To God be the Glory, great things He has done.

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Genesis Framework
GF 12 Acts 13.4ff
September 13, 2015
Part 12

Scripture

Acts 13.4-11

 

Today, we are one week away from completing our survey on:how the Glory-Spirit is variously conceptualized in the Scriptures.

We have already discovered in the Scriptures that in most instances the theophanic( God-shining) glory is expressed as some form of light, and that God’s creation of light was always intended to dispel all forms of darkness. We have also discovered through expressions dealing with the existence of God’s holy Light in the Scriptures, that His holy Light traverses from being an exclusively externalized guide and glory, to becoming an internal reality, as the Spirit of Christ( the holy Light) comes to abide everlastingly within true believers.

Let’s pick up from last week…

Apparently, redeemed Saul was authorized and empowered by the Lord above to administer heavenly glory-judgment upon a divisive sorcerer.

Let’s first examine the backdrop to this scene.

Acts 13.4-7
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit [from Antioch], they went down to Seleucia [16 mi. to port city in Syria], and from there they sailed to Cyprus [130 mi. SW].

Continuing Acts 13.4-7

5 And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John [John Mark] as their assistant.
6 Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos [90 mi. SW],…

continuing Acts 13.4-7

…they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus,
7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

 

Time to explain several things:

“They” were Paul and Barnabas.
John Mark was assisting them, before the split.
The second port city Paphos was the Roman government seat of Cyprus.
Bar-Jesus was a magician, similar to Simon, a Jew, and a false prophet, characterized by Paul as a “son of the devil,” suggesting that his magic was assisted by demonic powers.
At that time magic was practiced by both pagans and Jewish people with the goals of healing diseases, bringing physical blessings, cursing or otherwise harming others,
and guarding against both curses and demons.
Magicians also claimed to foretell the future.
The proconsul was the highest-ranking official, an appointed governor, in a Roman senatorial province. Some inscriptions have been found bearing the name Sergius Paulus.

An imperial province was a Roman province where the Roman Emperor had the sole right to appoint the governor (legatus Augusti). These provinces were often
the strategically located border provinces.

A senatorial province (of the Roman people) was a Roman province where the Roman Senate had the right to appoint the governor (proconsul). These provinces were
well within the outer borders of the Roman Empire imperial provinces and less likely of a senate-led rebellion, and so had few, if any, legions stationed in them. They were often along the Mediterranean Sea. Bar-Jesus, aka Elymas (), apparently was opposed to the missionaries [who were Calvinistic], because he viewed them as threatening his own profitable relationship with the proconsul [regarding CD and bookselling opportunities, as well as world-wide TV and Internet exposure]. The proconsul is the one calling for Barnabas and Saul, desiring to hear the word of God.

Acts 13:8-11
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
9 Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him
10 and said, "O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?
11 “And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went
around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

To explain:

When Elymas was miraculously struck temporarily blind, it was the proconsul (governor) who became a believer, not Elymas. We have no record of what happened with Elymas,
his role was secondary in this event. At any rate, rest assured that had this event occurred in our day, it would be politically correct for Elymas to receive a trophy for his participation. Let’s remember that we are supposed to rank God’s Word above all other words, to guide and illuminate our spirit and mind.

2 Corinthians 4:6
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

out from within darkness

This is an obvious reference to the creation event.

 

Daniel 5:14
The king spoke, and said to Daniel, “I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.

Ecclesiastes 2:13
Then I saw that wisdom excels folly As light excels darkness.

Physical Realm

As a hovering avian form
As a light separating light from darkness
As an abiding rainbow-cloud radiance
As a bright light from heaven
As a flame and light of divine glory
As a fire bearing glory light brighter than the sun
As a light to dispel physical darkness and to guide
As varied modes of the sky; a clear firmament, a sheltering canopy (to Peter), a whirlwind, a thunderhead of terrifying trumpet and flashing arrow

Physical Realm
(most distinctly perceived as anthropomorphous)

As a divine figure enthroned in the Glory-cloud
As the divine face or parts thereof- eyes
As a divine arm or parts thereof- hand and finger
As the power of God stretched out exercising sovereignty
As the feet of God standing as divine witness (the dual columnar Glory-cloud as pillar of cloud and fire)
As a voice from heaven
As a trumpet-sounding voice from heaven

Spirit Realm

As a Light( Christ) come into the world
As a Spirit-light internalized, the light of life
As a Spirit-Dove descending from heaven and remaining

 

Many will be surprised on the Day of Judgment when they discover that it was just as the Word of God says; only the righteousness of Christ is able to save you.All men are sinners and no one can save himself. God is just, so He must punish sin; but He is also merciful, moreover gracious, and offers His Son as the perfect sacrifice in order to purchase a place for you in heaven, which He offers to you as the free gift of eternal life.

Jesus is God Incarnate

In order to pay the debt of our sins, He came from Heaven, having been sent by the Father, where He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father even unto the shameful death upon the cross in order to pay the debt of your sins.This gift must be received by faith, believing that Jesus’ perfect life and Cross Work was His complete and necessary Atonement for your sins, in your behalf.Faith is a gift that comes by the Power of God the Holy Spirit working in a person’s innermost being. The Holy Spirit has the authority and power to quicken your dead spirit, to make it come to life. If you have not done so before this moment, ask Jesus to forgive you your sins, tell Him you’ve stop trying to be your own savior, and ask Him to come into your life right now, and to give you eternal life. Then, in faith believing, thank Him for the gift that He is giving you, the one He paid for in full in your place, in Jesus’ name,AMEN

Bibliography

Agnes, Michael and Charlton Laird (eds.). Webster’s New World Dictionary and Thesaurus. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1996.
Aland, Kurt, Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger, and Allen Wikgren (eds.). The Greek New Testament, 4th rev. ed. Germany: Biblica-Druck, 1994.
Benner, Jeff A. The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible. College Station, Texas: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing Inc., 2005
Bullinger, E. W. Figures of Speech Used in the Bible; Explained an Illustrated. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 2007.
Chapman, Benjamin. Greek New Testament Insert. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1977.
Dana, H. E., and Julius R. Mantey. A Manual of the New Testament. Canada: The Macmillan Company, 1957.
Louw, Johannes P. and Eugene A. Nida. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains. New York, NY: United Bible Societies, 1989.
The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2011.
Metzger, Bruce M. Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek. Princeton, New Jersey, 1977.
Wikipedia contributors. "Xenophon." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 15 Aug. 2014. Web. 19 Aug. 2014.
Wuest, Kenneth S. The New Testament; An Expanded Translation. Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1992.
Wuest, Kenneth S. (Revised, Donald L. Wise). The Practical Use of the Greek New Testament, rev. ed. Chicago, Il: Moody Press, 1982.
Walsh, J. Martyn and Anna Kathleen Walsh. Plain English Handbook: A Complete Guide to Good English, 7th rev. ed. Cincinnati, Ohio: McCormick-Mathers PublishingCompany,1977.

Copyright September, 2015
Rev. Jim Craig
All Rights Reserved