Week 5, Day 3

Today’s Reading:  Acts 21-22

Some thoughts from yesterday’s reading…

In Acts chapter 19 we are introduced to a Biblical character that was determined to stop the spread of the gospel message.  Demetrius was a silversmith in Ephesus, who was concerned about losing business.  It appears (at least to me) that he was not nearly as concerned about his “religion” as he was about losing sales.  After all, if Paul continued to convert people, then that would be less customers for him!  In verse 25 of the text, Luke records for us that Demetrius gathered the other craftsmen together and warned them about the problems that were in store for them if they didn’t put an end to Paul and his teaching!

What followed was a perfect example of human nature.  These men began to go through the marketplace, inciting a riot against Paul and his teaching.  But, they didn’t challenge Paul, they simply appealed to the belief system that was held by those in Ephesus.  They cried out, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”  This fired the people up, so that they began moving toward the theater.  Before long, there was an angry mob that would fill the theater (that’s a picture of it to the left) screaming out support for their goddess, Diana.  However, most of them had no idea what the problem was!  They were simply following the crowd, trusting that whoever was in charge was right.  This is a classic example of the “blind leading the blind”!  This reminds me of one of the Laws given to the Jews, the principle of which would apply here, and could be applicable to us as well:

You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.
–Exodus 23:2

The outcome of this issue was favorable to the disciples, as one of the Ephesians who had some common sense gained control over the crowd.  He convinced them that if there was a problem, it needed to be dealt with in a lawful way, else they would all suffer the wrath of the Romans, who would not tolerate this type of uprising.

One thing is very interesting in the speech of the town clerk.  Consider these verses:

And when the city clerk had quieted the crowd, he said: “Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple guardian of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Zeus? Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly.
–Acts 19:35-36

He actually turned the group back to their beliefs.  He cited their tradition that Diana’s image, which had fallen down from Zeus, was the guardian of the city of Ephesus, and that this was a fact which could not be denied.  It was believed that the image of Diana, which was kept at her temple, had fallen from the sky (that is, from the gods, specifically Zeus).  The city of Ephesus was the keeper for the image, and they took great pride in it.  It is unclear, historically, where the image that the clerk was referring to came from.  Some suggest that it was a meteorite that fell from the heavens, and bore the resemblance to a person, thus making the people think that it was from the gods.  Others suggest that the image fell from the heavens, but that an artisan took it and shaped it to appear like a person, so that the people would accept it as a god.  Either way, the people had a great belief in this statue.  That was used by both Demetrius and the town clerk.  Demetrius used this belief to cause an uprising, and the clerk used the belief to calm the people.

This tells us just how powerful a person’s belief can be.  It also tells us how easily manipulated that a person can be when using such beliefs.  This is one of the very things that makes it so difficult even today to teach the gospel.  People become very defensive of their beliefs (like Demetrius, and those that he incited to riot).  They are unwilling to reconsider something else because they are so concerned about letting go of something they have believed in the past.  Some of these were true believers in Diana, and others were true believers in the money that could be made from Diana.

Paul, on the other hand, was using the gospel to change the minds of those who were honest.  Evidently, he was being somewhat successful as the craftsmen were very concerned about their livelihood!  Paul was able to teach the gospel even under these difficult circumstances.  He converted many, and even in this city established a strong group, which (we see in chapter 20) had grown to have elders to shepherd the flock.

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