GetWisdom PaperturnSampler FINAL SinglePages - Flipbook - Page 66
What do we learn about Lydia in Acts 16:14-15?
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HISTORY LESSON
Because Lydia sold purple goods, her customers would have been the wealthy elite because
extracting this dye took a substantial amount of labor and was highly valued. Tyrian purple
(πορφρα, pronounced porphúra), derived from marine mollusks, was especially costly: extracting
this dye involved tens of thousands of snails and was quite arduous. Lydia’s hometown of Thyatira
was well-known for manufacturing a less expensive and more reddish dye from roots of the
Madder Plant (known today as Turkey Red). However, since Scripture specifically describes she
was a seller of purple (πορφυρπωλις or porphyróplis, pronounced por-foo-rop'-o-lis), she was
likely selling textiles of the more valuable Tyrian purple.
I love so many things about Lydia and Paul’s interaction. She wasted no time telling her entire
household everything she learned from Paul as the Lord opened her heart to His wisdom. And then
she opened her home to Paul and his companions!
Opening my door and inviting people in is something God asked me to do years ago when I
was relatively new to Denver and had no friends. Although we were fixing up a previously
uninhabitable house at the time, I decided to obey and offer what I had with a thankful heart. I
welcomed in anyone I could possibly think of.
Lydia was a successful businesswoman and likely had a large and beautiful home, but that
makes her invitation no less meaningful. She knew the importance of creating a space for all to
gather. No matter your environment, your home is enough to act as a welcome and safe place for
others—and you can open your door, too.
As they enjoyed Lydia’s warm hospitality, Paul and his three companions frequented the
riverside to pray, worship, and teach the gospel. Here they faced a challenge: day after day, a
demon-possessed slave girl followed them around, shouting, “These men are slaves like me, but slaves
of the Most High God! They will proclaim to you the way of liberation!” (reference?).
Finally after many days, the annoyance of her disturbance got the best of Paul and he cast out
the spirit of divination (Πθων or python) that lived within her.
HISTORY LESSON
The spirit that resided within this slave girl was a python or mythical snake that guarded the oracle
at Delphi. Ancient Greeks believed Delphi to be the center of the world and the term python had
come to be used of the persons through whom the python-guard supposedly spoke and predicted
the future.
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