Antiochus was a popular name in those days, the one given to a series of kings descended from one of Alexander's generals.

The ministry in Antioch of Pisidia (in Galatia) started out as a rousing success. Paul preached a serious and effective message about Jesus in the synagogue there. "Jew first, and also the Greek" was Paul's method.

After his message, God's grace touched many of the Jews in attendance. But some Gentiles too were touched. We are not told how Gentiles were involved. Perhaps the mention in the text of "God-fearing proselytes" as separate from "the Jews" is one key. Not everyone in attendance that special Sabbath were orthodox Jews. Some were on their way to orthodoxy when Paul appeared.

Evidently these new converts to Judaism spread the word around Antioch during the week, because the next Sabbath, "the whole city" showed up at the synagogue! And when the original Jews saw this, they were seriously jealous and began to disrupt the meeting, even to the point of blasphemy.

Here is where something of God rose within Paul and he realized fully his special calling to the Gentiles. He opened the door of salvation to them, to their great joy. There follows, the church of Antioch. Imagine the joy as these Galatians, Jew and Gentile, are hearing and accepting the message. The enthusiasm on both sides, in fact, must be kept in mind as we read Paul's letter.

But the joy was tempered with evil, as the Jewish element eventually ran the Antioch missionaries out of town.

The next town along the way was Iconium. Almost exactly the same chain of events occurred. Teaching, miracles... and a resistant group of Jews. An attempted stoning, and Paul and company moved on again, to a district within the province, Lycaonia.

First came the town of Lystra. A lame man healed. Paul and Barnabas were thought to be gods themselves before they had a chance to point them to the God Who had worked this miracle. While in the process of correcting their theology, Jews from the last two towns, who had been pursuing Paul, showed up in Lystra, and this time they were able to complete their mission, or so they thought: they stoned Paul and left him for dead.

But God wasn't finished, by a long shot, with the apostle. He soon got up and moved along to the next Galatian town, Derbe. The Gospel was preached there, then the record tells us he turned around and went back not only to Lystra, but to Iconium and Antioch, where dwelt his recent enemies. And why? To strengthen his new disciples, to encourage them to continue in the faith, just as he was continuing, despite the trouble.

Elders were appointed in every city. Prayer. Fasting. Farewells, and Paul was on his way out of Galatia, to other points of ministry.

That was Paul's blessed introduction to the people whom he later, in his letter we call "Galatians", must castigate with no uncertain words. How they have broken his heart we cannot imagine.

What has happened?

Rejection, persecution, stoning, trials that came to that early group of churches and their founder, had not stopped the Galatians from desiring to advance in the faith. But something more awful than any of that now came along.

The record of Luke is clear: Men, supposedly Christian men, but men attached also to Moses, came down from Judea, perhaps following Paul around and conferring with the Jews who of the region. But they went from church to church in Galatia and wherever the Gospel had taken hold.

Their message: Believe in Jesus, but don't forget Moses! Be circumcised. Obey the law.

Paul had already left Galatia when this horror occurred. Somehow, whether in a return to the region, or in meeting with these men further down the road, a clash occurred. Debate. Dissension. Paul is furious. It is determined that he must return, not only to Syria, but to Jerusalem itself, to confer with the leaders of the church.

The stage was thus set for the hugely important council recorded in Acts 15, and, it would seem, for the letter to the Galatians, many of whom he knew to have deserted his message already!