Beaten
August 29, 2025
“Beaten”
Blessings folk!
The demon left the damsel.
One would think that all would be excited…but, no…
Act 16:19-24
And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone,
they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,
And brought them to the magistrates, saying,
These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.
And the multitude rose up together against them:
and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison,
charging the jailor to keep them safely:
Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison,
and made their feet fast in the stocks.
ESV
Remember, the damsel was a slave girl.
The spirit of divination was gone.
So was the profit of soothsaying by which her masters benefited.
They were furious.
They caught Paul and Silas (were they fleeing, hiding?) and brought them to the public forum of rulers in the market place.
Note the accusation.
First, they made clear that they were Jews.
Second, they accused them of causing exceeding trouble in “our” city.
How?
They did not mention the business problem…profit.
They spoke of what Paul and Silas said.
They taught customs.
Supposedly these customs were not lawful for Romans to receive or observe.
They made it a political issue.
Nothing new.
They incited the multitudes and the multitudes did what multitudes do.
They rose up against Paul and Silas.
They, being rabble, listened to the rousers.
The magistrates tore off the clothing from Paul and Silas.
The magistrates then commanded them to be beaten.
They were…with rods.
They were then cast into prison.
The jailer was given strong orders to keep them in such a way that escape was impossible.
He did.
He placed them in the inner most part of the prison.
The darkest.
We can assuredly assume the nastiest…the creature infested…etc.
The jailer went to the point of shackling their feet in stocks.
There is something that Paul did not say in this entire episode.
We will see more shortly.
Paul was a Roman citizen.
Roman citizens were not treated this way.
Paul could have cried out “I’m a Roman” and it would have stopped.
Why did he not?
Because he assumed that his was all just part of what the Lord had said…we will undergo trial, tribulation, persecution for the kingdom.
But God had more planned…