Acts 16:25-26

Acts 16:25-26

[25] And  at  midnight  Paul  and  Silas  prayed,  and sang praises  unto God:  and  the prisoners  heard  them.  [26] And  suddenly  there was  a great  earthquake,  so that  the foundations  of the prison  were shaken:  immediately  all  the doors  were opened,  and  every one's  bands  were loosed. 

What does Acts 16:25-26 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

We can see that Paul and Silas were full of the Spirit by the way they reacted to the pain that resulted from their beating and from being locked in stocks (cf. Psalm 42:8). The other prisoners undoubtedly wondered who these men were and how they could rejoice. Perhaps some of them became Christians and members of the Philippian church. If Song of Solomon , Paul"s exhortations to rejoice in the Lord always in his epistle to the Philippians would have reminded them of his example on this occasion. Again God miraculously freed His servants (cf. Acts 5:18-20; Acts 12:3-11).
"This was the first sacred concert ever held in Europe ...
"The world is watching Christians, and when they see Christians shaken by circumstances as they themselves, they conclude that after all there is very little to Christianity; but when they find Christians rising above circumstances and glorying in the Lord even in deepest trial, then even the unsaved realize the Christian has something in knowing Christ to which they are strangers." [1]
Some ancient writers wrote that earthquakes were not uncommon throughout Macedonia and Greece. [2]