Imprisoned

26    Imprisoned in Philippi

Scripture: Acts 16:16-25

 Hospitality of Lydia

After her conversion by Paul, Lydia “constrained” the missionaries to use her home as their lodging place during their stay in Philippi. The idea seems to be that Paul was reluctant at first to accept the gra­cious invitation. He was always careful to avoid giving any ap­pearance of using the gospel for per­sonal advantage (see I Cor. 9:11-19). But Lydia was persistent. Christian hospitality this was, writes Lenski, and in this “Lydia from the very beginning gave a distinction to the church at Philippi. For this was the one congregation which later remem­bered the needs of the apostle and sent him kindly personal gifts, es­pecially when he was in captivity in Rome.”

Philippi’s demon-possessed girl

The missionaries continued to preach the Word in Philippi, perhaps still at the customary place of prayer at the riverside. On one occasion, as they made their way to that place, they encountered a slave-girl, “a dam­sel possessed with a spirit of divina­tion . . . , which brought her masters much gain by her soothsaying” (Acts 16:16).

No doubt the girl’s masters had bought the girl exactly because she was thus afflicted. They knew what the market was for that sort of thing. Evidently the people attributed the utterances of the girl not to the girl herself, but to a divining spirit, which was thought to be inspired by Apollo, the god “particularly associated with the giving of oracles, who was worshiped . . . at the oracular shrine of Delphi . . . in central Greece” (Bruce). True, the an­cient faith in numerous gods and goddesses had been abandoned by sophisticated Greeks and Romans; but that faith had given place to what Smith calls “credulous super­sti­tion.” When it came to the supposed super­natural, in other words, they were quick to believe almost anything. And always there were men, un­scrupulous men, who for personal gain were ready to take advantage of a situation like that which we find here in Philippi: a girl afflicted with demon-possession, and a people eager to pay to have someone pry for them into the future.

The divining spirit

The “spirit of divination” was, of course, not inspired by Apollo, for the gods of the heathen are nothing but vain idols. Nor was that spirit actually able to divine, that is, to foretell the future. The Philippians believed that it could—just as people of our own day are inclined to believe (or at least are unwilling to discount the possibility) that today’s psychics do indeed have a special sensitivity to non-physical forces so that they are able to see into the future. That’s nonsense. The truth is that the future belongs to God. It is as simple as that. And it goes without saying that the spirit of divination that had control over the slave-girl in Philippi had no access to the details of God’s counsel with regard to future events. Perhaps the demon, with a more complete knowl­edge of current events, was better able than mere man would be to make predictions concerning, for ex­ample, likely consequences of different courses of action. It could very well be, therefore, that the demon had a pretty good record for accurate predic­tions. Perhaps it is true, too, to say that the Lord, in whose hands are the thoughts of demons and men alike, so directed the thinking of the demon, and so directs the thinking of modern-day psychics, that what they predict does actually occur—just often enough so that wicked men who themselves attempt to divine, or who consult diviners, are given over to their wickedness.

An abomination to God

What an abomination this divi­nation is to the Lord is plain from Deuteronomy 18:10-14, where God warns Israel against committing the sins for which the heathen nations in Canaan were being driven out before them. Divination was among those sins. The Lord expressly calls it an abomination in His sight. In our day of ever-increasing lawlessness, people seem to be turning almost with reck­less abandon to that which the Lord abhors. And perhaps what we see in today’s fascination with so-called extrasensory perception is exactly God’s giving the wicked over “to a reprobate mind” so that they “do those things which are not con­venient” (Rom. 1:28). We do well to be warned away from having any­thing to do with fortunetellers, horo­scopes, psychic predictions. It is all of the devil.

Purpose of the devil in interfering with missionaries’ work

The soothsaying of the slave-girl in Philippi was surely of the devil. And we ought to note that the demon’s purpose in the divining was certainly not to be of service to the Philippians, but to deceive them. Let them believe these lies; let them give the credit to Apollo; let them all go to hell—that is the devil’s purpose.

That showed itself plainly when Paul and his companions arrived on the scene. The devil understood that Paul was proclaiming the way of salvation through the blood of Jesus. And he hated the very sound of the words. He knew that what he was trying to accomplish through the girl, and what Christ was accomplishing through the work of the missionaries were as opposed to each other as darkness is to light. Their aims were incom­patible. There was no pos­sibility of coexistence. And, refusing to ack­nowledge the futility of opposi­tion to the cause of Christ, he deter­mined to make the work of Paul in Philippi of no effect.

Having control of the girl he caused her to follow after the mis­sionaries, calling out for all to hear, “These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation” (Acts 16:17). That was a statement of the truth, of course, but the intent was not to proclaim the truth, but to obscure it. “Imagine a venerable preacher accom­panied by three colleagues going through town with a girl behind them pointing to them and crying, ‘These are preachers!’ ... People would stare, wonder, begin to talk, and ask all sorts of queer questions about such men. That is the wicked spirit’s very intention in regard to this” (Lenski). One of the “queer questions” would almost certainly be whether or not “the spirit was in collusion with Paul” (Calvin). The result, Calvin adds, would be that “the teaching of the gospel would not only have been sus­pect, but also would have become a pure laughing stock.”

