Acts 19: 21 – 41; 20: 1 – 2 NLT
21 Afterward Paul felt compelled by the Spirit to go over to Macedonia and Achaia before going to Jerusalem. “And after that,” he said, “I must go on to Rome!” 22 He sent his two assistants, Timothy and Erastus, ahead to Macedonia while he stayed awhile longer in the province of Asia.”
(These verses talk about Paul’s plans for the future. He hasn’t left Ephesus yet as we will find out in the next verses.)
“The Riot in Ephesus
23 About that time, serious trouble developed in Ephesus concerning the Way. 24 It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis (also known as Diana). He kept many craftsmen busy. 25 He called them together, along with others employed in similar trades, and addressed them as follows:
“Gentlemen, you know that our wealth comes from this business. 26 But as you have seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many people that handmade gods aren’t really gods at all. And he’s done this not only here in Ephesus but throughout the entire province! 27 Of course, I’m not just talking about the loss of public respect for our business. I’m also concerned that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its influence and that Artemis—this magnificent goddess worshiped throughout the province of Asia and all around the world—will be robbed of her great prestige!”
28 At this their anger boiled, and they began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 Soon the whole city was filled with confusion. Everyone rushed to the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, who were Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.30 Paul wanted to go in, too, but the believers wouldn’t let him. 31 Some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, also sent a message to him, begging him not to risk his life by entering the amphitheater.
32 Inside, the people were all shouting, some one thing and some another. Everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn’t even know why they were there. 33 The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward and told him to explain the situation. He motioned for silence and tried to speak. 34 But when the crowd realized he was a Jew, they started shouting again and kept it up for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 At last the mayor was able to quiet them down enough to speak. “Citizens of Ephesus,” he said. “Everyone knows that Ephesus is the official guardian of the temple of the great Artemis, whose image fell down to us from heaven. 36 Since this is an undeniable fact, you should stay calm and not do anything rash. 37 You have brought these men here, but they have stolen nothing from the temple and have not spoken against our goddess.
38 “If Demetrius and the craftsmen have a case against them, the courts are in session and the officials can hear the case at once. Let them make formal charges. 39 And if there are complaints about other matters, they can be settled in a legal assembly. 40 I am afraid we are in danger of being charged with rioting by the Roman government, since there is no cause for all this commotion. And if Rome demands an explanation, we won’t know what to say.” 41 Then he dismissed them, and they dispersed.”
20 When the uproar was over, Paul sent for the believers and encouraged them. Then he said good-bye and left for Macedonia. 2 While there, he encouraged the believers in all the towns he passed through. Then he traveled down to Greece.”
In Ephesus, the merchants challenged what was happening. They knew their business would go bankrupt if this new Christian movement continued. If the temple of Artemis was no longer the most important thing, there would be no possibility of getting their business back. Charles Swindoll in his commentary, Living Insights: Acts says, “The magnificent temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, drew many thousands of pilgrims from all over the empire. These pilgrims brought money to Ephesus – lots of it. So much cash, in fact, that the temple had become one of the largest banking institutions in the world. Demetrius did not start a religous riot; he sparked an economic panic”. (page 386)
It looks like Demetrius decided a riot would get something done. He knew that the city leaders wouldn’t want Rome to hear about a riot, so they would do something to calm things down. Hopefully, that would stop these Christians from ruining the temple businesses. You’ll notice that this city riot really wasn’t because people knew what they were doing. “32 Inside, the people were all shouting, some one thing and some another. Everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn’t even know why they were there.” We saw something similar to this when we watched the United States congressional buildings swamped by people after the last election who thought somehow they could change the government that way.
The mayor knew he had to calm things down, and he managed to convince the crowd that Ephesus was a great city and the Christians wouldn’t destroy it. He promised that any wrong done by this new church would be faced in the court system.
Today, churches are not likely to be considered a threat to our economy. The people who most likely will challenge the gospel would be people who ‘worship’ education, science and technology. Those areas let us think that we know it all, that we are in control. They would just look at religious folk as slightly deluded.
Yet, as believers, we can be smart and educated, and we can be scientists and technologists who explore the way this world was created and continues to operate. If you were to start asking people in your church what their occupation is, you would discover there are business people as well as science and technology people. The huge differece is that they understand that God knows everything and is in control. That makes a huge difference. Amen!
Did you notice that Paul didn’t go in to the amphitheater? He wanted to at first, but other believers told him not to. Gaius and Aristarchus, travelling companions of Paul had already been hauled in and were facing the mob. The Christians realized that God could get this under control without Paul’s further interference. And God did use the mayor of the city to calm the riot down.
Paul has been in Ephesus for approximately 3 years, and the church has been well established. As we begin reading through the Book of Ephesians, we will see instructions to a firm church, believers who were following God despite living in a huge commercial city devoted to mythology and strange worship.
Our song for today is Battle Belongs by Phil Wickham.