wisdom a4

Recapping on the
book of Phillipians-
Whatever!
Introduction
Over the last few weeks we have
been looking at the Book of
Philippians.
Let’s recap:-
The book was written by the Apostle
Paul in AD 61. The book was written to
a Church in Philippi that Paul had
planted. It was the first Church Plant
in Europe and it started when Lydia
who worked in the area of Purple Dye
got converted together with her
family. After that a jailer got
converted together with his family
when Paul and Silas had an
opportunity to escape imprisonment
after an earthquake. It could be that
Luke (The only Gentile Christian author
in the Bible) the author of the Gospel
of Luke and the Book of Acts also lived
in Philippi as this is the point when he
joins Paul and Silas in their travels.
(Acts 16 v 12).
Epaphroditus is given the task of taking this
letter from a house in Rome where Paul is kept
prisoner to the Philippians Church. It may well be
that as the church was gathered he was the
reader. Paul was writing to the church because
he had received a gift from the church via
Epaphroditus.
I wonder what it was like to live in Philippi at this time.
The city was founded on Gold Mines. It was bustling with commerce
and trade. Many VIP and wealthy people would visit.
It was also a strategic garrison on the Aegean Sea and an important
Port
It was on a royal route that crossed Macedonia from East to West –
hence the importance of Lydia’s trade to people passing through.
It held a well known Greek Theatre and shrines dedicated to dead
military heroes. There were many temples to the gods.
It was known as “miniature Rome” led by two Military Officers
appointed from Rome. Ties with Rome were very strong.
It was famous for a battle between Marc Anthony and the killers of
Julius Caesar that lead to the Roman Empire going from Republic to
Dictatorship.
It was a wealthy city that had a privileged position due to its mines
and victory in battles – this meant there were four privileges for
citizens – protection from Rome, free trade with Rome, voting rights
and retired military staff.
It was a centre for Roman Games
The church was still going in AD140 and was written to by a Christian
Leader called “Polycarp”. His writings continue along the lines of Paul.
It was possibly the home town of “Luke” who wrote the book of Acts
as the transcript moves from “they” to “we” as he records the Gospel
coming to Philippi (Acts 16 v 12)
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