Absolute authority of Christ over demons

For several days the girl con­tinued to carry on in this manner. And Paul evidently did nothing to put a stop to it. Or perhaps it would be better to say that the Spirit was pleased to let the distraction continue; for miracles were not performed sim­ply at the whim of the apostle. Paul joined battle with the powers of dark­ness that were operating in the girl only when he was prompted to do so by divine direction. Why the Lord chose to delay the performance of the miracle we cannot say. Perhaps it was to give more publicity to the conflict of interests here, in order that the ultimate triumph of the cause of Christ might be the more glorious.

However that may be, we read that Paul was grieved. Grieved for what? Jamieson, we think, says it well: “grieved to see such power possessed by the enemy of man’s salvation, and grieved to observe the malignant design with which this high testimony was born to Christ.”

At last he turned “and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her” (16:18). Needless to say, the demon would never have left the girl under circumstances like these unless compelled to do so. At the word of Paul, he came out of her forthwith. The power, however, was not Paul’s. By the apostle’s own declaration the contest was between the power of Christ, and that of the demon. And it was plain from the outcome that there really was no contest. It took but a word from Paul and the devil was gone, forced to relinquish control over that girl.

Fury of the girl’s masters

To the Philippians, especially if they had long connected the divining spirit with the god Apollo, that must have been an impressive display of power. One would think that it should have made them of a mind to listen to what the apostle had to say. But that was hardly the result. In fact, the opposition to which the mir­acle gave rise was so violent that Calvin suggests that the same demon that had tried, through the girl, to make the preaching of the gospel ineffective in Philippi “now whips up her masters into a fury, to drag him (Paul) to death.” Whether that is true or not, the fact is that the pur­pose of the devil, Satan, was the same in both instances: in one way or another he will prevent Christ’s gathering of His church. After the miracle performed by Paul, the devil chose to work through those men who had been using the afflicted girl for their own mercenary ends. When they became aware of the new state of affairs, they were furious, for “when Paul exorcised the spirit that possessed her he exorcised their source of income as well: she could no longer tell fortunes” (Bruce). What they had considered to be their “property” had therefore lost its al­lure. And, knowing that they had no re­course to the law to recover a loss of this sort, they were bent on re­venge.

Seizure of Paul and Silas

To that end they fell upon Paul and Silas and “drew them unto the marketplace unto the rulers, and brought them to the magistrates” (16:19, 20). Why Luke and Timothy were not also seized we can only guess. Were they, perhaps, not present? Or was it that Paul and Silas seemed to be the chief figures in the missionaries’ activity in Philippi? Whatever the case, it was Paul and Silas who were brought to the “mar­ketplace,” the public square, where people gathered for business, and where the offices and courts were usually located.

Lenski suggests that “the rulers” were the officers of the police court, which would be respon­sible for handling matters of lesser importance, and that “the magis­trates” were two supreme judges who would deal only with the matters of greater consequence. The serious charges that were brought against Paul and Silas, and the presence of an unruly multitude, were sufficient reason for the “rulers” to bring the matter to the attention of the “magis­trates,” or praetors.

Here, before the chief magistrates in a Roman colony, before men trained in Roman law, one would expect to see Roman dignity, Roman justice. But, as it turned out, such was not the case. “The two praetors,” writes Lenski, “were simply swept off their feet.”

False charges brought

How did the masters of the slave-girl manage to do that? They did not, of course, mention one word about the girl. Any reference to her miraculous cure, or the loss of their income on account of it, could only damage their case against Paul and Silas.  They would instead “conceal the real cause of their rage under color of a zeal for religion, and law, and good order” (Jamieson). These men, they say, “do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe . . .” (16:20, 21).

What had Paul and Silas done to trouble the city? What customs did they teach? Nothing is said about that. The truth is that the mis­sionaries had not troubled the city by their quiet preaching at the riverside. And, concerning those contrary cus­toms, it is likely that the accusers knew virtually nothing of Paul’s teaching. If their own livelihood had not been touched by Paul’s miracle, they would not have paid the least bit of attention to what he was saying in their city. It is no wonder, there­fore, that no evidence was introduced by the accusers to substantiate their charges. They simply did not have any.

Successful manipulation of the crowd

What is more surprising is that no evidence was demanded. How is it that the judges neither demanded proof for the accusations nor gave an opportunity for the accused to defend themselves? More than likely it was because of the presence and behavior of “the multitude.” The accusers used the people to good advantage.

