Timothy was the son of bi-cultural parents.

Acts 16:1

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“Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek.” Acts 16:1 

We are living in a world where the global population has “bicultural” parents. The children are being raised to live by the beast that gives them what to speak, do, think, and feel, while at the same time being taught humanitarian principles. They have a form of Godliness and Paul warned Timothy against this, “…having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” 2 Timothy 3:5

Timothy is the person who the letters of 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy are named after. Paul was writing to this Timothy in those letters. “To Timothy, a true son in the faith…” 1 Timothy 1:2 and also “To Timothy, a beloved son…” 2 Timothy 1:2

Timothy was from a family where his parents were not united as one in their faith in Jesus Christ. His mother was a Jewish woman who said, “Yes”, to Jesus as the Christ and her Lord and Savior. Her name was Eunice, 2 Timothy 1:5. Timothy’s father was a Gentile Greek who did not accept Jesus as the Christ and Son of God. The parents of Timothy were from two different cultures, not only was one parent Jewish and the other Greek, but one lived by her faith in Jesus and the father lived in rejection of Christ Jesus.

In those days, there were those known as Hellenist Jews who adopted the culture and language of the Greeks. As we know, the New testament was written in Greek. Timothy’s mother would have been a Hellenist Jew, but Paul also called her a woman of faith when speaking to Timothy, “...when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.” 1 Timothy 1:5

Today, a family may consist of parents who not just from different cultures but also have different beliefs referring to the Living God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. This could be stressful on the children, especially if torn between the standards of one parent who lives for Jesus Christ and one who doesn’t. In today’s atheistic culture, a family with parents who live by different beliefs would be very tumultuous and headed for a breakup. That’s because one parent would be living for the beast that oppresses the presence of the Holy Spirit to give people what to speak, think, feel, and do. The other parent would be living for God through Jesus Christ in the presence of the Holy Spirit. The entity that gives one parent what to say, do, think, and feel despises God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. This is a very bad situation for the family.

The Holy Spirit says that God has called us to peace, and remaining in a bad relationship is not what God expects, “But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?” 1 Corinthians 7:15-16

“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-16

As we see in the coming verses, Paul removed Timothy from the home where his parents were living together as light with darkness, one being a Believer and the other not. Today, the odds are insurmountable for a child to be taken from a parent, or home, where the child is taught to live by the will of the beast that gives them what to say, think, feel, and do. That’s because the culture of today is built on that atheistic foundation and opposition to that is opposition to community values.

The map below can used as a reference to see where Timothy was from. Paul and Silas sailed from Antioch at Syria, to Derbe [about 3/4 of an inch northwest of Antioch at Syria], and then to Lystra. Lystra is where Paul and Silas met Timothy. There were two Antiochs, one referred to as Antioch at Syria and the other as Antioch at Pisidia. Antioch at Syria is seen to the east of the picture and about halfway up. The Antioch at Pisidia is seen north of Lystra, Lystra being just west of Derbe.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11