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BIBLE
STUDY LESSON
For
the week beginning Sunday February 5, 2017
PAUL’S
THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY
(Paul
ministers in Ephesus)
Acts 19:1-20
Acts chapter
19 marks the beginning of Paul’s third missionary journey. Here in this
chapter, Luke chronicles the start of that mission, which was earmarked to
raise money for the Mother Church at Jerusalem, that had fallen on hard times
due to the famine that had been foretold by the prophet Agabus a few years
earlier (Acts 11:27-28). This, prophesy, has now suddenly come to pass and Paul
was calling upon the Christian network of believers to pitch in and do their
part in the relief effort.
Paul sets out on this mission with a visit
to the difficult cult city of Ephesus, a stronghold for the worshipers of the
idol god “Artemis”, whose headquarters was there. Artemis, or, “Diana” as she
was sometimes called, was housed in a temple so large, that it was considered
to be one of the seven great wonders of the ancient world. A large part of Ephesus ’ wealth came from
the sightseers and worshipers who came from all over the world to see this
magnificent and very imposing edifice.
Upon arriving in town, Paul comes across a
group of twelve men, who were believers, or “Adherents of the Way”. Like Apollos,
these men were believers of CHRIST who had not yet received, or even heard of,
the HOLY SPIRIT. They were, up until this point, as many of us are, even today,
“incomplete Christians”. They had accepted the ideology of CHRIST, and even
confessed with their lips, but like Apollos before them, they knew only of
John’s baptism with water, and knew not of CHRIST’s baptism with the HOLY
SPIRIT. They had accepted CHRIST in principle, but not in spirit, and
therefore, they were not yet “saved”.
After becoming acquainted with these men,
Paul must have sensed something was lacking in their behavior. This prompted
him to ask if they had received the HOLY SPIRIT when they believed. And again,
like Apollos, before them, once they heard the “Way” of GOD explained more
clearly by Paul, immediately, they accepted CHRIST in their hearts, and were
baptized in the HOLY SPIRIT.
In order to encourage, and give witness to
some of the idol worshipping populace of Ephesus, who must have witnessed this
event, GOD caused these men to prophesy and, to speak in tongues (various
languages) to the foreigners who had come to the city to see and worship
Artemis, so that they too might also believe and turn to CHRIST JESUS for
salvation.
This passage of Scripture should serve as a
reminder to us, that everyone we see in church, who claim to be Christians, may
very well, not be saved, even those who may believe themselves that they are
saved. Remember Apollos was in the synagogue preaching CHRIST boldly, “before”
Priscilla and Aquila , brought him to salvation
in CHRIST (Acts 18:24 -26).
GOD gave mankind the ability to know when
we love something or someone. When we love, we are willing to do anything and
everything for that love, and still, feel as though we haven’t done enough.
When you have truly received salvation, you are willing to do anything and
everything to please GOD.
No distance is too great, no amount is too
much, and no labor is too taxing, in our service to GOD. We feel unconditional, unlimited love for the
SAVIOR, and that, my fellow Christians, is how you know that you are truly saved,
and are indeed, “a complete Christian”.
When we don’t put a limit on our love for
CHRIST and each other, as CHRIST, through HIS suffering, never put a limit on
HIS love for us, we are then showing, through our behavior, that we are really
“saved” and are operating according to GOD’s perspective of salvation, not
man’s. And by JESUS not coming down from the cross, HE demonstrated that HIS
love for us has no limit, and that HE too was dedicated to operating under
GOD’s perspective also.
Paul continued to minister in Ephesus and
he went to the synagogue and preached and taught boldly for the next three
months. He argued persuasively within the Jewish temple and convinced many to
convert their thinking to the doctrine of Christology. However, some still
continued to reject his message and publically spoke against CHRIST to the
masses.
And so Paul took the believers with him and
begin to teach at the lecture hall of a man named Tyrannus, who was most likely
a Jewish Rabbi, for the next two years. There Paul enlightened people
throughout the province of Asia, both Jews and Gentiles, about the Gospel of
CHRIST. GOD even gave him power to do unusual miracles among the people, even
to the point where handkerchiefs and clothe that had touched his skin were
being used to heal the sick and remove evil spirits from those who were demon
possessed.
Now there was a group of Jews who were
traveling from town to town, supposedly casting out evil spirits by using
witchcraft and incantations. However, it is a well-known fact that satan will
not cast out his own help, and so we know that these men were not of GOD, but
were of the evil forces of the devil. They were trying to offset Paul’s
wonderful work, by deceiving the believers and new Christian converts who had
began to follow Paul’s teachings about CHRIST.
These seven sons of a priest named Sceva,
tried to endear themselves to the Christian Church movement by appearing to
work with Paul, even using the name of JESUS in their chants. In fact, they
made up an incantation that went like this; “I command you by JESUS, whom Paul
preaches, to come out!”
