READ | ACTS CHAPTER 19
Paul in Ephesus
19 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when[a] you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied.
4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues[b] and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.
11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.
13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
17 When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.[c] 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
21 After all this had happened, Paul decided[d] to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.” 22 He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.
The Riot in Ephesus
23 About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24 A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. 25 He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. 26 And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. 27 There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”
28 When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together. 30 Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. 31 Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.
32 The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. 33 The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. 34 But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? 36 Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash. 37 You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. 38 If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. 39 If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. 40 As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.” 41 After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.
19 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when[a] you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied.
4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues[b] and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.
11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.
13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
17 When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.[c] 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
21 After all this had happened, Paul decided[d] to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.” 22 He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.
The Riot in Ephesus
23 About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24 A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. 25 He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. 26 And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. 27 There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”
28 When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together. 30 Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. 31 Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.
32 The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. 33 The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. 34 But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? 36 Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash. 37 You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. 38 If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. 39 If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. 40 As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.” 41 After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.
DEVOTIONAL
It is interesting to think of what must have been running through Paul’s mind during certain events or situations he faced on the road. In scripture, we are given a general narrative, but often, it is what could be seen between the lines that helps to create a vivid picture in our minds.
One of Paul’s last stops at the end of his second missionary journey became one of his first stops at the beginning of his third. When Paul arrives in Ephesus at the beginning of his third missionary journey, his first meeting is with a group of disciples. We later learn in verse 7 that there are twelve men. It isn’t a stretch to imagine how this group reminded Paul of the group of twelve in Jerusalem all those years ago. A group of twelve disciples whom Paul had made it his mission to oppose and destroy. But that was a lifetime ago, now the tables had turned and instead of destroying, Paul wanted to help these fledgling disciples however he could. He remembered the greatest weapon that the early church had, and still has, the Holy Spirit. This was the weapon that filled Stephen as Paul watched him being stoned to death. It was the filling of the Holy Spirit that empowered Peter to preach with boldness in front of Gamaliel and the Sanhedrin. In Paul’s mind, the thing that was the biggest obstacle for him in his early opposition to Christ-followers was now the greatest ally of Christians and Paul wanted to make sure they were armed with this power.
Paul asked them if they were spirit-filled and the twelve didn’t even know who or what the Holy Spirit was. How excited Paul must have been in this moment. Up until that point, everything they had done in growing the church and spreading the gospel had been in their own limited talents and abilities, but now they had the opportunity to be spirit-filled, spirit-led, and spirit-empowered. You get a sense in reading this chapter of how Paul is greatly emboldened and energized in this new endeavor. He preaches boldly for the next few months and when people try to malign and oppose him, Paul takes his new group of disciples with him from the Jewish synagogue to the (gentile) lecture hall of Tyrannus. Paul doesn’t complain or threaten to quit, he simply pivots and takes the message where it will be heard, shaking the dust of his sandals as he leaves. Much like Jesus trained his twelve for an extended period of time, Paul takes these young men under his wing for the next two years, spreading the word of God all around the region which is modern-day Turkey. We see a new level of faith, boldness, and spiritual maturity in Ephesus that we haven’t seen before. God is working in new and even unusual ways. Even handkerchiefs and aprons used by Paul in his tent-making trade are taken to those who need healing, and they are miraculously healed. You get a sense that evil spirits can almost sense the aroma or smell of Christ in Paul’s sweat and it frightens them to the point of fleeing. What an amazing thought; to be covered in the aroma of Christ! Later, in verse 14 we learn that the demonic spirits knew who Paul was and the authority he carried. Paul lived and spoke with so much authority and boldness, not because of his own talents, but because he had a direct connection and relationship with Jesus and lived in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom of God was growing and would come directly against the kingdom of darkness which was already prevalent in Ephesus. Ephesus was known to be a stronghold of Satan and demonic activity. In this area, many evil things, both superstitious and satanic were widely practiced. Books containing formulas and spells for sorcery and other ungodly and forbidden arts were plentiful. The miracles of Paul were even seen by unknowing citizens as a new sort of sorcery to be emulated. A group of Jewish exorcists and sorcerers tried to imitate what they saw as a method for controlling and driving out evil spirits with disastrous results. A person can only go so far in faking a relationship with Jesus. There is no real power in it or authority behind it. The Jewish exorcists failed because they had no personal relationship with Jesus. They only knew that Jesus was the God of Paul, not their own God. In the same pattern, there are many people, churchgoers even, who will perish in hell because they have no personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They only know “the Jesus the pastor preaches” or “the Jesus my spouse believes in” instead of the Jesus of their own salvation.
