15b - In Battle With Gods and Men

One day as Paul and his companions were on their way to the synagogue, where he was to preach, he encountered a half-crazed slave girl possessed of an evil spirit. She was led around at the end of a rope like an ape. As she passed Paul she heard some things he was saying that caused her to turn around and run after him. She started yelling, “These men are the servants of the High God, and they show us the way to salvation.”

This was not an uncommon sight in Philippi. Slaves were used for any number of things from the heaviest physical labor to the highest type of intellectual work. Women were used as concubines, and boys were trained in the satisfaction of unnatural lusts. There were musicians, educators and skilled manuscript copyists, as well as stargazers, healers, and all kinds of sorcerers.

Occasionally a slave was found who was afflicted with epilepsy and who would babble when fits came on him. As soon as such a slave was discovered, he would be trained in the art of prophecy. Such a slave brought a high price. He was kept on a leash and led around by his owner, sometimes to visit the sick, and especially the mentally deranged, and sometimes to perform for rich people who believed in soothsaying. Sometimes the sick slave would bellow like a wild animal, sometimes he would assume the grave tones of a prophet, and sometimes he would even claim to speak for a god, or perhaps a demon, who had entered into him. When he fell into convulsions and uttered wild, disjointed words, bystanders would take them as prophetic.

The cost of one of these “prophets” was high enough that it was a rare individual who had the luxury of owning one. So associations were formed in order to purchase one of these wretched souls, who would then be exploited on a regular business basis.

There was a famous slave girl in Philippi at that time who was led from customer to customer to forecast the future, and it was well known that her owners were deriving an enormous income from their human property. It so happened that this girl was Jewish. She knew of the Messiah for whom the Jews waited. She also knew of the one living God in whom the Jews believed. Thus, when she was led past Paul on that day and caught some stray words from him, some deeply imbedded memories of her childhood were awakened. This was why she turned back and began to scream, “These men are the servants of the High God!”

Her owners dragged her away, but the incident repeated itself several times over the next few days. Whenever she caught sight of the apostle or his companions at a distance, she dragged wildly at her leash and a lunatic frenzy came over her. Her eyes wild, she would repeat, “Look! There they are! They are the ones who know the road to salvation.”

These incidents were a source of discomfort to the messengers. Curious people gathered around the demented creature and looked at the messengers from there. Her wild way of screaming about Messiah and his sanctities threatened to turn the message of the apostle into a vulgar or ridiculous thing. After several encounters had taken place, the rumor began to spread that the messengers too were more or less possessed. Paul ignored the girl for a time, but then concluded that the problem would have to be faced. So one day as she began to scream at him, he stopped short and approached her. The girl stood still.

Paul fixed his half-blind eye on her, stared awhile, and then addressed the demon in her, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to leave her!”

Immediately the girl’s whole demeanor changed. The crowd that had gathered saw the transformation coming over her. They could almost see the demon lodged, tooth and fang, in her vitals and in the walls of her body, as though he had heard the word of command and was digging deeper into the flesh and nerves of the girl to fight against the power that was forcing him out. The demon seemed to take over the girl’s voice, screaming, a dreadful, inhuman sound, a wailing, a snarling and howling, in which there was a horrible note of supplication. It was as if the pitiful body of this girl had become a battleground between Apollo and the Holy Spirit.

Then it was like a knife ripped her open, for one last desperate scream came out of her, and she fell to the ground, spitting out the demon.

Her guardians picked her up, as wet as she was with the agony of her trial. But she stood there looking at them with eyes they were not accustomed to. She seemed to be asking, Where am I? They told her she was being taken to the sick to prophesy. But how could she prophesy now? The guardians threatened her and scourged her with her leash, and yelled at her to prophesy. But they knew it was useless. Apollo had left her, and the demon was gone!

They led her away to report to her owners, who could immediately see that something had happened to their precious and costly slave. The Jews had ruined her. They’d used magic of their own to kill the magic in her. She was now a broken, useless instrument.


The next day a mob gathered in front of Lydia’s shop, upset at the Jews who’d killed the spirit of the slave prophetess. These were the same Jews who were preaching new gods and new customs. The Jews were bringing discord into the city!

The mob broke into the shop and took the two leaders of the guilty group hostage. A gigantic Roman seized Paul, twisted his arms behind him, and led him out. A Greek similarly took Silas. Accompanied by the roaring multitude that kept shouting, “The Jews are leading a revolt in the city,” the officers dragged the prisoners across the marketplace to the council of the elders.

“These men have brought tumult to our city! They preach hateful gods and customs!”

