2:14; 3:3-4). Allen Webster. There is Lydia, the seller of purple, whom Paul met at Philippi. I guess you could say that I am a complementarian now leaning toward egalitarianism. She was a worshiper of God. It is possible that she returned to Thyatira and helped start a church there. I really like reading more about the roles of women in the Early Church. [10] If it is an ethnic appellation it would indicate that at one time Lydia was a slave who had been freed. I am preparing a report on Lydia for my Presbyterian bible study group in Austin, Texas. Either that happened to Lydia and her family, or she married someone from Philippi or decided to take her trade there for an unknown reason. They say that faith is a gift from God, and not a work of man, that God must first regenerate you before you can even believe. Thank you for this paper Marg I enjoyed it immensely for devotions this morning. The Craft of Church Planting Discovering Joy in Philippians Pam Farrel 2019-05-14 Share the Joy If difficult days have ever left you discouraged, this interactive 11-week journey will help you engage creatively with God's Word and establish habits that lead to greater joy and peace. Lydia opens her home. And among those who became part of the early church, there were also members of the upper class. Romans 15:21 One of the trade guilds in Thyatira made expensive purple dye, probably from the roots of the madder plant. In some parts of the Roman Empire, women could play prominent roles in their Jewish communities, especially in places where women already had some social freedoms. However, there are arguments that some of these writings are post-Pauline interpolations. 26; 27:16; 36:8, 35-37). As Paul and his company were speaking with these women, Lydia was listening ( Acts 16:14 ). I have studied Religious Studies at the University level for 3 semesters but learned of Lydia through my lovely wife Judith who adores Lydia. This meant that there were very few Jews in the city, because it only required ten men to establish a synagogue. (LSJs entry is here.). heresy. Furthermore, Lydia uses her own initiative and doesnt consult a male relative, when she offers the missionaries hospitality, which they accept. Lydia is the only Philippian convert who is named in Acts, and we know that the Philippian church met in her home. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3 But I rejoiced greatly in the Lord, that at last your care . Read Acts 18:1-3. Is the home also a place where we provide . Cynthia Westfall notes that women in the first-century Roman world, like Lydia, were entering the public sphere in business and as patrons, and they impacted the early church in those roles as well.[8]. Well dive more into the importance of this later, but readers should take note that not every regular Gentile or Jew got a chance to wear this special color two millennia ago. Her wealth allowed her to live independently in a spacious house. Matthew the tax collector was probably well-to-do. We often talk about how the crowds who followed Jesus were mostly made up of the poor and outcast, the sinners and the ones left out of acceptability. Three days pass and "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb" (Matthew . [4], Paul and his companions may have been surprised to see a group made up of only, or mainly, women at the prayer-house. That Lydia is names suggests she was a woman who became prominent in the church at Philippi. They inspire me to be a risk-taking leader (appropriate risks, of course.) Lydia, Paul's first recorded European convert, was an independent businesswoman of honorable character and godly piety. She was also a religious seeker. The meaning of the name Lydia in Hebrew means a standing pool. Thank you for your glowing commendation of my work. History was changed in dramatic fashion through this one man's obedience. No matter the case, she probably had some frustrations from uprooting from her hometown. [3] The word proseuchoccurs in Greek literature and in Greek inscriptions where it refers to a building belonging to, or being used by, the Jews of the Diaspora (i.e. 2 and 3:14). The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 It says, "One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God." The church in Jerusalem was meeting in the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark (Acts 12:12). Aristotle believed men had far superior building blocks than that of women. (The same verb occurs in Luke 24:29 in a similar context.). Instead, she had become a "God-fearer." She had already taken a major step away from her religious upbringing and had investigated Jewish claims of one God and wanted to know more. If Luke was present at the beginning of the mission at Philippi, he appears to be absent when Paul and Silas meet in Lydias home in Acts 16:40 as third-person plural (they) language is used in this verse: After leaving the jail, they came to Lydias house, where they encouraged the brothers and sisters There is no we in this last important meeting that was held immediately before Paul and Silas left Philippi. This is before Pauls departure. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 1 John 5:1 See Richard S. Ascough, Lydia, Pauls Cosmopolitan Hostess (Pauls Social Network: Brothers and Sisters in the Faith) (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2009), 2-3; and especially Craig S. Keener, Acts: An Exegetical Commentary, Vol. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. It seems women are at least very active in this church. But I do believe that God inspires faith. [15] A relatively less expensive and more reddish dye, known today as Turkey red, was extracted from the root of the madder plant (Rubia tinctorum). ch. Carrie Underwood Sings 'Go Rest High On That Mountain' to Honor Vince Gill, What We Can Do Today to Reach People in Need, 10 Ways to Deal with the Difficult People in Your Church, 7 Ways to Study the Bible Like Billy Graham, 30 Morning Prayers to Start Each Day with God. [13] For a brief discussion on the likelihood of Lydia being another name of either Euodia or Syntyche, see Davorlin Peterlin, Pauls Letter to the Philippians in the Light of Disunity in the Church (Leiden: Brill, 1995), 128-130. Acts 16:19-22). Its only mentioned twice. Lydia sets the pattern for other significant female leaders in the mission amongst the wider gentile world that Paul (according to Acts) was spearheading. Lydia lived and worked in Philippi, dealing in textiles colored with the purple dye for which the region was famous. Freedwomen in the East also frequently sold luxury items such as purple dye. Keener, Acts, (Google Books). That was how Lydia listened. a very wicked or unprincipled person. Especially if God has granted us more abundance than other believers, we need to show generosity to those who do not have as much. She was probably widowed or perhaps divorced. As Paul explained who Jesus was and why he had to die for the sin of the world, Lydia showed a humble, trusting spirit. Or youre put off by the sermon title. [11] A Sardian named Julia Lydia and an Ephesian named Julia Lydia Laterane (I. Eph 424a) were of high station. Keener, Acts, (Google Books). 