Sunday evening I asked: “Why did the Holy Spirit tell us about Paul’s miracles in Ephesus?”
My two suggested answers were:
Or we are told about this case because of the events which followed.
But since they were temporary gifts, there was no point in getting us all excited about them by constantly describing things which weren’t all that important in themselves.
But when the seven sons of Sceva tried to duplicate what Paul was doing and failed,
“This was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.”
And this is the reason that they are described for us now.
This evening let’s use four words to help us understand these five verses.
They are: incantation, demarcation, recognition, and subjugation.
It’s impossible to say how many there were, but in Paul’s day there were gypsy-like Jews traveling about the world.
They were engaged in honest and dishonest activities, secular and religious, good and bad.
And for a time, while Paul at Ephesus there was a family of seven brothers in town as well.
We don’t know anything about this Sceva, except that he was some sort of chief priest.
The scripture doesn’t clearly say that he was there with his sons.
But some think that he was senior among the few priests which were in Ephesus.
because there was little in the way of priestly duties – sacerdotal duties – that he could perform there.
On the other hand there doesn’t appear to be any evidence that he sat in the seat of Caiaphas or Annas.
He is a man of mystery, and we probably would be no better off, if we did have a copy of his biography.
But his name is mentioned in the scriptures, indicating that perhaps some people did know who he was.
His seven sons apparently made a living, among other things, exorcizing demons, or claiming to do so.
First, I suppose we need to ask ourselves if these men were Christians or not.
I can’t say that I find the slightest evidence in the scripture that they were.
He only emphasizes that they were wandering Jews.
They were not wandering Christians, or wandering Hebrew Christians.
But more specifically, they said, “We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.”
In fact, it appears that they may have thought of Paul as if he were just like one them.
And as such, I would have to conclude that these men were not only lost, but actual ambassadors of Satan.
But someone might think:
But we must remember that the Devil is quite willing to make small sacrifices in an effort to make great gains.
He would be happy to loose a small battle in order to draw people’s attention away from Paul & Christ.
It was very much like what happened in Philippi:
But that too backfired when Paul got tired of it and commanded the demon to leave the woman.
The Lord Jesus asked the rhetorical question: “If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.”
And what exactly was it that Simon Magus wanted from Peter in Acts 8:
Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.”
But getting back to Ephesus, the seven sons of Sceva were trying to use the name of Jesus as a magical incantation.
And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them,
and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”
Despite the denial of their existence by most of modern science;
And despite the fact that most Christians take their existence for granted to the point of ignoring them,
The Bible declares the existence of demons, the angels of Satan, evil spirits or whatever other Biblical term that you’d like to use.
And not only does this scripture casually declare their existence, but it clearly differentiates between the demon spirit and the man in whom it dwelt.
Why don’t we see more demon-possession today?
Is it because that with more education and civilization there is less opportunity for Satan to do this work?
Is it that modern medicine has nearly eradicated demon-possession in the same way that is nearly eliminated polio or small-pox?
Is this kind of Satanic activity confined to the Third-world and places like Haiti and Botswana?
Or is it that education and civilization have blinded OUR western minds lest the darkness of Satan should dampen our souls even more than we realize?
Demonism and Satanism are as much alive today as they have ever been, but it is far more subtle today than it has ever been.
In this scripture, we are forced to see the difference between a demon and a demon-possessed person.
It’s not that the verse hasn’t been accurately translated or that it doesn’t convey in English what the Holy Spirit wants us to know.
But there is more in the Greek language than what meets our American eyes.
“And the evil spirit answered and said,
Jesus I GINOSKO, and Paul I EPISTAMAI ( ep-is’-tam-ahee ), but who are ye?”
“Jesus I RECOGNIZE, and Paul I am PERSONALLY ACQUAINTED WITH, but who are you?”
This demon was familiar with the Lord Jesus, because at about the time of the creation,
But he chose to side with the rebellious Archangel Lucifer.
And there may have been occasions when this creature clashed with Christ during Jesus’ earthly ministry.
But he was not a friend or servant of the Lord now,
They had come face to face and perhaps had done battle.
“Jesus, I am aware of, but Paul I know a little more intimately. Who are you?”
He wasn’t necessarily saying, “I don’t know who you are.”
More likely than not, he was saying, “I refuse to recognize you pusillanimous, wimpy, good-for-nothing imitation exorcists.”
It appears from the Word of God that spirit creatures know much more about the really important things than we’d like them to know or that we give them credit for knowing.
Again, I point out that the demon spoke, but it was the man, in whom the demon resided, who attacked.
Could this demon have directly hurt one or all of these self-professed exorcists?
But in this particular case, he attacked and hurt them indirectly, by empowering his human host.
There is no reason to think that one demon can be in more than one place at one time.
Here was one demon-possessed man.
He might have been a powerful politician or a timid tailor.
He might have been an important Gentile or the chief-ruler of the synagogue.
Whoever they were, there were apparently witnesses in the room, who later reported to others what had happened.
(Certainly, the seven brothers weren’t going to be publishing their defeat around town.)
And there were seven of them, probably surrounding the possessed man, and putting their hands on his head.
No one can afford to underestimate the power of the spiritual enemies of our God.
This single man fought with the power of a super anti-hero.
And the army of seven ran out of the house with their clothes torn and spots of blood on them from their scrapes and gashes.
That single demon-possessed man completely mastered his attackers.
I think that this is why we are told about Paul’s ability to work those signs and wonders:
His miracles in Ephesus, provoked a Satanic imitation.
But that imitation failed, and as a result, even more glory was brought to the Lord Jesus Christ.