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A Python of Prophesy Stalking Paul in Philippi
Who is this soothsaying python of Philippi?

Luke mentions this woman in Acts 16 who follows Paul, Silas and Timothy around as they frequent a place of prayer down by the river.

She may not have had such a nickname but her presence foretells the inevitable upcoming skirmishes between good and evil in Europe.
Acts of the apostles 16:16
Who is this girl?
Mythical and 1st c. Greece
pneuma python – the spirit of divination
The Witch at Endor
Previously, on Cypress
More of Greek Myths & false gods
A cultural ACT against idolatry.
Acts of the apostles 16:16

As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out,

“These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”

She’s right!

Who is this girl?

Why is a slave girl following these apostles sent out by the Holy Spirit of the Most High God?

Luke continues by telling the reader:

¹⁸And this she kept doing for many days.

This Philippian slave girl continually followed them back and forth between the wall of Philippi and their place of prayer down by the Krenides River near town.

Mythical and 1st c. Greece

Many first century cultural subtleties escape our 21st century eyes. This is especially true of 1st century Greece.

Paul understands the people of Macedonia much more than we will.

Luke reveals more about Paul’s challenge ahead in this first European missionary battle about to take place in Philippi between good and evil.

Philippi is an important Roman city unlike the small mountainous towns we just left. This incident is central to events about to take place.

This girl is a slave. In the Roman empire her role is ordinary where more than one in ten people (perhaps more than 10% in Philippi) are slaves owned by and performing their labors for someone in town.

Roman men, their families and slaves settled here in Macedonia live their everyday lives steeped in the myths and idolatries of a Hellenist lifestyle foreign to our 21st century cultural-inclusiveness and geometrically opposed to the Lord God and Christ Jesus.

Mysteries of a higher and spiritual plane impact men and women in unknown and partially evident ways.

Certain messengers of darkness, seers of the divine such as this young girl, become actors of revelation in the unseen battles between good and evil. These diviners of the oracles of darkness typically shun exposure to the Very Light of The Most High God.

pneuma python – the spirit of divination

Luke’s account of Acts begins with the power of the HOLY SPIRIT, of course — and therein lies the battle in the heavenly places between that which is HOLY [hagios] and that which is unholy.

πύθων – pythōn

From Putho (the name of the region where Delphi, the seat of the famous oracle, was located) – source: BlueLetterBible.org

Parnassos, son of the nymph Kleodora – source Wikipedia.org

Python – myth & mystery of the oracle

DIVINATION .. a spirit by which she predicted the future

.. by supernatural means. ..a fortune teller,

μαντεύομαι –manteuomai from a derivative of G3105 (meaning a prophet, as supposed to rave through inspiration); to divine, i.e. utter spells (under pretense of foretelling:—by soothsaying.

The young slave girl in Philippi is a soothsayer for her owner.

“These men are slaves of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.”
Acts of the apostles 16:17b Legacy Standard Bible

Since as sons and daughters of Adam and Eve we have partaken of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, what conclusion must we draw from the source of her magical insight?

Paul understood her evil and super-natural source of knowledge. He may have been familiar with Greek mythology of the Oracle of Delphi (as are some of us).

The Apostle certainly knew Scriptural instances of such knowledge, even one by his Hebrew namesake.

The Witch at Endor

1 Samuel 28:

³Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the necromancers out of the land…

⁶And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets. ⁷Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, there is a medium at En-dor.”

Previously, on Cypress

And Paul was more recently familiar with encountering such spiritual battles as the Apostle engaged a Jewish magician on Cypress.

Elymas the magician, AKA Bar-Jesus

But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said,

“You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.”

Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand..
Acts of the Apostles 13:9-11a

Opposed to the Gospel at the Gate: Bar-Jesus
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READ more about this earlier incident above.
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THESE Biblical encounters challenge the 21st century view of all mystery being explainable by science and logic. Even Christians struggle to image the higher reality of powers and principalities of the heavenly places.

More of Greek Myths & false gods
We will return to 1st c. Philippi shortly, but first some more background into the culture of these Roman cities in Greece.

Oracle of Delphi

source: ehistory.OSU.edu

Source: Britannica.com
The world famous Oracle of Delphi played an influential role in ancient history. For fourteen centuries it helped determine the course of empires. The prophesying was abolished in the 4th century as it conflicted with Christian beliefs that were at that time being embraced by Rome.
Preston Chesser, Professor Dept of History, The Ohio State University

A booming industry grew up around the Oracle. Temples were built and rebuilt, priests were trained, rituals evolved and sacrifices were performed. Priests interpreted the incoherent utterances of the Pythia. Presents were brought to both placate the deity and in the hope of influencing a positive prophesy. The Delphic temple itself became one of the largest “banks” in the world. Delphi became a center for banking and commerce.

oracle, (Latin oraculum from orare, “to pray,” or “to speak”) – source Britannica.com
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DO NOT MISS THIS! Paul, Silas, Timothy and others have gone down to the river to pray. 
So has the young slave girl who speaks revelation of the identity of these apostles of God. 
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The most famous ancient oracle was that of Apollo at Delphi, located on the slopes of Mt. Parnassus above the Corinthian Gulf. Traditionally, the oracle first belonged to Mother Earth (Gaea) but later was either given to or stolen by Apollo.

