And having passed through Phrygia and the Galatian country, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia,
Paul is midway through a second journey. He crosses inland country in what is now Turkey, and the obvious next step is the rich province of Asia on the coast. Instead the Holy Spirit stops him. That raises two questions: who decides where the work goes, and how does a servant know when God says no?
The verse names who gave the order. It did not come from a sponsor, a committee, or a senior colleague:
Take, for example, Acts 16. In verse 6, Paul and his fellow-reapers were "forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia." In the next verse we read, "They attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them." No archbishop, missionary board, or self-styled "general" was directing their movements. It was THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST. In Acts 13, when Paul and his companions set out to preach, we read that they were "sent out by the Holy Spirit." Evangelists, pastors, and teachers are the Lord's servants, and only He has any right to direct or command them.
Paul already had orders to preach everywhere. That did not make the choice of where and when his own to settle:
The broad commission is to "go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation." That in no way sets aside the need to be subject to God about the way it is carried out. His own interest in the work is so great that He cannot leave the questions of time and place — or any other matter in a work so precious — to chance, or to the judgment of men, which can fail. Even an apostle needed this, and always did. Everyone who would have success in his work must take every doubtful point into God's presence for guidance. They pass through Phrygia and Galatia, where we later hear of disciples who are largely, if not entirely, the fruit of their work at this time.
The verse does not say how the Spirit forbade them, and commentators differ. One writer takes it as an inward check they felt rather than words they heard:
They had Asia on their mind, but they felt no freedom to go. There was no joy, no sense of the Spirit's guidance. So they had to wait until it was clear. They did not wait long, and God's larger purpose was soon revealed.
Another writer sees a direct ban in one case, and something gentler in the other:
When they reached Mysia, Bithynia lay to the north or north-east, and Asia to the south. He would have gone in both directions, if he had been allowed. In the first case the Holy Spirit forbade him outright. In the second the Spirit did not let him go, which seems to show a less direct kind of guidance, working more through circumstances.
The ban says nothing against the people of Asia. The refusal was about timing:
He knew all hearts, and He alone can use any mouth for God's glory. So the Holy Spirit forbade them to speak the word in Asia now. Those who believe in man may show their real unbelief in God by finding fault with this ban. Those whose confidence is in His grace will admire His care: He led them to the right place of testimony then, and He worked later in the very place He now forbade.
Two shut doors left only one road, and it ran to the coast:
They could turn neither to the right hand nor to the left, so they travelled on to Troas. It was God's purpose that Paul and his company should find their proper sphere of service at that time in Europe, not in Asia. The plan of the work and its development were both of the Holy Spirit. And when they reached Troas, Paul understood why God had turned him from his own purpose, and how wise that was.
Why would a faithful worker need to be stopped?
So it is very important to remember that it is no different in the work of the Lord. There the worker is always in danger of being guided by fair appearances, or of following what pleases his own mind, or perhaps the suggestions of others whom he respects.
- Directed — the Holy Spirit Himself steered the workers. No board, office or human leader stood over them.
- Detailed — orders to preach everywhere do not settle where and when. Those questions still go to God.
- Denied — God refused Asia for now, and later worked in the very place He had closed. A shut door is not a verdict on the field.
- Diverted — blocked on the right and the left, they walked on to Troas, and only there did the reason appear: Europe.
- Dependent — even an apostle could be pulled along by fair appearances or by advice he respected. That is why the Spirit checked him.
having come down to Mysia, they attempted to go to Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;
Paul and his companions reach the edge of Mysia and turn north with a plan of their own. For the second time in two verses the Spirit stops them — so what kind of "no" was this, and why the new name for the One who gave it?
Some older English Bibles read only "the Spirit" here. The better text names Him more fully.
There is no doubt at all about the true reading of the last clause of Acts 16:7. It is: "the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them." The Revised Version, or any recent translation, will show the English reader this. The phrase is unusual. We do well to ask why verse 6 calls Him "the Holy Spirit" and verse 7 calls Him "the Spirit of Jesus." … The title seems meant to remind us of the truly evangelistic heart of the Lord Jesus when He was on earth.
One answer looks at how Jesus Himself lived on earth.
Christ lived in unwavering devotion to the will of God. He was obedient in all that He did and all that He said: "Behold, I have come to do your will, O God." Everything in His life pleased God. Everything was under God's direction, subject to the Spirit's guidance. We read of Him led by the Spirit, driven by the Spirit. There was no self-will, nothing of self in His walk. So how fitting this character of the Spirit is for the apostle Paul — the Spirit of Jesus directing him in his service here.
They had good reason to choose Bithynia. The refusal still overruled them.
They attempted to go on into Bithynia. We know from 1 Peter 1:1 that scattered Jewish believers were living there, as well as in Galatia and the province of Asia. But this was not now the mind of the Lord for His service. To those who value Scripture, the evidence here is as plain as possible: the Spirit acted personally to correct even the apostle's proposed movements.
A wide commission does not settle where and when.
They came to Mysia and planned to go into Bithynia. This was not God's leading, though we are not told why: the Spirit of God stopped them. The apostles had been told to "go into all the world and proclaim the gospel." Yet they could not take this command as a permit to go wherever and whenever they wanted. They still had to depend on God's leading, though they were willing enough to go anywhere in the world.
The wording changes between verse 6 and verse 7.
The Lord guides His servants in different ways. The word translated "forbidden" in the first phrase could also be translated "prevent," "hinder" or "keep from." Perhaps circumstances hindered them, and they understood that this was from the Lord. In the second case they seem to have got the clear impression that the Spirit was saying "no" to their plans. And they were obedient. Clear guidance about where not to go still left them without an answer about where they should go.
One writer ranks such leading below knowing God's mind in communion.
Even for the apostle, the command not to go into Bithynia was not the highest sort of guidance by the Spirit. It was blessed guidance, yet not the highest an apostle knew. It was more like reining in a horse or a mule, and not so much knowing God's mind in communion.
The block was not bad luck or bad timing, and its purpose soon showed.
Here we have the Spirit hindering. This is not a hindrance of circumstances, but a clear prohibition, made known plainly… The reason for it soon becomes clear. A fresh start was coming: the gospel was to go into Europe. The next chapters give us the wonderful history of that journey from Troas to Philippi and the cities of Greece. Later on Paul did a great work in Ephesus; now the Spirit hinders and forbids so that they may go further.
The same hand still moves workers across the map today.
The Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of Jesus, closed doors in the East to lead the servants of Christ west to Europe. … Today the Spirit of Jesus leads preachers of the Word to India, China, Africa and the islands of far off seas.
- The name. The better reading is "the Spirit of Jesus." The name points to the obedient Man who was always led, never self-willed.
- The correction. Bithynia was a sensible target, with believers already scattered there. Even so, the Spirit overruled an apostle's plan.
- The limit. "Go into all the world" is a commission, not a permit; where and when still wait on the Lord's leading.
- The method. Verse 6 reads like a hindrance, verse 7 like a plain "no." Guidance comes in more than one form, and a bare refusal, though blessed, is not the highest kind.
- The map. Doors shut in the east opened the way to Troas and Europe. The refusal was redirection — and the Spirit still sends workers this way today.