A Demented Slave Girl Healed and Paul and Silas Imprisoned

“As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.  She followed Paul and us, crying out, ‘These men are servants of the Most High God who proclaim to you the way of salvation.’ And this she kept doing for many days.  Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’  And it came out that very hour.  But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers…And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.”  -Acts 16:16-19, 23 (ESV.  Read Acts 16:16-24).

In Philippi the missionaries, Paul, Silas and Luke who had joined them for a time, had unusual experiences as they witnessed for the Lord.  Lydia, the first convert, had been a respected business woman, a seller of purple cloth.  Then, for many days, a demented girl had followed them as they went (probably to the riverside) to the place of prayer.  She was what was known in that society as a “Pytho”—a person who could give predictions that would guide her owners in decision-making.  She was profitable to them.  In that culture, people believed such a person with powers of divination had  their own mind taken away and it had been replaced by a mind from the gods.  Barclay also notes that she likely had the gift of casting her voice, or ventriloquism.  She followed the missionaries for days, crying out “These men are servants of the Most High God who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”   In this she spoke truly.  Why, then, was Paul angry at her outbursts?  Although what she said of them was true, her pronouncement emanated from the evil spirit that possessed her.  This encounter was similar to when Jesus Himself would not accept the testimony of the man in the synagogue at Capernaum who was demon-possessed and cried out loudly declaring Christ’s divine Sonship and Messiahship as recorded in Mark 1:21-28.  With the evil spirit cast out of the slave girl, her owners became angry.  She had been a source of income to them.  Here money mattered over ministry; the fact that she was healed hampered their financial gain.  Therefore they brought the matter before the  magistrates, Roman-appointed officials whose duty it was to hear cases and keep the peace in a Roman colony.  A mock trial ensued, with evidently no opportunity for the missionaries to give testimony and be justly judged.  The crowd, too, was volatile, and soon joined the opposition to Paul and Silas. {A note here:  Luke seems to have left Philippi prior to the appearance before the magistrates.  The first person plural pronouns, we/us, were used at the beginning of this account, but by the time of the scourging and imprisonment, only Paul and Silas are mentioned.  Several scholars believe Paul sent Luke to the churches in Galatia to encourage believers there.} A bundle of rods, the sign of the magistrate’s authority to punish by beating, was brought forth, and “they inflicted many blows upon them.”  Paul would write later in I Thessalonians 2:2 that he was shamefully treated in Philippi.  After beating, the missionaries were thrown into prison (which indicates contempt and cruelty, even in this act).  Ordered to secure them, the jailer took them to the dungeon area of the prison.  Hurting and broken, with wounds unattended, Paul and Silas were left to languish for awhile.

A mid-night incident that happened in my husband’s ministry years ago came to my mind.  We were holding a series of revival meetings in the church he pastored.  Our visiting evangelist was our long-time friend and a missionary on furlough.  After an evening service on Tuesday we returned to our home and were having a snack time, talking over the events of the service just held, and praying before retirement.  After prayer, my husband said to our visiting evangelist, “We must make a visit.  There is someone to whom we must talk, now!”  Probably alarmed that an evangelistic visit would be made at 11:00 p. m., our evangelist friend questioned his timing and intuition.  But my husband persuaded him to accompany him, and they went next door to our neighbor’s house.  Grover had heard the man’s car arrive at home while we were praying, and had no doubt prayed silently for this man, a professional gambler, even while our prayers were offered from around our kitchen table.  John and Grover went next door, and were gone until well after midnight.  When they returned, they had wonderful news to share with me.  The man had confessed his sins and accepted Christ as Savior at that midnight hour.  The next day, he was in attendance at revival service at our church, and came forward, making known his conversion in his testimony before the church.  In the days and years that followed, that man was a faithful attender and worshiper at that church.  But another secret to that marvelous conversion was a praying wife who had never lost hope that her husband’s life-style and “demonization” of his addiction to gambling would be lifted through the power of Jesus Christ working in his life.  No doubt, his former associates bemoaned the loss of this man’s presence and monetary addition to the gambling table.  But when Christ brings release from habits that bind, or as in the slave girl’s account, the demons that trouble a mind, the deliverance can be instantaneous and complete.  Our neighbor’s wife and children had a husband and father saved and restored to his right mind, who became a provider and influence for good on his family.

We should be aware of demons that trouble us and prevent our complete dedication to the Lord.  Are there unholy habits or vexing worries from which we can be released by the power of the Lord’s presence and guidance?  He stands ready to release us and to give us His power to be overcomers.