Acts 16:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”

NIV: She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, 'These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.'

NASB: She followed Paul and us and cried out repeatedly, saying, 'These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation.'

CSB: As she followed Paul and us she cried out, "These men, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation, are the servants of the Most High God."

NLT: She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, 'These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.'

KJV: The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.

NKJV: This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.”

Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke are in the city of Philippi on the border of Macedonia and Greece. They have found a small group of women who meet at the riverside to pray to the Jewish God, although it's likely at least some of them are Gentiles. Some people in town own a demon-possessed slave girl who tells fortunes. The demon in the girl has recognized that Paul's team serves Jesus (Acts 16:13–16).

This is not the first demon who has publicly identified God's servant; Jesus had to deal with this several times. Demons called Him "the Holy One of God" (Mark 1:24–25) and the "Son of God" (Mark 3:11–12). In each case, Jesus silenced the demon (Mark 1:34). On the surface, one supernatural being validating the message of the servants of another supernatural Being may seem like a good thing. However, since the beginning, Satan has excelled at adding a little lie to a big truth with catastrophic effect. Christ did not need or want validation from lying spirits bent on destroying everything good in the world. He was also not ready to publicly reveal Himself as the Messiah and the Son of God, so He forbade them to speak and expelled them from their victims.

Paul's actions are decidedly more human. He expels the demon, but because it's annoying, not necessarily dangerous (Acts 16:18). Some commentors suggest the girl's words are sarcastic or taunting. It's also possible she is simply following the missionaries closely and being loud and disruptive.

Another question is, why does the demon speak at all? Why does it accurately declare that Paul and Silas are teaching the way to salvation? In Jesus' ministry, demons seemed to be compelled to approach Him. There's no record in the Gospels that indicates they lied in His presence. This demon does the same. There is something about the power of God in these situations that overrides the demons' natural inclination to lie and hide and forces them to reveal themselves. As the apostle John writes, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5).

Acts 16:16–24 shows that religiously confused Gentiles can hinder Paul's ministry as much as Jews. Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke are in Philippi on the border of Macedonia and Greece. When Paul expels a demonic spirit from a slave girl, her owners accuse Paul and Silas of illegally promoting a foreign god. The crowd and the city magistrates beat and imprison the pair. Only later do they realize their mistake: Paul and Silas are both Roman citizens (Acts 16:37), and you can't punish Roman citizens without a trial.

Acts 16 follows Paul and Silas as they take the letter of Acts 15 into modern-day Asia Minor and Macedonia. They collect Timothy in Lystra and Luke in Troas. In Philippi, they meet Lydia and baptize her family. After expelling a demon from a fortune-telling girl, city officials illegally beat and imprison Paul and Silas. An earthquake frees them of their chains, but they stay and bring the jailer and his family to Christ. The next morning, Paul and Silas refuse to leave quietly, politely insisting that their civil rights have been violated. The officials apologize, and Paul, Silas, and Timothy go to Thessalonica.

Acts 15 ends with Paul and Silas spreading the news that Gentile Christians don't have to be circumcised. Acts 16 begins with Paul circumcising a Jewish man, Timothy, to prevent difficulties in preaching to older Jews as the boy grows into church leadership. Paul's second missionary trip finds the church growing east, into Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth (Acts 16:11—18:18). On his way back to Syrian Antioch, Paul will stop by Ephesus and soften the Jews for the extended ministry of Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos. During his first trip, Paul planted churches and ordained elders; in his second, he commissions more missionaries.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.