There was no investigation. No one asked what it was the Jews had preached. The words “Jews” and “tumult” were enough. The two messengers were thrown down on the spot, and their clothes ripped from their bodies. This caused great delight to the gathering crowd of Gentiles, both Greeks and Romans. Vulgar and obscene jests flew about as fingers pointed at the sign of the covenant of Abraham on the flesh of the messengers.

Paul was yanked up, and his naked body, lean from years of fasts and privations, was tied to one of the marble pillars of the building, his flat breast against the stone. Silas was tied to the neighboring pillar. Two gladiatorial men, naked except for their aprons, came striding out of the inner chambers. There were gigantic whips in their hands, the thongs of which were loaded with lead and had been steeped in vinegar. The signal was given, and the scourging began. The thongs whistled through the air and fell on the shoulders, backs, necks, and cheeks of the messengers. Rivers of blood and perspiration streamed down the lacerated flesh.

They could have thrown their tormentors into a panic by simply proclaiming their Roman citizenship, but they didn’t. They hadn’t come to Philippi as Roman citizens. God was their aegis. He alone was their protection when they set out to carry the gospel to the ends of the world. So they silently accepted the burning lashes, rejoicing in their hearts that they were privileged to suffer for the sake of Christ.

“How sweet, O Lord, are the sufferings you make us bear for the holiness of Your Name!”

Through all of it, not a word of complaint, nor a whisper of resentment, came from the lips of the scourged men.

After the scourging they were untied from the pillars, and two officials were assigned to place them under arrest, and to be responsible for them with their lives. Paul and Silas were dragged through the corridors of the building and thrown into a cell. A chain was thrown around their legs and fastened to a heavy block. This was done in such a way that they could neither stand up nor lie down. It felt like their limbs were no longer their own, but part of the dead block to which they were chained. The captors locked the door and left.


Before long a strange sound is heard from out of the black cell, a song of praise and gratitude to the Lord for the sufferings endured in the name of Christ. Inside the cell, the men are caught up in ecstasy. They feel like heaven is opened to them. Although they cannot move, they sing, “Yea, though I walk in the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.”

The prisoners in the other cells listen with a mixture of wonder and terror. They know of the scourging and that the Jews are bound to the block. But they can hear the singing, and they catch the words of praise and gratitude.

More than all of them, though, it’s the chief jailer who is astounded by the bearing of these prisoners. Such men could not be rioters, much less criminals. Their endurance during the scourging, the silence, the absence of complaint, and now this singing and obvious joy? Could it be that these are indeed servants of the one living God, as the slave prophetess said? He’d also heard that these men preached of a tormented savior who had come down from heaven. He’d heard talk of this “Son of God”, who was to come with the clouds of heaven to sit in judgment on all men, according to their deeds. And it was because they were so certain of the truth of their contention that the prisoners sang with pure joy. If what they say is true, then woe to him, their jailer, who has this part in their suffering!

Suddenly something happens to confirm his fears. A sound of thunder is heard coming from the foundations of the prison. A flash of lightning illuminates all the cells, and a furious wind passes through the corridors. A wild yelling can be heard coming from the cells. The gods must be angry because the messengers of God have been scourged. Zeus is filled with wrath. Peals of thunder and lightning flashes follow in close succession. The iron locks of the prison are torn apart. Then darkness, and in the darkness, tumult and panic. The doors of the prison are suddenly wide open. The jailor doesn’t move. He is afraid of the anger of the gods, or maybe of the God, he’s not sure. The prisoners must be escaping, but still the jailor doesn’t move. He knows he has forfeited his life. He seizes his sword and there is a flash of steel in the darkness.

Paul, the only one who has kept his head in the middle of the storm, cries out, “Stop! Do yourself no harm! We are all here!”

The jailer throws his sword away, falls at the feet of the apostle, and stammers, “My lord, my lords, what shall I do to be saved?”

A few moments later the messengers are unchained from the block. The jailer attends to them in person, washing their wounds. Trembling, he offers them bread and wine.

The chief jailer of the prison of Philippi is received into the faith of Christ.


Now that God’s name had been sanctified and they’d been saved without the protection of Rome, the messengers revealed who they were. It happened the next morning when the elders of the city, hearing about what had happened during the night, sent word to the jailer to set the prisoners free.

“They scourged us without trial, openly and in the presence of the people, and we are Roman citizens,” declared Paul to the elders of the city.

Scourging Roman citizens without trial was a grave error, and so the elders came forward one by one, pleading with Paul and Silas to forgive them. They also begged them to leave the city. Paul also felt that it was God’s will, and so he agreed.

