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What the Bible says about Elymas
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Genesis 19:10-11

In this instance, the violent Sodomites, determined to assault Lot and his angelic guests sexually, were physically blinded. God used the two angels He had sent to deliver Lot as instruments to take the men's sight.

Angels are not the only servants of God used to blind those who oppose Him. On occasion, His human servants have prayed for Him to restrain the sight of enemies, and He has answered. For example, Elisha asked for God to blind the Syrian army, and He did so temporarily (II Kings 6:18-20). In Acts 13:11, Paul called on God to blind Elymas the sorcerer for a time, which He did. Famously, Christ Himself struck Paul blind on the road to Damascus, and the apostle's temporary blindness potently portrayed the spiritual blindness in which he walked to that point (Acts 9:3-9).

David C. Grabbe
Spiritual Blindness (Part One): The God of This World

Leviticus 19:31

The Bible is not in the least ambiguous about what God thinks on the subject of the occult. It plainly condemns the practice of witchcraft and similar sorceries. Notice Leviticus 19:31, for instance, which condemns consulting mediums: “Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.” A few verses later, God adds, “And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people” (Leviticus 20:6). This is as good as a prophecy of Saul's demise. See also Deuteronomy 18:9-14, which names practitioners of witchcraft, soothsayers, interpreters of omens, sorcerers, conjurors, mediums, spiritists, necromancers, and diviners as abominations to the Lord.

The New Testament is just as condemnatory as the Old. However, instead of legislating against sorcery and the like—except where Paul lists sorcery as a work of the flesh, mentioned between “idolatry” and “hatred” (Galatians 5:20; see I Samuel 15:23)—the writers recount experiences of Jesus and the apostles battling against it. For instance, on the island of Paphos, the apostle Paul stood against Elymas the sorcerer, really a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus, saying, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?” (Acts 13:10). The episode in Acts 16:16-18 reveals that a slave girl diviner, who greatly annoyed Paul by following him around for many days, was in fact possessed by a demon, “a spirit of divination.” The second-to-last chapter of Revelation states plainly that sorcerers will be cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 21:8; see also 22:15).

This is sufficient proof that God considers the practice of all forms of occultism to be a moral outrage. He is not by any means involved in them and wants His people to avoid them, forbidding them to consult them or dabble in them in any way. This most important point indicates that God had nothing to do with the events at En Dor, except to allow them to move His purpose along, removing Saul to place David on Israel's throne.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
What Happened at En Dor?

Jeremiah 39:3

Jeremiah 39:3, 13 is the earliest of ancient records mentioning magi.

The word "Rabmag" is merely transliterated because the original translators did not understand its meaning, and even subsequent translations have left it untranslated. However, it has since been correctly deciphered as "chief magus."

The best translation authorities say that "magus" (a singular form of "magi") comes from an old Pahlavi Persian word mag or mog, meaning "priest" or "great one." Thus, a man by the name of Nergal-Sharezer was the "rabmag" or "chief magus" of the Babylonians at this time (about 586 BC) when they were conquering Jerusalem.

The magi of Babylon were heathen physicians, priests, and learned men, and it is said that from them descended a line of evil, perverted priests and sorcerers (said to include Haman of the book of Esther and Barjesus or Elymas of Acts 13). It is not at all likely therefore, that the magi of Matthew 2, seeking to worship the newborn King of the Jews, could be included with the likes of these men!

Staff
Who Were the Wise Men?

Related Topics: Elymas | Haman | Magi | Magi, Heathen


 

Find more Bible verses about Elymas:
Elymas {Nave's}
 




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