and having passed by Mysia they descended to Troas.
The journey in Acts 16 has been a series of shut doors: no preaching in Asia, no entry into Bithynia. Verse 8 records what is left: a road past Mysia, ending at a harbour town. No destination, no explanation.
Paul had a plan, and twice the Spirit blocked it. One writer asks why, and points to where the answer came.
But why these checks and diversions from the Apostle's purpose? Certainly the work in Galatia might have seemed reason enough for not letting him enter the Roman province of Asia at that time. But why was the way to Bithynia closed when they were so near to it? The question stayed unanswered until they passed by Mysia and came down to Troas. There Paul learned by a vision at night that they were to go to Europe.
Another writer draws the positive side: the stops themselves were guidance.
Paul was stopped in his journeys through Asia, as we are told here, and "forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia." The Spirit of God is so fully regarded as the directing person in the church… So in various ways, divine guidance was never missing.
Troas was not a random halt. One writer notes what its harbour opened up.
They reached the town of Troas, "the port for embarkation for any country to which the Holy Spirit might send them."… Its harbour was good. Much of the traffic between the continents of Europe and Asia flowed in and out of it.
The closed door in Bithynia was not God's last word about Bithynia.
Paul intended to go to some other parts of Asia, such as Bithynia, to preach the gospel, but the Spirit of God closed every door in that land. It was not that the Lord did not care for those in darkness in Bithynia. We know from 1 Peter 1:1 that He sent the gospel to that land by some other messenger. But now the time had come when Europe, as well as Asia, was to have the gospel, and the Lord chose His servant Paul to preach it there.
One writer finds a clue in two words of this verse: "came down."
They "came down" to Troas, which implies that Luke, the writer, was there at the time. There seems no doubt that God arranged this so that Luke could be there and travel with them to Philippi. Luke clearly stayed in Philippi when Paul and Silas left. But Luke says nothing of his own work.
At Troas the leading took a different form. One writer points out what that required of Paul.
When they arrived in Mysia they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So they passed by Mysia and came to Troas. There Paul had a vision in a dream. This was not the open direction of the Spirit. Understanding what it meant was left to spiritual intelligence.
The same writer applies this to everyone who works for the Lord.
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 maybe the suggestions of others whom he respects… The work is His, and He alone is able to direct it in gracious wisdom and power. We are at best only His workmen in that work.
- Stopped. Two refusals — Asia, then Bithynia — left one road open, and it ran to the coast.
- Stranded, on purpose. Troas was the port ships sailed from to anywhere. The place of waiting was the place of launching.
- Not abandoned. God closed Bithynia to Paul, not to the gospel; another messenger carried it there later.
- Joined. At Troas Luke was there to travel with them — the closed doors gathered the company God meant to send.
- Explained last. The reason came after the obedience. The vision at Troas answered why the doors had closed.
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night There was a certain Macedonian man, standing and beseeching him, and saying, Pass over into Macedonia and help us.
The Holy Spirit had blocked Paul twice, first from Asia and then from Bithynia, and he reached Troas with no obvious road left. Then, at night, a stranger appears and pleads, and the whole direction of the gospel's spread turns on it.
The blocked routes only made sense once the vision came.
But why these checks and diversions from the Apostle's purpose? The work in Galatia might well seem reason enough for keeping him out of the Roman province of Asia at that time. But why was the way to Bithynia barred when they were so near to it? That question stayed unanswered. Then they passed by Mysia and came down to Troas. There a vision at night told Paul that they were to go to Europe.
Only a narrow strip of water separated Paul from Europe. The direction he was given was not one he had been planning.
Look at Mysia on your map. You will find it close to the Dardanelles, the narrow strip of water that separates Asia from Europe. In the vision a man of Macedonia begged him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." Now we see why the Holy Spirit checked Paul from moving in other directions. Here was the solution to all his perplexity. Paul might never have thought of leaving Asia and going into Europe.
The plea itself is the heart of the verse. What the man says reveals his condition.
God sends him a vision in the night: he sees a man of Macedonia beckoning to him and saying, "Come over and help us." Nothing could be plainer than this: here was a man who felt his need. "Come over and help us" is the language of a needy man.
The crossing that followed was quick. The same writer sets it beside the slower return trip years later.
God gives him a fair wind. He gets across in a day and a half. When he comes back later, the same trip takes him five days. The Lord loves to send the gospel to sinners, and I think the Holy Spirit delights to record God's readiness to meet the needy soul. There was a hungry heart in Macedonia, a needy sinner. God arranges everything so that His messenger reaches that needy one quickly with the gospel of His grace.