In order to inflame the crowd, as well as to influence the thinking of the judges, they introduce into the pre­sentation of the charges what Lenski calls “a rank appeal to race prejudice coupled with religious animosity.” “These men,” they say, “being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city” (16:20). “The single word ‘Jews,’” Lenski continues, “was thrown out like a firebrand. The emperor Claudius had recently expelled all Jews from Rome (18:2), and it was the pride of every colonial city to become more or less a replica of Rome.... And here were two Jews caught in the very act of stirring up the city exceedingly.” And then there was that contrast: “These men, being Jews, . . . teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans” (16:21). To think that a couple of wandering Jews would have the audacity to try to induce the Romans, masters of the world, to change their customs! The very idea of that should be an outrage to every loyal Roman. “Such people must be taught to know their proper place and not trouble their betters” (Bruce).

Immediate passing of sentence

That was all the multitude need­ed. It mattered not to them what the particulars were; these Jews had to be given a lesson they would not forget. They therefore “rose up to­gether against them” (16:22). The idea seems to be that they clamored loudly for justice, that is, for sum­mary vengeance. “That is the way of silly crowds,” says Lenski.

The magistrates observed it all and figured that, before their very eyes, they had evidence that these Jews must indeed be troublers of the city. There were, after all, “laws pro­hibiting foreign-religious propaganda among Roman citizens” (Bruce). Anxious, perhaps, to see the crowd disperse, and not especially concerned about the fate of two vagabond Jews, the praetors decided to accept the apparently unanimous verdict of the gathered citizenry, namely, that the two men were guilty as charged. So they simply gave orders to their police attendants to tear off the clothes of the captives and to beat them.

As quickly as it had started, therefore, the trial, such as it was, was over, with Paul and Silas having been given no opportunity even to open their mouths before the magis­trates. If they did plead their citizen­ship at all, it was only before the police attendants, who would have laughed in disbelief at the very thought that these two Jews could possibly be Roman citizens.

Imprisonment of Paul and Silas

After the missionaries were beaten with rods till their bared backs were covered with bleeding, inflamed welts, the magistrates or­dered that they be thrown into prison, intending no doubt, at their leisure, to look further into the case of the two agitators.

The charge given to the jailer was that he “keep them safely” (16:23). Evidently understand­ing these strict instructions to mean that extra precautions would be ad­visable for these men, lest they es­cape and he be held responsible, the jailer not only “thrust them into the inner prison,” but also “made their feet fast in the stocks” (16:24). Ac­cording to Lenski a Roman prison usually had three distinct areas of confinement. The innermost, into which Paul and Silas were cast, was a dark dungeon, where prisoners who were condemned to death would be confined. And the stocks, writes Bruce, were not only intended for security purposes but also as instru­ments of torture. They “had more than two holes for the legs, which could be forced wide apart in such a way as to cause the utmost discomfort and cramping pain.”

False sense of victory

The masters of the slave-girl no doubt received some measure of satis­faction from knowing that Paul and Silas were lying thus, bruised and bleeding, tortured in the stocks, in the blackness of a dungeon. And the devil must have been pleased at the silencing of the voices of the mis­sionaries. For how could Christ be preached in the darkness and solitude of the dungeon? And, if Paul and Silas were yet to escape with their lives, and with their spirits unbroken, how could they expect to find a place for them in this city, which had so emphatically rejected them? It did indeed seem as if the cause of Christ was lost in Philippi.

But it was not. The enemies of the church may boast in their sup­posed victory; but the Lord reigns. The Lord reigns in such a way that even that which from all appearances is a setback, turns instead for good, so that, when all is said and done, it constitutes rather an advance of the kingdom of Christ. So also here in Philippi. Though this prison might seem to be “the last place in the world to do missionary work,” yet it proves to be “the very place where they were given such work to do by the Lord” (Lenski).

Midnight hymns

Perhaps we see the beginning of that in what went on within the dungeon at midnight. For, as Smith writes, “the midnight silence of the prison, usually disturbed only by groans and curses, was this night broken by the loud hymns in which Paul and Silas uttered their prayers and praises to God.”

Yes, the hymns (perhaps Psalms of David) were loud, heard by prisoners throughout that jail (16:25). Calvin points out that the mis­sionaries could just as well “either have made their prayers with the silent sighing of the heart, as they were accustomed to doing; or prayed to the Lord in whispers. Why there­fore do they raise their voices? They certainly do not do it out of ostenta­tion, but to make open confession that . . . they take refuge in God un­daunted.” In so doing they were, in effect, preaching the Word to others in that prison. And the Lord Himself would presently put His own seal upon that testimony.

We will deal with that in the following chapter. A quote from Neander via Jamieson is a fitting close for this one: “In these midnight hymns, by the im­prisoned witnesses for Jesus Christ, the whole might of Roman injustice and violence against the Church is not only set at naught but converted into a foil to set forth more complete­ly the majesty and spiritual power of the Church, which as yet the world knew nothing of. And if the suffer­ings of these two witnesses of Christ are the beginning and the type of numberless martyr­doms which were to flow upon the Church from the same source, in like manner the un­paralleled triumph of the Spirit over suffering was the beginning and the pledge of a spirit­ual power which we afterwards see shining forth so trium­phantly and irresistibly in the many martyrs of Christ who were given up as a prey to the same im­perial might of Rome.”
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