And through the region of Phry'gia
and Galatia they went, after the Holy Spirit prevented them from speaking the word
in Asia. And coming to the vicinity of My'sia, they attempted to head into
Bithyn'ia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; so, they went down to
Troas bypassing My'sia. And in the night a vision appeared to Paul: a man of
Macedo'nia was standing beseeching him and saying, "Come over to
Macedo'nia and help us." And when he had seen the vision, we concluded we
should keep going into Macedo'nia, assuming God was calling us to preach the
gospel to them.
In a Nutshell
Decisions had to be made about the next destination in their journey and Luke tells us that God's Spirit made them sensitive to His plans.
Questions
What is Luke telling us about the experience the travellers had of God's guidance?
At Pisidian Antioch they had taken the Northern Road. This meant travelling through a region Paul and Barnabas had not visited previously. But you may recall that Paul and Barnabas had initially discussed a re-visit to all the churches they had visited previously. What Luke tells us here indicates that Paul and Silas had decided for some reason not to give Pamphylia a return visit. I wonder why this was? Could it be that Barnabas and Mark were going to visit the churches of this coastal region, at Perga and Attalia, from their base on Cyprus? It had been at Perga that Mark left the party on the first trip after their arrival from Cyprus.
So they travelled north toward the Black Sea. This was new territory. Had any Hellenistic believers reached here after flight from Jerusalem and persecution? Were there any synagogues to visit? Luke doesn't mention them. What he does say is that the party was in need of God's special guidance. On the previous journey, Paul and Barnabas seem to have followed the trail of those fleeing persecution. But now Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit Himself prevented them from taking a path that seemed to be open to them. Luke doesn't tell us how He did so. Was it by a prophetic dream, a landslide or a flock of sheep blocking the way? Was it just a vague uncertainty? Did they draw lots like the apostles had done to replace Judas? We don't know. We have to presume that they simply had to rely upon God's Spirit much as we do when we take a new path.
Then Paul had his dream. Luke tells us that the party took this as positive guidance of where to go next. Luke had joined the party by this time. The last sentence says "we" and "us"; earlier it had been "they" and "them". Luke is saying: "This is where I come in." For a while it becomes a first-hand account.
Maybe it was Luke's arrival that reminded Paul and Silas that they had to be constantly alert to where Jesus wanted them to travel. In some ways it is strange that Luke would tell us only that God's Spirit prevented them going down one particular path, to the region known as Asia. They couldn't go everywhere. It wasn't their task to draw up some master-plan to cover the entire globe.
Luke reminds us at the start of his second book that this is about what Jesus did after He returned to His Father's side. Those carrying the gospel need to learn in their everyday life that they are doing His work. They need to discover, and re-discover this, at every turning in the path. We are under orders, subject to the leading of the Spirit of the Almighty.