A Study of Acts: Miracles are Worked Through Paul; The Dangers of Magic
Acts 19:11-20 - Is your name known in hell and do the demons tremble? Jesus is the only power we need, so remove those things from your life that invoke darkness.
“God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.
But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.”
Acts 19:11-20 NASB1995
Today, on Christmas Day, we celebrate the greatest miracle - The coming of our Savior Jesus Christ!! So looking at the passage from Acts 19, God is using Paul to perform extraordinary miracles. How is something defined as extraordinary?
Let’s do a word study! Extraordinary comes from the Greek word τυγχάνω or tynchánō, with the following Biblical usages:
to hit the mark
of one discharging a javelin or arrow
to reach, attain, obtain, get, become master of
to happen, chance, fall out
to specify, to take a case, as for example
to meet one
of he who meets one or presents himself unsought, any chance, ordinary, common person
to chance to be
I’m thinking usage #2 is probably the best for this particular case, although “hitting the mark” is also something that could be described as extraordinary. These miracles were not only from God through Paul’s hands but also from a handkerchief or apron that he had worn. Those cloth fragments were carried to the sick and the possessed and the illnesses left, as did the evil spirits. This was an extraordinary use of these things, like Peter’s shadow (Acts 5:15-16), to heal others.
This passage has been used as a justification for the supernatural “powers” of relics (bones, pieces of cloth, pieces of wood, bits of iron, blood) supposedly coming from the time of Jesus and the Apostles. We have seen some relics in our travels visiting various cathedrals and orthodox churches; the focus on those material bits and pieces over faith in God and fervent prayer is unbiblical, IMHO (my perspective is Protestant). Wars have also been fought over relics, sadly, which are elevated to be idols in place of God.
This commentary from Enduring Word is quite good:
Now God worked unusual miracles: Luke states these were unusual miracles, and gives an example; that Paul’s handkerchiefs or aprons (literally, “sweat-bands”) could be laid on a person even without Paul present, and that person was healed or delivered from demonic possession.
It was unusual for God to use handkerchiefs or aprons in such a way. “The pieces of material were presumably those which Paul used in his tentmaking or leather-working – the sweat-rags for tying around his head and the aprons for tying around his waist.” (F.F. Bruce)
Handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick: We don’t really know how this worked, other than the same way that the shadow of Peter (Acts 5:15) or the hem of Jesus’ garment (Matthew 14:36) might heal: the item became a point of contact by which a person released faith in Jesus as healer.
We can imagine this happening at first almost by accident – perhaps a person in need of healing took a handkerchief from Paul in a superstitious manner and was healed. But it became a pattern that others imitated. As we will see, the superstitious practice of magic and sorcery was prevalent in Ephesus. So, it should not surprise us that some took a quite superstitious view of the miracles done through Paul.
God will stoop down to meet us even in our crude superstitions. This never means that God is pleased with our superstition, but that in His mercy He may overlook them to meet a need.
I remember seeing what looked to be loosely rolled up newspapers on a pulpit in Bulgaria, being told they were pieces of fabric (wrapped in newspapers) that the pastor prayed over, and they were taken home to sick people. This was a common practice in these Bulgarian churches.
God worked unusual miracles: This phrase could be translated, miracles not of the ordinary kind. Even if we should expect miracles, these were the unexpected kind of miracles.
Note that these were unusual miracles; we should not expect that God would continue to use this method to bring healing.
God seems to like doing things in new and different ways. Therefore we receive whatever is proven to be from the hand of God, but we pursue only that which we have a Biblical pattern for.
Significantly, it does not say that Paul did these unusual miracles, but that God worked them by the hands of Paul.
The second-to-last bullet is really essential. God can do new and different things whenever He wants and when we receive something that is proven to be from His hand we can rejoice. However, we should only pursue those things that are Biblical.
Apparently, there were some Jewish exorcists (the first and only usage of that word in the Bible) that were going to places in the area and calling on the name of “Jesus whom Paul preaches” to remove evil spirits. In reading commentary, apparently Ephesus was a hotbed of spiritual and occult practices (we will see more about this soon). This exorcism approach was not from those who believed, but they were superstitious enough to invoke the name of Jesus like a talisman or magic spell. Exorcist means “he who extracts an oath from one”. This passage mentions in particular the seven sons of Sceva (a Jewish priest), who were doing this invocation of Jesus in their exorcisms. They approach a man possessed by an evil spirit and the spirit responds by saying that it recognizes Jesus and knows Paul, but does not know them. The man, possessed by this spirit, attacks them and overpowers them, leaving them “naked and wounded”.
