DISTANT VIEWS OF OLYMPUS
Photographs taken by Prof. George Norlin. Owned by Arthur S. Cooley, Ph.D., and used by his kind permission
It was near the foot of Olympus, the most famous mountain in Greece, "the home of the gods," that Paul embarked on his voyage to Athens, and it was often in sight as he sailed from point to point in the Aegean Sea. The whole of Paul's route in Macedonia was over historical ground. He traveled over the route taken by Xerxes' army when it swept down to overwhelm Greece. He passed near the Pass of Thermopylae, where one of the most famous defenses of history was made; at Philippi he was close to the confines of Thracian barbarism, and on the spot where the last battle was fought in defense of the republic; at Berea he was near the famous battleground of Pydna, which reduced Macedonia to a Roman province.
"Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in the which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Wherefore watch ye, remembering that by the space of three years I ceased not to admonish everyone night and day with tears. And now I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you the inheritance among all them that are sanctified. I coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Ye yourselves know that these hands ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. In all things I gave you an example, that so laboring ye ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the word which he had spoken, that they should behold his face no more. And they brought him on his way unto the ship.
And when it came to pass that we were parted from them, and had set sail, we came with a straight course to Cos, and the next day unto Rhodes, and from thence to Patara: and having found a ship crossing over unto Phoenicia, we went aboard, and set sail. And when we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left hand, we sailed to Syria, and landed at Tyre: for there the ship was to unload her cargo. And having found the disciples, we tarried there seven days: and these said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not set foot in Jerusalem. And when it came to pass that we had accomplished the days, [{430}] we departed and went on our journey; and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us on our way, till we were out of the city: and kneeling down on the beach, we prayed, and bade each other farewell; and we went on board the ship, but they returned home again.