Verse 9: “Then Saul, also (known as) Paul, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said,”

Full of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit brings order into a situation.

Looked intently: It is a word of discernment. The Holy Spirit caused Saul to look intently at Elymas. The Spirit gave him discernment about who this man really was, what he was really doing and who he truly belonged to.

Verse 10: “O, you who are full of all deceit and all slothfulness (can also be translated ‘wickedness’), a son of the devil, an enemy of all righteousness, who wants to cease them from turning from the right way of the Lord.”

Note: Through the revelation of the Holy Spirit a man or woman of God needs to speak firmly, clearly, and succinctly into any problems.
Full of all deceit: Even a little bit of falsehood corrupts.

Slothfulness: He might be using religion as he is too lazy to work.

Wickedness: Slothfulness leads to wickedness. If we want to live righteously we will be diligent and hard workers.

Devil: The word devil comes from the concept of being diabolical. This is where someone is very wise in the practice of deceit. He is ingenious in deceiving individuals – making it sound right, good, and proper when it is really evil and ungodly.

The right way of the Lord: Elymas wants to take the true way and distort it.

Verse 11: “Now behold the hand of the Lord is upon you. You shall be blind and not see the sun for a period of time. Immediately it fell upon him gloom and darkness. He went around seeking to be led by the hand.”

The hand of the Lord is upon you: God’s authority is over you. The hand of God can have the power of blessing or of cursing.

Shall be blind and not see: Saul was not just talking about a spiritual blindness, but also about a physical blindness. When we are disobeying God there are physical consequences. As believers we undergo discipline (Galatians 3v13). Unbelievers live under a curse.

Not see the sun: Completely blind.

Gloom: This word parallels what we see in Egypt (Exodus 10v22-23). This was a punishment and brings upon a person a great fear. Those who reject the message of salvation will be thrown into utter darkness (Matthew 25v30).

Verse 12: “The proconsul, seeing this happening, believed. He was astonished with the teaching of the Lord.”

Note: Judgment is so important. It is a manifestation of God’s power. When God’s power is manifested so is His glory. God’s judgment will also bring about worship.

Was astonished: He was amazed at the power of God. The proconsul had been spending time with the magician and had seen all his tricks, illusions, and falsehood. Faith comes by hearing, so when he heard the Word of God he was interested in truth as he was seeking God. 

He was astonished with the teaching of the Lord: Here we see a coming together between the Word of God and the miracle of God. He was amazed by the miracle, but he was just as amazed at the Word. Sergius Paulus was able to discern the power of God from the false power of the false magician because earlier on he had heard the Word of God. Miracles are God’s visual aids to confirm the truth of God found in the teaching of God. Because people heard the Word of God they had a new perspective (they saw things differently), they had the ability to exercise discernment, and be able to identify that which is of the Lord. They then needed to respond to it, submit to it and be obedient to God.