8But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, 10and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord? 11Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. 12Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord.
The name “Paul” was not given to the apostle as his spiritual or Christian name. It was simply his Roman name; Saul was his Hebrew name. He went by both, but at this juncture, Luke begins to use “Paul” exclusively in the narrative, and that is the name he uses in all his letters. Luke is careful with names, translating them for his readers, as he does with the magician Elymas (a.k.a. Bar-Jesus, Acts 13:6)
Opposition to the gospel began early on in Paul’s missionary work, and he did not shrink back from it—he faced it head-on, though not in his own strength. He did not soften his confrontation but called it as he saw it, not holding back in attacking this false prophet. “Deceit and fraud” are strong words, but true. As a Jewish false prophet, Elymas’ denunciation was severe. We are reminded of Jesus’ comments to the Pharisees:
“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)
Elymas was of this sort, distorting the truth, deceiving people with his proclamation of what is the right way of God. There is a time for dealing gently with people teaching things that are not true, as we shall see with Aquilla and Priscilla teaching Apollos in Acts 18:24–26. In that case, Apollos was not purposely teaching wrong doctrine; he just did not have the full truth of Christ. However, in Elymas’ case, there was deliberate, intentional alteration of truth.
God treats harshly those who draw people away from the truth. The spread of the Christian truth of grace and forgiveness in Christ was not a message of tolerance, bandying about the false notion that “all roads lead to God.” No. God’s judgment fell on the false prophet, and he was temporarily blinded. He who led people away from the truth now sought people to lead him about by the hand. The apostle, under the control of the Spirit, was not to be fooled with.
Lord, give me the insight to identify the fraud in the teachings of false prophets.
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