So Paul and Silas went back to Lydia’s house to say goodbye to her and to the faithful who were present there. They left Luke behind to strengthen the foundations they’d laid, he being skilled in the Roman tongue. They left Philippi in the direction of Amphipolis, on the road to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish community and a synagogue.


In Thessalonica, Paul looked for work at his trade in order to return to his principle of being a burden to no one. He wanted to show by example that the work of Christ was not something at which a man should earn his bread. And so, the whole first week in Thessalonica Paul worked at the loom, intending to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath.

He also found lodging with a certain Jew by the name of Jason, for someone in Philippi had recommended him. Jason became Paul’s first convert in the city. On the Sabbath Paul preached in the synagogue. In fact, he preached there for three Sabbaths in a row. He preached as he always did, quoting the prophets and other scripture, proving from them that Messiah had to suffer and die in order that he might rise from the dead. A few of the Jews were convinced and many of the pious Gentiles. There were also women among them, both Jewish and Greek.

On one of these Sabbaths, as he was preaching in the synagogue, he observed a shrunken little Jew, who listened to him with open mouth, his round blue eyes shining with enthusiasm. Paul took note of the man, approached him later, and befriended him. The Jew’s name was Aristarchus, but while his name was Greek, his heart was filled with the hope of Israel. He placed himself at once in the service of Christ. Years later this man would accompany Paul on his most dangerous journeys and share his prison cell. In a sense he became Paul’s servant.


As Paul founded a congregation of believers in Thessalonica the anger of the unbelieving Jews was aroused even more quickly, it seemed, than elsewhere. For some reason, they had even less tolerance for his sermons on a slain Messiah than did Jews in other cities. They couldn’t bear the thought that he spoke against everything that had been sanctified by tradition and by the martyrs of many ages.

And of course, Paul used no sweet phrases or honeyed words when faced with opposition. He said what he had to say sharply, as though he were wielding a knife. Word also got around that these were the men who’d incurred the wrath of so many other Jewish communities. They brought discord and tumult everywhere else, and now they were in Thessalonica for the same purpose.

Thessalonica was a city of coarse market and harbor workers, men with little learning. The Jews of Thessalonica, like those of Alexandria, were employed around the port. Some of them were pack-carriers, at least to whatever extent this work wasn’t done by slaves. Others were sailors, shipwrights, and exporters. They were the type easily influenced to rioting, and the men who were opposed to the messengers went around the dock inciting them, saying that Paul was taking the kingdom of Messiah away from them, and was giving it to a certain Jesus, who had been killed.

The messengers took refuge in Jason’s house. They called all those who had accepted Christ, and Paul and Silas taught them the ways of the new faith there.

After some time had passed, Lydia heard of the danger that threatened the apostle in Thessalonica, for there was a lively commerce between the two cities. She sent some of her men to help the messengers. Paul was deeply moved by her thoughtfulness, and he stored the memory of her help in his hour of need in his heart.

Opposition to the messengers continued to grow, until one day a mob of dock workers and pack-carriers stormed into Jason’s house, intending to capture the peace disturbers. But the young congregation had been keeping an eye out for such a possibility. Aristarchus brought the report of the mob’s approach, and he was able to get the messengers out of the house before the mob got there. He guided Paul to the road to Berea. Jason and certain others who were found in the house were hauled before the magistrates, and only when Jason assured them that the messengers had left the city was he set free.


In contrast to Thessalonica, the messengers found an open ear and a receptive heart for the gospel in Berea. As usual they preached in the synagogue first. But the Berean Jews weren’t content with Sabbath preaching alone. They gathered with Paul every day, after the evening Shema, and read the scriptures. Paul taught them where to find all the passages in which the prophets and King David had foretold the coming of Christ. The Jews of Berea decided to found a congregation of believers and to draw all the pious Gentiles, men and women, who attended the synagogue.

But in spite of the success, Paul’s heart was still in Thessalonica. The sapling he had left there was newly planted in the soil. The men of Berea, however, wouldn’t hear of Paul leaving them. Meanwhile, news of Paul’s preaching and soul winning in Berea had reached the ears of the opposing faction in Thessalonica. A number of zealots, convinced that they were doing the work of God, set out for Berea and tried to stir up the city against the messengers.

The enmity of the zealots was directed chiefly against Paul rather than against his companions because of the sharp words he had directed toward them. So the congregation of Berea decided to send Paul away to go “as far as the seashore.” Silas and Timothy remained in Berea, to complete the work Paul had started. Paul was accompanied by some of the faithful of Berea. He went on to Athens, to wait there for Silas and Timothy to join him.