Bad For Business - The Fortune-teller Of Philippi

Acts 16:16-24

Human trafficking is a shameful blight on the modern world, but there’s nothing new about it. Paul and Silas encountered it in Philippi, and they responded with the power of God.

A young woman was enslaved by men and forced to tell fortunes. Clearly her slavery was spiritual as well as physical. She was demon possessed, and her handlers were using her supernatural powers to make money. The Greek text actually calls her demon a “python spirit.” Such snakes were associated with magical powers and Greek gods (especially Apollo). Perhaps she even used a snake as part of her act.

It’s interesting that she (or her demon) was the aggressor with Paul and Silas. They were just going to the river to pray, but she followed them, shouting that they were “servants of the Most High God” (Acts 16:17). This behavior went on for days until Paul took action, ordering the demon to leave her.

There’s some light wordplay in Luke’s telling of this story. In verse 18, we learn that the demon “went out” of her; in verse 19, her handlers realize that their profits just “went out” as well. The same word in Greek is used to describe both situations, and that makes sense. They were making money on her misery. Her healing was bad for their business.

We never hear about this slave girl again. Paul and Silas were taken to court, beaten, and thrown in jail, but what happened to her? Was she released from her slavery, now that she was no longer profitable? Did she become part of the church that later received Paul’s epistle? Did she take it to heart when she heard, “I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6)?

Look around and you’ll see lots of people enslaved in various ways: spiritually, mentally, and physically. We may be called to offer them freedom, wholeness, and help in the name of Jesus Christ, but it’s seldom easy. And there are some folks who won’t like what Jesus does. For those who make a practice of using and abusing people, Jesus is bad for business.

She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.”

Acts 16:17