Listening

Acts 16:13–15 (NRSV)

“On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.”

The book of Acts is also called the Acts of the Apostles, Acts of Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. We can see that played out in this passage. Lydia was from Thyatira and made purple dye for the fezzes and prayer shawls. Thyatira was known for producing quality purple dye.   

Holy Spirit showed me that the importance of the color purple lies in how it was acquired. Purple, ar-gaw-mawn, in Hebrew, por-foo-rah, in Greek, was produced from the secretion of the murex shellfish. “Tyrian Purple,” was a high-priced dye produced from the mucus of small gland (hypobranchial) (hy po bran kial) found in the neck of the mollusk marine mulex trunculus. The shellfish were opened, and the glands were removed and crushed, producing a liquid that turned purple when exposed to the air. It took 12,000 shellfish to extract 1.5 grams of pure dye. Purple was an expensive color to produce. So she was a great business woman.

Thyatira was also know for its spiritual formication. Yet, Lydia was a worshipper of God, and God had moved her from Thyatira to Philippi. Holy Spirit blocked Paul from going into Asia. Thyatira was in Asia. But Paul had a vision of a man asking to come to Macedonia to help him. Paul went to Philippi and went to the river to meet. You see, whenever there were ten males of households a synagogue could be formed. If there was no building, they would always meet by the river. So Paul expected to meet the men but found women worshipping. And Lydia was there. She and her family were baptized and the first church of Philippi was started. She was the overseer, or pastor. All because she was listening. Paul was listening. We have to listen to Holy Spirit, and obey. Can you see how God will move us into where he wants us for his purpose for us? More later