In Acts 19 the Apostle Paul made his way to Ephesus, a city within Asia that was well known for its temple to Artemis (Diana), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, its idol industry, and practice of dark magic. Paul arrives at Ephesus behind Apollos, who had only been familiar with John’s baptism and was most likely teaching either the coming of the Messiah or that He had arrived, probably unfamiliar with His death and resurrection. Paul then encounters some disciples in Ephesus who it seems were taught, incompletely, by Apollos. By the time Paul arrives, Apollos had moved on to Corinth and had already been instructed more clearly in the way by Aquilla and Priscilla. Paul’s encounter with the Ephesian disciples is recorded in Acts 19:1-7 and it is here that we see they are baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, received the Holy Spirit, and began manifesting this by speaking in tongues and prophesying, “there were about twelve men in all”. This account, a kind of non-Jewish mini-Pentecost, sets the background for Paul’s ministry in Ephesus. From here, he moves to the synagogue, as per his tradition, from which he ends up withdrawing due to their unbelief, before settling in at the hall of Tyrannus reasoning with the Ephesians for the next two years, “so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.” Acts 19:10
This background is then summarized in the next two verses concerning the work that God was doing in Ephesus through the apostle Paul:
And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.
Acts 19:11-12
It is out of this background and summary that we are introduced to seven itinerant Jewish exorcists who were descendants from a chief priest named Sceva. These seven brothers decide to invoke the name of Jesus in their attempts to exorcise demons in the area. We probably do not give this much thought, but during the earthly ministry of Jesus we are made well aware of the widespread demon possession that had not only plagued Jews, but also Gentiles. As part of His earthly ministry, Jesus not only displayed dominion over nature, disease and death, but also demons, having called them out of people on a number of occasions.
One particular exorcism relevant to our passage from Acts 19 occurs in Matthew 12:19-32. Here, we find a blind, mute, demon-oppressed man who was brought to Him. Upon seeing Jesus heal the man, the Pharisees proclaim, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” Upon knowing their thoughts, Jesus sees opportunity for a Kingdom lesson, especially as His own kingdom relates to that of Satan’s. He begins by stating a general principle, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.” Matthew 12:25 Then He proceeds from the general to the specific, relating this principle first to Satan and then to how this relates to the exorcism.
27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Matthew 12:27-28
The Pharisees had accused Jesus of being able to cast out demons because He was from the devil. Jesus flips this argument back around to them by stating if that were the case, then the kingdom would be divided against itself, an important point to remember. Then, taking their very own accusation that He casts out demons by Satan (Beelzebul), He asks by whom do their sons cast out demons. The implication here is two-fold. On the one hand, if they say Jesus is casting out demons by the power of Satan, then they condemn themselves too, for how can they explain their sons exorcisms. On the other hand, if they declare their sons exorcism success is from God, then they’ve made fools out of themselves in accusing Jesus. This is another example of Jesus’ wisdom in catching the Pharisees in their own trap.
He then states positively that if it’s not of Beelzebul that demons get cast out, rather from the Spirit of God, then you know that the kingdom of God has arrived. In other words, a sign that the kingdom had come, though not in full just yet, was that Jesus cast out demons. We might also add here that further evidence of the kingdom’s arrival were the other miracles that He performed as well. As Jesus’ lecture of their error continues, we learn the oft-misunderstood unpardonable sin is blasphemy of the Spirit, which in short is simply attributing to Satan the work of the Spirit, which when related to our Lord is a condemnation of His very person and work.
With this passage under our belt, we return now to our passage from Acts 19 and the arrival of the Jewish exorcists in Ephesus. We have already seen how Jewish exorcism had been practiced for years and without any solid proof, perhaps we could even reason some of them were successful since the practice had continued. Kistemaker, in his commentary, points out that this practice was sometimes performed at the request of Gentiles but often, “these teachers visited fellow Jews living in the dispersion and used magic formulas to adjure the evil spirits.” An important note he adds is that these exorcisms often failed to produce results, so they would continually look for other means by which to compel the demons to come out. Here we should recall just how demon filled Ephesus was and how under the influence of magic their culture had become. This is obvious in the remainder of Acts 19 as they later divulged their dark arts practices. The sons of Sceva showed up and adjured the demon to come out on the basis of an incantation which included the name of Paul and Jesus. The demon replies that he knows Jesus and knows about Paul, but has no clue who they are. At this, the demon attacks and overcomes the seven, stripping them of their clothes, sending them fleeing naked and wounded.
The remarkable result of this encounter of the Jewish exorcists with the demon is that it became known to all Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus. Fear gripped them and they praised the name of the Lord Jesus. Ultimately this will lead to repentance of their wickedness, faith in the Lord Jesus, and a renouncing of their practices of magic. What makes this so remarkable is that the event was not a direct preaching of the gospel, instead it is in effect, evil vs. evil. The Jewish exorcists were not believers. They were not filled with the Holy Spirit nor exercising the gifts of the Spirit that had been given to them, contra Paul which introduced this chapter. As unbelievers, they were of their father the devil. They are in effect the sons Jesus referenced. They were under the power and influence of the evil one in their unbelief and desire for power, fame, and/or money for their exorcist ministry. Their opponent was a demon, i.e. evil against evil. When we consider Jesus’ words earlier about whether Satan casts out Satan on the surface it may seem to contradict what is happening here. But we need to keep in mind Jesus’ statement about how this would divide a kingdom. In Acts 19, Satan playing both sides – dividing his kingdom to an extent, actually backfires as Jesus’ name is praised anyway. From his perspective, the demon overpowering and driving out the Jewish exorcists who had implored the name of Paul and Jesus should have deepened the hold of darkness on the people and reinforced the power that the demon had. But it did the exact opposite. Why? Because Christ Jesus is the sovereign Lord over all creation Who ordains and orchestrates all things according to His power. Satan has no power or control over anything that hasn’t been granted to him.
Is there any modern application for us from this lesson? Of course.
First, we ought to remember Jesus’ warning in Matthew 7:21-23 that not all those who come to Him claiming to have performed mighty works in His name, including casting out of demons, will be welcomed into the kingdom. In fact, Jesus says His response to them will be that He never knew them and for them to depart from His presence. So, invoking the name of Jesus is not an automatic guarantee that the person/teacher/preacher is genuine. There will be those in the world who have the appearance of working for Christ through their mighty works, but in reality they are not of Christ. How can we tell whether they are genuine or not? Just a few verses prior, Jesus says that fruit is the measure of genuineness, Matthew 7:15-20.
As a further practical application for today, we ought to be aware that Satan often divides his kingdom with the hope of multiplying it. In other words, there are occasions where evil will battle evil. The purpose may be to catch up genuine believers into taking a side, ultimately with the goal of bringing reproach to the name of Christ. In our present highly charged political environment in the United States, we are frequently told that there is a battle of good vs. evil, but those who claim to be on the side of good are not representative of the gospel, not using the spiritual weapons of warfare which are explicitly reserved for those filled with the Spirit of God and include wielding the sword of God’s Word. As I have written numerous times here, what we are witnessing is the political gospel verses the social gospel and both are devoid of Christ. Think Christian, use your God-given discernment. Enough of evangelicals being used as political pawns in the Devil’s Divided Kingdom, the kingdom of man. We ought to be ambassadors of Christ’s Kingdom, spreading the gospel, discipling, and teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded.
Soli Deo Gloria
