Day 50 - Acts 19

I'm excited for you all to read tonight's post. Its a good one.  It has gotten me thinking about how I would respond if I were present in Ephesus at the same time.


I hope you take the time afterwards to read over and answer the questions so that you can be challenged to take in what you've read.


Let's get to it!

Acts 19 (Read it here)

With every missionary journey Paul goes on, the distance traveled is simply astonishing.  The first journey totaled 1,400 miles, the second one was 2,800 miles and this one he's about to embark on will take over 2,700 miles and between 3-4 years to fully complete.

There are even more stops on this trip than of the previous journey, so here's a map for your reference.

Apollos was in Corinth and Paul was making his way through the interior cities again (Tarsus, Derbe, Lystra, Iconium and Antioch of Pisidian, to be exact) visiting believers before arriving in Ephesus. (v. 1) Somehow it came up in conversation where Paul asked these believers, whom he had never met before, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They didn't even know who the Holy Spirit was! (v. 2)

Paul already had his suspicions as to why these believers were a little under-informed. He asked, "what baptism did you experience?" Their answer of "the baptism of John," (v. 3) confirmed his suspicion since Apollos had traveled through this same region from Egypt on his way to Corinth. Before meeting and being advised by Priscilla and Aquila, Apollos only knew about the preaching of John the Baptist, not of the apostles who were instructed by Jesus who followed after John. (v. 3)

Both baptisms (of John the Baptist and Jesus) called for believers to repent of their sins before being baptized. (v. 4) But there was something about baptizing in the name of Jesus (which John the Baptist didn't), not of the baptism itself, that paved the way for the Holy Spirit.

As soon as the believers realized this, they were [re]baptized in Jesus' name. (v. 5)

And when I say "paved the way for the Holy Spirit" that doesn't mean that they were simply given the Holy Spirit after being baptized. It was when the apostle Paul laid his hands on them (and, no doubt, this would include praying to God, asking Him to send the Holy Spirit) that they received the Spirit. And when they did, these twelve men spoke in different languages and began prophesying, too! (vs. 6-7)

Paul then went on to Ephesus and continuously preached for three months at the local synagogue, probably arguing and debating with Jews. (v. 8) Didn't he say he was going to stop that and only preach to Gentiles?   Like clockwork, some Jews began to publicly reject Paul's message and teach others to ignore the Way of Jesus. Paul had had enough, so he began discussing at a local lecture hall instead. (v. 9)

Paul would end up staying in Ephesus for over 2 years. And the believers who came to faith began spreading the faith to others all throughout the province of Asia! (v. 10, or modern-day Turkey) Even the disciples were making new disciples!

Paul began performing even more extraordinary miracles. Anything that touched his skin and then were placed on sick people healed them! (vs. 11-12)

A group of Jews were inspired by Paul's miracles and began casting out evil spirits themselves. Even though they weren't Christ-followers, they used Jesus' (and Paul's) name in hopes to cast out demons who couldn't be extracted any other way. (v. 13)  They were basically using the name of Jesus like a magic spell, as if it were abracadabra.

These Jews were all brothers whose father was Sceva a leading (possibly Levite) priest. (v. 14) Other than this reference by Luke in Acts 19, nothing else is known about Sceva...or his sons.

However, one time when they tried to use Jesus' and Paul's name to cast out a demon, the demon responded with saying, "I know Jesus and Paul, but who do you think you are?" (v. 15) Just imagine the fear that would tingle down your spine as you heard a demon telling you this! Creepy.

Right after saying this, the demon took control of its host body, attacked the seven sons ferociously, stripped off their clothes and left them bleeding as they scampered away naked. (v. 16)

Everyone in Ephesus heard this story and it freaked them out! People started to respect the name of Jesus because of what happened to these seven guys. (v. 17) And many who had been practicing incantations, witchcraft and idolatry changed their ways, became Christ-followers and burned their books! (vs. 18-19)

Paul left Ephesus along with his assistants Timothy and Erastus (v. 22, who would later become the treasurer of the church in Corinth).

When Paul left, all hell broke loose in Ephesus. Since so many began to follow Christ and forsake the idols they had previously worshiped, production and sales of silver Artemis shrines sharply decreased. Demetrius, a silversmith and employer of many workers called a meeting in which he blamed Paul's teaching about the uselessness of idols as the downfall of his and the employees' financial stability. And he claimed to be concerned about the lack of respect for Artemis, as well. I think the money was really the issue, though but who can know for sure? (vs. 24-27)

Ephesus was the center of worship for Artemis, who was the Greek goddess of the wilderness who supposedly blessed her followers with hunts of wild game and with healthy children. It was believed that babies died in childbirth and women of diseases because of judgement from "mother" Artemis. Statues such as this one depicted her with many breasts since she was the heavenly mother of Ephesus.  Many would travel to Ephesus for feasts and festivals in her honor, bringing money into their local economy, which meant the sale of many silver shrines.

These men were furious and started a riot at the amphitheater. (v. 29) The rioters dragged two of Paul's friends as objects of hatred. (v. 30) Paul wanted to go out there, too, but other believers and even those in local city officials wouldn't let him because they knew it was the rioters' plans for him to show up so they could kill him. (v. 31)

It was a maddening scene. More and more people showed up at the amphitheater wondering what was going on. (v. 32) Fearing a complete rebellion and even deportation of Jews, Alexander (who was a coppersmith) was pushed forward by other Jews in hopes that he could also voice his opposition to Paul. But since he was a Jew, as well, the Ephesians wouldn't let him speak; they yelled all the louder.  (vs. 33-34)

The mayor of Ephesus finally got their attention. He validated Artemis' honorable standing within the city of Ephesus (v. 35) while also vindicating the believers who were present by saying, "they have stolen nothing from the temple and have not spoken against our goddess." (v. 37) It was Paul who had done that.

He admonished them to settle the matter in court instead of by violence. (v. 38) Maybe he was protecting Paul (since Paul did have many friends in local government) or because the mayor was fearful of what the Romans would do if they had to come to squelch the riot. (v. 40) The possibility of having Roman soldiers come to Ephesus quieted Demetrius, his workers and the crowd; they dispersed shortly after. (v. 41)



Questions

1.) The seven sons of Sceva were severely punished, not by God, but by a demon for incorrectly using Jesus' name! How much respect do you have for the name of Jesus? How do you use his name? How does it make you feel that you could be attacked by Satan by not honoring it?

2.) When people heard about what happened to the sons of Sceva, many people burned books, repented of their ways and became believers. Has some sort of tragedy ever knocked sense into you and made you think twice about your relationship (or lack thereof) with God? What was it and how did you change?

3.) Money may have been the root issue as to why Ephesus went into an uproar after Paul left town.  When people became Christians, they stopped buying useless idols.  What things do you no longer partake in or buy since you've became a Christ-follower (if you claim to be one)?