Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 95
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Afterward they traveled from town to town across the entire island
until finally they reached Paphos, where they met a Jewish sorcerer, a false
prophet named Bar-Jesus. He had attached himself to the governor, Sergius
Paulus, who was an intelligent man. The governor invited Barnabas and
Saul to visit him, for he wanted to hear the word of God. But Elymas, the
sorcerer (as his name means in Greek), interfered and urged the governor
to pay no attention to what Barnabas and Saul said. He was trying to keep
the governor from believing.
Saul, also known as Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he looked
the sorcerer in the eye. Then he said, “You son of the devil, full of every
sort of deceit and fraud, and enemy of all that is good! Will you never stop
perverting the true ways of the Lord? Watch now, for the Lord has laid his
hand of punishment upon you, and you will be struck blind. You will not
see the sunlight for some time.” Instantly mist and darkness came over the
man’s eyes, and he began groping around begging for someone to take his
hand and lead him.
When the governor saw what had happened, he became a believer, for
he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.
Paul and his companions then left Paphos by ship for Pamphylia, landing
at the port town of Perga. There John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. But Paul and Barnabas traveled inland to Antioch of Pisidia.
On the Sabbath they went to the synagogue for the services. After the
usual readings from the books of Moses and the prophets, those in charge
of the service sent them this message: “Brothers, if you have any word of
encouragement for the people, come and give it.”
So Paul stood, lifted his hand to quiet them, and started speaking. “Men
of Israel,” he said, “and you God-fearing Gentiles, listen to me.
“The God of this nation of Israel chose our ancestors and made them
multiply and grow strong during their stay in Egypt. Then with a powerful
arm he led them out of their slavery. He put up with them through forty
years of wandering in the wilderness. Then he destroyed seven nations in
Canaan and gave their land to Israel as an inheritance. All this took about
450 years.
“After that, God gave them judges to rule until the time of Samuel the
prophet. Then the people begged for a king, and God gave them Saul son
of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. But
God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God
said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will
do everything I want him to do.’
“And it is one of King David’s descendants, Jesus, who is God’s promised Savior of Israel! Before he came, John the Baptist preached that all
