Page 131 - Biblical Backgrounds

Asia Minor and Cyprus and the Expansion of the

Early Church (Acts, Ephesians, Revelation)

Connect…

The Hellenistic world enjoyed many established methods of travel. Because of this, Paul and his
companions were able to travel from city to city and region to region. As many pastors know, traveling
for ministry is both exciting and hard. It can also be dangerous. Animals, thieves, corrupt governments,
political enemies, and religious enemies can become barriers to personal safety and successful ministry.
In this section, we will see how the Gospel spread through Asia Minor and Cyprus. This ministry would
not have been possible without much travel and facing danger to take the message of the Messiah King
Jesus to the world.

The Lesson ...

From Syria to Cyprus and Asia Minor.

Most are unaware that there are two cities named
Antioch in scripture. The first one is in Syria. It served
as a starting point for the ministry of Paul on His first
missionary journey. Those journeys would take him,
not exclusively, to Cyprus and Asia Minor. The other
Antioch, known as Antioch of Pisidia, was in Asia
Minor. Acts 11 records the establishment and ministry
of the church at Antioch of Syria. Acts 13 records the
sending of Paul and his companions on the trip by the
Syrian church. 170 That trip started from Antioch in
Syria. They traveled to and set sail for Cyprus at the port of Seleucia in Syria (Acts 13:4).

Locations of Cypress and Asia Minor:
Cypress:
The island of Cyprus is one of many in the Mediterranean Sea. It is the third-largest island. It is
approximately half mountains and half plains. It had two port cities. As you can see in the map above,
Salamis is in the East and Paphos is in the West. Salamis was the original capital city. When the Romans
took over the rule of Cyprus, they moved the capital to Paphos. Paul and Barnabas arrived in Cyprus at
Salamis and began to evangelize in the Jewish synagogue. 171 Howard Vos explains that there was a large
Jewish population in Cyprus due to forced and voluntary migration. The Greek population is thought to

170 Paul’s First Missionary Journey. https://freebibleimages.org/illustrations/bj-paul-maps/.
171 Vos, Howard Frederic. Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Manners & Customs: How the People of the Bible Really
Lived. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson Publishers, 1999. 493-494.

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