spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ
to come out of her." And he came out that very hour
ACTs 16:18b
Paul's work in Macedonia is off to a successful start with the conversion of Lydia and her household. But trouble comes unexpectedly. One day as the missionaries are going to the place of prayer, they encounter a slave girl "possessed with a spirit of divination." Dr. Simon Kistemaker explains that the Greek word here rendered "divination" derives from a word refering to Python, the mythical snake that guarded the Delphic Oracle. "In later years, the term denoted a spirit of divination that dwelled in a medium," he writes. "As the priestess of Apollo at Delphi was anle to predict the future, so this slave girl served her masters in Philippi as a fortuneteller. She was an instrument of demons who used her as a mouthpiece." Her demonic bondage ebable her to make much money for her madters. However, when she encounters the missionaries, she immediately cries out a truthful, yet enigmatic statement: "" these men are the servant of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation."
This raises several questions. Is she truly able to predict future events? We cannot be sure; the answer depends on whether God makes His plans known to Satan to any extend. Also, why wpuld satan allow this gorl to make a truthful confession about Paul and his caompanions? The incident is similar to Jesus' encounters with demon possessed people who cried out involuntarily in His presence (Matt. 8:28-29; Mark 1:23-24); thus her cries may not be intentional. However, Satan may be using truthful testimony delivered in a distruptive way to frustrate Paul's ministry efforts. It is also possible the Gentiles hearing the girl are being led to believe that "Most High God" is reference to Zues. Finally, why does. Paul tolerate her cries for "Many days"? We must remember that he lacks Jesus' divine ability to detect evil spirit. Therefore, it seems likely yhat he refrains from acting until the spirit reveals to him thag is facing a case of demonic possession.
Paul finally uses his divinely given authority as an apostle, ordering the demon '" in the name of Jesus Christ," come out. It does so right away. The girl is delivered, but Paul's troubles are just beginning, for the girl is now useless to her master as a profit source. In anger, these powerful Philippians have Paul and Silas seized and dragged before the city authorities meeting in the marketplace.
We must never forget that standing for Christ in a lost world will always bring spiritual opposition. Yet we must guard against speculatives and imaginative concepts of the spiritual struggles, concepts that go beyond the word of God. Simply remember that Satan is a defeated foe and look to God for protection and help to resist Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment