Lydia

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The next household we meet is that of Lydia "a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira,.... whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there." (Acts 16:14, 1514And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. 15And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us. (Acts 16:14‑15)). The Lord opened the heart of Lydia and she opened her house. It is all individual. Her own personal salvation was unquestionable, and so she was baptized. But what about her household? Were the members of it saved? Were there children in it or not? On all this the Scripture is absolutely silent: and it is not silent for the purpose of giving us the opportunity to speculate about these matters. The Spirit of God has another purpose in view in the way He records these various households. So the important thing for us is to note what the Scripture says, and not add our own thoughts: and the Scripture records that Lydia's household was baptized, without any mention whatever of faith, real or otherwise, on their part. The narrative is complete. The Spirit has told us all He wished us to know, and we dare not add to it by reasoning or surmising. As the Scripture records it, Lydia's whole household was baptized on the ground of her faith.
It is very sad that these households which have been specially recorded for the instruction, comfort, and encouragement of us Gentile believers, have with very many been turned into a subject for vain speculation and dispute. How much better were we to come to the Scriptures to humbly seek to hear what they would teach us, instead of trying to force into them our own views and ideas. Let us, then, seek grace and humility to lay aside our own opinions, and to hear only what the Word says. It is no new thing in the Scriptures to see the household brought into a place of external blessing, on the ground of the individual faith and responsibility of its head. We noted this at some length in the case of Rahab, and might have spoken of the same thing in connection with other households.
Previous to Noah, individual relationship and responsibility, as in Abel, Enoch, and others was the principle that God recognized, and on which He acted. But with Noah came a new development in God's dealings with man. Responsible government was introduced, and God commanded: "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." (Gen. 9:66Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. (Genesis 9:6)). This was something new in God's order; and with the introduction of government, God also disclosed household relationship with its corresponding responsibility, attached to its head. "Come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation." (Gen. 7:11And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. (Genesis 7:1)). No mention is made of the righteousness or faith of the household, but the whole house entered the ark on the ground of that of its head: and so even Ham, who afterward proved to be so evil, was brought into a place of external blessing on the ground of his father's righteousness and faith. "By faith Noah... prepared an ark to the saving of his house:.. and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." (Heb. 11:77By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. (Hebrews 11:7)). Note, although Noah's house received an "External Saving", Noah alone is said to have become "heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”
Many other instances of this principle appear in the Old Testament. All the men of Abraham's house were circumcised on the ground of Abraham's faith. (Gen. 17:27, 2727And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him. (Genesis 17:27)
27And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him. (Genesis 17:27)). We find Abraham's whole household again linked with him, in Gen. 18:1919For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. (Genesis 18:19). * * * Note that the Lord was ready to save all of Lot's household. The angels said to him: "Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city bring them out of this place." That son in law was probably a Sodomite, yet for Lot's sake, the Lord would have saved him, had he been willing to be saved. Gen. 19. * * * Potiphar's whole house was blessed for Joseph's sake. And Joseph was his slave. Gen. 32:55And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight. (Genesis 32:5). * * * We find the same principle when Pharoah wished to keep the little ones in Egypt. The grand reply is: "We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go.... there shall not an hoof be left behind." Ex. 10:9, 269And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord. (Exodus 10:9)
26Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the Lord our God; and we know not with what we must serve the Lord, until we come thither. (Exodus 10:26). This beautifully illustrates God's grand principle that the whole household, and all that he has, is included with the head of that household. * * * We find the same thing in the Passover: "In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, lamb for an house." Ex. 12:33Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: (Exodus 12:3). * * * The Spirit of God takes care to point out to us in the New Testament, that when Israel crossed the Red Sea, all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. (1 Cor. 10:1, 21Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; (1 Corinthians 10:1‑2)). The Scripture tells us there were six hundred thousand men, "beside children", Ex. 12:3737And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. (Exodus 12:37). Most of these men would be heads of households, and each brought his whole household with him out of Egypt. There were, doubtless, hundreds of thousands of infants and children, all of whom were baptized with their fathers "unto Moses." By this baptism externally they "all" left the dominion of Pharoah, and "all" came under the authority of Moses, men and women, infants and children, alike. * * * Aaron's bullock for the sin offering was "for himself, and for his house." * * * At the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, the households of Dathan and Abiram were swallowed up with them, and these households included little ones. Num. 16:27, 32, 3327So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children. (Numbers 16:27)
