The Philippian Proseuche – Acts 16:10-13

One of my fears in this study is that I am boring you with details.

Unfortunately for you, I like details and the background behind the details that we find in the scriptures.

Sometimes the scripture itself, invites us to examine those details,

Such as Luke’s comments that Philippi was colony and the chief city of that part of Macedonia.

But often there is unmentioned but interesting information which puts a little extra color on the more obvious Biblical statements and lessons.

And then thirdly, as I study the details, I find that I have to correct my earlier mistaken generalizations.

This evening we have a couple of examples of these sorts of things.

I’ve entitled this message “The Philippian Proseuche (pros-yoo-khay’)”

We will come back to this, but the Greek word translated “prayer” in verse 13, is “proseuche.”

Let’s start with PHILIPPI itself.

Today, the only remains of Philippi are a few piles of rubble and some springs.

Since time immemorial the site was blessed with a number of fresh water fountains.

In one way or other water has almost always been a part of the establishment of most cities.

Deming, NM is nothing but a wide-spot in the road, but was once a place to water the steam engines.

Also in the region of Philippi there were number of ancient gold mines.

When the father of Alexander the Great began to unite the people of Macedonia,

He wanted to keep the gold mines of Mt. Pangaeus out of the hands of the Thracian Kings to the east,

So he strengthened the ancient little community at the fountains and renamed it after himself: Philip.

One of the things that I need to clarify is that Philippi was not actually on the Strymon River, as I have said.

It was on a smaller tributary of the Strymon called the Gangas, or Gangasite River.

The Strymon, which begins up north in Bulgaria is actually about 30 miles from Philippi.

When Paul and the others disembarked at Neapolis, they traveled by road for about 10 miles to Philippi.

So the Proseuche was on the Gangas River rather than the Strymon.

I confess to have been mis-lead by some of my commentaries.

Even though Philip II of Macedon gave Philippi its name it was actually Roman history which put it on the map.

Toward the end of the century-long Roman civil wars Augustus and Antony defeated the armies of Brutus and Cassius at Philippi.

Antony was the man who eventually ended up in the arms of Cleopatra,

And Brutus two years earlier was involved in the murder of Julius Caesar; “Et tu Brute?”

Philippi wasn’t really a decisive battle, but it was enough to clear up some of the Roman political fog.

That was in the summer of 42 BC.

Later Caesar Augustus declared that Philippi would become a Roman colony because of that victory.

And yes, that was the man of Luke 2:1 – “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.”

He was also the man of Acts 25:21 – “But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar.”

So Philippi became a colony of Rome.

But Roman colonies were different from the French, Spanish and English colonies in the Americas.

A Roman colony was a miniature Rome on foreign soil, not just a trading post on foreign soil.

In some ways a Roman colony was an extension of Rome itself.

Each colony had a small Roman-style senate, and their laws were basically like that of Rome.

For example, a citizen of a colony was a Roman citizen and could not be treated like a foreigner.

He could not be beaten or whipped and he couldn’t even be arrested without a special warrant.

The citizen of any colony could appeal to Caesar if he was being treated uncitizenly-like.

Also, the official language of a colony was Latin, not Greek, even though the colony might have been in Greece.

Of course it would be impossible to keep foreign languages out, but they were discouraged.

In the case of Philippi, even though it was on the Egnatian Way, the primary highway from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea, this colony was not a commercial center.

Philippi was a military community, with the addition of lots of Roman army retires.

This provides us with a reasonable explanation for the absence of a Jewish presence.

I have yet to find any Bible commentary which said that there was a synagogue in Philippi.

So why were Lydia and her ladies in town?

There was a political need for the purple cloth of Thyatira and for the garments made from it.

Philippi was a Roman colony with a Roman-style senate.

Roman senators had to have royal-purple togas.

In addition to being called a colony, Luke tells us that Philippi was the chief city of that part of Macedonia.

It was not the largest city in Macedonia;

That distinction belonged either to Thessalonica or Apollonia.

And it was not the capital of Macedonia.

It was simply the most important city in the area, just as Spokane is in our area.

So now you know all that there is to know about Philippi.

And that brings us to the “PROSEUCHE” (pros-yoo-khay’).

“Proseuche” (pros-yoo-khay’) is one of the Greek words translated “prayer” in the Bible.

Actually there are several Greek words which are translated “prayer” and “to pray”.

There is one that means “to ask,” and there is a stronger word which means “to beseech.”

The most common VERB is “proseuchomai” (pros yoo-khay-o-ma-hi).

And the most common NOUN is “proseuche” (pros-yoo-khay’).

Augustus Strong’s Concordance defines “proseuche” (pros-yoo-khay’) this way:

“Prayer addressed to God.

A PLACE set apart or suited for the offering of prayer; a synagogue.

