Yes — God redirected Paul westward to Macedonia because the gospel of grace was to move into Europe rather than east into Asia.
The Holy Spirit repeatedly closed the doors into Asia and Bithynia, and then showed Paul a vision of a man from Macedonia pleading for help. Paul immediately understood this as God's call to preach in Macedonia. Les Feldick teaches that this westward turn set the gospel's course for Europe and, eventually, the New World.
Acts 16:6-9 — These verses record the Holy Spirit's prohibitions and Paul's vision of the Macedonian man, which is the direct cause of the shift to Macedonia.
Acts 16:10 — This verse shows Paul's immediate response: he concluded the Lord had called them to preach the gospel in Macedonia.
Acts 16:6–10 records that Paul and his companions were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After this, they attempted to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit did not allow them. Passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas, where Paul saw a vision of a man from Macedonia pleading, 'Come over into Macedonia, and help us.' When Paul and his companions arose from the vision, they immediately concluded that the Lord had called them to preach the gospel to the Macedonians and set out to do so.
Les points out that Paul had intended to turn back east through Bithynia, which lay along the Black Sea, and then continue toward Asia. The Holy Spirit, however, closed that door and would not permit the eastern route. When the night vision of the Macedonian man came at Troas, Paul and his companions immediately understood that the Lord was calling them to Greece — the continent of Europe.
Paul and his companions had been traveling through Phrygia and Galatia when the Holy Spirit forbade them from speaking the Word in Asia. They then came to Mysia and tried to go into Bithynia, but the Holy Spirit did not permit it. Les sets the geography: Bithynia was along the Black Sea, and Paul had evidently intended to take that route and then back toward Syria. Instead, they passed by Mysia and came down to Troas on the Aegean coast.
At Troas, Paul saw a vision in the night of a man from Macedonia pleading, 'Come over into Macedonia, and help us.' Les says this was the proof that Paul had been called from Asia to Europe. Paul and his companions immediately concluded that the Lord had called them to preach the gospel to the Macedonians, and they set out without hesitation.
Les points out that Paul had been ministering in western Turkey, which was then Asia Minor, and intended to go back to the east through Bithynia. But the Holy Spirit stopped him. Instead, the Spirit sent him due west to Greece and the continent of Europe. Les sees this as the gospel setting a westward course — a course that eventually prompted Europeans, motivated by Christianity, to carry it to America.
Once the vision came, they immediately went to Macedonia. From Troas they sailed a straight course to Samothrace, then to Neapolis, then to Philippi in northern Greece. Les traces the onward journey: Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth.
Paul's Vision of Heaven & the Jerusalem Council Explained
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Paul's Intended Bithynia Route and the Macedonian Vision
Les explains that Bithynia was along the Black Sea and was Paul's intended route back toward Syria, but the Holy Spirit would not permit it — so Paul passed through Mysia to Troas, where the Macedonian vision came.
The Call From Asia to Europe
Les emphasizes that from Troas the gospel now moved from Asia to Europe, and Paul immediately obeyed the vision and crossed into Macedonia, later moving through Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth.
Paul's Immediate Obedience
Les highlights Paul's immediate response to the vision — 'immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia' — even while Paul was distressed that Titus had not kept his appointment at Troas.
The Holy Spirit's Prohibition
Les sets the geography and the divine prohibition: Paul had been in western Turkey and planned to go back east via Bithynia, but the Holy Spirit stopped that plan and closed the door to preaching in Asia.
The Gospel Moves West to Europe
Les teaches that the Holy Spirit sent Paul due west to Greece, which carried the gospel to the continent of Europe, and that this same gospel-driven movement later prompted Europeans to go to America.
What It Means to Be Sealed by the Holy Spirit — 2 Corinthians 1:21-22
And then he says, I intended to pass by you, and go into Macedonia, which of course is up in northern Greece, and come out again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought my way toward Judea. In other words, Paul's itinerary was to leave Philippi, and so he was going to come down again to southern Greece, to Corinth, visit the church there, and then go back up to northern Greece into Mac…
Troas, Bithynia, and Greece on the Map
Les clarifies the regional geography — Troas on the coast and Bithynia on the Black Sea — and says the Holy Spirit led Paul across to Greece instead of back down through Asia.
Acts 16:6: Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,
This shows the first closed door that prevented Paul from preaching in Asia.
Acts 16:7: After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.
This records the second divine prohibition, turning Paul away from Bithynia.
Acts 16:8: And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas.
This brings Paul to the coastal city where the Macedonian vision occurs.
Acts 16:9: And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
This is the direct call that redirected Paul to Macedonia.
Acts 16:10: And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.
This confirms that Paul understood the vision as God's call to preach in Macedonia.
No. The biblical account shows Paul was willing to preach wherever the Spirit led. When the Holy Spirit forbade him from Asia and would not permit him into Bithynia, Paul adjusted his plans, and after the Macedonian vision he immediately concluded that God had called him to Macedonia.
Les teaches that the Holy Spirit deliberately stopped Paul from going back east and sent him due west to Greece. From there the gospel spread across Europe, and Les says that Christian impulse eventually drove Europeans to America, where the gospel flourished in a new context.
The Macedonian call is Paul's night vision at Troas in which a man from Macedonia pleaded, 'Come over into Macedonia, and help us.' For Paul, it was clear evidence that the Lord wanted them to preach the gospel on the European continent.
Watch the Teaching: Paul's Vision of Heaven & the Jerusalem Council Explained