Acts 19:1-2
This is the beginning of Paul's 3rd missionary Journey. At the end of chapter 18 Paul left Aquila and Priscilla at Ephesus while he returned to Jerusalem. Apollos left Ephesus and went on to Corinth.
Paul passed through the upper country and went to Ephesus. He essentially left Antioch and went back through the same cities he had visited before. His intention was to build up the believers and strengthen the church. Remember, the holy Spirit didn't allow Paul to go through Asia previously, he was turned north and looped around Asia to Troas. This time Paul went straight west from Phyrgia into Asia making his way to Ephesus. The time was right. He had promised those at Ephesus that he would return.
When Paul got to Ephesus he came across a group of disciples. There must have been something about them that made Paul wonder about their spiritual status because he asked them if they received the Holy Spirit. There is no evidence that Paul went around asking people this all the time. There must have been something that prompted the question. Did he see no fruit of the Spirit?
Acts 19:3-7
Remember Aquila and Priscilla discovered Apollos only knew of the baptism of John the Baptists. The message of John the Baptist was:
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
" The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
' Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make His paths straight.'"
John said the messiah was coming. There was one greater than him. One whose sandals he wasn't worthy to untie. Then John met Jesus and he baptized him, saying:
I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' 34 And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God." ……..John 1:33
Paul came across these guys that had been baptized and had repented. They trusted in a messiah – the coming One. Yet, they didn't know of the person of Jesus Christ. They didn't know specifics of his life, death and resurrection. And they didn't know of the promise of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is a seal on our life. The work of the Holy Spirit is the building up of the body of Christ. His job is to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. He convicts us of the specific sin of unbelief. He Convict us of self righteousness (hypocrisy). And He brings conviction concerning judgment of a world under Satan's control
The Holy Spirit uses these things to Glorify Jesus and transforms believers into the image of Christ. That image then becomes evident by the fruit of the spirit.
Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control……Galatians 5:22
John's baptism of repentance was designed only to prepare the way of the Lord, and prepare them to receive and abide in Christ. John led the way. Paul just shoved them onto the next level. He gave a name to their savior. He just told them Jesus is the one they've been looking for and waiting for.
When these guys first believed they stepped onto the porch of a great mansion. That porch was the baptism of John. They hung out there for a long time, not knowing they were supposed to go on in. Paul came along and introduced them to the door. That door is Jesus. They entered in and moved from this nice porch to this eternal and everlasting mansion. They finally went all the way in when Paul baptized them into the name of Jesus.
When Paul laid hands on them the Holy Spirit came down upon them. They spoke in tongues and prophesied. These gifts were evidence of the presence of the Spirit.
Acts 19:8-10
Paul taught at the synagogue for 3 months. This is probably the longest time he stayed in one synagogue - except for maybe Corinth. He usually got kicked out the first day. It took them 3 months to begin to have a hardened heart. This Greek word "hardened" means defiance of God. They didn't develop hardness against Paul. They developed defiance against God. When the truth is rejected outright it leads to a hardened state of heart.
Paul left there and started teaching in the school of Tyrannus. This school was probably a lecture hall owned by this guy Tyrannus. It's kind of strange, but Tyrannus means "our Tyrant" Tyrannus was probably a nickname his students gave him.
Paul taught at the Tyrants school for 2 years. There's a historical writing that speaks of Paul teaching here. It says Paul held his meetings between 11 and 4. This was the hot part of the day. Most people rested from their work during these hours. Paul worked in the morning till 11. Then he went to the Tyrant's school till 4 in the afternoon. Then he probably worked on his tents again in the evenings.
Verse 10 says this happened for two years. And the word of God spread. Everyone who lived in Asia had heard the word of Jesus. There was no way that Paul could reach this region by himself. But he could equip Christians to do the work of the ministry. That's what he did, and in that way the gospel spread till everyone in Asia heard.
Acts 19:11-12
These weren't the days of normal miracles. God was now working unusual miracles by Paul and it was getting the attention of everyone. These miracles testified that Paul was God's messenger.
At that time, in that culture, folks believed the mystical power could be transferred around. They carried handkerchiefs and aprons from Paul to the sick and demon possessed. These 'handkerchiefs' and 'aprons' were really sweat rags and his coveralls or a work apron. It was his work clothes. How did this work to cause healing? Because God wanted it to. It is much the same way that the shadow of Peter healed (Acts 5:15). Or the hem of Jesus' garment (Matthew 14:36) might heal. The item became a point of contact; A means by which a person found their way by faith to Jesus as healer.
Acts 19:13-18
Paul's sweat rag caused evil spirits to leave these possessed people. The traveling exorcists thought that was a pretty neat trick. Some of them were trying to use the name of Jesus to cast out demons. The seven sons of Sceva decided to give this a try. These 7 guys were the sons of the chief priest. There are no records of this guy being a chief priest. It was probably just a cover story to impress folks. The guys were like a traveling carnival show. They stood before "those" that had evil spirits, showing there were several people possessed.
There are two different words used here for "know". Ginosko – a deep, instinctive, innate knowledge or perception. This word was also used to describe intimacy. And Epistamia – meaning a general knowledge, or an acquaintance. What these demons said was they had a deep, instinctive knowledge of Jesus. And they knew the name of Paul and was mildly acquainted with him. But they had never heard of these 7 sons. Imagine the looks on their faces.
It seems the evil Spirits knew their enemies or those with power over them. But saw no reason to know those with no authority. The seven sons were of no threat to them. These Jews failed because they had no personal relationship with Jesus. They only knew of Jesus. They believed in Jesus, knowing He was a real man. But they had not trusted in him. They had not repented of their sins. They had not named Him as Lord.
