Act 19:23-41 | KingComments | STEP | While Paul was preparing for his trip to Macedonia, a great disturbance arose in Ephesus. As in Philippi, this disturbance did not originate from Jewish sources, but from pagan sources. Luke describes the course of it in detail and vividly. He may do this to show that there is not only an inner urge to go to Jerusalem whereby Ephesus is to be left, but also an outer cause. The disturbance arises about “the Way”. By the Way is meant the Christian faith that is propagated by those who have come to faith in the Lord Jesus. This manifestation of faith is not so much in words as in deeds, in walking the Way of faith. The consistent imitation of the Lord Jesus has completely changed the life of many in Ephesus. Demetrius notices this in his wallet. Because of the many conversions, his business is no longer doing well. The demand for his silver temples drops dramatically. This manifests his deep-rooted hatred against the gospel. The whole system by which he made his fortune is faltering, as is the prestige his profession brings him. The temples he makes are dedicated to Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. This mother goddess is the great opposite of the Father God of the Bible. We see here the great contrast between the Way of Christian faith, and paganism. Behind the idols are demonic powers. Behind the idolatry is also Mammon, the god of money. In Demetrius money and religion go hand in hand. When he sees his profits dwindling, he responds to the economic decline as a business that affects everyone in the company and also the supplying companies. People of the world cannot be hit harder than when they are deprived of prosperity and the luxury that goes with it. If that happens, there will be uproar. Demetrius appoints Paul as the culprit because he dares to claim that their gods are not gods. The temples are therefore not merely souvenirs, but articles of religious significance. Paul’s message makes an end to this. Without being aware of it, Demetrius acknowledges in what he means as an accusation to the power of the gospel. The gospel must have been accepted by many if Demetrius can say that the industry is under threat – although he may have exaggerated it – because his images are no longer so popular. Then he cunningly brings forward the waning tribute to “the great goddess Artemis”. In this way he shifts the attack from the economic to the religious field. There is nothing in which a man is more fanatic than in his religion. If you touch him in that, he becomes out of his mind and is no longer susceptible to any reason. That becomes apparent immediately after his words. They all become furious and deliriously crying out they declare their solidarity with the Artemis of the Ephesians. The whole city becomes full of confusion. But the confusion is not that great, or their anger seeks a way out in tracking down the insulters of their great Artemis. It seems that they cannot find Paul. That is why they drag just two of Paul’s travelling companions along to the theater that is also used for holding a public assembly. Paul wants to go among the people for the sake of his friends who have been dragged along because of him. The disciples prevent him from doing so by stopping him. It would not have been wise to do so. Some Asiarchs, i.e. political or religious officials of the province of Asia, who are friends of Paul underline the correctness of the disciples’ actions. They send a message in which they insist that Paul should not go to the theater. It takes a lot to stop Paul, but in the end he doesn’t go. The fact that some officials are also in favor of Paul shows the enormous impact that Paul’s preaching has had under the blessing of the Lord. Whether these officials are believers is not clear. In any case they are on his side. In the general turmoil most do not even know what is at stake, but are carried away by the general mood. When a person is in a crowd, there is a great danger that he will lose his personality and then also the ability to make a personal judgment of the situation.

‏ Acts 19:23-41

Demétrius Instigates a Riot

While Paul was preparing for his trip to Macedonia, a great disturbance arose in Ephesus. As in Philippi, this disturbance did not originate from Jewish sources, but from pagan sources. Luke describes the course of it in detail and vividly. He may do this to show that there is not only an inner urge to go to Jerusalem whereby Ephesus is to be left, but also an outer cause. The disturbance arises about “the Way”. By the Way is meant the Christian faith that is propagated by those who have come to faith in the Lord Jesus. This manifestation of faith is not so much in words as in deeds, in walking the Way of faith.

The consistent imitation of the Lord Jesus has completely changed the life of many in Ephesus. Demetrius notices this in his wallet. Because of the many conversions, his business is no longer doing well. The demand for his silver temples drops dramatically. This manifests his deep-rooted hatred against the gospel. The whole system by which he made his fortune is faltering, as is the prestige his profession brings him.

The temples he makes are dedicated to Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. This mother goddess is the great opposite of the Father God of the Bible. We see here the great contrast between the Way of Christian faith, and paganism. Behind the idols are demonic powers. Behind the idolatry is also Mammon, the god of money. In Demetrius money and religion go hand in hand.

When he sees his profits dwindling, he responds to the economic decline as a business that affects everyone in the company and also the supplying companies. People of the world cannot be hit harder than when they are deprived of prosperity and the luxury that goes with it. If that happens, there will be uproar. Demetrius appoints Paul as the culprit because he dares to claim that their gods are not gods.