32And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. 33They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. (Numbers 16:32‑33); Deut. 11:66And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel: (Deuteronomy 11:6). * * * The Hebrew servant would not go out free, "because he loveth thee and thine house." Deut. 15:1616And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee; (Deuteronomy 15:16). * * * "Thou and thy household" were to eat the firstling males of the herd or of the flock. Deut. 15:2020Thou shalt eat it before the Lord thy God year by year in the place which the Lord shall choose, thou and thy household. (Deuteronomy 15:20). * * * The same was true of the basket of firstfruits in Deut. 26:1111And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you. (Deuteronomy 26:11). * * * We have noted Rahab, a Gentile, in Josh. 2:12, 18; 6:23-2512Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed you kindness, that ye will also show kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token: (Joshua 2:12)
18Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee. (Joshua 2:18)
23And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel. 24And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. 25And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. (Joshua 6:23‑25). Here we find that her whole household, including the widest possible circle, were saved on the ground of her faith alone. * * * We find another Gentile in Judg. 1.25, who brought blessing and safety to "all his family" by his one act of faith. * * * Obededom the Gittite was another Gentile for whom God acted according to this same truth: "The Lord blessed Obededom, and all his household." 2 Sam. 6:11, 1211And the ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months: and the Lord blessed Obed-edom, and all his household. 12And it was told king David, saying, The Lord hath blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the city of David with gladness. (2 Samuel 6:11‑12). * * * Ittai the Gittite (another Gentile from Gath) well understood God's order in this matter: "David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him." 2 Sam. 15:2222And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him. (2 Samuel 15:22). They passed over to share their king's rejection, along with their father. * * * When Israel was in great fear in the days of Jehoshaphat "all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children." 2 Chron. 20:1313And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. (2 Chronicles 20:13). * * * In Nehemiah's day "they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced." Neh. 12:4343Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off. (Nehemiah 12:43). * * * We might continue, but I fear I have already wearied you; but I trust that this will make clear that from Noah's day onward, God's great principle was: "Thou and thy house.”
The households of Cornelius and Lydia follow on in this remarkable line of households that we find all through the Old Testament. Great efforts have been made to prove that these New Testament households had no children, or that all were of an age to believe, and had done so. To raise such questions when the Holy Spirit deliberately and intentionally is totally silent as to them, is merely to show that he who raises them has entirely missed the object of the Spirit of God. To the one well acquainted with the Old Testament, the term "household" should have become thoroughly familiar, and what it implied should have been well understood. It is almost what we might call "a technical term." The meaning the Spirit of God has in using it, is to be found in the use He has made of it in earlier Scriptures: and we have seen that it means exactly what it says: all in the house. This might, or might not, include infants, children, or servants; (a "servant that is bought for money" (Ex. 12:4444But every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. (Exodus 12:44)) was in quite a different position to a "hired servant" today) and God did not upbraid Rahab when she stretched the meaning to include parents and brothers and sisters and their families. I suppose it is: According to your faith, so be it unto you. Some have pressed that we never find infants or children baptized in the Bible, so we may not include these in the households we are now considering: but we have already seen that some half million or more households, including untold numbers of infants and children, were baptized, as pointed out in First Corinthians. If we are to understand aright these Scriptures we are now looking at, we must accept these households in the way in which the Spirit uses this word, or its representative, as family, little ones, etc., in the earlier portions of the Word: and we must receive these Scriptures as they stand without adding to them.