Magic is as real as anything you can imagine in movies. However, in reality, people do not believe magic is real. After the death of Jesus, the Bible confirmed the huge popularity of magic in big cities like Ephesus, Achaia and Macedonia.
The magic practice was real. At the time Paul was in Ephesus, almost every home had magic books, which helped them to carryout the occultic instructions in them.
"Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver."
Acts 19:19 Nkjv
The writer of the book of Acts mentioned the value of the magic books that was burnt to drive home its point: He wanted to reveal the popularity of such practice.
The Ephesians wouldn’t have given up the practice; the result of the exercise of the seven sons of Sceva influenced their change of minds. The seven sons of Sceva were beaten and embarrassed by a demon who refused to be casted even after using the name of Jesus.
When everyone in the land heard about it, they repented. It was their genuine repentance that made them give up their magic books.
The author valued the burnt books to be 50,000 pieces of silver. That was a lot of money in the new testament.
"Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders"
Matthew 27:3 Nkjv
The 30 pieces of silver enticed Judas so much that he sold his master out into the hands of his enemies. To him, the offer — money — was too much to be rejected.
Now, compare 30 pieces of silver to 50,000 pieces of silver. That is over 1,500× the amount Judas sold Jesus. Imagine the number of people who must have been engrossed in the magic art with such an amount of books.
God is wonderful. No sermon changed them. Even the persuasive teachings of Paul did not change them. Just the outcome of the test of the seven sons of Sceva changed them.
If the people who lived several centuries ago could give up on the art for Christ, they, definitely, knew the importance of worshipping only God.
Surprisingly, Christians still worship traditional deities in yoruba, igbo and hausa lands. Some visit their towns and villages every year to pay obeisance to the gods of their fathers or mothers. God, of course, can’t be deceived. It is either you choose him or you choose another. You cannot serve God with another god.
If God is not enough for you, you will end up serving your creation — your handiwork — and not your creator.
What’s your thought on those serving God and worshipping other gods in secrets?
