You may have heard of magicians in the Bible. Images of the magicians in Pharaoh’s court may appear in your head. Or the witch of Endor, whom Saul visits. Sorcerers aren’t just an Old Testament phenomenon. Christians dealt with them in the new Church. During Paul’s first missionary journey, he ran into Bar-Jesus, sometimes known as Elymas.
Although we know that the Bible is against witchcraft, that isn’t the only lesson of this story. It’s also important to know why Elymas was an obstacle in Paul's ministry and how Paul dealt with the sorcerer.
In today’s article, we'll explore what the Bible says about Elymas (or Bar-Jesus), what consequences Elymas experiences for trying to blockade Paul's ministry, and what we can learn from him.
First, we must consult the full Bible story to understand Elymas’ role in the story. We meet him in Acts 13.
Let’s establish some context for those unfamiliar with the book of Acts. The early church had been founded when the Holy Spirit came upon believers in Pentecost. They then spread the Gospel to many people—Jewish people and Gentiles.
Persecution broke out, and some of Jesus’ followers were martyred or imprisoned. Saul was a major persecutor until God converted him on the road to Damascus.
Now converted, Saul (who will become better known by his Roman name, Paul) has begun to reach several Gentile nations. He and Barnabas head to the country of Cyprus—specifically, the city of Salamis.
This coastal city also had a Jewish synagogue (in fact, it had several). It had a mixed population of Jews and Gentiles. The city's name literally means “salt,” and it was a major trading city. We can understand why Paul and Barnabas would travel here. They had a great opportunity before them to preach the Gospel to many people from all nations.
They travel through the island until they reach a place called Paphos. A Roman governor lived there. They could break some serious evangelistic ground if they could introduce him to the Gospel. Rulers can have a major sway over their people’s religious practices. We saw this with the Roman Emperor Constantine, who later legalized Christianity.
Seeing as this happened 300 years before, in 44 AD, they had miles to go. Still, they intended to preach the proconsul.
The only setback? A sorcerer named Elymas wanted to prevent the Gospel from reaching this man.
Elymas keeps trying to influence the man not to listen to Paul and Barnabas. So, Paul decides to handle the situation.
The most odd thing about Elymas is that he’s a Jewish sorcerer. Considering Old Testament law had strict prohibitions against witchcraft (including a death penalty) we can only imagine how he managed to get away with this. Probably, being employed by a Gentile ruler meant no one was going to criticize him.
When he challenges Paul and Barnabas, Paul calls him “a child of the devil.” Paul sees through his trickery and tells him that God will punish him for trying to prevent the Gospel from spreading.
Instantly, Elymas goes blind. So blind that someone has to help lead him out of the room.
We can imagine Paul felt the irony. On the road to Damascus, God struck Paul blind until he came to a saving faith. Then, the blindness fell off of Paul’s eyes like scales.
Scripture doesn’t tell us whether Elymas repented that day. Nothing in church history indicates so; perhaps he continued to live in sin.
The proconsul bears witness to what happened and believes in Paul’s message.
It is interesting how this particular miracle seems to sway him. Perhaps when someone sees God’s power in action, it is enough to convince them of the Gospel’s truth. That was not always the case—Jesus performed several miracles when people still didn’t believe in Him afterward. But in the case of the proconsul, this sways his faith.
We hear nothing else of Elymas in the biblical narrative.
We do know of other sorcerers who pop up in the New Testament narrative. Simon the Sorcerer comes to mind. A man who seemed to convert from his evil ways but then tried to use the Gospel to make an extra dollar.
Paul also talks several times against it in Galatians 5. We can imagine that they had encountered many people who did sorcery as they went into Gentile nations to preach the gospel. We can imagine Paul’s ire in Acts 13 was especially driven toward the fact that Elymas tried to prevent the Gospel from reaching the right person.
The fate of Elymas (or Bar-Jesus) serves as a cautionary tale. Although we may not run into most people who do sorcery these days—at least not in American culture—we do run into several people actively trying to prevent the spread of the Gospel.