The temples are therefore not merely souvenirs, but articles of religious significance. Paul’s message makes an end to this. Without being aware of it, Demetrius acknowledges in what he means as an accusation to the power of the gospel. The gospel must have been accepted by many if Demetrius can say that the industry is under threat – although he may have exaggerated it – because his images are no longer so popular.

Then he cunningly brings forward the waning tribute to “the great goddess Artemis”. In this way he shifts the attack from the economic to the religious field. There is nothing in which a man is more fanatic than in his religion. If you touch him in that, he becomes out of his mind and is no longer susceptible to any reason. That becomes apparent immediately after his words. They all become furious and deliriously crying out they declare their solidarity with the Artemis of the Ephesians. The whole city becomes full of confusion.

But the confusion is not that great, or their anger seeks a way out in tracking down the insulters of their great Artemis. It seems that they cannot find Paul. That is why they drag just two of Paul’s travelling companions along to the theater that is also used for holding a public assembly.

Paul wants to go among the people for the sake of his friends who have been dragged along because of him. The disciples prevent him from doing so by stopping him. It would not have been wise to do so. Some Asiarchs, i.e. political or religious officials of the province of Asia, who are friends of Paul underline the correctness of the disciples’ actions. They send a message in which they insist that Paul should not go to the theater. It takes a lot to stop Paul, but in the end he doesn’t go.

The fact that some officials are also in favor of Paul shows the enormous impact that Paul’s preaching has had under the blessing of the Lord. Whether these officials are believers is not clear. In any case they are on his side.

In the general turmoil most do not even know what is at stake, but are carried away by the general mood. When a person is in a crowd, there is a great danger that he will lose his personality and then also the ability to make a personal judgment of the situation.

Calming the Popular Rage

After Paul with the disciples, and then the pagans, we see a third category, the Jews. They put Alexander forward. It seems that this Alexander is the coppersmith for whom Paul warns Timothy that this man very much opposed him (2Tim 4:14-15). Timothy is then in Ephesus and will have known him.

Alexander the Jew wants to defend himself, but against what? The most obvious is that the Jews are afraid that they could also become the target of the hatred of the Gentiles. Then it is very appropriate to make it clear that they have nothing to do with Christians. Once he would have the word, he could then, after his defense, point his arrows at the Christians in order to put them in a bad light, so that the popular anger will focus even more emphatically on them.

But the emotions get way out of control and Alexander has no chance to defend himself on behalf of the Jews. Whatever he wanted to tell them, when the crowd notices that he is a Jew, they burst into an ecstatic shout that they continued for about two hours. They didn’t sympathize with the Christians, but they didn’t sympathize with the Jews either, because they too don’t allow other gods than the one God. Without God it is impossible to resist the devil as the Jewish conjurers tried and failed (Acts 19:13-16). It is equally impossible to stand up for the truth of the one God without God, as the Jews want to do here.

The only one who manages to calm the crowd is the town clerk. He is one of theirs. His tactics are very cunning. He starts from what they are completely sure of, from something that is acknowledged by everyone without contradiction. The fact that there are some Jews and Christians who do not know this or even oppose it is meaningless, isn’t it? Do they have to worry so much about that?

After having given his statements, he urges them to keep calm and not to let themselves be carried away by their feelings. Then he points at the disciples they have taken with them. He is well aware of the activities of the Christians and knows that they are not iconoclasts and that in their preaching they did not rage against their goddess either. Paul and his people have proclaimed the Word without criticizing the religion the Ephesians practice. By the way, it is remarkable that in Acts the pagan authorities testify several times to the innocence of Christians.

As for Demetrius and the artists, they can bring their case before the courts on fixed days. There they can sue their opponent and the opponent will have the opportunity to defend himself. If they have other cases, it is laid down in the legal procedure that these will be decided in a legal meeting.

The word for ‘assembly’ is literally ecclesia. This word is also used for the congregation of Israel and for the church of the Christians. The word already existed. It means ‘a [somewhere] called out community of people’. It is the called out people from the city of Ephesus who meet in the city assembly to discuss the interests of the city.

This word ecclesia is an important word in connection with the church of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus speaks in Matthew 16 for the first time in history about ‘My’ ecclesia. There he speaks about the church He will build (Mt 16:18a). The Gentiles have their ecclesia (here), Israel has His ecclesia (Acts 7:38) and now the Lord Jesus also has His ecclesia.

But what a difference there is between His ecclesia and the other two! When someone dies who belongs to the ecclesia of the Gentiles or the ecclesia of Israel, he ceases to belong to that ecclesia. However, whoever belongs to the ecclesia of the Lord Jesus will belong to it forever, even though he has died. That ecclesia cannot be conquered through the gates of Hades (Mt 16:18b).

The last argument used by the town clerk to appease the heated emotions, is the lack of any legal basis for this uproar. If the town clerk has appeased the crowd with an appeal to their wits, he dismisses the assembly. This means that the crowd disperses and the people go home or back to work.