The Macedonian man turned out to be a woman.

[seekeroftruth]

Acts 16:11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.​

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13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.​

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Of course, this was way too simple, so I had to go to the commentary.

I learned the wind would have been at their backs as they sailed across the Aegean Sea. I guess having the wind at your back would be one way of saying the Spirit was behind the decision to sail to Macedonia. I also saw Mark Anthony and Octavia in the commentary and thought you might enjoy reading the Roman side of things.

Philippi was “the place where the armies of Mark Antony and Octavian defeated Brutus and Cassius in the decisive battle of the second Roman civil war in 42 B.C.” (Hughes) Because of this, many Roman soldiers retired in the area, and Philippi was proud of its Roman connection.​

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Now check it out. They didn't go to the Temple on the Sabbath... They went to the river. They didn't meet with men, they met with the women. Here's why....

On the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made: The fact that the Jews of Philippi had no synagogue and met by the river means that there were not many Jewish men in Philippi.​

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So, this was a Gentile community???

Now on to the conversion of the woman named Lydia.

Lydia… was a seller of purple: Anyone who was a seller of purple dealt in a valued, luxurious product. The dyes used for making purple were expensive and highly regarded. This woman was the first convert in Europe, and one might say that the Macedonian man turned out to be a woman.​

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i. From the city of Thyatira: Thyatira was well known as a center for this purple dye and fabric made from it. Later, there was a church in Thyatira also, and it was one of the seven churches addressed in Revelation (Revelation 2:18-29).​

The commentary doesn't connect John the Baptist with the Macedonian Woman.... But I see the comparison. John was sent to open the path for Jesus... to announce His Son. Paul, Timothy, and Dr. Luke [the author of the Book of Acts] were going to open Europe up to Christianity, in the river. John the Baptist worked in the river, Baptizing. John called out Herod's wife for being a whore which cost him his head. And now.... the first convert in Macedonia is a woman, and she's being Baptized. Jesus' cousin John would have been thrilled.

So, the Macedonian man turned out to be a woman!

 

[SamSpade]

I have to admit, this is the most unusual interpretation of Paul's vision I have ever read - one claimed it was actually Luke, presuming him to be a Macedonian (every bit of research including DNA examination, leads to him having been SYRIAN). Another was that somehow, it was a vision of Alexander the Great himself. Since it was a vision given to Paul - it could have been anything.

The way I always interpreted it was - it was the Spirit telling him to cross the Bosporus and take the Gospel OUT of Asia Minor and into Greece - (because he was TWICE thwarted from going elsewhere) - a place he would go to many times LATER - but had up to that point, not been headed.

Why might Paul be concentrating his efforts in Asia Minor? Because it was home.

Saul was from Tarsus, and if the Bible timeline is checked out - after his three years in Arabia (where Paul in Galatians said he was personally instructed by the Lord) - he may have just gone back HOME. After his brief visit in Jerusalem - to avoid capture, the Bible said he went to Cilicia. Home. That's where Tarsus is.

He was retrieved by Barnabas to Antioch, spent a year there, went to Jerusalem again, back to Antioch - and began his first missionary journey.

To the regions - near his home.

Mostly - to Jews. Yes, he preached to Gentiles. It was a bit of a hard sell, and even Jesus himself had to spell it out to Peter. But when Paul entered a city, he almost always went straight to the local synagogue FIRST.

I always understood the "Macedonian call" to mean - an appeal to Paul to take the Gospel to Greeks - and Romans - and - well - heathen. MUCH further abroad than he appears to have planned.