A PLACE in the open air where the Jews were wont to pray, outside the cities, where they had no synagogue

Such places were situated upon the bank of a stream or the shore of a sea, where there was a supply of water for washing the hands before prayer.”

In addition to “Proseuche” (pros-yoo-khay’) being prayer; it referred to a place of prayer.

After a few more days of study, I still don’t know how Paul and Silas found this proseuche.

It may have been as they were walking up from Neapolis that they followed the Gangas River for a way,

And they may have recognized something along the bank

Which instantly told them that displaced Jews met here for prayer.

But verse 12 does say that they “were in that city abiding certain days” before it goes on to tell us about meeting Lydia.

We’re still left in the dark about that question.

But is there anything that this CAN tell us about prayer and the importance of prayer anyway? Certainly.

This “proseuche” (pros-yoo-khay’) reminds us that the Lord is accessible from anywhere.

This was a foreign country to Lydia, and Thyatira wasn’t an Israelite city in the first place.

I mis-spoke on Sunday when I called Lydia “a Jewess.”

I think that she was probably a proselyte, and so the term doesn’t really apply to her.

So here was a Gentile woman who became a proselyte and learned to pray to Jehovah while still in Asia.

And now she continues to seek the face of the Lord in the midst of Greeks and Romans.

But the Lord heard her prayers.

Christians can pray at church, at home, at work, and even at school.

We can pray in the midst of their friends, and we can pray in the midst of God’s enemies.

We can pray in our living rooms, in our closets, in our church auditorium, in hospitals, indoors & outdoors.

The Lord doesn’t place any restrictions on the place from which we pray.

The only qualifications that He has made regarding prayer are INTERNAL rather than EXTERNAL.

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”

“And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.”

Not only do Christians have the OPPORTUNITY to seek the Lord wherever they might be,

But we have the OBLIGATION to pray wherever we are.

The only exception to these two points, might be if we have deliberately chosen to be somewhere where the Christian should not be:

Do we have any right praying that the Lord bless the next turn of the cards at the casino?

Is it wise to ask the Lord’s blessing over the next beer in the tavern?

It seems to me that this sort of thing is inviting the judgment of God, not His blessing.

Some places are semi-sacred, like the House of God.

Some places are neutral, like a city or state.

But some places are clearly evil, and the child of God shouldn’t be found there.

And he should not feel comfortable about praying in such a place as that.

Perhaps it isn’t a lesson taken directly from this scripture, but all who claim to be God’s people, NEED to pray.

Please remember that I am not teaching that Lydia was a Christian at this time.

But as a religious person; as a proselyte to a corrupted worship of Jehovah, she was praying.

She was praying as well as she could under the what she knew and didn’t know about the Lord.

Lydia and her companions needed to pray.

Because they didn’t have husbands and male friends to help and to protect them, they needed to pray.

Because they didn’t have ministers of God to teach and exhort them in the Word, they needed to pray.

Because they needed the blessing and fellowship of God, they needed to pray.

As all of us do.

What, specifically, do you suppose that Lydia and her friends were requesting from the Lord?

If they were praying aright, and we often forget this point, they were praying for the glory of the Lord.

They were praying that the name of Jehovah might be magnified in that heathen city.

Were their prayers answered?

There is a sense in which there is a name which is higher than “Jehovah.”

There is a name before which “every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess.”

There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby sinners like Lydia must be saved.

Were those ladies praying for the glorification of the Name of God?

Well then their prayers were answered.

Were they praying that the Lord would bring 10 men to Philippi which would then necessitate synagogue?

If that had been one of their prayers, then the Lord did exceeding more than they asked or thought,

The Lord gave them the gospel and eventually a gospel church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Were they praying for a demonstration of the miraculous power of Almighty God?

Do you remember when Peter was in jail, after the beheading of James?

The church in Jerusalem was praying for Peter’s release; they were praying for a miracle.

And an angel of God was commissioned to bring about his release, and miraculous it was.

In a few days, Paul and Silas will be arrested in Lydia’s new city.

Again the church, as small as it might have been at the time, prayed for their release.

And again, the Lord will send His ambassador to deliver them.

Were these ladies praying for the assurance of peace with God?

Then when Paul was sent to preach Christ unto them, they were granted that peace.

We need this mid-week prayer meeting, as brief as it is.

We need to draw nigh unto the Lord, and to claim His promise of drawing nigh unto us.

We need the strength that comes by kneeling with other people in prayer.

Coals and embers don’t hold their heat long when they are separated from other coals.

Do you suppose that the Lord would have blessed Lydia and her friends;

Do you suppose that the Lord would have saved their souls, or the soul or Cornelius, or the souls of countless others;

Do you suppose that the gospel would have been given to Lydia, if she had not been meeting with others for prayer like this?

It’s a moot question, I know, and it’s impossible to answer.

But the fact is those ladies WERE in prayer and the Lord blessed them for it.

If there is no other lesson, that is one that we shouldn’t ignore.