Vv. 11-12 The powerful,
God -ordained ministry of the
apostle Paul
Vv. 13- 16 The powerless,
man -initiated ministry of the
Jewish exorcists
Vv. 17-20 The verdict
: The Gospel triumphs over Witchcraft
This text not only makes
entertaining reading, but it is also deeply relevant for the times in which we
find ourselves. Truly life transforming,
powerful, biblical Christianity has
always found itself
challenged by imitation, Pseudo - Christianity, which has the appearance of godliness, but denying it’s power (2 Tim 3:5). It is rotten at the core. Paul counsels Timothy to
avoid such people, who are ‘always
learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth’. (2 Tim 3:7).
Christianity’s greatest enemy is not Islam or
Hinduism, even though these religions are contrary and opposed to the Christian
faith. The greatest enemy of biblical faith is that which subtly
corrupts her from the inside.
The history of the Bible from the beginning in Genesis 3, outlining the fall of man by the
agency of Satan who puts himself in the
place of God, to the very end
in the book of Revelation by the
work of the anti-Christ, who puts himself in the place of the Lord Jesus Christ
shows this very clearly. Satan puts
himself in the place of God. The anti-Christ puts himself in the place of
Christ.The true God is suppressed (Rom. 1:18ff). He is substituted for lesser
gods. This history of Israel shows this. Apostasy from the true faith occurs time and
again as Israel chooses to serve the gods of the nations. It always starts with
a lack of vigilance on the part of the shepherds of the nations. When the prophets, priests and kings failed
to watch as shepherds over Israel, Israel very quickly turned aside to other
gods, making Israel in effect powerless against her enemies.
Our text reveals these two
systems. The Book of Acts presents us with a fresh, dynamic, powerful,
pure Christianity, but it also shows
the rottenness of a religion that claims to be of Yahweh, but which in reality relies on men’s opinions and men’s systems (such as the Pharisees promoted),
and often it also relies on esoteric, occultic powers, such as was possessed
by Elymas the Jewish sorcerer (Acts 13:6ff) and the 7 sons of Sceva.
There is a fundamental difference
between these two. In our chapter we find them both. The apostle Paul exhibited the true power of God :
11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles
by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched
his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the
evil spirits came out of them.
It is
important that we keep what is happening here in perspective. Many
modern Christian teachers expect such things to happen in our age. On the basis
of such a text some modern TV evangelists invite their hearers to lay their
hands on the TV to receive their healing. Others sell oil and water anointed
by some modern prophet, promising to
bring healing, prosperity or whatever else is desired. The Roman Catholic
church has long been in the forefront of all this, believing that sacred sites such as Fatima in Spain or Lourdes
in France could be visited, relics and oils could be bought to effect healing. Many
thousands of pilgrims to Lourdes have followed the instruction of Our Lady of
Lourdes to "drink at the spring and
wash in it". Many people supposedly have claimed to have been cured by drinking
or bathing in it[1].
So, what is happening here in
Ephesus through the
instrumentality of the apostle Paul needs to be understood. The apostle Paul was bringing
the gospel to Ephesus, which in
the words of the commentator William
Larkin, was ‘a city most hospitable to magicians, sorcerers and charlatans of all
sorts. Attached to the statue of Artemis (Diana) , the city's chief goddess,
were certain symbols, ‘ta Ephesia grammata’ [2], which had been turned into a magical
formula [3].
According to our African way of describing this, it was a city filled with witchcraft. Witchcraft is an attempt to manipulate spiritual forces via
magical incantations, ritual acts and paraphernalia in order to ward off evil
and bring well-being. Well, Ephesus was riddled with these elements.
Do you see what the apostle Paul
is up against? He is preaching
the gospel in an area in which Satan had a stronghold. And God had planned it that a church should be
established in this city. Therefore was uniquely endowed by God for this
work with apostolic
authority [4].
He was given the power in word and
deed to conquer hostile territory, doing the same work as Jesus in advancing
the kingdom of God in a midst of a troubled, confused, demon possessed world. He did this firstly by engaging in synagogue preaching (Acts 18:19; 19:8 ). For three months he speaks boldly in the synagogue
through "reasoning and
persuading". In this he would
have used formal rhetoric and dialogue, using arguments from the OT promises and NT eyewitness reports of Christ’s ministry. He left no stone unturned trying to persuade Jews and Greeks (18:4). And ultimately
his message was "repentance toward
God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ", “the gospel of the grace
of God" (20:21, 24).
In this difficult city it pleased
God to authenticate His Word through the
use of extraordinary and unusual miracles.
