Once when we were going to
the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which
she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by
fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the
rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are
telling you the way to be saved.”
She kept this up for many
days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the
spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that
moment the spirit left her. Acts
16:16-18
Paul
sensed that the real voice speaking through her was not her own, but an unclean
spirit. Her words were true, but they
were said in such a way as if mocking them or sounding an alarm. She also drove them crazy keeping this up for
days.
The evil
spirit’s intent was to create chaos and keep the truth from coming out, while
proclaiming the truth throughout. Paul
saw through the scheme and released the girl from Satan.
Jesus in
John 5 said that a human witness is not trustworthy on its regarding the
identity of God. However, other supports
are needed, such as the works of God, the voice of God and word of God. A fortune teller isn’t the truth God needs.