν

Apparently, NO. Not withing the acropolis of these Roman walls. So these faithful Jews seek a place of prayer.

¹³And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.

Lydia

14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira [L on map across the Aegean in Asia Minor], a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God.

The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.

And after she was baptized..

and her household as well, she urged us, saying,

“If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.”

And she prevailed upon us.

ACTS of the apostles + To Be Continued — in Philippi
March 3, 2023
Come over to Macedonia and Help us
2 Routes from Mysia to Macedonia
Acts 16:
the leading of the Spirit
Taking the Gospel into a Greco-Roman world
A vision in Troas
Sailing from Troas to Neapolis
2 Routes from Mysia to Macedonia

Where have Paul, Silas and Timothy been?

Traveling with the Gospel through several towns in the central plain of Turkiye, an area unfamiliar to most Europeans (and distant from US).

These apostles could have continued from Derbe as before as they had journeyed through SYRIA & CILICIA.

Acts 16:

5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.

And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
Acts of the Apostles 16:6 ESV – Journey of Paul, Silas & Timothy sent out with the Gospel to the central plain of Turkiye

ORIGINAL ROUTE not taken: Land journey from towns of the central plain near Iconium to Macedonia would be ~500 miles.

Asia – Let’s Not Go There – Acts 16

1st c. Roman region of Asia lies between PHRYGIA to the S & MYSIA to the N
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Last time we mentioned the beginning of their land journey, but these few verses provide no account of which towns or how long these men stayed in this part of the central plain beyond Lystra, Derbe and Iconium before sailing to Europe from Troas.
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⁷And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

Troas, Asia Minor

the leading of the Spirit

You may have thought that Paul, Silas and Timothy had wandered from town to town in the mountains aimlessly proclaiming the Gospel wherever they happened on a town or small city. NOT SO.

Here is how 21st century Christians (having to know every reason for every act of any 1st c. apostle of Jesus) will often trip over the mysterious leading of the Spirit.

And just a reminder from the Greek that an apostle is a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders, especially orders from the triune God.

WHY did Paul, Silas and Timothy end up in Troas (perhaps ready to sail back to Antioch or to Cypress once more where Paul could meet up with Barnabas and John Mark)?

How is it that Paul did NOT choose a land route to Europe to begin proclaiming the Gospel to all the world?

Luke tells us:
- ACTS 16:6 ..having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
  - ἁγίου πνεύματος – hagios pneuma – Holy Spirit
- ACTS 16:7 ..but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.
  - τὸ πνεῦμα Ἰησοῦ – ho pneuma – the Spirit – (SAME WORD)
    
    definition in part G4151 i.e. a simple essence, devoid of all or at least all grosser matter, and possessed of the power of knowing, desiring, deciding, and acting
  - Ἰησοῦς – iēsous – of Jesus
CHRISTIAN, do YOU obey the ALL-KNOWING and ETERNAL power of the risen JESUS?

Do you allow the HOLY SPIRIT to direct YOU in directions GOD plans so different from the paths YOU would take?

PAUL not only has encountered the risen JESUS some years back when Christ REDIRECTED this apostle to the gentiles in an entirely different direction,

but Saul of Tarsus AND ALL of these apostles were “sent out” by the HOLY SPIRIT, as well as from their local Church back in Antioch.

The Lord Jesus continues to order his 21st c. disciples of the church into unknown, even mysterious places — into a world unfamiliar to their former witness of God.

Taking the Gospel into a Greco-Roman world

Roman roads & routes of the Aegean Sea later in AD 125

The Lord Jesus continues to order his disciples of the church into unknown, even mysterious places — into a world unfamiliar to their former witness of God.

The increasing presence of Rome in so many strategic ports of the Aegean in Paul’s day dominated all travel in and between the major cities of Eurasia.

The Apostles might have sailed back to Antioch from the Roman-occupied towered town and port of Troas. Yet by the command of the Spirit they took the commercial ferry routes toward Philippi near the north-western shore of the Aegean – a leading Greek city in Europe.

A vision in Troas

ACTS 16:9

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying,

“Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

What will Silas and Timothy think of this sudden change of tickets for an entirely different journey ahead?

And when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Troas to Neapolis, Philippi, Macedonia

Sailing from Troas to Neapolis

11 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace,

and the following day to Neapolis,
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You'll have difficulty finding 'Nea polis' on a map because it's Greek for "new city." Even on Cypress Paul had been to Nea Paphos, built after an earthquake had destroyed much of Paphos.

Nowadays the city's nickname is "the cyan city" (Η γαλάζια πόλη) and the symbol of the municipality of Kavala is the head of goddess Parthenos, the patron goddess of ancient Neapolis, as depicted in the coinage of the ancient Greek city. - source: Wikipedia
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12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days.

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel

Acts for a 21st c. Church

The Second Missionary Journey of Christ’s apostles Paul, Silas and Timothy

To be continued…

in Europe.
March 1, 2023