How did Elymas oppose Paul and Barnabas?
Elymas the sorcerer withstood Paul and Barnabas, doing everything he could to prevent the Roman deputy from hearing the Word of God from Paul and to turn him away from the faith. He perverted the right ways of the Lord, opposing the Gospel's advance to a Gentile.
Les explains that Elymas, a Jewish sorcerer, withstood Paul and Barnabas by doing everything he could to keep the Roman deputy from hearing the Word of God from the lips of the apostle Paul. He tried to turn the deputy away from the faith. Les notes this was an imposing opposition. Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, confronted him, calling him a fool of all subtlety and mischief, a child of the devil, and an enemy of all righteousness, accusing him of perverting the right ways of the Lord. Paul asked if he would not stop, and when the answer was evidently no, Paul turned it over to God, declaring the hand of the Lord was upon him, and he would be physically blind for a season, not for life. Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him, and he sought someone to lead him by the hand.
But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.