In 16:3, it says that Paul wanted to take Timothy along on his journey, but he circumcised him first, because his father was Greek, and because of the Jews in the area. Now I realize maybe that was what it would take to help those Jews understand, but it's interesting that they had already had this debate and decided that it was not necessary to be circumcised.
16:16-18 talks about a slave girl that had a spirit in her which allowed her to predict the future. Now there are many accounts of how the evil spirits came to Jesus and proclaimed who he was, but it's interesting that this spirit came to mere men (who were not Jesus) but still proclaimed that their message was true and it was from God.
In 16:25-34, we find Paul and Silas in prison singing and praising God, and all of a sudden all of the prison doors flew open. The guard almost kills himself, but instead Paul and Silas lead him to Christ. It then says that the prison guard takes him to his house and serves them a meal. I have always wondered what the other prisoners did in the time that the guard was gone, did they high-tail it out of there or where they still there when they returned?
In 16:37, it says that the Magistrates told the officers to release Paul and Silas. Now it if were me, I'd be running out of the jail, but no, Paul says no because he wants them to escort him out! This was very interesting to me, so I read the notes on it, and since they were Roman citizens, it would have been illegal to be beaten and thrown into prison without a trial, so they wanted an escort to establish their innocence for the sake of the church. I had never thought about how it might look to the new believers to see these men put in prison, and it might have caused them to question things.
Well that's all for now! Happy Wednesday :)
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