Handkerchiefs (soudaria, facecloths for the head cf. Jn. 11:44; 20:7) and aprons (better
"belts"--simikinthia) touched
by Paul, brought healing and release
from demonic spirits[5]. We have seen such divine power manifestations before in the
book of Acts. We see it as the
gospel advances from Jerusalem into all the world in concentric circles, BREAKING NEW GROUND EVERYWHERE,beginning in Jerusalem (5:16) and into Samaria (8:7) and into Macedonia
(16:16-18) and now here in Ephesus (19:11,12) at the climax
of Paul's missionary efforts, after
which he makes his way back to
Jerusalem.
PLEASE NOTE ! These things
are miraculous and therefore unusual and therefore not normative. These miracles serve a specific purpose. They are strategic verifications
of the evidence of the presence of the kingdom of God – the reign of God as proclaimed by Jesus and Paul
and the apostles (19:8). God’s ordinary will is that people should hear the truth and believe. If they will not hear and believe, they will
not see and believe. Miracles are no guarantees that
people will believe (see Luke
16: 19-31- specifically v. 31)
So, yes these healings did occur,
but to imitate them as some have suggested, is to reduce miracle to magic, or manipulation. The biblical way to call upon the Lord
for healing is found in James 5:14-15.
Vv. 13- 16 The powerless man initiated ministry
of the Jewish exorcists
13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the
name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure
you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims." 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high
priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them,
"Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?" 16 And the man
in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and
overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
Here we have an example of
this Jewish group of exorcists,
the 7 sons of a Jewish high-priest named Sceva, [in the spirit of Elymas, the sorcerer in Acts 9] who tried
to invoke the Name of Jesus over
those that had evil spirits. The OT expressly
forbade dabbling in the occult[6],
but there were Jews
who dabbled in the occult (Kaballah),
having been exposed to the practises of the nations around them. They
thought that by invoking a name or a
formula (cf "the Ephesian grammata") they would have power over evil forces. William Larkin
writes:
The sons' syncretistic appropriation follows the time-honored practice
of piling name upon powerful name so as to create incantations strong enough to
require spirits to do one's bidding... The name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches is these men's
newest and most potent "power name" [7](cf.Eph.
1:21).
But what happens now would be funny if it were not so serious. The
evil spirit knows Jesus and Paul[8],
but the evil spirit does not recognize the
authority of these 7 sons, and from the
mouth of a demon we learn the valuable lesson that Jesus will not allow His
name to be reduced to a magical formula or to be taken in vain (Ex.
20:7). Only those with a personal
relationship with Christ and endowed
with His authority can be used in the act
of God driving out demons.
And so the evil spirit overpowers
them (Gr. ephallomai- to leap upon). They receive such a beating that they barely
escape with their lives.
Vv. 17-20 The
Gospel overpowers Witchcraft
17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and
Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was
extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and
divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic
arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they
counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.
20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
True gospel power versus false gospel manipulation, and the true
gospel wins! The result is that fear fell upon
all who heard about this and
the Name of Jesus was magnified.Understanding now that Jesus'
name is not to be manipulated, people
are now in a better position to
hear the heart of Paul’s message : Repent
and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ! This is indeed what we see here! Many that were now believers
came "confessing and divulging their
practises". The culture of magic
arts, instructed by their costly books (worth 50 000 pieces of silver) burns in the fire! Repentance is costly. Good for them! They are removing any temptation to go back
to the old life. Mixing the pure faith
as it is in Jesus with false religion, the occult or money, education, science,
technology is dangerous. Jesus cannot
be mixed with these things. He must stand over and apart from these things.
The final verse in v. 20 affirms the triumph of the gospel over
fake religion: “The word of the
Lord continued to increase and prevail
mightily.” Amen.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Lourdes
[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephesia_Grammata
Ephesia Grammata (Greek: Ἐφέσια
Γράμματα, "Ephesian words") are Ancient Greek magical formulas
attested from the 5th or 4th century BC. Their name derives from their
being inscribed on the cult image of Artemis in Ephesus. Similar to the mantras of Buddhism and
Hinduism, they were "meaningless words" (ἄσημα ὀνόματα) potent to
protect those who could speak them correctly, their power residing in their
sound, so that they were ineffective if mispronounced. Plutarch (Quaest. Conv.
706D) reports that the Magi instructed victims of demonic possession to recite
the Ephesia Grammata.
[3] https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Acts/Witness-Ephesus-Planting
[4] This was part of his credentials as an
apostle (Rom. 15:19; 2 Cor. 12:12; Gal.
3:5).
[5] See also Lk 8:43-48; Acts 5:15
[6] Lev
20:6, 27; Deut. 18:10-11
[8] compare
Lk 4:34, 41; 8:28
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