Transcript

During a war, three soldiers were taken prisoners. They were sentenced to die by firing squad. The general in charge of the execution was feeling generous and told the prisoners that if they can trick him into escaping he would let them go.

The first soldier was tied to the post. The general yelled out, “Ready! Aim! And the soldier yelled “Flash flood!” Then the firing squad all ran away. The general said, “You did it. You’re a free man. Go home to your family.”

The next soldier is tied to the post. The general yelled out, “Ready! Aim! And the soldier yelled “Stampede!” Then the firing squad all ran away. The general said, “You did it. You’re free to go.”

The last soldier is tied to the post. He was struggling to think of anything that might save himself. The general yelled out, “Ready! Aim! And the soldier yelled out “Fire!”

We learn about a riot in Acts 19, and had those in Ephesus gotten their hands on Paul, they would have had him executed.

It’s been said that Paul’s ministry usually resulted in a riot, a revival, or both. And in Acts chapter 19, we see BOTH revival and a riot. In our previous two episodes, we’ve looked at the revival in Ephesus, and now in this episode, we’ll be looking at the riot.

Acts 19:23-27 reads, “And the same time there arose no small stir about that way. For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen;

“Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:

“So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.”

Acts 19 records tremendous victories for Christ in Ephesus. First, from Paul’s ministry at the school of Tyrannus, the gospel went throughout Asia Minor.

Then, Paul’s ministry and miracles made inroads against the practice of the occult in Ephesus, so much so that large numbers of people burned their books of sorceries and the black arts and turned to Christ.

Thus, verse 20 records how the Word of God grew and prevailed in Ephesus.

Not surprisingly, this then leads to a response by the devil and his angels, as they rose up in opposition and, behind the scenes, incited the people in an aggressive attack against Paul and the prevailing of the Word of God in Ephesus.

“That way” mentioned in verse 23 is referring to a group of people who had a shared faith and who followed THE Way, the Truth, and the Life, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Believers were making a widespread impact on Ephesus and causing “no small stir” there, so much so that the local pagan worship suffered.

This verse shows that the antagonism that Luke proceeded to record was not opposition to Paul only, but rather it was a reaction to the effect of the gospel in Ephesus and was a reaction of unbelievers against Jesus Christ and all who followed Him.

Idolatry was big business in Ephesus. And because of the many who were turning to Christ, it was adversely affecting the business dealings of those who made shrines for the false goddess Diana.

Diana was also known as Artemis, the Artemis of the Ephesians. This goddess of Asia is to be differentiated from the Greek Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo, who was the virgin goddess of the hunt and was pictured as a young woman carrying a hunting bow.

But the Artemis of the Ephesians was a many-breasted goddess of fertility. Worship of her was centered at the great temple of Diana at Ephesus, and was widespread throughout the Roman Empire. Along with idol worship, much immorality accompanied the worship of this god of fertility.

The temple of Diana, located about a mile northeast of Ephesus, was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Many historians believe that it was one of the most beautiful buildings ever built. It took 220 years to build.

Built of shining marble, it was nearly the exact size of a football field, 342 feet long by 164 feet wide. It covered an area four times larger than the Parthenon in Athens. It had 127 marble columns, each 56 feet high.

It contained masterpieces of sculpture and paintings. At the center of it, hidden by curtains, within an ornate shrine, stood an ancient image of the goddess that, according to legend, was said to have fallen from the sky from Zeus near Ephesus.

The value and fame of the temple were enhanced by its being a major treasury and bank of the ancient world, where merchants, kings, and even cities deposited their gold and silver and most precious things because its safety was supposedly guaranteed and protected by the goddess Diana herself.

The temple was lost to history until it was discovered in 1869, and its main altar was unearthed in 1965.

Because this world-renowned temple was near their city, people capitalized on it to make money. Silversmiths made miniature statuettes of the fertility goddess of Ephesus, along with miniature models and replicas of Diana’s temple.

Like when you travel to famous places and there’s always a gift shop nearby, so when pilgrims came to Ephesus, they wanted to take a souvenir home. And the silversmiths were makers of little silver model shrines which were bought and sold as souvenirs.

But even beyond that, these silver shrines were also used as household idols in their worship of the goddess Diana.

It’s also been said that “Additionally, worshippers may have presented these model shrines as votive offerings when they visited the temple, as some people today purchase candles that they proceed to light and leave in churches.”

Demetrius was a prominent businessman and silversmith in Ephesus who made these silver shrines.

Demetrius seems to have been the leader of the guild of silversmiths and by his business savvy, he had been instrumental in bringing the craftsmen of the silver shrines “no small gain” through their sales. Demetrius was alarmed by the sales of the shrines falling off as people were turning away from idolatry and to Jesus Christ.

Thus, Demetrius then gathered together all his fellow silversmiths and craftsmen, as well as “workmen of like occupation” who made shrines also of wood, terracotta, copper, and marble, in order to stir them all up to take some action.

At this meeting, he told them, “Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth.” He began his speech by bluntly stating the true concern: our wealth depends on this business.

It’s been said that “you cannot step on a man’s pocketbook without hearing him say, ‘Ouch!’” And these men were saying “Ouch!” Demetrius appealed to his fellow businessmen’s and craftsmen’s fears of financial loss.

The trade they were involved in had been lucrative, but now Paul’s ministry and the gospel was threatening their thriving business because as more and more people came to Christ, they naturally stopped worshipping Diana and buying shrines associated with the temple.

In verse 26, Demetrius then reminded them of the extent of the threat posed by Paul, “Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, BUT ALMOST THROUGHOUT ALL ASIA, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands.”

The words of a critic, Demetrius, confirm the extent to which the gospel had penetrated Asia and the success and effect it had at that time, “almost throughout all Asia.”

It confirmed what verse 10 of this chapter states, “that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.”

Demetrius said that this was the result of “this Paul.” One man impacted a large, major Roman province!

This truth should remind and encourage each of us that when God gets possession of one man or one woman who makes themselves available and yields to Him, the fruit that results can be exceeding abundantly beyond all we could ask or think.

Demetrius stated that Paul had denied the reality of gods made with hands. This is hardly a crime. He was not guilty of any wrongdoing. He was just telling the truth.

These man-made idols were like what the Psalmist wrote of them in Psalm 115: “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:

“They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.”

Paul message about idols is what he consistently proclaimed to the Gentiles. Such as in Lystra, he preached unto them that “ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein” (14:15).

The truth of Paul’s message had turned away much people from idolatry “unto the living God.” But this was a threat to these silversmiths and craftsmen. Demetrius said that their craft was “in danger to be set at nought” or discredited and shown to be worthless.

He had appealed to these men on the basis of business, and then their religious beliefs, and then finally Demetrius appealed to them on the basis of civic pride: “but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.”

Loyalty to Ephesus demanded that the craftsmen oppose Paul and his teachings, which threatened to undermine their city’s claim to fame, the temple of the great goddess Diana.

The message basically was, “How dare Paul insult the great goddess Diana and her magnificent temple! The whole world worships her! The whole world can’t be wrong!”

His argument was the “Everybody believes this. Everybody does this” type of argument. And that can have a tremendous sway on people, as it did on these craftsmen.

Acts 19:28-32: “And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.

“And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre.

“Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.”

The thought of financial ruin, the challenge to their religious beliefs, and their threat to civic pride all served to enrage the craftsmen at the meeting. They were filled with wrath and they began to cry out “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”

Demetrius accomplished his goal. The shrine makers were whipped into a frenzy. The idea in the original Greek is that these craftsmen began shouting over and over, again and again “Great is Diana of the Ephesians.”

These craftsmen really didn’t care about Diana, no matter how much they shouted it. The bottom line is that they were more concerned about their income than anything else.

Their rage and crying out, invoking the name of the goddess, spilled into the streets of Ephesus. This caused the whole city to be filled with confusion and chaos.

The meeting of silversmiths and craftsmen devolved into a mob scene in which the whole city became involved. It incited a riot.

And as the mob chanted and surged through the streets, they seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s travel companions on this, his third apostolic journey.

The words “having caught” means to seize by force, suddenly and violently, to grasp with great violence. It does not imply a polite capture of these two but a violent one.

Alexander Maclaren writes, “What they meant to do with the two, they had probably not asked themselves. A mob has no plans, and its most savage acts are unpremeditated. Passion let loose is almost sure to end in bloodshed, and the lives of Gaius and Aristarchus hung by a thread.”

Having caught these two men, like a raging flood, they then rushed “with one accord” to the outdoor Ephesian amphitheater, the largest place for an assembly of people in the city, capable of seating 25,000 people.

And the ruins of this, the Great theater in Ephesus, are remarkably preserved to this day.

A good word picture of this scene is our English word “pandemonium.” This word is defined as a wild uproar because of anger or excitement in a crowd of people, or wild and noisy disorder or confusion; an uproar.

In the Greek, “pan” means all. And “demonium” is from the Greek word “daimonion,” which is translated as a devil, or a demon. You can even see the word “demon” in the English pandemonium.

There was pandemonium here in Ephesus. This was a demonically, satanically inspired spectacle. God is a God of order. When you see chaos and confusion in an account like this, and in our world today, it points to the working of Satan.

Here Satan and the demons were doing everything in their power to stamp out the progress of the Gospel, the growth of the Word of God, and the main proclaimer, Paul.

Spiritual warfare is real and is dangerous. This account is a reminder for each us to “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

Having become aware of what was happening, and knowing that his co-workers had been swept up in the riot and taken to the theater, the courageous apostle was ready to charge right into the theater to rescue his friends and defend the cause of Christ.

By this action, you can see the truth of Paul’s words in Acts 20:24, that in his ministry “neither count I my life dear unto myself.”

But the disciples, the believers in Ephesus wouldn’t permit him because they knew he would be killed. And not only did they dissuade Paul, but also “certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre.” These “chief of Asia” were distinguished, elected officers in Ephesus.

