Elymas the Sorcerer

An assault of Satan

Where God's Word is proclaimed, there Satan is also present. Where the Lord builds His church, there Satan builds a chapel beside it. This was . also true when Saul and Barnabas brought the gospel to the Roman deputy Sergius Paulus. Satan was also present in the person of the Jewish sorcerer Elymas, or Barjesus. “But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.”

The name Barjesus means son of Jesus or Joshua. It is striking that the first opponent on this mission journey had this name. The name Elymas signifies a sorcerer, a magician. It was not unusual in those days to have two names. In verse 6 of Acts 13, Elymas is called a false prophet. This indicates that he was not sent by the Lord, but spoke lies in the name of the Lord. He was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Already in the Old Testament the false prophets were also condemned.

We see here that the devil also has his prophets. It was not without reason that Luther called the devil “the ape of God.” He is always busy imitating the work of God. Do you know how you can recognize false prophets? They are always busy drawing a person away from Christ. Satan does everything to prevent room being made in your heart for Christ. You may be religious and orthodox, as long as you come not to the feet of the Savior as a lost sinner. Satan sets everything in motion to hinder this.

It was in this way that Satan was also busy here in Paphos. Christ stood here in the persons of Saul and Barnabas in contrast to Satan in the person of Elymas. Be convinced that Satan is still present when God's Word is brought. And we listen so readily to him. He can be so busy under the preaching, sowing the seed of doubt in the heart: “Is this all true? Is it really so necessary that a person must become a sinner .before God?” Or even worse: “Is there really a God? Who says that the Bible is true?” He can also be busy under the preaching, casting all kinds of wandering thoughts into your heart.

Satan has such a countless number of arrows in his devilish bow. Time and again he tries to oppose the work of God. Time and again he is busy keeping poor sinners away from Christ. Be aware that he has nothing else in view than your eternal destruction.

It was thus a decisive moment here in Paphos. What would be the result? It is so decisive to be under the preaching of the Word. What has it wrought in your life? It is one of the two: a savor of death unto death, or a savor of life unto life. Nothing more is needed to be released from the claws of Satan than the irresistible work of the Holy Ghost, for He is the Spirit of Him who entered into a strong man's house (that is Satan) to take his goods from him.

Paul filled with the Holy Ghost

“Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him” (verse 9). Here in the writings of Luke, Barnabas is no longer the first mentioned, but Saul. Also from that moment on Luke calls him by the name Paul. Saul was his Hebrew name. He was of the tribe of Benjamin (Romans 11:1; Philippians 3:5), just as was king Saul (1 Samuel 9.T-2). Paul was his Roman name. Scripture does not support the thought that the name Saul belonged to his earlier days and that the name Paul pointed to the grace of God granted in his life. It is sometimes said that Saul by God's grace became Paul, but Scripture gives no basis for such an expression. However, it is true that Luke, from the moment that Saul stands in the foreground, calls him Paul.

We could also say that the name Paul properly belongs to his labor as the great apostle to the Gentiles. The name Paul literally means “little one.” According to some this would refer to his height. However, we cannot say with certainty that the apostle was short in stature, but it is certainly possible. The Roman name Paul, which as a Roman citizen he must have had from birth on, now is used in the writings of Luke as he went forth into the Gentile world. Luke uses the Roman name Paul exclusively in his writings, with the exception of Acts 22:7,13, and 26:14, where Paul himself reminds his hearers of his conversion and calling on the way to Damascus. The apostle also does this in his epistles.

The more we experience our weakness, the more the Holy Ghost glorifies His strength in us.

We read that here Paul was filled with the Holy Ghost. It was for this reason that he stepped to the foreground. He did not seek to enhance himself. The Spirit made him honest. This caused the sharp message which Paul had for Elymas. The message of God is still as sharp, for it is a message which comes against our existence. It is a message which calls to us that we are not good, that we are dead in trespasses and sins, that we lie under the sentence of God to such an extent that we can never deliver ourselves. It is a message which proclaims to us that the law of the Lord must condemn us because of our sin and that God's holy justice demands of us perfect satisfaction, which is never to be found with us.

That is the message which preachers filled with the Holy Ghost bring unto you. And why such a sharp message? It is so you might learn to despair of yourself and of all your attempts to bring things in order with the Lord by yourself. It is also so you may be driven out into the way unto Christ. Has that been the result of the Word in your life? Or can you still maintain yourself without Christ?

The eyes set on him

We read that Paul set his eyes on him, which means that he fixed his eyes on him, eyes of holy indignation. By the Holy Ghost, with which Paul was filled, weak creatures become mighty men. It would certainly have cost Paul his life if the deputy would have sided with his magician! However, here we see what the power of the Spirit is able to do. By the Holy Ghost, Peter became a mighty one on the day of Pentecost, Stephen prayed for his enemies, martyrs defied death, and Luther stood before the emperor at the Diet at Worms.

Then one looks above all circumstances and away from himself unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith. Weak, powerless, and miserable in self, but “by Thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall” (2 Samuel 22:30). The more we experience our weakness, the more the Holy Ghost glorifies His strength in us.

That is a holy interaction. The Lord keeps His children low on the ground in order that His strength may be glorified in them. This goes against our flesh and blood, but it is one of the basic rules in the kingdom of God.

What an amazing paradox! Do you understand it? Weak and yet strong; unholy and yet holy; guilty and yet innocent; condemnable and yet righteous; bound and yet free. All this is only in Christ by the power of the Spirit. It is a lifelong lesson to learn that there is nothing in us, but all in Him. God's children never finish learning this. It is the same Spirit with which Paul was filled who teaches us this. And it is always and again done in a way of dying, being broken down and weakened in ourselves. Therefore Paul, who in himself was weak, was here a mighty one. He himself wrote later, “When I am weak, then am I strong.”

A withering verdict

What did Paul say to Elymas? “O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” (verse 10). The word subtilty which Paul used points to the lying and deceitfulness in the character of the sorcerer. The word mischief can be considered as being full of wickedness and levity. His name was Barjesus (son of Jesus), but he appeared to be a son of the devil. He had the same wicked character as Satan himself. He was an enemy of every form of righteousness, such as God made known by the preaching of Paul and Barnabas.

In addition, he was busy to distort the ways of the Lord, those ways which are right and good. The way of the Lord was directed to the conversion of Sergius Paulus, but the perverting and distorting of this way indicates that Elymas was trying to prevent it. What a withering verdict! He was unmasked as a deceiver by the Holy Ghost. That all hypocrites would tremble, for the Lord reveals hypocrites and false prophets. He sees through all external things and to the bottom of the heart. Let us therefore truly consider that this verdict of God regarding Elymas is ultimately applicable to all of us by nature.

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