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Wednesday, September 2 2009
In the time of the apostle Paul, Macedonia was defined as the area north of the Greek peninsula up to the Balkan highlands in southeastern Europe. In the era (about 3 centuries) between the end of the Old Testament record and the beginning of the New Testament it was within the Greek kingdom (see Ancient Empires - Greece), but it later became a Roman province (see Ancient Empires - Rome).
Although his ministry began in Asia, in what is today Turkey (where Paul himself was born, in Tarsus), the apostle Paul was directed, by a vision from Christ, of a "man of Macedonia" (whether an actual man, or a figurative portrayal in the vision of the Christians there) to take the Gospel to Macedonia, and hence, Europe.
"16:6 Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of The Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, 16:7 After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. 16:8 And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas.16:9 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. 16:10 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 16:6-10 KJV)
"There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us"
Paul then crossed over to Macedonia, beginning a long relationship with the Christians of Europe.
"16:11 Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis; 16:12 And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days.16:13 And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. 16:14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of Purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. 16:15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us." (Acts 16:11-15 KJV)
Paul's connection to the Macedonian Christians continued through the rest of his life, as mentioned in his later Epistles.
"1:8 For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing. 1:9 For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven [see Could Christ Return Tonight?], whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come." (1 Thessalonians 1:8-10 KJV)"15:26 For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints [see also No Class Struggles In Christianity] which are at Jerusalem. 15:27 It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things." (Romans 15:26-27 KJV)
"8:1 Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches [see Church of God] of Macedonia; 8:2 How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality." (2 Corinthians 8:1-2 KJV)
Fact Finder: (a) Did Macedonians sometimes accompany Paul on his missionary journeys? (b) Where did Paul go on each of his major missionary journeys?
(a) Acts 19:29
(b) See Paul's First Missionary Journey, Paul's Second Missionary Journey and Paul's Third Missionary Journey
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This Day In History, September 2
31 BC: Caesar Augustus (Octavian) conquered Antony and Cleopatra (see The Ptolemies) at the Battle of Actium. Some historians consider this date to be the beginning of the Roman empire (see Ancient Empires - Rome).
1547: Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes died at age 62. He battled equally-famous Aztec emperor Montezuma in Mexico.
1752: The last day that the Julian Calendar (named after Roman emperor Julius Caesar) was used in Britain and its then American colonies. The present Gregorian calendar (named after Roman Catholic Pope Gregory XIII) began in use the next day.
1807: The British began bombarding Copenhagen to stop Napoleon from using the Danish fleet against Britain.
1864: During the U.S. Civil War, Union General William T. Sherman captured Atlanta.
1901: U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt's famous remark that American foreign policy should be to "speak softly and carry a big stick."
1930: The first non-stop flight from Europe to the United States, 37 hours flying time.
1944: Anne Frank, at age 15, was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The Dutch-Jewish girl, famous for her Diary of Anne Frank died at the Belsen concentration camp the next year, shortly before it was liberated by Allied troops near the end of the Second World War.
1944: During the Second World War, U.S. pilot George Bush parachuted out of his burning fighter plane into the Pacific. He survived, and went on to become the U.S. President in 1989 and the father of the U.S. President in 2001.
1945: "VJ Day" at the end of the Second World War. Japanese officials signed the terms of surrender with U.S. General Douglas MacArthur and other Allied leaders aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
1969: At the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), computer researchers made the first working connection between two huge, primitive computers. Some regard that event as the birth of the computer network that became the Internet.