However, when they tried to use this
incantation on a man who was possessed by an evil spirit, GOD caused their
trickery to backfire on them, as HE caused the evil spirit to speak to the
seven men saying, “I know JESUS, and I know Paul. But who are you?” Suddenly
the demon leaped from the possessed man and attacked the sons of Sceva with
such force that they fled from the house naked and badly injured (vs.16).
The news of what happened to the sons of
Sceva spread quickly throughout all of Ephesus. The whole city shook in fear,
Jews and Gentiles, and many confessed their evil practices of witchcraft and
incantations, and they actually burned all of the self-help books that they had
bought seeking to learn of ways, other than the Word of GOD, to solve their
problems. The value of the books burned totaled in the millions of dollars by
today’s standards, and the Word of GOD spread everywhere in Ephesus, and had a
powerful effect on its citizens (Vs.17-20).
THE
RIOT IN EPHESUS
Acts
19:21-41
Later on Paul was compelled by the HOLY
SPIRIT to leave Ephesus and go over to Macedonia and Achaia before returning
back to Jerusalem, and after that, to Rome. He sent Timothy and Erastus on
ahead to Macedonia and he lingered a little while longer in the province of
Asia, perhaps wrapping up some unfinished business there.
I mentioned earlier in this study, the name
of the Greek goddess, Artemus, who was extremely popular in first century
Ephesus. Now, about this time, serious trouble developed in Ephesus surrounding
this idol god who had a huge impact on the economy of the city. The impact of
Paul’s preaching and teaching had cut deeply into the income that the city and
certain of its people generated from the sales of Artemis-related books and paraphernalia.
One person, who made a very good living by
manufacturing hand-made small replicas of the statue of Artemis and her shrine,
was a man named Demetrius, a leading silversmith in Ephesus. Demetrius called
an emergency meeting of all the craftsmen and others who were employed in
related trades of Artemis paraphernalia, and addressed them with his concerns
(Vs.25-27).
“Gentlemen, you
know that our wealth comes from this business. But
as you have seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many people that
handmade gods aren’t really gods at all. And he’s done this not only here in
Ephesus but throughout the entire province! Of course, I’m not
just talking about the loss of public respect for our business. I’m also
concerned that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its influence
and that Artemis—this magnificent goddess worshiped throughout the province of
Asia and all around the world—will be robbed of her great prestige!” (NLT)
This statement by Demetrius riled up the
group, who were themselves, deeply under the influence of the demon who resided
in the shrine of Artemis, and they begin to chant her praise of “Great is
Artemis of the Ephesians!”. After they worked themselves up into a frenzy, they
stormed down to the amphitheater, dragging two of Paul’s friends, Gaius and
Aristarchus with them. Paul tried to go in behind them but a group of believers
held him back, fearing for his safety.
There was so much confusion inside the
amphitheater that many people didn’t really know why they were there. Some were
shouting one thing and some another, but they were all, in reality under the
influence of the demon in Artemis. A man named Alexander was pushed forward by
some of the Jews to try to explain what was going on, but when the crowd
realized he was a Jew, they again started chanting, “Great is Artemis of the
Ephesians!”
This passage (Vs.23-41) is important, not
only because of what it says, but also because of what it implies. The
implications here suggest the power and influence of the satanic demons in
Ephesus, and how the shrine of Artemis was, quite literally, the heart of this
Luciferic stronghold.
Finally the mayor of Ephesus entered and
quieted the crowd. When he begins to speak he gives us, the reader, a better insight
into idol god Artemis and her origins in the religious culture of Ephesus. In
fact, in verses 35-41, the mayor not only educates us on the origins of
Artemis, but he also gives us insight into the Roman government’s deep distain
for civil disturbances within the Roman Empire. Here’s what the mayor had to
say;
“Citizens of Ephesus, Everyone knows that
Ephesus is the official guardian of the temple of the great Artemis, whose
image fell down to us from heaven. Since this is an undeniable fact,
you should stay calm and not do anything rash. You have brought
these men here, but they have stolen nothing from the temple and have not
spoken against our goddess.
If Demetrius and the
craftsmen have a case against them, the courts are in session and the officials
can hear the case at once. Let them make formal charges. And if
there are complaints about other matters, they can be settled in a legal
assembly. I am afraid we are in danger
of being charged with rioting by the Roman government, since there is no cause
for all this commotion. And if Rome demands an explanation, we won’t know what
to say.” (NLT)
Even though the mayor himself is also under
the influence of Artemis, he is also equally under the fear of his superiors
who govern the Roman Empire (Caesar). He was able to disperse the angry crowd
and send them away, and for now, the city was quiet, and the Christian Church
movement was again, sailing along, full speed ahead, as the power of GOD (the
HOLY SPIRIT), WHO is sovereign over all, kept it moving.
A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander
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