“Answers For A Study in the Book of Acts” is a weekly post in addition to the regular “Case for Christianity, Person of Interest” posts on the weekend. The original questions can be found at the bottom of the “Case for Christianity, Person of Interest” study the weekend before, and the answers appear here mid-week (this week is an exception as we are a few days behind). This gives you time to do your own research, and then check your answers here. Keep in mind these will be basic answers with a little depth, but you can go much deeper for discussion if you’d like.
Note: The answers will focus on what the text of the Bible says, and commentaries and speculative answers will be noted as such. There are many scholarly commentaries out there but it will be important, as students of the Bible, to keep the text of the Bible as our first source. Commentaries can be used, keeping in mind that they are human thoughts about God’s Word.
The Goal for the notes, questions and answers: Share and reuse to lead your own Bible study!
Bible Study
Always remember to pray before you study and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and lead you into the truth found in God’s Word – pray for protection from the evil one who will try to discourage, distract and deceive us when we commit to growing closer to the LORD.
Read Acts Chapter 16: Then, to the best of your ability, answer the following questions.
NOTE: The New American Standard Version (NASB) is the Bible being used here, unless otherwise noted. Questions are taken directly from the chapters, and answers should be found and cited from the Scripture text in order to be Biblically accurate (unless asked to summarize in your own words). Study Bibles, commentaries and your own thoughts can be used for “Discussion” or “Going Deeper” questions. Cite sources to share with your group.
Paul’s second missionary journey; Paul and Silas are imprisoned
1. Read Chapter 16:1-15 with your table group
In the first part of this chapter, Paul begins his second missionary journey. It is in this chapter that Luke begins to use “we” instead of “they” (verse 10), indicating it was around this point that he joined Paul:
a. Who was Timothy, and where else can we find information about him in Scripture?
Timothy: His name means “one who honors God.” He was a convert of Paul whose mother (Eunice) and grandmother (Lois) were Jewish Christians (2nd Timothy 1:5), and his father was Greek. He is the first, second-generation of Christians mentioned in the New Testament. He was young when he became a frequent companion of Paul and his protege. Paul mentored him as he became the pastor of the Church at Ephesus. Paul wrote two letters to him: 1st and 2nd Timothy. He can also be found in Acts 17:15; 18:5; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:1 and Hebrews 13:23.
b. Where did they travel and where were they forbidden to go, and by whom?
Derbe, Lystra, Pharygian and Galatian region. They were forbidden to go to Asia by the Holy Spirit. They went on to Mysia, then the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them to go into Bithynia, so they ended up in Troas. Then, after Paul’s vision called him to Macedonia, they traveled through Samothrace, Neapolis, into Philippi which was the leading city of the district of Macedonia.
c. Who was the first convert in Europe (at Thyatira), and how did this conversion affect the rest of the household there?
A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, was the first convert in Europe. She was a seller of purple and a worshipper of God. She accepted the Gospel, as it was preached by Paul and then her and her household was baptized. She insisted that Paul and his companions stay at her house. She was most likely very wealthy due to her business, and seemed to be the head of her household.
Note: The fact that it was a group of women that had assembled showed that there were not enough men in this area to have an official Jewish gathering or Synagogue (it required at least 10 men), therefore, it was the women who were holding prayer and worship.
d. Discuss: How does this part of the chapter show Christianity’s impartiality towards women, as compared to other religions?
As with Jesus’ followers, women were well respected in the Christian faith. Even though women still had the traditional roles in the home, it was apparent that they could hold worship and prayer even if there were not enough men. Later on we see other women holding prominent roles in the Church, even teaching as Priscilla did with Aquila, although it seems that the Church structure was always one of a male leader (or senior pastor).
2. Read Chapter 16:16-40 with your table group
In the second half of this chapter, Paul and Silas get themselves in trouble:
a. What happened with Paul and a slave-girl that caused an uproar, and what did the chief magistrates do to Paul and Silas?
It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities, and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.” The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. Acts 16:16-24
- A slave-girl, having a spirit of divination, outed Paul and his companions as being servants of the Most High God (the demon in her would have recognized this)
- Paul exorcised the demon out of her, in the Name of Jesus
- Her owners saw their profits were now gone and dragged them to “court” with lies
- The crowd rose up against them, and the magistrates had them beaten, thrown into prison and fastened in the stocks
b. What did Paul and Silas do that would not be typical behavior considering their circumstances?
But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” Acts 16:25-28
- Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God – this, of course, would have been very unusual, but all the others were listening to them, therefore, they were still sharing the Gospel!
- In addition, they did not try to escape, this would have been unusual as well
c. Summarize what happened and how the jailer responded after a great earthquake hit.
But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household. Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, “Release those men.” And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us in public without trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out.” The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed. Acts 16:28-40
- Because of how Paul and Silas handled everything, especially after the earthquake, this jailer asked how to be saved and he was baptized (and it seems as though his household heard and believed as well). Note: Jailers in these days often lived where they worked, and therefore, the household would have easily been involved.
- The chief magistrates sent to release them quietly it seems, but Paul made it known that they were Roman citizens. Note: Roman citizens had special rights and could not be beaten or jailed without a proper trial. This would have gotten these magistrates in a lot of trouble had Paul pushed the issue as he will later on in another similar situation.
- This ends with them staying at (going back to) Lydia’s, and after encouraging the believers there, they departed again.
d. Discuss: How can we model Paul and Silas when we face adversity? Can you think of a time (and share if comfortable) when you responded to a stressful situation, or adversity, like Paul and Silas did; or maybe you didn’t respond like them and should have?
- Paul and Silas give us a great example of glorifying God, even in the face of adversity. This cannot be an easy thing to do under stress, but if we are keeping God, and the sharing of the Gospel, as our priority, we will find that God can give us the ability to find joy in difficult situations. He will also be able to use us to bring the beauty of the Gospel to others as they watch how we live out adversity. The fact that Paul and Silas had their eye on the eternal made the temporal not so important. We tend to do that backward by focusing too much on the temporal which makes us self-centered; this causes sadness, anxiety and depression as we see so much of today. Instead we need to be intentionally God-focused because that will bring us joy, comfort and peace beyond all human understanding.
- Answers to the second part will vary…
Please continue to join us in making our “Case for Christianity, Person of Interest” along with a study in the book of Acts, and share it with others!
Note: Class presentation, videos, reflections and Bible study question are posted on the weekend – Bible study answers (like these) posted mid-week (this week is an exception).
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Teri Dugan
TeriDugan@truthfaithandreason.com
1 Peter 3:15
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