Can you please explain the meaning of Acts 16:16?
This is a fascinating account leading up to the verse in the Bible that the Lord used to bring me to salvation. Let’s read Acts 16:16-18, “And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: 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. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.”
It is encouraging to see that at a certain time of day, the Lord’s people would meet together to pray. We read in Acts 16:13, “And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.” Possibly, Paul and his company were making their way to this river so that they might pray together with other believers. On this particular day, they were met by a young lady who had a “spirit of divination” and was making money from it. This “spirit of divination” is correctly translated “spirit of Python”, which was a name for the Grecian god, Apollo. This lady claimed to be inhabited with the spirit of Python, and would obviously predict future events for those whom she was working for. This doesn’t sound too far out. In most cities today, there are those who advertise themselves as being fortune tellers, prophets, or psychics. Paul treated this as a case of demon possession.
In the scriptures, this was strictly forbidden. Leviticus 19:31, “Turn ye not unto them that have familiar spirits, nor unto the wizards; seek them not out, to be defiled by them: I am Jehovah your God.” Deuteronomy 18:10-11, “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.” The Lord prohibited this behavior, yet this lady was seemingly trying to help the Apostle Paul. We read in verses 17-18, “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. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.” Perhaps this lady thought to bring credibility to herself by aligning herself with Paul, but Paul would have none of that. He would not allow any demonic spirit to have a part in his work. He cast the demon out of her.
Because she could no longer make money for them, her masters became angry at Paul, accused him with false charges, and had him beaten and cast into prison. I encourage you to read this entire chapter. We learn that Paul and Silas were cast into a dungeon with their legs in irons. In spite of that terrible treatment, we read in verse 25, “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.” All of a sudden there was an earthquake. The prison doors flew open and the stocks on their feet came undone. It was then that the jailer became desperate, thinking all the prisoners had escaped. As he raised his sword to kill himself, Paul stopped him saying in verse 28 “But Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.” The jailer was overwhelmed by this, realizing his life had been spared. He had seen something different in these men, and now they had resisted the urge to flee from prison. In verse 30, he asked them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul’s answer was rather short, but powerful. As I said at the beginning, the verse that the Lord used to lead me to Himself is found here. Acts 16:31 tells us, “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” It is simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that brings salvation to all who will believe. Have you trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ and received His free gift of salvation? (241.10)