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1. Was Timothy at Ephesus at the time of Acts xx. 1? No, for Acts xix. 22 shows that
he had left that city for Macedonia.
2. May not Timothy have returned in time? No, for I Cor. iv. 17 and xvi. 10 show
that the apostle had instructed him to go on from Macedonia to Corinth.
3. Did Timothy meet the apostle at all? Yes, II Cor. ii. 12 read with II Cor. i. 1
shows that Timothy had rejoined the apostle in Macedonia.
4. How does this bear upon the date of I Timothy? It makes it impossible for Paul to
have written to Timothy after Acts xx. 1, or to have besought Timothy to remain at
Ephesus--for he was not there--or that he himself entertained the hope of shortly seeing
Timothy again in Ephesus. At the time of writing I Timothy Paul could say:--
"These things I write unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly" (I Tim. iii. 14).
5. What reason have we for saying that Paul could not entertain the hope of shortly
seeing Timothy at Ephesus?
Acts xx. 1.
Paul leaves Ephesus for Macedonia.
Acts xx. 2.
Paul leaves Macedonia for Greece.
Acts xx. 3.
Paul after three months proposes to leave for Syria, but because of
the lying in wait of the Jews, he altered his plan, purposing to
return through Macedonia.
Acts xx. 4.
Among those who accompanied him into Asia was Timothy.
Acts xx. 5.
Timothy and the others wait for Paul at Troas.
Acts xx. 6.
Luke and Paul left Philippi for Troas, arriving there in five days,
and abiding seven.
Acts xx. 13.
The party sail to Assos, but Paul goes on foot.
Acts xx. 14.
Meeting the boat there, they came to Mitylene.
Acts xx. 15, 16. Thence to Miletus, where Paul met the elders of the church at
Ephesus, as he determined to sail by Ephesus in order, if possible,
to be at Jerusalem by Pentecost.
Acts. xx. 28-35. Paul warns the Ephesian elders of the rise of false teacher telling
them that the Holy Ghost had made them overseers of the church.
Timothy was with Paul at the time. Is it conceivable, if Timothy
had already been appointed to the oversight of that very church,
that Paul would have so pointedly passed him over unmentioned?
Acts xx. 38.
The Ephesian elders sorrow most of all for the fact that they should
see the apostle's face no more.
Acts xxi.
Paul reaches Jerusalem, and becomes a prisoner.
Acts xxii.-xxviii. Paul is no longer a freeman, and consequently could not at any
time after Acts xx. 1 have arranged to meet Timothy at Ephesus.
(To be continued).