19 June. Acts 18:1-11

19 June. Paul decides to concentrate on his non-Jewish audience

"Later Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. Here he met a Jew named Aquila who had been born in the country of Pontus. But Aquila and his wife, Priscilla, had recently moved to Corinth from Italy, because [Emperor] Claudius commanded that all Jews must leave Rome."

"Paul went to visit Aquila and Priscilla. Because they were tentmakers, just as he was, he stayed with them and worked with them."

"Every Sabbath day he talked with the Jews and the Greeks [non-Jewish believers] in the synagogue, trying to persuade them to believe in Jesus."

"Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia and joined Paul in Corinth. After this, Paul spent all his time telling people the Good News, showing the Jews that Jesus is the Christ [the Jewish 'Messiah' or 'anointed one']."

"But they would not accept Paul's teaching and said some evil things. So he shook off the dust from his clothes [to show his despair] and said to them, 'If you are not saved, it will be your own fault! I have done all I can do! After this, I will go only to those who are not Jewish.'"

"Paul left the synagogue and moved [to preach and teach] into the home of Titius Justus, next to the synagogue. This man worshipped God."

"Crispus was the leader of that synagogue, and he and all the people living in his house believed in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also listened to Paul and believed and were baptised."

"During the night, the Lord told Paul in a vision: 'Don't be afraid. Continue talking to people and don't be quiet. I am with you, and no one will hurt you because many of my people are in this city.'"

"Paul stayed there for a year and a half, teaching God's word to the people."

          (Acts 18:1-11)

 

 

Paul moved on to Corinth – where Silas and Timothy eventually re-joined him several months later.

For a year and a half (in 51-52AD), Paul stayed with Aquila – a Jew from the Roman province of Pontus in Asia Minor – and his wife Priscilla, who had recently fled from Rome when the emperor, Claudius, expelled all the Jews from the city in 49AD.

As they, like Paul, were tentmakers (making tents and other leather articles from ‘cilicium’, a felted goat-hair cloth originating from Cilicia, the area around Tarsus), Paul worked with them in the agora – making and repairing awnings and shelters to protect people from the hot Mediterranean sun.

When Paul met opposition from some Jews in the synagogue, he made the momentous decision to concentrate his efforts on teaching non-Jewish people about Jesus, and began to preach next door to the synagogue in the home of Titius Justus, a Gentile believer.

In Paul's day, Corinth was a busy Roman trading city on the narrow strip of land between the Ionian Sea and the Aegian Sea. It had two harbours – Lechaeum on the Gulf of Corinth to the west and Cenchraea on the Aegian Sea to the east. It made huge profits by taxing cargoes that were transported overland between the two ports to avoid the dangerous waters around the Peloponnese.

The first attempt to build a canal across the isthmus at Corinth was started by Emperor Nero in c.66AD, but was soon abandoned. The present-day Corinth Canal was completed in 1893.

The photo shows the Temple of Apollo at Corinth.

You can read more about Corinth @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/…/10-pauls…/paul-in-corinth/

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