Oracles delivered through incubation were believed to come from chthonian (underworld) powers..

A cultural ACT against idolatry.

¹⁸And this she kept doing for many days.

Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit,

“I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.”
And it came out that very hour.
Acts of the Apostle Paul [16:18b ESV]

SO WHAT HAPPENS when a soul is freed from an evil spirit who has given mysterious knowledge by the powers hidden in the recesses of life’s light?

The slave girl no longer posses the power that has possessed her and therefore can no longer give oracles of value to her owner.
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You don't believe in such power beyond your 21st century scientifically enlightened knowledge, do you? 

I have encountered such evil attached to a place or person. 
Perhaps you have as well, yet were deceived by angels (messengers) of darkness in the unseen places or even the pulpit of false teaching.

Jesus and the Apostles warned the Church against such evil. Paul acted against it by the Power of the Holy Spirit.
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¹⁹But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

ACTS of the apostles Paul and Silas — To Be Continued — in the town square of Philippi…
March 7, 2023
The gods have become like men
Idolatry – Men create their gods

Imagine an EMPIRE – like the powerful GREECE of Alexander the Great.

This map shows the vast empire conquered by Alexander the Great in red highlight. The extent of the empire is an approximation of 320 BC.
- The number of Greek gods may be more than 3000, with 1-4 dozen main gods including Zeus and other ‘family.’
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For a humorous look at the idol gods:
- visit this source about the god Hermes [pictured in NYC for this post] from godchecker.com 

Greek Mythology is a veritable blockbusting soap opera. What can Zeus possibly get up to next — and with whom? How will Hera take her next revenge? Where will Aphrodite discard her nightie? Who has been barred from Olympus lately — and why? When is the next big punch-up? And will Hermes be sued for selling counterfeit sheep? 
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Imagine an EMPIRE – like the powerful ROME of the Caesars.

Rome continually changed names of regions and borders they administered so some would have changed by AD 48 when Paul and Barnabas journeyed through the cities of the Taurus Mountains and yet again by the time Luke published Acts of the Apostles ~AD 62.
- The multitudes of Roman gods include Jupiter as head of a dozen deities similar to several gods and goddesses of Greek mythology plus ancient gods and goddesses of captive cultures inclusively embraced in exchange for a Pax Roma.
Julius Caesar was the first Roman leader to be called “god” and “savior,” which became dominant phrases in Roman Imperial theology.

The idea behind these lofty titles was that while the Roman Republic collapsed in the first century BC, Julius Caesar but mostly his son Caesar Augustus resurrected Rome from the dead.
Καισαρ Source for more interesting background – ABARIM Publications

Imagine a 21st century EMPIRE – like THE UNITED STATES or others.

Let Us Beat Swords Into Ploughshares is a bronze sculpture by artist Evgeniy Vuchetich (1908 ¬– 1974). Vuchetich was an esteemed Soviet sculptor and artist well-known for his heroic monuments.

It stands outside the U.N. Building in New York City, United States of America as another empire wield their swords once more to destroy the plowshares of their enemies. – RH

Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.

– Joel 3:10-11 KJV

Micah 4:2 וְֽהָלְכוּ גּוֹיִם רַבִּים וְאָֽמְרוּ לְכוּ וְנַעֲלֶה אֶל־הַר־יְהוָה וְאֶל־בֵּית אֱלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב וְיוֹרֵנוּ מִדְּרָכָיו וְנֵלְכָה בְּאֹֽרְחֹתָיו כִּי מִצִּיּוֹן תֵּצֵא תוֹרָה וּדְבַר־יְהוָה מִירוּשָׁלִָֽם׃

And he [the LORD] shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. – Micah 4:3 KJV

Idolatry – Quick U-turns by Men claiming gods

So you say that idolatry such as that Paul and Barnabas encountered in Lystra over two millennia ago no longer exists.
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Look a bit closer, you who have thus far survived 21st century multitudes of celebrity leader gods and goddesses who wield the swords of godless tongues and imagery of gods against the crowds they would overcome.
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~48 AD

The Lame Walk a Sign from God

Previously in Acts 14:8-10, a miracle of God in Lystra through Paul and Barnabas.

Acts of the Apostles Paul and Barnabas continued

“The gods have become like men and have come down to us.” And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and was wanting to offer sacrifice with the crowds.

The Statue of Zeus 41 feet tall made by the Greek sculptor Phidias around 435 BC at the sanctuary of Olympia, Greece, Temple of Zeus, the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion.
But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out and saying,

“Men, why are you doing these things?

