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Answer
After Paul’s first missionary journey, he and Barnabas returned to Syrian Antioch and reported the significant number of Gentiles in present-day Turkey who had believed. They stayed there for a considerable time, «And there they abode long time with the disciples.», (Acts 14:28).
While in Antioch, Paul and Barnabas were met by a group who came down from Judea (referring to elevation; Jerusalem sits at 2,582 feet above sea level, and Syrian Antioch about 220 feet) who taught that the Gentile converts must adhere to Jewish standards, such as dietary laws and circumcision. Paul and Barnabas were sent by the church elders to go to Jerusalem and listen to what the apostles had to say. At the Jerusalem Council, after much discussion, Peter stood and declared that salvation was through faith, not works, and it was wrong to burden the Gentiles with such a “yoke” (Acts 15:10-11). James, the leader of the Jerusalem church and a half-brother of Christ, agreed, adding that, for the sake of peace within the church, the Gentiles should refrain from things contaminated by idols, from sexual immorality, and from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals «that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. », (Acts 15:29). Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch with representatives from the church in Jerusalem with these statements, and the Gentiles rejoiced that they didn’t have to be circumcised to be truly Christian.
After some time, Paul suggested to Barnabas a second missionary journey together. Paul’s plan was to return tTo the cities and churches they had visited in Asia Minor on their initial missionary journey, “And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do.” (Acts 15:36). Barnabas agreed, but he wanted to bring his cousin, John Mark, who had left them shortly into that first trip (verses 37–38). Paul declined to take Mark along, so Barnabas took Mark and set sail for Cyprus (verse 39). Paul chose Silas, one of the leaders of the Jerusalem church who had accompanied Paul to Antioch (verse 40).
Instead of sailing, Paul began the second missionary journey overland, crossing one mountain range to Tarsus, then another to Derbe and Lystra as he and Silas traveled west. In the region of Derbe and Lystra, Paul encountered Timothy who joined Paul and Silas as a ministry partner. Then Paul did something interesting. Despite the fact that Timothy’s father was Greek and the church in Jerusalem had recently ruled that Gentile believers did not need to be circumcised, Paul circumcised Timothy. Orthodox Judaism maintains that Jewishness is passed down through the mother’s line, and Timothy’s mother was Jewish. According to the Jews in Asia Minor, Timothy was a Jew who did not honor his Jewish heritage. “Because of the Jews,” Paul ensured that Timothy was in a position to be respected as a Jewish believer, “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.” (Acts 16:9). This is a classic example of deference—the surrendering of one’s rights to avoid offending those to whom one ministers.
Although Paul had intended to spend time in the cities where he had previously established churches, the Holy Spirit directed him swiftly through Asia Minor.On this second missionary journey, the Spirit prevented Paul from speaking in the province of Asia, guided them away from Bithynia near the Black Sea, and directed them straight to Troas, on the coast of the Aegean Sea. While in Troas, Paul had a vision of a man in Macedonia (in northern Greece) asking for help. It seems that Luke joined the team at this point because he mentioned, “immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them” «And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. », (Acts 16:10). The use of first-person pronouns indicates that Luke was now a fellow traveler.
Paul’s second missionary journey continued as the group sailed from Troas to the small island of Samothrace, then to the city of Neapolis on the Greek coast. They quickly traveled to the Roman colony of Philippi and stayed for a while (Acts 16:11-12). On the Sabbath, they went to the riverside where they expected the Jews to gather and found a group of women who had come to pray. Among them was a merchant named Lydia. She and her household were converted and baptized, and she urged the missionaries to stay in her home (Acts 16:13-15). Lydia thus became the first convert to Christianity on European soil.
Later, while on their way to a place of prayer, the missionaries were approached by a slave girl possessed by a spirit of divination. The girl followed them, saying, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation” (Acts 16:16-17), and after several days Paul cCommanded the demon to leave her (verse 18). When the slave girl’s owners found that their source of income was destroyed, they brought Paul and Silas to the magistrate and incited the crowd against them. The missionaries were stripped, beaten, flogged, and thrown into prison, and their feet were placed in stocks (verses 19–24). All of this was highly illegal, since Paul and Silas were Roman citizens and had the right to a trial.
Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns when an earthquake shook the prison, opening the prison doors and loosening the chains of all the prisoners “And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.”, (Acts 16:26). When the jailor found the doors open, he drew his sword to kill himself, thinking the prisoners had fled and he would be held responsible (verse 27). But then he heard the voice of Paul telling him all the prisoners were still there. The jailor immediately asked how to be saved (verse 30), and Paul and Silas answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (verse 31). The jailor took Paul and Silas to his home, where he fed them and bandaged their wounds. He and his household believed and were baptized that same night (verses 32–34).
The next morning, when the jailor received word from the magistrate that Paul and Silas were to be released, he told them they were free to leave Philippi (Acts 16:35-36). They refused. As Roman citizens, Paul and Silas had been treated in violation of Roman law, and they demanded a public apology. The authorities were alarmed and came to the prison to personally escort Paul and Silas out (verses 37–39). The missionaries left Philippi after visiting Lydia and the Christians there (verse 40).
From Philippi, Paul, Silas, and Timothy journeyed through Amphipolis and Apollonia before arriving in Thessalonica. (It appears that Luke stayed in Philippi.) Paul spent three Sabbaths in the synagogue, discussing with the Jewish men (Acts 17:1-2). Some were convinced, while others were not. When Paul gained followers among the Gentiles and prominent women, the Jewish men who had rejected Christ roused a mob and accused Paul and Silas of advocating for another king instead of Caesar and causing disorder in the world (verse 6, KJV). Unable to find Paul and Silas, the mob seized Jason, the missionaries’ host, and brought him before the city authorities. That night, Paul and Silas escaped to Berea (verse 10).
The Jews in Berea were more receptive to Paul’s message; Luke describes them as having “more noble character” and diligently examining the Scriptures daily to confirm the truth of Paul’s teachings «These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. », (Acts 17:11). Numerous respected Greek men and women converted. Unfortunately, the unbelieving Jews from Thessalonica soon located Paul in Berea and once again agitated the crowds (verse 13). The believers promptly sent Paul to Athens by sea while Silas and Timothy stayed behind, with instructions to join Paul as soon as possible (verses 14–15).
In Athens, Paul found a receptive audience and was invited to address the philosophers gathered at the Areopagus. Paul explained that the true God is not crafted from gold, silver, or stone and is not a product of human imagination «Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. », (Acts 17:29).
ing James Version/Acts 17:29″>(Acts 17:29). The philosophers listened until Paul spoke of the resurrection of Christ, and then some began to scoff (verse 32). A few men and women believed, but there is no record of Paul being able to establish a church there. Athenians were known for their endless debates, and many just wanted to hear Paul’s new “philosophy” and dissect it (verse 21).
From Athens, Paul went to Corinth where he met fellow tentmakers Priscilla and Aquila. They were Jews who had been exiled when Emperor Claudius commanded that all Jews leave Rome (Acts 18:1-3). Silas and Timothy joined Paul in Corinth, and the group stayed in that city for a year and a half, preaching, gaining converts, and reasoning with those who rejected the gospel (verse 11). “Many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized,” including Crispus, the leader of the synagogue (verse 8). Eventually, the Jews brought Paul before Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia, for trial. Gallio determined that, since it was an internal matter of a religious nature, it was not his concern, and he dismissed the case (verses 14–16).
Paul’s second missionary journey continued as the missionary team left Corinth and sailed to Ephesus in Asia Minor, taking Priscilla and Aquila with them. Paul stayed in Ephesus for a little while, reasoning in the synagogue, but when the Ephesians begged him to stay, he declined (verse 20). Priscilla and Aquila stayed in Ephesus (where they later converted and taught Apollos), but Paul sailed from Ephesus to Caesarea in Israel, traveled to Jerusalem, greeted the church there, and then returned to Antioch (verse 22). The second missionary journey had come to an end.
