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OPEN BOOK – HINTS FROM THE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS: CONFRONTING SLAVERY

Casting out

BRUCE C WEARNE writes, in his examination of The Acts of the Apostles, about an encounter between Paul and Silas and a fortune-telling girl…

[On one occasion], as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a spirit-possessed slave girl whose fortune-telling was the source of a considerable income for her owners. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men who proclaim to you the way of salvation are slaves of the Most High God”. And this she did for many days, so much so that Paul became very annoyed and eventually he turned on her, saying to the spirit: “I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” It came out there and then. But when her owners saw that their cash flow had dried up, they seized Paul and Silas, dragging them into the marketplace before the rulers; and when they had brought them to the magistrates they said, “These men being Jews are throwing our city into great turmoil by proclaiming a way of life which is not permissible for us and which no Roman will accept or practise.” The crowd joined in attacking them; the magistrates had the garments torn off them, giving orders for their flogging. And having executed the punishment with many strokes [of the rods], they had them thrown into prison charging the jailer to keep them under lock and key. And [the jailor] having received this order, put them into the inner [high security section of the] prison, securing their feet in stocks. – Acts 16:16-24/transliteration by Bruce C Wearne

Casting out

FREEDOM: Paul casts a spirit out of a slave girl in Acts 16. PICTURE: Christian Nielsen/www.freeimages.com

IN A NUTSHELL
Paul’s action frees a girl from the entrapment of commercial sorcery. Her owners complain and Paul and Silas are judicially beaten and imprisoned.

This slave girl provided her owners with an income – in that marketplace she told people’s fortunes while being a means of entertainment. Paul bit his lip, saying nothing for some days. But the girl was, in effect, proclaiming that Paul’s message was also about a way of servitude: “These men are slaves [DOULOI] of the Most High showing you the way of salvation.”

It might sound like free advertising, but Paul was alert to what this fortune- teller was saying. It troubled and angered him. As with many of the events recorded in this book, we do not know the language that was in use. The girl taunted Paul with her fortune-telling formulae. She knew enough of what Paul had proclaimed to include reference to it among her spells.

Luke says Paul addressed the evil spirit, exorcising it. And when the girl’s owners realised this spirit had been defeated, they had Paul and Silas “in the frame”. Enraged, they dragged Paul and Silas before the market executive and then on to the magistrate to judge the case and decide punishment. They were accused of disturbing peace of the marketplace, advocating foreign customs. They demanded their rights are owners of a slave girl. However, Paul’s exorcism posed a difficult problem but Luke indicates the trial ignored what had taken palce. They were accused of indulging in illicit practices, effectively trading with Jewish goods (HUPARCHONTES) without a licence.

Apparently, it was considered quite appropriate for judges to allow the living daylights to be belted out of such prisoners. Maybe it was their Jewish mode of dress that gave Paul and Silas away. But later these rod-wielding judges discovered they had unjustly beaten Roman citizens without a fair trial.

We can only imagine the trial – what there was of it. It was a severe physical ordeal. Paul and Silas, their feet in stocks, would spend the night in prison under the care of a jailor.

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