6They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.
9Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10"You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun."
Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
Not seeing is BELIEVING!!
A procousul was a high Roman official.
Here he functioned as the governor of the island.
Such leaders often kept private sorcerers.
Bar-Jesus realized that if Sergius Paulus believed in Jesus, he would soon be out of a job!
This is the first time that Luke refers to Saul as Paul.
In v. 9 the Holy Spirit leads Paul to boldly confront Bar-Jesus with his sin, in so doing Elymas speaks up and tries to persuade the procounsul from his faith. I am sure he never expected Paul's confrontation and least of all his blindness.
Sergius Paulus quickly believed!!!
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