10 June. Paul visits Europe for the first time
"That night, Paul saw in a vision a man from Macedonia [northern Greece]. The man stood and begged, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.'"
"After Paul had seen the vision, we immediately prepared to leave for Macedonia, understanding that God had called us to tell the Good News to those people."
"We left Troas and sailed straight to the island of Samothrace. The next day we sailed to Neapolis [see 4 on the map on 9 June]. Then we went by land to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city in that part of Macedonia. We stayed there for several days."
(Acts 16:9-10)
During the night, Paul dreamed of a man from Macedonia (modern-day northern Greece) begging Paul to sail across the Aegean Sea and rescue the people of Macedonia from their sinful ways.
Paul interpreted this ‘vision’ as God’s call to spread the Good News in Macedonia. So, joined by Luke (the author of the Acts of the Apostles, who from this point on talks about 'we'), Paul and his companions set out from Troas and sailed across to the island of Samothrace, and on to Neapolis the next day (see 4 on the map). Paul landed on the European mainland for the first time in 51AD.
Neapolis (meaning ‘the new city') was a thriving port serving the city of Philippi. Visitors to the modern port city of Kavala in Greece still stroll along the busy harbour front where, for the first time in his life, Paul set foot on European soil.
From the port of Neapolis, Paul, Silas and Luke travelled inland along the Via Egnatia to Philippi. Philippi is an old Greek city that was conquered by Philip of Macedon in 300BC and was re-founded over two hundred years later as a Roman ‘colonia’ by retired Roman soldiers and their families.
Philippi was an important gold-mining centre, and gold coins were minted there. It was a busy commercial settlement on the Via Egnatia (the ‘Egnatian Way’) – an important routeway leading west along the coast and, eventually, across the Adriatic Sea to Rome.
Many scholars think that Luke lived in Philippi and was visiting Troas when he met Paul there. Having asked Paul to return with him to his home town, Paul may have dreamed later about this 'man from Macedonia'.
The photo shows the 'Man from Macedonia' mosaic at Veroia (Berea) in Macedonia.
You can read more about Paul's voyage to Europe @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/…/paul-sails-across-to-eur…/.