Contemplative Bible Reading

Acts 16:16-18 (New International Version 2011)

¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ 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.” ¹⁸ 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.

Here we have Paul on one of his missionary journeys. He meets a young woman who has a spirit in her. Note the facts presented:

• She predicts the future
• She knows that Paul is preaching about the one true God
• She knows what Paul is preaching

Now some conjecture:

• The spirit in her is from Satan

I don’t think this spirit is from God. If if was, why would Paul cast it out of her?

And some more conjecture:

• The same spirits from Satan are in people today

What a curse, the ability to predict the future. Sure, it seems nice to be able to predict sporting events, stock market prices, even just predict the weather. A person could make a lot of money with that ability. Think a little more, the wonder of life goes away. You would know how you will feel at any time in the future. There would be no surprises. Everything would be dull.

Oh, yes – the controversial part to some people – evil spirits in people today. I know there are biblical arguments against this idea. Still, I can’t find a verse that plainly says, “There will be a time when spirits won’t be in people.” I am open for someone showing me such. I tend to believe that there are evil spirits in some people in some form. Why else might a person crash a plane full of people into a building full of people in a city full of people?