Sep 27, Philippi, Part 2

The ancient city of Philippi is nearby.  Philippi was a very important and prosperous city, beginning in the Hellenistic period (approx. 325 BC).  When the apostle Paul visited, the message of Jesus really took root here and lasted until the 7th century.  The city was devastated by earthquakes of the 7th century and completed destroyed by the late 14th century.  Excavations began at Philippi in 1914 and continue to this day.

This next picture is the excavation of the marketplace in Philippi.  It's is this setting that we pick up Acts 16, when Paul and Silas are arrested, beaten, and flogged.

Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. (‭Acts‬ ‭16‬:‭16-22‬ NIV)

This was the location of raised platform where civil judgments took place.

This next picture is of a cistern, a water container, that was used for this part of the city.  It was first built as a cistern, but it was not in use as a cistern when Paul arrived here. It is here that Paul and Silas were most likely imprisoned.  An the AMAZING part of the story in Acts occurred here. 

After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 

But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household. (‭Acts‬ ‭16‬:‭23-34‬ NIV)

Can you imagine Paul and Silas being freed from here? 

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