God may not always strike people blind, but we see very real consequences for trying to get in the way of his plan. If God has intended for someone to hear the good news about his Son, we should do everything in our power not to get in the way.
Let’s uncover three major takeaways from the story of Elymas in Acts 13.
First, be prepared for opposition to the Gospel.
The Gospel goes against something in every culture. Something about the message will cut deep because it goes against everything we want to do.
We can imagine Elymas opposed the Gospel because if the proconsul believed, that jeopardized his job. He would no longer be able to continue living the way he lived. So he did whatever he could to prevent it from reaching his employer’s ears.
Second, know God is more powerful than any opposition
We can imagine the intimidation factor of going toe to toe with a sorcerer. Even the sorcerers in Pharaoh’s court appeared to have a certain amount of power derived from Satan.
If you’ve ever encountered spiritual darkness, it can be scary. Even having the Holy Spirit inside of you can send your knees knocking.
With that said, God is far more powerful. If he intends for something to happen, he will find a way to make it happen. Release any control you want on the situation, know he will give the right words to say, and provide the right path when the time comes.
Greg Laurie provides this advice on how we can prepare for when that time comes:
“When it comes to the Christian life, we will either gain or lose ground. We will either win or lose. But we have to be involved in the spiritual battle. Spiritual pacifists will be knocked down, because the Christian life is not a playground, but a battleground.
It is up to us to fight the good fight of faith. So we need to suit up and learn the principles from God’s Word that teach us how to be more than conquerors in Jesus Christ.
First, we need to put on the full armor of God as we engage in the spiritual battle. Ephesians 6:11 tells us, ‘Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil’ (NKJV).
The phrase ‘put on’ carries the idea of doing something once and for all. It speaks of permanence. The full armor of God is not something we put on and then take off again. We are to keep it on all the time.
Second, we need to be aware of the fact that Satan is not the equal of God. The devil would like us to think that whatever God can do, he can do, as though they were two sides of the same force.
Although Satan is a powerful spirit being, he is far from God’s equal. You see, God is omnipotent. God is omniscient. God is omnipresent. God can do anything that He wants to do, anywhere and anytime.
Satan is none of those things. He has limitations as to what he can do.
Third, we need to realize that the devil will primarily attack us in the realm of the imagination. The apostle Paul mentioned this in 2 Corinthians 11:3: ‘But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ’ (NKJV).
The devil knows that if he can get us to think about something, we are only a step away from actually doing it. He knows that our minds are ‘command central.’ It is here that we reason. It is here that we remember. It is here that we dream.
Our minds are the hard drive, the place where everything originates. Satan knows that it is only a short step from a thought to an act.
Last, we need to understand that the devil works with two very close allies: the world and the flesh. “The world” is the world system that is hostile toward God. It is living for personal gratification, our own will above all else.
Then there is the flesh. When the Bible speaks of the flesh, it speaks more of the depraved, fallen human nature in which we are gratifying sensual appetites.
Taken from “The Winnable War” by Harvest Ministries (used by permission).
Finally, God’s displayed power can bring others to him
We can imagine Paul didn’t feel too keen on confronting a sorcerer. But because the Holy Spirit moved through him in a miracle, the proconsul believed.
Often, what we perceive as inconveniences can serve as a means for God to move in powerful ways.
Perhaps we should view our setbacks in this way: a means to reach those who wouldn't normally have an ear to hear the Gospel.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Wirestock
Hope Bolinger is an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, book editor for hire, and the author of almost 30 books. More than 1500 of her works have been featured in various publications. Check out her books at hopebolinger.com for clean books in most genres, great for adults and kids. Check out her editing profile at Reedsy.com to find out about hiring her for your next book project.
This article is part of our People of Christianity catalog that features the stories, meaning, and significance of well-known people from the Bible and history. Here are some of the most popular articles for knowing important figures in Christianity:
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