Should we wait for a vision before making a decision? One commentator answers plainly.
Someone may say that we can hardly expect a vision to settle our doubts in the end. So we seem to be left without the comfort this passage might give us. But neither did the apostle expect, or generally receive, a vision to guide him. It is not given to any man to walk habitually in such open light. It would not really encourage faith, which has to do with the unseen and not the seen. And perhaps the record here serves a good purpose. It stops us expecting one fixed method of assurance, and it throws us on Him to meet us in whatever way He pleases.
Paul alone received the vision, though the whole team needed direction.
So the Lord helped His servant in a positive way. They all needed direction for their work, but Paul alone saw the vision. It was a favour often shown him, and of the highest kind, which no creature has a right to expect… God never fails us in present difficulties. It is we who fail in waiting and counting on Him. And His written word, our main guide, is now complete, as it was not then… The apostle's vision impressed them all at once, and they turned their eyes and steps toward Macedonia.
The vision showed a man. The first meeting in Macedonia looked nothing like it.
Then they reached Philippi. By the small river Gangites they had their first chance to speak. We wonder if Paul looked for the man he had seen in his vision. There was no man present. A company of women had gathered at the place where people met for prayer. Lydia of Thyatira is the first convert of Europe… And it was the Lord who opened her heart.
- Closed — Asia and Bithynia were shut, and the reason stayed hidden until Troas. The blocked road was part of the guidance.
- Called — Paul might never have thought of leaving Asia for Europe. The call opened a continent he had not aimed at.
- Cry — "Come over to Macedonia and help us" is the speech of a man who knows he is needy. That cry brought the gospel into Europe for the first time.
- Crossing — a fair wind carried them over in a day and a half, faster than the return trip. God hurries His messenger toward a hungry heart.
- Converts — Paul looked for a man and found praying women. Lydia became the first convert of Europe, and the Lord opened her heart.
And when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go forth to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to announce to them the glad tidings.
The verse turns a night vision into a decision: Paul and his companions weigh what they have seen and act on it. No voice gives an order. They draw a conclusion, and on that conclusion the gospel changes continents.
The vision came without an explanation attached. What settled its meaning was the state of the man who received it.
Paul lived in the things of God. So he read the vision as his mission, by the knowledge he had of both the thoughts of God and the needs of men. He crossed over at once into Macedonia.
Only Paul saw the vision, yet the verse says "we" concluded. One writer also points out which name for God the verse uses.
Alone with God, in the silent hours of the night, the apostle received what we may call fresh marching orders. Now he could understand why he had been turned away from entering Bithynia... He told his companions what he had seen and heard. They all agreed it was a call from God to cross the sea and visit that country. For we read: "concluding that God" (not "the Lord") "had called us to preach the gospel to them."
The Spirit had already stopped them twice from preaching. The vision explained why.
It is good that the Holy Spirit can guide His servants where they are to work. He can also forbid and hinder them if they try to go where they are not sent... At Troas Paul may have been in great perplexity, unsure before the Lord where he should go. There he had a vision, a God-given vision... We now see why the Holy Spirit checked Paul from moving in other directions. Here was the solution to all his perplexity. Paul might never have thought of leaving Asia and going into Europe.
Their speed says something about how these men lived.
Happy servants! They were not tangled up with the affairs of this life. They were free and ready to set out at the Lord's bidding. They sailed at once, with a fair wind, for the opposite shore.
Up to this verse the account has said "they."
But it is worth noticing that the language is "we", not "they" as before. Luke thus modestly but unmistakably lets us see that he joined the apostle's company at Troas. From this point the inspired writer was a personal witness. That is surely no small matter. But some hold that his account now takes on a higher character, and no error in principle could be deeper. Not so: inspiration rules out all question of degrees of certainty or of authority. It is equally of God, whether the writer saw what he wrote or not.
The obvious objection is that visions do not come to us.
But neither did the apostle expect, nor generally receive, a vision to guide him. It is not given to any man to walk habitually in such open light. It would not really encourage faith, which has to do with the unseen and not the seen. And perhaps the record here may do us good. It keeps us from expecting any one method of assurance. It casts us on Him to meet us in whatever way He pleases... No doubt the man of Macedonia appeals to what is, or should be, always the driving force in us. Weighing one need against another will have its place in settling the matter for us. So will weighing what the Lord has been leading up to in His ways.
The names in this story sit on two different continents.