This incident revealed the presence and work of the demonic in the city. Many people, full of fear, were prompted to renounce the demonic and burn their magic books. This was a huge sacrifice. These magical texts were worth an estimated 4-5 million in current dollars. Good things were happening, the Kingdom of God was expanding. One thing we know about the enemy is that whenever the Kingdom of God grows and expands, the enemy will rise up in equal and opposite ways. They will attempt to thwart or distract from the spiritual gains made. In this case, in Ephesus, it was instigating a city-wide riot.
One of Paul’s last stops at the end of his second missionary journey became one of his first stops at the beginning of his third. When Paul arrives in Ephesus at the beginning of his third missionary journey, his first meeting is with a group of disciples. We later learn in verse 7 that there are twelve men. It isn’t a stretch to imagine how this group reminded Paul of the group of twelve in Jerusalem all those years ago. A group of twelve disciples whom Paul had made it his mission to oppose and destroy. But that was a lifetime ago, now the tables had turned and instead of destroying, Paul wanted to help these fledgling disciples however he could. He remembered the greatest weapon that the early church had, and still has, the Holy Spirit. This was the weapon that filled Stephen as Paul watched him being stoned to death. It was the filling of the Holy Spirit that empowered Peter to preach with boldness in front of Gamaliel and the Sanhedrin. In Paul’s mind, the thing that was the biggest obstacle for him in his early opposition to Christ-followers was now the greatest ally of Christians and Paul wanted to make sure they were armed with this power.
Paul asked them if they were spirit-filled and the twelve didn’t even know who or what the Holy Spirit was. How excited Paul must have been in this moment. Up until that point, everything they had done in growing the church and spreading the gospel had been in their own limited talents and abilities, but now they had the opportunity to be spirit-filled, spirit-led, and spirit-empowered. You get a sense in reading this chapter of how Paul is greatly emboldened and energized in this new endeavor. He preaches boldly for the next few months and when people try to malign and oppose him, Paul takes his new group of disciples with him from the Jewish synagogue to the (gentile) lecture hall of Tyrannus. Paul doesn’t complain or threaten to quit, he simply pivots and takes the message where it will be heard, shaking the dust of his sandals as he leaves. Much like Jesus trained his twelve for an extended period of time, Paul takes these young men under his wing for the next two years, spreading the word of God all around the region which is modern-day Turkey. We see a new level of faith, boldness, and spiritual maturity in Ephesus that we haven’t seen before. God is working in new and even unusual ways. Even handkerchiefs and aprons used by Paul in his tent-making trade are taken to those who need healing, and they are miraculously healed. You get a sense that evil spirits can almost sense the aroma or smell of Christ in Paul’s sweat and it frightens them to the point of fleeing. What an amazing thought; to be covered in the aroma of Christ! Later, in verse 14 we learn that the demonic spirits knew who Paul was and the authority he carried. Paul lived and spoke with so much authority and boldness, not because of his own talents, but because he had a direct connection and relationship with Jesus and lived in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom of God was growing and would come directly against the kingdom of darkness which was already prevalent in Ephesus. Ephesus was known to be a stronghold of Satan and demonic activity. In this area, many evil things, both superstitious and satanic were widely practiced. Books containing formulas and spells for sorcery and other ungodly and forbidden arts were plentiful. The miracles of Paul were even seen by unknowing citizens as a new sort of sorcery to be emulated. A group of Jewish exorcists and sorcerers tried to imitate what they saw as a method for controlling and driving out evil spirits with disastrous results. A person can only go so far in faking a relationship with Jesus. There is no real power in it or authority behind it. The Jewish exorcists failed because they had no personal relationship with Jesus. They only knew that Jesus was the God of Paul, not their own God. In the same pattern, there are many people, churchgoers even, who will perish in hell because they have no personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They only know “the Jesus the pastor preaches” or “the Jesus my spouse believes in” instead of the Jesus of their own salvation.
This incident revealed the presence and work of the demonic in the city. Many people, full of fear, were prompted to renounce the demonic and burn their magic books. This was a huge sacrifice. These magical texts were worth an estimated 4-5 million in current dollars. Good things were happening, the Kingdom of God was expanding. One thing we know about the enemy is that whenever the Kingdom of God grows and expands, the enemy will rise up in equal and opposite ways. They will attempt to thwart or distract from the spiritual gains made. In this case, in Ephesus, it was instigating a city-wide riot.