These civic leaders, who “were his friends,” quickly sent word to Paul, and out of their friendship and fearing for his safety, advised him not to enter the arena. Paul then followed the wise counsel of fellow-believers and his friends. That teaches us too, to carefully consider the counsel we receive from those who care about us in life.

Meanwhile the situation in the theater was one of utter chaos. Confusion had overtaken the crowd in the riot and “Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.”

Most people in the crowd had no idea why they were there or what was going on. They apparently just went along for the excitement and to chant with the others about Diana.

Acts 19:32-41: “And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people.

“But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

“And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?

“Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly. For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.

“Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another. But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly.

“For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse. And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.”

The Jews were monotheists and strongly opposed to idols. As a result, the Jews in this crowd thrust a man named Alexander to the front of the multitude in order to issue a disclaimer that the reduction in Diana’s idol sales was not their fault!

Most of the Jews in Ephesus did not approve of Paul or the followers of the Way, as is seen earlier in this chapter, when the Jews in the synagogue “were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude” (19:9).

It is possible that this Alexander is the “coppersmith” referred to 2 Timothy 4:14, who did Paul “much evil.” The Jews, fearing that they might suffer the wrath of the silversmiths and this mob, chose from among themselves a man “of like occupation” to the silversmiths to explain that they had not caused the defection from Diana.

But realizing Alexander was a Jew, and knowing that the Jews rejected idolatry and believed in one God, and perhaps concerned that Alexander might try to defend Paul as a fellow Jew, they drowned out his voice, “all with one voice about the space of two hours [and] cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.”

The mob went from an assembly in confusion to a multitude with a mission. The mob became unified in their proclamation.

That’s a long time to shout those 6 words! But no matter how long or how many times they shouted Diana and yelled out about her greatness, it didn’t make her any more real.

It’s been said well that “For all the supposed greatness of Diana of the Ephesians, no one worships her today…Idols and false gods all have expiration dates, [but] Jesus of Nazareth lives forever.”

Finally, after two hours, order was restored by the town clerk. The town clerk was the city’s locally elected chief administrative officer who was the middle man between the city council and the Romans.

He was the leading citizen of Ephesus, and was much like our mayors.

He was trying to save his own skin because he was most responsible for what took place in the city and he realized that the Roman authorities would hold him culpable for any riot that might break out. Thus, he was very eager to end this demonstration.

As he addressed the assembly, he first told them that there was no danger whatsoever that people would conclude that Diana was a goddess made with hands since everyone knew that the image of her in her famous temple had fallen from the sky from Jupiter.

This was another “Everybody knows” argument, like Demetrius has used earlier. Satan often uses the powerful course of this world, and that everybody thinks this way, to sway people into believing lies and error and condoning sin.

The town clerk stated “that these things cannot be spoken against.” He insisted that these are undeniable facts and nothing Paul or the followers of Christ could do could possibly affect their great goddess or lead people to think that she wasn’t truly a god.

Therefore, he states that the crowd should quiet and calm itself and not do anything rash. He sounds like a politician doesn’t he?

Next, the town clerk stated that Gaius and Aristarchus had done nothing worthy of punishment. They had not done anything wrong, like robbing churches or literally temples, nor had they been “blasphemers of your goddess,” Diana.

That teaches us something. Paul’s ministry and message was more pro-Christ than anti-Diana. He had spoken about false gods, and that gods which are made with hands are not gods. But primarily, he and his co-workers did not speak against Diana and the false beliefs that accompanied the worship of her.

Instead, their focus was on Christ. They made known the truth of Him, lifted Him up, and who He is and what He has done by His Cross and resurrection. And our focus should be the same.

Next, the town clerk criticized Demetrius and the craftsmen for inciting the riot. Rather than stirring up a mob, they should have followed the proper channels and the due process of the law. He reminded them that “the law is open,” or the courts are in session, “and there are deputies,” or proconsuls available and cases can be heard and tried properly.

And anything that could not be settled in the courts could be settled in a lawful assembly. But this was not a lawful assembly. They had gathered as a disorderly mob.

And they were in danger of being accused of a riot by the Roman government and they would be unable to account for their disorderly gathering.

If the Romans investigated this disturbance, and they were ever called to account for this mob scene, they would’ve been unable to give a good reason for it.

This could’ve resulted in penalties or a loss of privileges for the Ephesians as a city, and the town clerk knew that he could lose his job or even his life.

The town clerk exonerated the believers and acknowledged that the riot had been unjustified. And following his speech, “he dismissed the assembly.”

And Gaius and Aristarchus were released no worse for the wear, shook up I’m sure, but with little or no injury.

God worked mightily in Ephesus and the result was a revival. The devil was at work too and that resulted in a riot.

By Acts 19, we learn that when the Spirit moves mightily and progress is made in the cause of Christ, we should look for and expect opposition and movement against believers and the Church by the devil.

This may be one reason why Paul wrote so specifically about the spiritual battle each believer faces against rulers of spiritual darkness in his letter to the Ephesians.

And as Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:13, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”