Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out True Hope In An Age Of Enlightenment!
The Questions
1) How can an evil spirit predict the future? Do Satanic forces know everything like God does?
2) The girl seemed to be proclaiming truth about God, why was Paul “greatly annoyed”?
3) What does the phrase “hope of profit” reveal?
Acts 16:16-19
16 Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 As she followed Paul and us she cried out, “These men, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation, are the servants of the Most High God.” 18 She did this for many days. Paul was greatly annoyed. Turning to the spirit, he said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out right away. 19 When her owners realized that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.
Original Intent
1) How can an evil spirit predict the future? Do Satanic forces know everything like God does?
It’s important to know that Satan and his demonic angels, or spirits, cannot know the future. Satan is not omniscient (all-knowing); only God is. Satan knows only what has been revealed by Christ since the beginning of Satan’s existence. Satan prowls as a lion, watching his prey, studying his prey like the commander of an army would study his opponent to know his weak points. This long-time study of human interaction and patterns allows Satan to use this information in cunning ways to make it appear that he, through his demonic forces, can “tell the future”. Examples of false prophets and deceptive prophesies that appear true, but end up being lies, are strewn all throughout Scripture. Only what comes from Christ can be absolutely trustworthy. Jesus is quoted as saying Satan “was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)
2) The girl seemed to be proclaiming truth about God, why was Paul “greatly annoyed”?
This was not a one-time incident between Paul, Silas, Luke (the eyewitness author of Acts), and the girl who was possessed by a demon. Paul and his duo were regularly going to the place of prayer by the river to meet with believers, preach the gospel, pray, and encourage the saints. The girl, led by the demon, found them out intentionally, and followed them chanting, “These men, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation, are the servants of the Most High God.” It was obvious to all on-lookers that this girl was demon-possessed, which was not an uncommon sight. Even though the message was indeed true, its messenger was from the “father of lies”. Paul wanted nothing to do with publicity from a false source. The gospel Paul was preaching and teaching of Jesus did not need “help” from a deceiving demon to proclaim. The gospel of Jesus is altogether other, full of light, life, hope, and most importantly, solid truth. This message had no place coming from the mouthpiece of a deceiver.
3) What does the phrase “hope of profit” reveal?
“When her owners realized that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.” (Acts 16:19) This display of anger boils down to 2 things, control and worship. Satan had given them the false idea that they were in control and were planning their own wonderful destiny by making large amounts of money through their scheme. No doubt they were self-assured, confident, and adept at knowing how and when to best promote their “propaganda”, the slave girl and her false demonic prophesies. When it was stripped of them, their indignant response was anger because their plans had been foiled, their false sense of control had been seized from their hands. Their source of power wasn’t solid and unshakeable, it was only found in their ability to manipulate and attempt to control something outside themselves for their own gain. The focus of their worship was not the unchanging God of the Universe, it was money, power, and self-gratification. If these men had been intent on worshipping the One True God, they wouldn’t have time or desire to worship lesser things.
Everyday Application
1) How can an evil spirit predict the future? Do Satanic forces know everything like God does?
Satan’s craft of choice is deception; he will stop at nothing to lure us into his lies. He is called the “god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4) for good reason. Not because he is all-powerful like God, but because he hungrily seeks to rule this world with his limited dominion and turn every human heart, along with all of creation, away from the God who loves us, and towards anything else. Satan’s success is our demise as we are deceived into worshipping things, people, and desires that will absolutely never satisfy like the One who crafted our hearts for perfect union with Him. With all of this deception swirling around us from the “father of lies”, how can we possibly know whether we are being tricked, or where our hearts are worshipping something other than the God of the Bible? Scripture is the solid answer. The whole of Scripture is effective for teaching us how to live, and how to differentiate between truth and lies. From various belief systems, to cultural messages, and even good things we do, Scripture helps us understand our heart’s worship and which lies we are believing. Truth is available; it’s solid, sure, and life-giving, and worth seeking out!
2) The girl seemed to be proclaiming truth about God, why was Paul “greatly annoyed”?
We too, like Paul, should be “greatly annoyed” when truth becomes jaded because of the source from which it comes. Whether it’s religious beliefs that use Christian language, a preacher who distorts truth, or leaders who use the Bible to make falsehoods appear “true and biblical”, all of it should feel like a punch to the gut. We, as believers, are called to act boldly, to love deeply, and not shy away from firmly taking a stand for truth and its ultimate Source, the Almighty God. Respectfully and lovingly? Absolutely! But we cannot hold loosely to truth so as not to offend someone. Sisters, share the full truth of the gospel with love and grace! Eternity is at stake. Speaking truth isn’t about winning a religious argument, it’s about saving friends, family, and those around us for eternity as we point each one to the solid hope we have in Christ! This Journey Theme, Roads, has tackled 9 religions and given us practical tools, equipping us to have good conversations with others. Use these tools, dig into Scripture, and hold firm to truth, Sister, hold firm!
3) What does the phrase “hope of profit” reveal?
When we hold firmly to truth, circumstances no longer hold us captive because we are personally in a living relationship with the Author of Life. Our very lives are held in His mighty hands. The men in this story worshipped themselves, and were held captive by Satan and his lies. They had been deceived into thinking they really did have power and and control in life, but they didn’t. Satan was simply using them to further his own twisted purposes of leading people astray and far away from the glorious truth and hope of Jesus Christ. These men were “owned” by a slave owner, just as they were “owning” this slave girl. And so are we, all of humanity is under the rule and reign of Sin and Satan. It is only through the offer of salvation by grace alone through faith alone by Jesus, fully God, fully man, sacrificially offering Himself on our behalf that we can be freed from the Slave Master Sin! In this incident in Scripture, when Satan lost to the power of Jesus Christ, these men lost too. Not So With Jesus! Sister, is God the Son yours?! For all who call on the Name of Jesus Christ, salvation belongs to them. Not a Jesus who is only “a” god. Not a Jesus who was created. Not a Jesus who holds no standard of right, wrong, or justice, but the Jesus of the Bible. It is only through this Christ, and this Christ alone, that our victory is forever won!
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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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