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academics, 2014), 3:2350-74, (Google Books). Timothys name inexplicably reappears in Acts 17:14-15 when the missionaries are in Berea. Priscilla was a businesswoman who, with her husband Aquila, likely owned leatherwork or tent-making shops in several urban centers of the ancient worldRome, Corinth and Ephesus. Today, many more bishops and scholars, etc, are also acknowledging this. If they were, the narrator gives no hint of this. Purple was again used in the Temple that Solomon built (2 Chron. The New Testament mentions several women who happen to appear in Pauls ministry, Lydia being one of them. We have just begun a small storyline. Paul is one such Jew. Lydia's life proves that one can work a "worldly" job and use it as a ministry. The word regeneration is only used twice in the whole bible. We need to note a few things. ~ They providentially met with women who were quasi-Jews: a God-fearer and a Samaritan. It is likely Lydia had no surviving adult male relatives. Whether it was Luke or not, the author of Acts seems to make a point of mentioning when members of Pauls team stayed behind at new churches (e.g., Timothy and Silas stayed behind in Berea in Acts 17:14-15; Priscilla and Aquila stayed behind in Ephesus in Acts 18:19), or when members were sent to churches as Pauls representatives (e.g., Timothy and Erastus are sent ahead to Macedonia while Paul stays longer in Asia in Acts 19:22). For more information on proseuchas a Jewish prayer-house, see https://margmowczko.com/lydia-and-the-place-of-prayer-at-philippi/. Thyatira, in the Roman province of Lydia. Naturally, when members of these families tied the knot, major $$$ was spent and, of course, the gowns were to . A Reexamination of the Purpurarii in Thyatira and Philippi, Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin 62 (2017): 3-29. I will use it as resource during a Workshop Ill be facilitating on Leadership Traits/characteristics of Lydia as a church Leader. I know, because it has happened to me, too. I did a Bachelor of Christian Studies at Robert Menzies College Sydney. God "opened her heart" to pay close attention to Paul's preaching, a supernatural gift causing her conversion. She comes from Thyatira, a wealthy town known for itstrade guilds and purple dye. Women served as judges (Deborah), the first eyewitnesses to Jesus resurrection, and even as Deacons (Phoebe). [17] Her home was also large enough to hold church meetings. There are several things I would like to point out about Lydia. (Corinth was on a narrow isthmus that connected southern Greece (the Peleponessus) with . Everyone includes Jews and Gentiles. She would have been a good person to help organize a church because she knew how to manage people, how to get them to work toward a common goal. Paul made it his practice to select urban centers along busy highways for his missionary efforts and had great success. 28). The footnotes are informative too. Only royals and the rich could afford purple outfits. Seldom would someone (proudly) say that a woman earns the majority, or at least half of, the income for a family. After all, even a woman's testimony in court would not be seen as valid. After Jesus is crucified, his body is buried, a stone is rolled in front of the tomb, and a Roman guard is placed there. There is no mention of Cornelius needing God to open his heart. His mission in Philippi was no exception. a belief different from the accepted belief of the church. We dont know why Lydia made the move, whether she married a foreigner or had to leave due to Roman persecution. And, as Lydia heard the gospel, God opened her heart so that she received the life-giving message. Watercolour and ink portrait of Lydia bySarah Beth Baca. In this article, well dive into who she is, why she receives a special mention in the New Testament, and what we can learn from her example. I slipped up once and thought the husband was the accountant and the wife was the assistant, but it was the other way round. This does not mean she played a minor role in Pauls ministry or in the New Testament. Perhaps the most striking example of women in leadership in the Bible is that of the two Marys who discover the empty tomb of Christ. Just last week my husband and I met a man and even though I was introduced as Rev. But no one of Pauls team is mentioned as staying behind in Philippi at the end of Acts 16. artillery avalanche control jobs. Paul was on his second missionary journey when he had a vision of a man who pleaded with him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" The apostle responded to the vision by gathering his team and quickly setting off across the Aegean Sea for Macedonia, the northern region of modern-day Greece. Dear Marg, thanks to God for all those comments. We can learn a lot from Lydia. The names of other Philippians, such as the slave girl or the jailer, are not given even though we are told some of their stories in Acts 16:16-20 and 22ff. TheSamaritan woman and, indeed, her whole village of Sychar are presented as people ready to accept Jesus as the Messiah (John 4:4-42). The woman and man sin together (Genesis 3:1-7). Lydia also shows us that God calls some of us into worldly jobs. Purple is also used a few times in the Bible in non-Israelite and non-Jewish contexts. Lydia: Seller of Purple in the Book of Acts. Even if I originally wrote an article for a journal, magazine, or book chapter, I have posted it on this website also. In the Book of Revelation, Thyatira is one of the seven churches that is addressed as a center of Christianity. Paul and his party may have spent several weeks staying with Lydia (cf. Retrieved from https://www.learnreligions.com/lydia-in-the-bible-4150413. But there were exceptions. I always love reading about women in the Bible who sometimes defied the odds to be in leadership. Without financial support, sometimes large contributions, the early church and the current church could not survive and grow. One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. 11:15? What does submission in everything mean. However, even though dying (and also tanning) often involved the use of unclean materials, that didnt stop the Israelites and Jewish people using dyed (and also leather) products including purple (Hebrew: argaman; Greek: porphyra). It is debated whether synagogue ruler was an actual or honorary title in her case; but either way, it indicates she was a woman of influence. one of many officials of ancient Rome. 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