seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Acts 19:23 About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24 A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. 25 He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. 26 And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. 27 There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”
28 When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together. 30 Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. 31 Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.
32 The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. 33 The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. 34 But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? 36 Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash. 37 You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. 38 If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. 39 If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. 40 As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.” 41 After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.
Check this out.... from the commentary.This trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed: This tremendous temple to Diana (also known as Artemis) in Ephesus was regarded as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was supported by 127 pillars, each 60 feet high, and was decorated with great sculptures. It was lost to history until it was discovered in 1869, and its main altar was unearthed in 1965.
i. “The epicenter of Artemis worship was a black meteorite that either resembled or had been fashioned into a grotesque image of a woman. The lower part was wrapped like a mummy…the idol was covered with breasts, symbolizing fertility.” (Hughes)
ii. “The Temple of Artemis was also a major treasury and bank of the ancient world, where merchants, kings, and even cities made deposits, and where their money could be kept safe under the protection of deity.” (Longenecker)
iii. Whom all Asia and the world worship: The temple of Diana in Ephesus was indeed famous around the world. The trinkets and idols from it must have been a substantial trade, no matter how immoral the worship of the sex-goddess was.
This Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands: The opposition of Demetrius and the other idol makers was a great compliment to the effectiveness of Paul’s work in the region. Paul was not on a campaign to close down the temple of Diana; he just did the Lord’s work. As people came to Jesus, they naturally stopped worshipping Diana and buying shrines associated with the temple.
So now we know why the craftsmen got so angry. Paul was teaching about Jesus, and when people accepted Jesus as their Savior, they left the goddess and her temple. They stopped buying the little pieces of junk the venders hawked along the road to the temple. Stamping out little goddesses and shining them up was big business. She was a very popular little trinket.... like Mary... right? Suppose someone told people that wearing a picture or statuette of Mary was voodoo, and all the production of the Mary products were just not wanted anymore.... the factories would close.... people would be out of work. The Catholic Church buildings would fall into disrepair because people would no long worship Mary, and because they learned that Mary was voodoo [in this scenario] they stopped going to church. Then all the priests would be out of work. All the money would stop flowing through all the Catholic Charities. It would be horrible.... It would be a financial nightmare.
So, the idols craftsmen started to riot! They were in Ephesus.... and it was a huge riot. Those wicked Jews had invaded Ephesus and talked up "the Way"... and they were killing the idol making business. Off with their heads.... clean the Jews and their talk about "the Way" out of town.
The city clerk quieted the crowd. He said, "look if you don't like it... Take them to court, don't destroy your own city. As of this moment, they haven't committed any crime". Makes sense, right?
The city clerk dismissed the crowd.
The riot was quelled.