This is frightening but also a bit humorous in a way. One should not mess with the occult and evil spirits; as Christians, we can invoke a greater power than any demon to protect us, but so many idle minds these days are entranced by wizards, witches, and the like, while stubbornly rejecting the ultimate power of God. Jack Arnold is quoted in Precept Austin with two great commentaries on this passage:
The demon in the man spoke words of disdain, indignation and contempt to the seven exorcists. What happened is rather humorous. The demon answered, “I instinctively and innately recognize Jesus, and I am acquainted with Paul, but who are you? You don't have any power over me!” The demons knew Paul. He was famous in the spiritual underworld and even in hell. Paul was much talked about in the pit. The demons trembled when they saw Paul preaching the gospel. He was a threat to the kingdom of darkness because he was armed with the power of Christ. Frank Barker, pastor of Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama comments on this verse by saying, "But, as Christians, are our names known in hell? As Christians, when we move about, does it cause reverberations in the kingdom of darkness? Do they say something to this effect, “Oh, no! John Jones is working at that place of employment we've held captive for so long. His going there is a dangerous situation for us, because he verbalizes his faith boldly. He shares his faith in Jesus Christ. He prays. He seeks to win others to Jesus. He stands up for the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Sermon)
…
One of the manifestations of demon possession is extraordinary physical strength. The demon possessed man took out after the seven single handedly, routed them, tore off their clothes, and they jumped out of doors and windows and ran through the town as streakers. What does this teach us? It is only a Christian using the name of Christ in the power of Christ who can cast out a demon. No human power, even using the name of Christ, can dislodge a demon. Furthermore, we still have the seven sons of Sceva with us today who are trying to change men but they have different names. You can call them “philosophy” or “psychology” or “sociology” or “communism” or “education” or “science” or even “religion.” You can call them different names but not one of them has the power to change the heart of man or deliver him from slavery to Satan. Only Christ can change people’s lives and give them a spiritual dimension. (Sermon)
This event has a profound effect on the Jews and Greeks in Ephesus. Fear fell upon them and the name of Lord was magnified. People came and confessed their spiritual practices, bringing them into the open and those who practiced magic brought their books and burned them in front of others. Enduring Word has good commentary on these verses:
This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all: The incident with the sons of Sceva impressed the people with the reality of the demonic realm. It made them fear the Lord and the demonic (both in healthy ways). As a result, the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
“Ephesus was a stronghold of Satan. Here many evil things both superstitious and satanic were practiced. Books containing formula for sorcery and other ungodly and forbidden arts were plentiful in that city.” (Arno Gaebelein)
Many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds: Apparently, before the sons of Sceva incident, many believers did not know they were involved in the demonic. They saw their actions in a far more innocent light, until they knew the reality of demonic activity.
Many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all: The sons of Sceva incident also prompted Christians to renounce any remaining connection to the demonic. They renounced the demonic by confessing and by burning their magic books, disregarding whatever value they had.
It is significant that these practitioners of magic came confessing and telling their deeds. It was thought that the power of these magic spells was in their secrecy, which was renounced in the telling.
These books and scrolls full of magic charms, amulets and incantations were well known in Ephesus, and they were valuable. The value of fifty thousand pieces of silver today has been estimated at anywhere between $1 million and $5 million.
Christians must do this also today, removing books, images, computer files, statues, charms, games, or whatever else might have connection with demonic spirits. They should also destroy them so they are of no use to others.
“You will have enough temptation in your own mind without going after these things. Is there any habit, any practice, that you have got that defiles your soul? If Christ loves you, and you come and trust in him, you will make short work of it. Have done with it, and have done with it forever.” (Charles Spurgeon)
The word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed: This demonstrates that the end result was obviously worth it all. The work in Ephesus and the region of Roman Asia continued in a remarkable way.
This is a good cautionary tale from the sons of Sceva and it worked to have the Word of the Lord grow mightily and the powers of darkness diminish. I remember goofing around with an Ouija Board with some friends when I was growing up. We had some responses and actions that frightened us and we threw the board out. Many would be skeptical, but there are more things that we don’t understand in this Universe (and beyond) than we do. It’s best left to us to pray this wonderful passage in Ephesians about the armor of God when you are fearful of evil:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Ephesians 6:10-17 NASB1995
My next devotional examines Acts 19:21-27 - Paul purposes in the Spirit his future travels; a man named Demetrius raises a stink about the Way.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Today and every day I pray for the full armor of God. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
The Blue Letter Bible was accessed on 12/24/2024 to review the lexicon for extraordinary.
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.
Precept Austin was accessed on 12/24/2024 to review commentary for Acts 19:11-20.