After Herod spent some time in Caesarea, Luke provides the story beginning in Acts 12:20 at how Herod was brought to his final demise by God. After Herod cut off the food supply to the people of Tyre and Sidon, the people of those 2 cities came to petition him for reconciliation. When King Herod stood before them on an appointed day, dressed in flashy apparel that shimmered in the rising sun, the people flattered him by calling his speech the voice of a god and not of a man. When Herod, filled with pride, failed to properly give God the glory, instead stealing it for himself, God struck him down in death through an angel.
In spite of Herod’s awful persecution of the Christians, this persecution brought forth great spiritual fruit, as the Word of God was increasing and multiplying! With Luke’s narrative now pointed to the Gentile mission, Barnabas and Saul returned to Antioch, accompanied by John Mark. At the Antiochene church, Barnabas and Saul joined 3 other men (Simeon, Lucius, and Manaen) in serving the church as prophets and teachers.
As the Antiochene believers worshiped the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit revealed to them that He had called Barnabas and Saul to a special work of gospel ministry through missions. The church fasted and prayed about this important calling, and they then laid hands upon these 2 men and commissioned them into this service for the Lord. Barnabas and Saul (helped by John Mark as an assistant) traveled through Seleucia with Cyprus as their ultimate destination. On the east coast of Cyprus, they proclaimed the Word of God in the synagogues of the Jews at Salamis. After some time, they then traveled westward across the island to the capital city of Paphos.
In Paphos, they encountered a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus who practiced divination, a practice that God hated and forbid. The man who governed the entire island, Proconsul Sergius Paulus, had become very interested in the message preached by Barnabas and Saul and summoned them to come to him to hear their message firsthand. But Bar-Jesus, also called Elymas, opposed them, intent on preventing Sergius Paulus from embracing the truth of the gospel.
Saul, also called Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he stared at Elymas with a penetrating gaze of holy abhorrence at Elymas. He called Elymas a son of the devil and an enemy of all righteousness, filled with all deceit and villainy. Elymas was intentionally making crooked the straight paths of the Lord! Thus, Paul pronounced a divine curse upon Elymas, who was left blinded for a season, impotent to oppose gospel ministry. With this Satanic hindrance removed, Sergius Paulus believed their message, having seen the power of God triumphing over the power of Satan, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
When the gospel mission takes the Light of the world to the darkest of places the spiritual forces of evil will indeed wage war … but God’s people should take heart: “for the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one” (cf. 2 Thessalonians 3:3).
You can listen to this teaching on Acts 12:20-13:12 by clicking on the following link: Spirit-Filled Strength For Spiritual Warfare
