We heard a radio preacher say this morning that Antioch was a place where people "loved to gamble." Antioch was a major city in the Roman Empire as the early Church developed.
Yet when we did an online search for "Antioch gambling," we didn't find a New Testament place - we found a town in northern California with a casino. When we added "Bible" to the search, ancient Antioch came up. But Bible resources didn't mention anything about the city's gambling history. And the preacher didn't give a source for his statement - simply "historians."
So maybe ancient Antioch isn't famous for gambling after all. But it became famous for other things:
Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. - Acts 11:20-21
Perhaps some people were persuaded to give up gambling and start serving God. The Bible doesn't say. If they did, they made a good choice. But it may not have been easy....
...Persecutions, sufferings - what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. - II Timothy 3:11
A church group developed in that city, with this Biblical note....
The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. - Acts 11:26
This may explain why many church groups today have "Antioch" in their names. Skeptics may have thought the believers took a wild chance with their lives. But the Christian way is the path which leads to eternal life - a grand prize, if ever there was one.
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