6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And 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. 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.” 10 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 16:6-10 (ESV)
Through the Bible: Acts 15-16
There is an ancient Jewish blessing (Birkot HaShachar) in traditional Jewish liturgy. It appears in the Talmud (Menachot 43b) and would have been one Paul almost certainly prayed as a young Pharisee. While the exact wording evolved over time, the prayer went like this:
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe,
who has not made me a Gentile,
who has not made me a slave,
who has not made me a woman.
For a Pharisee like Saul of Tarsus, this was the air he breathed. These were the boundary lines of his religious identity. In his mind, they cemented his position as one of God’s favorites– a free Jewish man.
Which is why Acts 16 reads almost like divine comedy. Because when God plants the church at Philippi, the first church on European soil and arguably the one Paul is most fond of, its founding members are a Gentile, a slave, and a woman.
It’s as though God grins and says, “So you think free Jewish men are My favorites, huh? Well, watch this.”
The Holy Spirit doesn’t just surprise Paul with who he meets in Philippi. He surprises him with who he doesn’t meet, and with the fact that he wound up in Philippi in the first place. The comedy begins before we ever meet the Gentile, the slave, and the woman.
Not Where He Expected to Be
The comedy begins with geography. You see, Paul did not plan to go to Philippi. It wasn’t on the itinerary. It wasn’t even on the same continent. But according to Acts 16:6–7, as Paul and his team traveled through the regions of Phrygia and Galatia, they were “forbidden by the Holy Spirit” to speak the word in Asia. That alone is a jolt—Paul wants to preach, and the Spirit says no.
So they try a different direction. They attempt to go into Bithynia.
Another closed door. This time “the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.”
Twice the Spirit blocks the preacher. Twice God says, “Not there… not yet… keep moving.”
Paul is pushed northwest until he reaches Troas, the end of the land and the edge of the sea. He’s out of road. He’s out of options. He’s one decision away from going home.
And that’s when God opens the next window. One night Paul has a vision of a man saying “Come to Macedonia to help us.” So with every other door closed, Paul and his companions set a course for Macedonia.
Not Who He Expected to See
“Come to Macedonia” was not a very specific vision. Ancient Macedonia was an enormous territory, encompassing parts of modern day Greece, North Macedonia, Southwestern Bulgaria, Southeastern Albania, and Turkey. It was culturally Greek, politically Roman, and strategically wealthy.
Since the man in the vision wasn’t standing in front of a sign saying “Welcome to Philippi, ” one might have at least expected him to be the first person Paul met when he arrived in the region. A guide. An influential, well-connected guy who could open doors, schedule meetings, and get Paul invited to the right parties.
But here’s the twist: there is no indication Paul ever meets this man. Not once in the entire chapter, nor in the rest of the New Testament. Instead, the first three people he encounters in Macedonia are: a woman praying by the river, a slave girl oppressed by a spirit, and a Gentile jailer ready to fall on his sword.
For Paul, it was a classic “Am I on Candid Camera?” moment.
Lydia: The Woman at the Riverbank (Acts 16:11-15)
The first convert is Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, praying with the women outside the city gate. She opens her heart to the gospel, then opens her home to the missionaries. She becomes a patron of the fledgling church—a spiritual mother to Europe’s first congregation.
So much for “Thanks, God, that I’m not a woman.”
The Slave Girl: The Oppressed Set Free (Acts 16:16-18)
Next comes the slave girl with the spirit of divination. We never hear her name. We never hear what happens to her afterward. But the first supernatural act God performs in Philippi is to liberate the least powerful person in the entire narrative. A slave. Owned. Exploited. Trafficked.
So much for, “Thanks, God, that I’m not a slave.”
Give her some credit, though. If Paul was looking for someone that could make introductions, she did: “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation” (v. 17).
If he wanted someone to ope doors for him, she did that too. Unfortunately, they were the doors to a Philippian jail cell.
The Roman Jailer: The Gentile Saved by Grace (Acts 16:25-34)
Paul grew annoyed with his unwanted marketing manager. Verse 18 tells us he commanded the evil spirit to leave her, and she did. Now it was the slave girl’s owners turn to be annoyed. Now that they couldn’t make any more money off of her, they dragged Paul and Silas before the Philippian magistrates and had them thrown in jail. That night, as Paul and Silas were leading a prison hymn sing, an earthquake shakes the place, the cell doors pop open, and all the prisoners’ chains fall away.
The jailer is ready to fall on his sword, but Paul assures him none of the prisoners have escaped. He and his whole family are baptized before the sun comes up.
So much for “Thanks, God, that I’m not a Gentile.”
God’s Holy Plot Twist
The church that would become Paul’s greatest joy (read Philippians—there’s not a grumpy paragraph in it) begins with the very people Paul had been trained to keep at arm’s length.
Paul’s pious prayer had been turned on its head. Just as the Holy Spirit used a sheet full of unclean animals to show Peter that God doesn’t play favorites (see Acts 10:9-16), He uses three unlikely converts to show Paul the same thing.
Years later, Paul wrote to the Galatians:
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
Galatians 3:28–29.
I wonder if Paul was remembering that day in Philippi? That day when three categories of exclusion became three trophies of grace. That day when God rewrote Paul’s prayer life.
The God Who Rewrites Everything
The good news is that God still does this. He still overturns old categories. He still shatters human boundary markers. He still builds His church out of the people the religious world tends to overlook. And if we’re paying attention, we may even see the Holy Spirit smile while doing it.
Related Content:
- Day 327: Same Circumstance, Different Purpose (Acts 16:25-34)
- Philippians #1: Partners in the Gospel (sermon)
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