Lydia: Bible Character Study

Acts 16: 11 - 15

• Acts 16:14: "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."
• Lydia was a dealer in purple cloth and so she probably would be a wealthy and well known person in the city of Thyatira.
• Women in the times of Jesus were not given the same kind of respect and status in the society. Women were often considered a second class citizen. They were allowed to have very minimum education and their role was limited to the chores of the home and children.
• In times like these, we see Lydia on the scene as a business woman. This reveals that not only she had an education and skill, she also possessed strength and determination to work in a male dominated society.
• The passage also says that members of her household were baptized along with her. So she would be an influential person in her family.
  
  
  
• In those days,  Purple cloth was valuable and expensive, it was claimed to be worth its weight in silver. It was usually worn as a sign of nobility or royalty.
• It gives a new significance to the passage in Mark 15:17 where the soldiers put a purple robe on Jesus, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!"
• The Bible portrays that Lydia was a woman of prayer as she met Paul at the place of prayer and she was also eager to learn from Paul.
• She was also mentioned as a worshiper of God (v.14). She received the message of Paul which was the gospel and she received it with an open heart. After receiving the message, Lydia also responded to it and showed courage and strength by coming forward publicly and getting baptized. 
• She persuaded Paul and a team of missionaries to come to her home. She was a hospitable woman. She is again mentioned in Acts 16: 40. "After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia's house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left."
• Even though, the story of Lydia is mentioned in only few verses in Acts, she played a prominent role in  the early Christian church and ministry.