The book of Acts
Saul and Barnabas in Cyprus
Chapter 13: 1 to 12
The church of Antioch had prophets and teachers, given by the Lord Jesus "in order to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" with the apostles, evangelists and pastors "till we all come the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God " (Ephesians 4: 11-13).
We distinguish the prophets as those who received revelations directly from God and conveyed to others, sometimes pertaining to things that were going to happen soon. This gift, along with the gift of tongues, was only temporary (1 Corinthians 13:8).
The teachers had the gift of teaching and guiding the church in a clear and understandable way, having already been in turn instructed in the Scriptures and the Gospel. The apostles were those indicated by the Lord Jesus personally (the Eleven and Paul – Acts 2:14 and 1 Timothy 1:1).
In Antioch there were:
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Barnabas, an important collaborator of Saul, from the church in Jerusalem.
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Simeon called Niger ("black"), perhaps his colour. Would he be the same who bore the cross of Christ? (Mark 15:21).
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Lucius, coming from Cyrene in North Africa, probably one of the pioneer evangelists and a relative of Saul (Romans 16:21).
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Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, possibly having been educated with him in Rome.
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Saul, the apostle, closing the list.
As in all early churches, there was no leader but each contributed with his gift for the benefit of the church.
One day, while they were ministering (they worshipped and exhorted the church) to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit told them to separate Barnabas and Saul for the work to which He had called them. We do not know how that order was transmitted, but everyone understood and obeyed immediately, after the prayer and fasting. Here we have further evidence of the individual personality of the Holy Spirit.
Fasting was part of the worship of the Jews (Luke 18:12), and continued being done in the churches after they were converted. Believers were not instructed to fast, but many still practice it when they want to spend a period entirely in spiritual exercises, or to confront a serious emergency, etc.
God needed both Barnabas and Saul for missionary work elsewhere, and the others "after they had fasted and prayed and laid hands on them, they sent them away." Laying hands was also the custom of the Jews, here it is a visible expression of their solidarity with Barnabas and Saul, who were parting from them to perform the work of God. It was a symbolic gesture only.
Verse 4 is the beginning of what is called the First Missionary Journey of Paul, ending in chapter 14:26. Saul and Barnabas had been involved in God's work for about eight years, and after this trip they made two more, going to Greece on the second, and on the third visiting again the churches where had been in the first two and then going to the province of Asia and the city of Ephesus. The work of missionary evangelization took Saul fifteen years in all.
Saul and Barnabas went first to the island of Cyprus, the land of Barnabas, having embarked in Seleucia that was the port of Antioch.
Salamis was the port of landing, and the two soon went to announce the Gospel, going first to the synagogues of the Jews, following the plan of God, for the Gospel "is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek." (Romans 1:16). John Mark, cousin of Barnabas, was also there and helped them. It was the custom in synagogues to invite visitors to convey a message, and they did so.
After the task at Salamis, of which we do not know the outcome, they crossed the island to reach its capital, Paphos.
A certain man named Bar-Jesus, which means "son of Jesus" opposed them there He was also known as Elymas, which means "sorcerer", he was one of many false Jewish mystic prophets common at that time, and they exercised much influence over the less educated.
Elymas occupied the important position of advisor to the proconsul Sergius Paulus. The Roman Senate appointed a proconsul, and Sergius Paulus was an "intelligent man", willing to hear what Saul and Barnabas had to announce - the Word of God. He had obviously left the idolatry of the Romans, was wary of prophecies and magical arts of Elymas and wanted to hear something different.
Elymas, hearing the evangelists witness their real experience with Christ and the message of salvation through faith in Him, realized that he was being diminished and even debunked by them, and resisted by trying to divert the nascent faith of Sergius Paulus.
But Saul, who was also called Paul as the proconsul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and His presence was noted immediately: He called Elymas "son of the devil" (instead of "son of Jesus") and declared that Elymas really was an enemy of all that is righteous, full of all kinds of deceit and trickery, dedicated to perverting the right ways of the Lord.
Even today, the Gospel suffers opposition from this kind of people, be they priests of institutions calling themselves Christian, leaders of sects that attract followers through false miracles and healings, spiritists, Freemasons and other practitioners of witchcraft. The light of the Gospel opens the eyes of their followers to see their falsehoods, and so it suffers their opposition, sometimes violent.
As proof that the hand of the Lord was against Elymas, Paul (note that from here he is called by this name) declared that Elymas would be blind and unable to see the sunlight (the strongest possible) for some time. It happened immediately, so that, groping, he sought somebody to lead him by the hand.
Like Elymas, the nation of Israel not only rejected the Lord Jesus, but seeks to prevent others come to the knowledge of salvation through faith in His Name. Israel, therefore, was blinded by God (Romans 11:8,10), but only for a while. Eventually, after the rapture of His church by Christ, a repentant remnant will turn to Christ (Romans 11: 25-27), accepting Him as Messiah, and form the new blessed kingdom of Israel in the millennium.
The proconsul, having heard the Gospel message, and now seeing the evidence of the power of God, believed and was saved in Jesus Christ. It was not the simple adoption of a religion led by Paul (who then continued his journey): Sergius Paulus was deeply impressed with the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ and received Him as Saviour and Lord of his life.
No details are provided of the forming of a church in Paphos, which does not mean it did not happen. Barnabas and Mark went back to Cyprus later (cap.15:39).
The change of the Hebrew name Saul (Saul), suitable for the Jews, to the Gentile name Paul marks the change of the audience of this servant of God, who would thenceforth devote his ministry to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13) as the Lord had intended.
R David Jones
1 Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
5 And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant.
6 Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus,
7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
9 Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him
10 and said, "O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?
11 And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time." And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
Acts chapter 13, verses 1 to 12