Paul and Silas have been seized by the owners of a slave girl out of whom Paul cast a spirit of divination. Her owners were making a large fortune off her and now they realize she won't be any use to them as a fortune-teller anymore. In a rage they demand that Paul and Silas be prosecuted.
"They brought them before the magistrates and said, 'These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.'" (Acts 16:20-21) We discussed a couple of days ago the fact that the Emperor Claudius had already expelled the Jews from Rome and that perhaps the reason Philippi doesn't have a synagogue is because the Philippians don't allow the Jews to practice their religion inside the city limits. Prejudice against Jews was rampant in pagan territories and I can almost hear the angry slave owners complaining to the magistrates, "These Jews, these foreigners, these trespassers, have only come to Philippi to stir up trouble and to try and compel our citizens to worship some strange deity who supposedly rose from the grave. We have our own gods! We have our own laws! How dare these Jews come here with their odd religious practices and their magic tricks of healing and exorcism? We didn't ask them to come here. We don't want them here. You have to do something about this."
Rome offered a great deal of civil rights to its citizens, but none to non-citizens. Luke is Greek and Timothy is half Greek, and their mode of dress and hairstyle blends in with that of the Romans. This could be why Luke and Timothy are not also seized by the Philippians. But Paul and Silas look very Jewish. It never enters the minds of the people at Philippi that these two might be Roman citizens. They are, as we will learn later in Chapter 16. They could have mentioned it right now and put a stop to their persecution, but the Lord has a divine appointment in store for them at the jail. I think the Holy Spirit advises Paul and Silas to remain silent at this time.
"The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped down and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks." (Acts 16:22-24) A Roman flogging was sometimes severe enough to kill a person. Even when it didn't result in death, it caused deep open wounds, blood and fluid loss resulting in dehydration, an enormous amount of pain, and sometimes infection. Paul and Silas are hardly in any condition to overcome the prison guards and break out of jail, but the jailer takes no chances. He has only been told to guard them carefully but he goes a step further and puts their feet in stocks. There's a sense of power about these men that makes him uneasy. He has been told that the one named Paul cast a demon out of a slave girl. If he is able to do that, what else can he do?
The jailer must be utterly amazed by what Paul and Silas do next. Instead of moaning in pain and complaining about their ill treatment, they sing the praises of the Lord whose gospel they came to Philippi to proclaim. "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them." (Acts 16:25) The praise-filled hymns soothe the other prisoners into silence. I can almost hear the sound of the songs echoing off the stone walls and floating down the corridors to reach every cell. What an awesome testimony! The other prisoners are used to a noisy jail, with crying or moaning or cursing ringing through the hallways, but instead on this night they are greeted with the sweet sound of praise being lifted to a God they do not know. Struck by the power in this praise, they all fall silent.
It's difficult to sing the praises of God when we are in physical or mental anguish. But that's just when we should sing His praises. Worshiping our God lifts us above our circumstances. I think it's possible that Paul and Silas, in their excruciating physical pain, can think of nothing to do but sing to God. I also think it's possible that they become so filled with the Holy Spirit as they sing that their pain is at least somewhat alleviated.
Something absolutely stunning will occur when we pick back up tomorrow. A jail break is going to take place, but it won't be instigated by Paul and Silas. It will be accomplished by the power of a God who hears the prayers and the praises of His people.
Today's passage reminds me of a particular song that says, "All of a sudden I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory." I think that's what happened to Paul and Silas. They felt the glory of God as they sang to Him in their prison cell. Knowing Him eclipsed everything else. The song link is below.
How He Loves Us
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