A Slave Girl

As the church took root in Philippi, Satan again tries to attack it. After Lydia's conversion, we read how a young slave girl is possessed by demons in chapter 16:16-24. This girl has owners who used her for their own personal profit. This girl had the ability to tell the future.  Satan tried to use this girl to thwart the efforts of Paul and his team in sharing the Gospel. As we read, we know that this young girl follows Paul day after day proclaiming that the men were servants of the Most High God who proclaim the way of salvation. Finally, Paul commands the demon to come out of her.  Although the girl was telling the truth, Paul did not want His ministry to be confused with the work of Satan. Nor did he want the term "Most High God" to be confused with the identification of the culture's false god, Zeus.  This girl was not giving testimony to God, but rather with the demonic. As we continue studying about this young girl we are going to talk about the reaction of her owners and what happened to Paul and Silas as a result of her cleansing.  We also are going to spend some time talking about how we care more about personal possessions than life itself. We hope you take some time to prayerfully consider what you can learn through this passage.