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Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 1011 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
The Great Wizard Meets Philip and Peter - Wisdom Wednesday


Wisdom - the final frontier to true knowledge.  Welcome to Wisdom-Trek! Where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy.  Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1011 of our Trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday.  Creating a Biblical Worldview is important to have a proper perspective on today’s current events.  To establish a Biblical Worldview, it is required that you also have a proper understanding of God’s Word.  Especially in our western cultures, we do not fully understand the Scriptures from the mindset and culture of the authors.  In order to help us all have a better understanding of some of the more obscure passages in God’s Word, we are investing Wisdom Wednesday reviewing a series of essays from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser.  He has compiled these essays into a book titled  ’I Dare You Not to Bore Me With the Bible.’

When we think about wizards, it brings to mind some of the fantasy novels with Merlin, Dumbledore, or other well-known tales about wizards.   Today’s essay will explore:
The Great Wizard Meets Philip and Peter
The book of Acts is a favorite of preachers, so you are likely familiar with the showdown in Acts 8:9-24 between Peter and Simon ‘The Great Wizard’, or ‘Sorcerer.’  Luke tells us that Simon had practiced his magic in a city in Samaria. Listen to Luke’s account in 8:9-11 A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria and claiming to be someone great. Everyone, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as “the Great One—the Power of God.” They listened closely to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic.Simon heard the gospel preached by Philip and became a believer in Christ, but later, after Peter’s arrival, he tried to purchase the power of the Holy Spirit from Peter. His name consequently has not been remembered for any great deeds, but the word “simony” which is the buying or selling of ecclesiastical privileges, for example, pardons or benefices.  But is that all there is to the story? Hardly. Don't look away now or you’ll miss what’s behind the magic.

Let’s look at how a first-century audience would have comprehended the episode in its Samaritan setting. That Simon was referred to by the people of the Samaritan city' as “the Great One—the Power of God” is significant. That title comes from the Samaritan Targum—an Aramaic translation of the Samaritan Hebrew Bible, known as the Samaritan Pentateuch.  In the Samaritan Targum, the Hebrew word el (“God”) is translated hela (“power”). God is then called “great” (rab). Not surprisingly, “the Great One—the Power of God,” was used in Samaritan hymns and writings as a substitute for the divine name, much in the same way orthodox Jews say ka-shem (“the Name”) instead of pronouncing the divine name Yahweh.

But how could the Samaritans speak of Simon as though he were God? Well, Simon was able to do amazing things. We aren't told if what he was doing was something he picked up learning magical trickery or enablement from demonic power, but the effect was the same. Second, the plural of “power” (helin) was also used by Samaritans of angels. Like many Jews and Christians, Samaritans considered one particular angel—the one in whom Yahweh’s name dwelled (Exodus 23:20-23), as the embodied Yahweh, know to us as Jesus Christ. Since this angel was viewed as a physical manifestati...