Contending With The Spirit Of Python

Contending with the Spirit of Python

In the Book of Acts we see a record of the early ministries of the Apostles and the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the known world. On the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost came in and ignited a Holy Spiritual Fire in the hearts of every Born Again Believer, the good news of the gospel, and the demonstration of the power of God to perform signs, wonders and miracles began to spread like wildfire.

No one could stop the spread even though the religious authorities certainly did their best to do so. A Holy Ghost pandemic was unleashed upon the world and there was nothing on earth that would stop its spread into every nation, and into the farthest reaches of the globe. It came from the heart of God to a world that was already caught in the grip of death, and it came to bring life, a life more abundant.

The Pharisees, Sadducees and even the High Priest hated to hear the name of Jesus, because every time it was preached their hearts were pricked with conviction by the Holy Ghost, reminding them that they had murdered the very Son of God. The didn’t want to repent and so they didn’t want to the hear the truth. And they were afraid that their control over the people would be lost. This gospel message was a threat to their power and authority and they wanted it stopped. It was the Light that shined in a dark place to expose the works of the devil.

The best efforts of organized religion at persecuting the true church only served to cause the preaching of the gospel to spread more rapidly. The power of God and the Love of God to reach out to fallen man and save souls was greater, and still is, than any power or plan that either men or the devil could think of. Jesus had overcome the world and no power on earth could stop the move of God to build his church.

What men could not do, Satan thought he could do, so he devised his own plan to stop the gospel from spreading. As we read the Book of Acts we will discover one of the strongest methods of attack that Satan has devised. He is not omnipotent, nor is the devil omniscient or omnipresent, so he has to learn as he goes, devising new ways to attack the church; new ways to choke out the message of the gospel; and new ways to silence the voices of those who witness and preach the gospel.

Satan is always trying to play offense while he should be trying to play defense because God is always way ahead of him in the battle of good and evil.

The fulfilment of the plan of God for the redemption of man and the ultimate destruction of Satan’s plans to kill, steal and destroy are on a steady march to the end and nothing Satan does can stop it. Every time the devil comes up with a new way of attack, God already has a way waiting to stopping him because the very gates of hell cannot overcome neither the church, nor the power of God in the earth. Every time Satan arises to a new level of attack, the Lord lifts up the standard of the Blood stained banner of the cross even higher!

The method of attack, employed by Satan against the church, can be seen in Acts 16:16 where we read, “And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:”

If you were to read this verse in the original Greek text the words “spirit of divination” would say, "the spirit of Python".

The Hebrew word that describes this spirit is “???, Pey Tav Nun or (PETEN)” and it means,“a deadly serpent”. (Note – when America sent military forces into the middle east, one of the things we sent was the Cobra Attack Helicopter. The Jews called it Peten because the cobra is a deadly serpent found in the desert).

The city of Delphi in Greece, according to history, was the location of the Oracle of Apollos. According to Greek Mythology Apollos was given the name Pythius because he had killed the great serpent Python. Python was supposedly a demi-god serpent that was born out of the mud left over after the waters of the great flood receded. Python and was the protector of Delphi, so when Apollos wanted to establish his oracle there, he had to first kill the serpent.

The oracle of Apollo was set up in Delphi and given the name of Pytho. For those who may not know what it was, an oracle is usually someone who is either “a priest or priestess empowered by the gods who would act as a medium, or channel through whom advice or prophecy is sought. The oracle of Apollos was where the ancient Greeks went to try and get advice from their gods or to seek a word of prophecy.