Comment: In fulfilment of his promise to endow the apostles with power so that, “they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover”, Apostle Paul did a couple of miracles for the barbarous people of Melita confirming the power of God in him. First, he shook off a venomous beast from his hand into the fire in fulfilment of Christ’s statement to his apostles that, “They shall take up serpents… it shall not hurt them” (Mark 16:18), and second was the healing of the father of Publius, the chief man of the Island.

The helpless condition of the man, who “lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux” showed that mortals are prone to sicknesses. Truly, King David lamented: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5).  Satan, the devil, the author of sickness, uses it as a tool to cause fear and torment against the people of God. they should not fear but trust in God always. (Isaiah 41:10). The current corona virus pandemic is a vain attempt by the Devil to cause panic and destroy people in the world, but God’s intervention is gradually bringing relief to many nations. – Psalm 118:6; Hebrews 13:5,6.