Until this time the apostle Paul had only preached the gospel in Asia. Remember that Jerusalem and Antioch and most of the other places mentioned in the Bible are in Asia. Philippi and Rome and Corinth and such places are in Europe... It was not that the Lord did not care for those in darkness in Bithynia... but now the time had come when Europe, as well as Asia, was to have the gospel.
- Hindered. The two closed doors were not failure. The Spirit was steering these men toward a continent Paul might never have chosen.
- Shown. The vision came at night to one man. He told the others, and all agreed it was God's call. He did not keep the guidance to himself.
- Concluded. God gave no audible order. They drew the conclusion. A mind living in the things of God read the sign, weighing God's thoughts and human need.
- Immediate. Nothing held them back. They sailed at once, with no gap between knowing and obeying.
- Enlarged. From that one conclusion the gospel crossed from Asia to Europe. Luke joined here and wrote from then on as an eyewitness. That makes the account no more inspired than what went before.
Having sailed therefore away from Troas, we went in a straight course to Samothracia, and on the morrow to Neapolis,
The call to Macedonia had just come, and this verse is the crossing that answers it. Two days at sea — Troas, a night by Samothrace, then the harbour of Neapolis — brought the message to Europe.
What stands out in this crossing is the speed.
Later in the story we learn that they made a short stay in the Troas region, where there was at least an assembly (Acts 20). But there was no indecision now, and no lingering on the way. The gospel had to be preached at once in Macedonia.
That speed says something about the men themselves.
They were happy servants, free from the affairs of this life. They were free and ready to set out at the Lord's bidding, and they sailed at once, with a fair wind, for the shores on the other side.
The words "a direct voyage" point to a wind behind them. One writer reads God's kindness in that wind.
On this gospel errand they got, so to speak, a fair wind, and covered the distance in a day and a half. When they were coming back it took five days. I suppose they had contrary winds then (see Acts 20:6). God loves to send peace to the anxious, troubled soul. He delights in that, and often gives His evangelists a fair wind, to carry the message of peace to the troubled soul more quickly.
Luke wrote that they "concluded" God had called them. One writer weighs that word.
The word "concluding" shows a precious attitude of humility. Some Christians seem to always know "exactly" what the Lord wants them to do without needing to think it over. But most of us know that we often reach a "conclusion" only after wrestling with it in our souls. Perhaps the Lord leaves us an element of "residual uncertainty" (if I may call it that) to keep us dependent. Sometimes He will confirm the decision afterwards. That seems to be the case here — it did not take them long to get there.
The two places named in the verse can still be located today. Neapolis was where they landed, and the last stretch was on foot.
They set sail from Troas and took a straight course to the island of Samothrace, now called Samothraki. The next day they reached Neapolis, now called Cavallo, which was their destination. They left the ship there and travelled inland on foot to Philippi, some eight to ten miles away.
Up to this verse Luke writes of "they." From here he includes himself.
But it is worth noticing that the language is "we," and not "they" as before. Luke thus modestly but unmistakably lets us see that he joined the apostle's company at Troas. That the inspired writer was a personal witness from this point is no small matter. But no error is more serious in principle than the human notion that his account now takes on a higher character. Not so: inspiration rules out all question of degrees of assurance or of authority.
Kelly points to the evidence in the text itself.
In fact the account is no more detailed while the writer was present. Conversations, differences, journeys and preachings were given when he was away, no less than when he was with the apostle's companions. How comforting this quiet evidence that in the inspired word we have to do, not merely with good men doing their best, but with a God Who cannot err or lie!
The doors into Asia had been shut one after another. This voyage shows why.
Paul intended to go to other parts of Asia, such as Bithynia, to preach the gospel. But the Spirit of God closed all the doors in that land. It was not that the Lord did not care for those in darkness in Bithynia. We know from 1 Peter 1:1 that He sent the gospel to that land by another messenger. But now the time had come when Europe, as well as Asia, was to have the gospel, and the Lord chose His servant Paul to preach it there.
- Called. The call to Macedonia came at Troas, and this verse is Paul acting on it without a day's delay.
- Confirmed. They reached the decision humbly, and the quick crossing confirmed it.
- Carried. A fair wind took them over in a day and a half. The same water later cost them five days.
- Companioned. Luke joined the party at Troas and starts to write "we." Being an eyewitness adds nothing to the authority of what he wrote.
- Continent. The closed doors in Asia were not indifference. God sent another messenger to Bithynia, and He sent Paul to Europe.