We are also men of the same nature as you, proclaiming the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, WHO MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM who in the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways;

and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”

WHAT has just happened?

Two Jewish travelers walk into a Lycaonian town in the mountains of Greece where most men are probably not educated philosophers, priests or Roman officials who know something of the Hebrews and their religion which holds to only ONE GOD, an inconceivable concept to pagans led to worship stone idols in grand temples built long ago in their town.

BUT, these two men perform a miracle which most certainly must be a sign from a MOST Powerful God of Heaven — to them, ZEUS.

Is this ZEUS IN PERSON?

IS THIS MAN in our midst a savior to be worshiped? (For he has done the impossible and we witnessed it.) We’ll go get this god’s priest from his temple at the gate of our city Lystra AND prepare a great sacrifice in honor of these two gods with us, Zeus and Hermes.

THEN these two strangers tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude and gods don’t stoop down to such things even IF they have come among us to have a mortal man stand.

SO these men who tricked us into thinking they were the gods Zeus and Hermes have told us to turn from OUR gods to their GOD.

And saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.
Acts of the Apostles Paul and Barnabas in Lystra 14:18
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To be continued...
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November 18, 2022
Conquered and the Conquerers

Jesus, Son of Man, comes among us with a perspective of history of another dimension we can scarcely comprehend: time.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

Before Abraham was, I AM.

Remarkable statements! A perspective of history which can only be viewed outside of our dimension of time.

Never-the-less, let us view some of the maps of the nations (gentiles) over the times preceding the incarnation of the Son of Man.

Israel has fallen. God has pronounced judgment on Israel for her unfaithfulness. God sends his Prophets to unfaithful Judah (her sister of whoredom) and to the gentile nations as well.

Judah is small. Assyria, Babylonia, Mesopotamia, Syria and Egypt are large and powerful, opposing each other with God giving victory to varied enemies of Judah in the times of the Prophets and the times of His silence before a newer map at a later time.

In the fourth century B.C. comes another conqueror from the west: Alexander the Great. He defeats the eastern empires and spreads Greek culture throughout the Mediterranean. The map again differs and the language and culture from the time after Alexander’s death is called Hellenism. Greek becomes the common language of the empire, including Jerusalem and the former areas of defeated Israel and fallen Judah (now called Phoenicia). Don’t think of it as small Greece, islands of the Mediterranean, but Empire Greece, as in Asia (or most of what we now call Asia) as far as India in the East.

Now, much nearer the time of Jesus, 62 B.c.- 14 A.D., we read of the Incarnate Son of God in Luke 2. (No doubt all are familiar with the story, yet few are familiar with the map.)

Luke 2

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Birth of Jesus Christ

2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

Again in our timeline under Rome, again we must view the map not as a place of Israel or Judah. Rome conquered Jerusalem, Tyre and Sidon (of Syria), Nazareth and all the rest. The map is of Rome and every town in every land is a crossroads that leads to Rome.

Judea is nothing more than a minor province in a key expansion of Rome, extending south from Tyre and Damascus beyond Jerusalem. The military control of Rome over the conquered provinces involves an infusion of Roman military control and government and taxes, along with the sharing of a common culture of Hellenistic roots in the Greek language and culture.

The power of Rome is not its politics or religion, but it’s army. The success of Rome is due, in part, to the integration of a common language (Greek) and culture with the local customs and religions and trade (including taxes to pay the army, administrative costs of Rome). Pay your taxes and keep your local customs.

The religions of the gentiles of Rome, the gentiles of Greece, and the gentiles of the conquering Babylonians, and other conquering nations like Assyria and Egypt have one thing in common: many gods. The “god of the current time” is often the current ruler, a Pharaoh, a Caesar or worshiped human king. The Asians worship idols. The Greeks and Romans worship idols. Only the Jews have One God and no idols.

This same Caesar Augustus of Luke 2 had (for political reasons) declared himself a god. Later, the local Jewish politicians seek to draw Jesus into this controversial debate.

Want to start a controversy among lovers of Greek mythology (yes, myths as origins of various gods and the ways they serve man)? Just ask how many. Answer? Thousands!

And Rome cared more for her power and politics than culture. However Rome’s idols and gods also explained which gods served man in which ways. How many? Again, a countless number of gods to serve the Roman citizen and the slaves of Roman rule.

Another fact of Roman life overlooked is that the population of Rome had many slaves It was the culture, discipline organization and administration of the Roman army that best modeled any success of Rome. A conquered people in the days of Jesus, like in the days of the Prophets, could be taken away from their cities and towns and homes to any foreign town or province and sold as slaves. The Roman army used this as leverage to have local leaders do as they wanted under a local administration of Rome.

Into this environment comes the family of the Herod’s who chose their sides with the right Roman generals and were rewarded for their efforts.

(Why all this background? NEXT we continue with Jesus’ early encounters with Romans in His travels…)

February 21, 2014