Wildflowers Week Four | Priscilla the Hollyhock Sample

One Tough Gal

Here's to the humble homemaker, the woman who doesn't need designer clothes, salon gel nails, or multiple styling tools to do her hair. She'd rather plant an organic garden than put in time at a fancy mall. You can find her wiping running noses instead of running up debt. She knows her way around a workshop full of power tools. And a set of blueprints don't intimidate her. Don't get me wrong—she's a beaut who can put a sunset to shame, but she's not frail or fragile.

Last week we met Lydia, who was a woman of wealth. Not so, our Priscilla. She labored hard beside her husband making tents, and it was arduous work. Hollyhocks, like Priscilla, are hardy, no-nonsense flowers. They grow in unexpected places, like between the cracks of a sidewalk or near the stucco wall of a house. They grow in full sun, require minimal care, and easily reseed themselves to rise again the coming year.

Tents in ancient times were made of goat skin, unlike the nylon pop-up tents of today. They were also huge. We're talking circus-tent size with multiple rooms separated by goat-hair curtains. This explains how Sarah overheard the angel in their tent telling Abraham that she would get pregnant well into her nineties. These tents were known as a "house of hair," as the fabric was very coarse and heavy. They protected a family from cold in the winter and could be raised from the ground in the summer to create shade and allow a breeze to blow through.

Tentmakers were part of a guild, similar to other craftsmen. It was common to teach a Hebrew boy a trade. Jesus was a carpenter, and Paul was a tentmaker. It's wonderful that Priscilla's parents made sure that she, too, excelled in a profession. Oftentimes tradespeople would set up shop around a synagogue, which explains why it was so easy for Paul to meet fellow tentmakers with whom he also found lodging.

Read the verses below and answer the following questions:

"He came to them. So, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked; for by occupation they were tentmakers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks" (Acts 18:2-4).

Practical Observation

1. Who did Paul go to and why?

2. What two things did Paul do with them?

Stayed lets us know that the couple offered Paul hospitality. It is believed the apostle stayed with them for nearly one and a half years. A church met in their home in both Corinth and Ephesus. "The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house" (1 Corinthians 16:19).

3. Describe what Paul did every week and when.

Sabbath is the seventh day of the week and considered a holy day during which God's people should do no work but instead rest. God worked six days to create the universe and rested on the seventh day, leaving us an example that we might do the same. "Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord" (Exodus 31:15).

4. What people groups did Paul hope to impact? How were they different?

Personal Application

a. What vocational abilities do you possess, and how did you learn them? Do you use them to further the gospel? If so, how?

Talents can become vocations. Today, selling your orchard-fresh jam at a farmers market is a vocation—a more organic one. Jobs in modern times need to be redefined as something that adds income to your household, whether you're an influencer on social media or you run a day care in your home.

b. Describe how you celebrate the Sabbath day. Do you find these habits restorative? If so, how?

Greek obviously describes someone from Greece or of Greek descent. But this term was often used to describe anyone who was not a Jew. A similar term in the New Testament is Gentile. Rome conquered the Greeks but did little to change the culture. As a result, Greek can also mean someone influenced by Greek culture.

c. Paul's heart was open to all people groups from many countries and tribes. Describe a cross-cultural experience you've had. How were the people you encountered different from you? What did you learn?