God’s Word for You
Acts 18:2b-4 Tent making
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Saturday, October 24, 2020
He went to see them, 3 and since he knew the same trade, he stayed with them and worked. Their trade was tentmaking. 4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.
Most sources that report ancient tentmaking customs describe the bayit sh’ar, “house of hair.” This was the Bedouin’s tent of black goat hair, which was porous when first set up but would become waterproof when the early rains had shrunk the cloth. It was generally black or very dark. This is what the wife refers to in the Song of Solomon when she complains or worries that her sunburn is unattractive: “Dark am I, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon” (Song of Solomon 1:5). Curtains in palaces might be made of cotton and dyed almost any color (“white cotton curtains and blue hangings,” Esther 1:6), but tents had to be made of sturdier stuff. We shouldn’t be surprised that the Corinthian tent makers were Jews, since Jews had a history of living in tents, especially if they worked as shepherds (Genesis 46:32, 47:3; Amos 1:1). Jews who had not yet heard about Jesus would need lambs for Passover, and sheep and goats as clean animals for food, as well. So being a Jew in ancient times meant being associated with certain animals and a certain lifestyle by the very nature of being a Jew. Every Jewish man did not need to be a shepherd (Matthew 13:56. Exodus 36:1-2), but every Jewish man needed to know a shepherd.
The term “tent ministry” has come down to us because of this time in Paul’s life. He was in Corinth for a year and a half (Acts 18:11), and he supported himself through his trade, preaching on the weekends and whenever there was an opportunity. Sometimes a mission opportunity presents itself today in a place where a pastor can’t be supported to work full time by his congregation, yet he is called to serve. He might be permitted to take on a second job, the way Paul took on a job, so that he can afford to live, eat, and pay taxes where he is. Not all pastors had a whole career before they studied for the ministry, although some of us did. But most pastors at least worked at a summer job while in school, and that can be a starting point should a tent ministry become necessary.
But everything runs back to preaching the gospel. Paul was willing to talk to anyone who was around. That’s because the gospel of forgiveness isn’t for just a few, but for everyone. Even the shepherds, returning to their dark tents after seeing the newborn Jesus, “spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child” (Luke 2:17). And everyone who heard it was amazed. Amaze your family and your neighbors and the people you love. Tell them what you know about Jesus. Their life will never be the same.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.