Tell me what you find?

[Semachiah]

Shalom,

Scripture references are from,
the SET (Stone Edition Tanach) or the CJB (Complete Jewish Bible) for the OT
and the PNT (Power New Testament) for the NT unless otherwise specified.

Acts 16:16. And it happened while we were going into prayer, a certain servant girl who had a spirit of divination met us, who, acting as seer, was bringing a lot of profit to her masters. 17. She, following Paul and us, was crying out saying, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming a way of salvation to you.” 18. And she was doing this over many days. And since Paul was disturbed, then, after he turned, he said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Messiah to come out from her:” and it came out from her at that moment. 19. And when her owners saw that the hope of their profit came out, having caught hold of Paul and Silas they dragged them into the market place to the officials 20. and bringing them they said to the chief magistrates, “These men, who are Jewish, are agitating our city 21. and they are proclaiming customs which are not lawful for us since they are not for Romans to accept or to do.” 22. And the crowd rose up together against them and the magistrates, having torn off their prayer shawls, were commanding that they beat them with rods, 23. and after they put many strokes on them they threw them in jail, having given orders to the jailer to keep them under guard. 24. He, when he received such a command, then took them, threw them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the shackle.
16:25. And at midnight while Paul and Silas were praying, they were singing hymns of praise to God and the prisoners were listening to them. 26. Then suddenly there was a great earthquake so as to shake the foundations of the prison: and all the doors were immediately opened and the bonds of all were loosed. 27. And as the jailer became aroused and when he saw the doors of the jail were opened, after he drew a sword he was going to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28. But Paul cried out in a loud voice saying, “Do not do this evil to yourself, for we are all here.” 29. Then after he asked for lights he rushed in and he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas 30. and leading them outside he said, “Sirs, what must I do so that I would be saved?” 31. And they said, “You must believe at once in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.” 32. And they spoke the word of the Lord to him with all those in his house. 33. And then he took them along in that hour of the night and he washed their wounds, and immediately he himself and all those of his household were baptized 34. and when he led them into the house he set a table before them and he rejoiced with the whole family because they had believed in God.
16:35. And when it became day the magistrates sent the policemen saying, “Release those men.” 36. And the jailer reported these words to Paul that “The magistrates sent so that you would be released: therefore now as you leave, go in peace.” 37. But Paul said to them, “After they beat us publicly without trial, men who are Roman, they threw us into jail, and now they throw us out secretly? No indeed, but when they come to us they must lead us out.” 38. And the policemen reported these words to the magistrates. And they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, 39. and so when they came they called Paul and Silas and when they led them out, they asked them to go away from the city. 40. And when they left the jail they went to Lydia and when they saw her they encouraged the brothers who met there, then they left.

Let me skip around a bit to fill in a few details before I get into the subject matter (the section in bold type), if I may?

Again because of length restrictions on this website I must cut this into two post. This is obviously section one.

 

[Semachiah]

This is the second and concluding half of the first post.

The first thing to take note of is the "inner prison". Commonly the Romans would take advantage of the lay of the land when making a prison. In fact they did not "make" a prison as much as they "developed" a prison. By this what I am attempting to say is that they would take the natural features of the area and develop them in to what they could use to imprison a person or persons. There is a place in what today we call Turkey where in the middle of a field there were sinkholes that formed a weave of caves. The indigenous people had cleared an area in front of these and behind them in order to make a complicated fortress out of them but when the Romans cam through they blocked off the back and made a prison out of the same area.. In Rome you have undoubtedly heard of the "catacombs?" Basically these are a cave system that runs under the city. Well there are many more such systems running under what we refer to as Rome and Greece. Both the Romans and the Greeks would simply connect a few of these, add doors hear and or there, maybe block off a section here or there and then use these caves as prisons and for burial crypts and/or whatever! For a long time it was a powerful tool to place the crypts around the prison. The "religious" fears or superstitions of the people as it concerned the dead was enough to keep the prisoners in place. It also provided a mild form of punishment as the bodies decomposed and the stench reached the prisoners. Later still then there was the development of bacteria that would actually impact the prisoners causing greater suffering along the way as they died in prison. Thus the cave systems were vital to the prison system.

The "Inner Prison", this would have been the deepest section of the prison system. It would have been the hardest to get to and thus the hardest also to get out of. It would have been reserved for the worst offenders. If there was a burial crypt associated with this prison the entrance to it would have been through the "Inner Prison" or at the very least right next to it. This was the "Maximum Security Wing!"
after he drew a sword he was going to kill himself
Why? Why, because it was not unlike today in some ways. This guard was to keep this area secure. If his prisoners got loose as his punishment he would have been killed by his bosses. If he had a family it would have been a disgrace and they would have been left with nothing. Today it would be similar to committing suicide. To do so means no insurance benefits paid to your survivors. On the other hand if he kills himself they would not have been able to determine whether he had done it or the prisoners and thus his family would have been taken care of.