The demon possessed man beat the seven sons and they ran away naked and wounded. One man with an evil spirit beat these seven men. This made an impression on all the other people. It was obviously meant to impress them. It should make an impression on us. The demonic world is very real.
This incident shows the power of the evil spirits over men. But it also shows the power of Jesus and his disciples over evil spirits. The name of Jesus was being magnified. The fear of the Lord fell on those who were involved in the demonic and occult. These people were living in that world with these evil spirits all around. We are doing the same.
Acts 19:19-20
There are a lot of people involved in witchcraft, astrology, Ouija boards, tarot cards, séances, tea leaves, psychics, fortune telling and many other things. If you are doing these things, you are dabbling with demons. It became very clear to these people it was time to stop. The witches brought their books, repented and burned them in the fire. The books were worth a tremendous amount of money. They were worth 50,000 pieces of silver. A piece of silver was anywhere from a 1/4 day to full days pay. On average, that's equivalent to about $2,000,000 today.
This witchcraft must have been very widespread to be worth that much. Ephesus was clearly a stronghold of Satan. The believers didn't know they were involved in the demonic. They thought these things were harmless. They turned away from the demonic by confessing and by burning their magic books. They paid no attention to the value.
Acts 19:21-22
Luke tells us of Paul's plans. Paul was going to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and then go to Jerusalem. This would include stops in Berea, Thessalonica and Corinth among others. Paul sends Timothy and Erastus ahead of him. What Luke doesn't tell us is Paul was taking up a collection for the needy in the church in Jerusalem.
Acts 19:23-27
Demetrius stirred up a large disturbance against The Way. He was probably the head of the silversmith's guild union and took the lead on opposing the Christians. The smiths made their living producing little silver shrines to Artemis (or Diana). Apparently, these were a real money maker; trinkets associated with the goddess that were souvenirs as well as household idols.
The temple to Diana (also known as Artemis) in Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was supported by 127 pillars, each 60 feet high, and was adorned with great sculptures. The Temple of Artemis was also a major treasury and bank of the ancient world. Wealthy kings or nations felt Diana would watch over their money. The temple of Diana in Ephesus was famous around the world.
Demetrius gathered the silver smiths together and played on their business sense, religious zeal and concern for the cities' prestige. He said Paul was turning away people from worshiping their goddess. If people quit worshiping her, she would become worthless. That would be bad for business. He accused Paul of saying their gods were no gods at all. But Paul didn't so much speak out against all the other gods as he just spoke of the one true God. His message wasn't anti-Artemis – it was pro Jesus. When people came to Jesus, they put away their idols. That was hurting the business of these silversmiths.
Acts 19:28-34
Those inciting the masses never let the facts get in the way. Benjamin Franklin said that a mob was "a monster with heads enough, but no brains." Max Lerner wrote in The Unfinished Country, "Every mob, in its ignorance and blindness and bewilderment, is a League of Frightened Men that seeks reassurance in collective action."
People don't like confusion and tend to follow the crowd even quicker, after all, they can't all be wrong, can they? Confusion incites the masses which creates additional confusion; this keeps boiling until it boils over. That many people would never be in one accord on anything until there is an atmosphere of confusion and a threat to their finances. Suddenly they are in one accord.
Is it bravery or stupidity for Paul to want to go talk to these folks? They weren't reasonable; the disciples stopped Paul, knowing it would escalate to someone getting hurt. Some officials that were Paul's friends pleaded with him to remain as far away as possible. These "officials of Asia" were the Asiarchs, members of the Aristocracy. They were dedicated to the promotion of all things Roman. These guys had a respect for Paul.
The crowd was in 'one accord' yet most didn't know why they were there; which is to say, they were conformed to the crowd, lending their mind to whatever cause for which they had gathered. Its unclear why Alexander was singled out. Being a Jew, he would not worship Dianna, he became a convenient enemy. It's a miracle that 2 hours of chanting didn't lead to physical harm for Alexander.
Acts 19:35-41
The city clerk would be equivalent to a mayor. He attempts to quiet the crowd, declaring their god safe and sound in Ephesus and that Paul and his friends didn't do anything to harm her. In verse 37, the city clerk specifically said that Paul had not blasphemed the goddess, Diana. The mayor told them they need to settle down, civil unrest was against Roman law. There was no reason for the uproar and it would not be acceptable to the Roman government.
There's an interesting phrase in verse 35 'And of the image which fell down from Zeus'. This was a black meteorite that was incorporated into the story of Diana and pertinent to her worship. This is just part of the myth that led to Diana and her following. This meteor must have roughly resembled what they perceived to be the image of a goddess. In the statues of Dianna, she is depicted as having a lower part that was wrapped like a mummy and her upper torso was covered with breasts, symbolizing fertility.
Back on the first Missionary Journey, Paul and Barnabas passed through Paphos in Cypress. This city was famous for its temple that was originally dedicated to the Syrian goddess Astarte. She was worshiped by anointing of a conical (meteorite?) stone. Worshipers believed this to be the stone of heaven. Many pagan religions and cults have their own beliefs and stories regarding the stone of heaven. The Greeks identified Astarte with Aphrodite, claiming she sprang from the sea.
We see something very similar in the cube at mecca where a Black Stone is encased in the corner and it is revered as a relic in Islam. They claim it was from the time of Adam and Eve. The stone was a meteorite that fell from heaven, supposedly to show Adam and Eve where to build an Altar.
The gospel truth is the power unto salvation. Then when God moved his people to become serious about their faith, it changed their worldview and then affected the world around them. Idols are laid down. The cultural ethics were changed, the trade in vice minimized and immorality was diminished. This is the transformation spoken of in Romans 12, rather than the conformation we see in a mob.
Men love darkness. When the light of Jesus shines in the darkness, men get uncomfortable.
©2008, 2014, 2021 Doug Ford, Calvary Chapel Sweetwater
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