Friday, July 26, 2024
Jesus:(Acts 4:12)These exclusive claims met with strong resistance as Paul shared My message with the multi-cultural people of Ephesus. However, I want you to notice in the verses below that it was when Paul's preaching against idols began to have an economic impact that people were incited to become a riotous mob. Underneath much of the criticism that comes to My people and My message can be found two issues:I am the path, the truth, and the energy of life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.(John 14:6)
Peter (filled with the Spirit):There is no one else[other than Jesus] who can rescue us, and there is no other name under heaven given to any human by whom we may be rescued.
Eventually Paul felt he should move on again [from Ephesus]. The Holy Spirit confirmed that he should first travel through Macedonia and Achaia and then return to Jerusalem.
Paul:I must eventually see Rome.So he sent Timothy and Erastus, two of his helpers, ahead to Macedonia while he stayed a while longer in Asia. It was during this time that a major incident occurred involving the Way.
An idol maker named Demetrius had a profitable business, for himself and for others, making silver shrines for Artemis (also known as Diana by the Romans), one of the deities worshiped in Ephesus.
Picture this: Demetrius calls a meeting of all the artisans who are similarly employed in idol making. Everyone in the idol industry comes together.
Demetrius:Men, we are all colleagues in this fine line of work. We're making a good living doing what we're doing. But we'd better wake up, or we're all going to go broke.The crowd goes wild with rage. They start chanting.
You've heard about this fellow Paul. Here in Ephesus, he's already convinced a large number of people to give up using idols. He tells them that our products are worthless. He's been doing this same kind of thing almost everywhere in Asia. It's bad enough that he is slandering our fine and honorable profession, but do you see where this will lead? If his lies catch on, the temple of Artemis itself will be called a fraud. The great goddess of our region, the majestic deity who is revered here in Asia and around the world, will be disgraced.
Crowd:Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!Soon the whole city is filled with confusion, and a mob forms. They find Paul's Macedonian travel companions, Gaius and Aristarchus, and drag them to the theater. Paul wants to go confront the crowd and protect his friends, but the disciples hold him back. Even some provincial officials of Asia who are friendly to Paul send him an urgent message, warning him to stay away from the theater.
Enraged voices are shouting on top of each other, some saying one thing, some saying something else. The crowd is completely out of control. Most of the people don't even know what caused the commotion in the first place. Some of the Jewish people push a man named Alexander to the front of the crowd, hoping he can calm the disturbance. He raises his hands to silence the crowd and gets a few sentences out; but then the crowd realizes he's a Jew, and once again they start chanting.
Crowd:Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!For two solid hours they keep the chant going.
Finally the town clerk manages to calm the crowd.
Town Clerk:My fellow citizens of Ephesus, everyone in the world knows that our great city is the caretaker of the temple of Artemis! Everyone knows that we are the home of the great statue that fell from heaven! Our status as the economic center of the idolmaking industry is not in danger, so please, calm down. Don't do anything rash. The men whom you have seized aren't temple robbers, nor have they blasphemed our great goddess. If Demetrius and the artisans who share his important trade have a legal complaint, don't bring it here to the theater; take it to the courts — they're open today. If you need to charge someone with a crime or launch an inquiry, take the matter to the regional judges. We need to do this according to regulations, or we'll all be charged with rioting. This kind of behavior can't be justified.So he succeeds in dispersing the crowd.
As soon as the uproar ended, Paul gathered the disciples together, encouraged them once more, said farewell, and left on foot.
(Acts 19:21-41; Acts 20:1)
Father, I know that You are at work in the affairs of the world in ways that I do not and cannot recognize. I believe You are at work in the movement of nations and the rise and fall of leaders. Today, as I look at the persecution and martyrdom of some of Your precious people in Africa and the Middle East and parts of Asia, I unashamedly ask for Your intervention. Help us and Your people in other countries know how best to influence our leaders to take appropriate action. As I look at the loss of some of our religious freedoms in the practice of our faith in the West, I pray that you give Your people wisdom, character, respect, and courage. Help us know how to navigate the cultural opposition we face and help us do this wisely and considerately. May our actions protect Your people, protect our rights to the practice of our faith in Jesus, and also influence others to follow Jesus by the way we conduct ourselves. I ask this prayer in His name. Amen.
A Year with Jesus is a daily devotional written to help us all reclaim Jesus as the daily Lord of our lives.
'A Year with Jesus' is written by Phil Ware.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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