“Sirs, what must I do so that I would be saved?”
You've seen this in every movie where someone is in jail!
"Hay man, what you in for?"
This guard was curious enough to have already questioned Paul and Silas such that when these events transpired he knew he needed what put them in prison. He needed what they were willing to go to jail for and possibly even rot in jail for. He needed to know what they willing to give their lives for.
Others might contend that he was trying to save his life, for the prisoners were free and if he attempted to re-secure them they could possibly overpower and kill him. I would have to disagree for he was not being threatened in anyway by these prisoners. He also had others to help him for he had them to get him lights in order that he could check on the prisoners and he and the other guards also had swords to protect themselves.
Therefore I believe he wanted what made them different! Paul's response also would indicate this belief.

Then the magistrates try to get rid of Paul and Silas with no further incident. They knew that they really did not have much of a case against them and they had accomplished what they really wanted which was to keep "religious" control over their community. We see this in many "churches" or "denominations" today. Person X teaches something that your denom or church does not believe in, i.e. tongues, maybe? Or maybe he gives a prophecy that no ones seems to have seen come true. What do they do? They publicly try to discredit this person. They call them names, say that they are practicing a false religious practice or call them a false prophet or whatever. The point is, they attempt make the other person look bad and thereby keep "religious" control over their group! They attempt to take the spiritual high ground, the "superior" or "right" position.
With Paul and Silas they soon found out that their response to what had transpired with these men was not legal. They were not allowed to treat a citizen of Rome as they were a non-citizen and that is what this treatment had been. They were not allowed to publicly humiliate a citizen of Rome! The tide had turned. Now it was the magistrates that could be publicly punished and humiliated. They could loose their positions and possibly even be thrown in jail to rot to death themselves. This was serious and demanded immediate resolution! Whoops!
No indeed, but when they come to us they must lead us out.

Do you remember the Prodigal Son?
Lk 15:20. Then after he got up he went to his own father. And while he was still a great distance away his father saw him and was sympathetic and then he ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him.
In making these leaders publicly escort them out of town Paul was having them do what similarly happened with the Prodigal Son. When the father came and put his arm around his son he was protecting the son. When you brought disrespect to the family name, when you had served time in prison, as you came back or in the case of Paul and Silas, you walked out, the people along the way would throw trash at you. They would treat you with no respect. They would "trash" you unless you crawled back or out for forgiveness.
This was The Word of YHVH coming to life!
Gen 50:20 You meant to do me harm, but God meant it for good -so that it would come about as it is today, with many people's lives being saved.
In this case, Paul was giving to the leaders what was intended for Silas and himself as the leaders would come back into town as well as publicly humiliating them in a like manner as they had originally done to the two of them with the public beating they had received. Paul was not being vindictive he was merely following The Word of YHVH...
Lev 24:20 break for break, eye for eye, tooth for tooth -whatever injury he has caused the other person is to be rendered to him in return.

Now to our text.
Acts 16:16. And it happened while we were going into prayer, a certain servant girl who had a spirit of divination met us, who, acting as seer, was bringing a lot of profit to her masters. 17. She, following Paul and us, was crying out saying, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming a way of salvation to you.” 18. And she was doing this over many days. And since Paul was disturbed, then, after he turned, he said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Messiah to come out from her:” and it came out from her at that moment. 19. And when her owners saw that the hope of their profit came out, having caught hold of Paul and Silas they dragged them into the market place to the officials
Read carefully.
What was this girl doing wrong?
What was her sin as it pertained to Paul and Silas?
Basically nothing. She saw the truth and declared it. She presented a clarion call much like or similar to that which John and proclaimed before Y'SHUA. So why was this a problem?
Acts 16:16. And it happened while we were going into prayer, a certain servant girl who had a spirit of divination met us, who, acting as seer, was bringing a lot of profit to her masters.
The next time you hear some "preacher" crying how wrong this person or that person is remember this girl. Then take the time to really, really look at this so-called "preacher".
Acts 16:16. And it happened while we were going into prayer, a certain servant girl who had a spirit of divination met us, who, acting as seer, was bringing a lot of profit to her masters.
There is an old adage that every investigator knows that says, "Follow the money." Apply this to the "preacher" and then tell me what you find?