Acts 19:21-41--A Riot at Ephesus

Acts 19:21-41
English Standard Version

A Riot at Ephesus
21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

23 About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. 27 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

28 When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel. 30 But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. 31 And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. 32 Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33 Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

​35 And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. 37 For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. 40 For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” 41 And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

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God is now giving Paul a glimpse of what his future is going to look like.  He is just getting broad strokes, but the Holy Spirit has told Paul that it's time to revisit the churches in Macedonia and Achaia (we would call Achaia Greece today) and then to go back to Jerusalem one more time before heading off to Rome.  Paul senses the urgency in this leading so he is going to send two of his companions, Timothy and Erastus, ahead of him into the region of Macedonia and Achaia to get things ready for him to come, but he is going to stay in Ephesus in the province of Asia a little longer.

While Paul was still there, one of the silversmiths named Demetrius who was in the business of making and selling idols rose up and was angry at the followers of the Way (that would be the disciples or the Christians) because many were converting from paganism to Christianity, and this was making people no longer desire to buy the goods or require the services of these skilled tradesmen.  Instead of looking to change the objects in which they produced to be something that was in more of a demand or to pivot to a new kind of business to learn a new trade, they lobbied the government officials to outlaw this new way of life that was turning their world upside down and harming their business and personal finances (the government has a concern about this because I'm sure they made some kind of tax revenue off of all the sales going on in the marketplace, and the guilds being represented here were made of people who were rich and politically connected--no politician would be wise to cross them).

​These are their own words as to the charges against Paul:
“Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

That's a pretty fair statement as to part of what the gospel message does to the people and the culture.  They are seeing the culture around them transformed and they don't like it.  They liked the system of idolatry that was built on the worship of Artemis which made them rich.  they liked the place of prominence they had in the pagan world for having a glorious temple there where people from all over the world came to see it and worship there--if the message got out that this goddess was nothing and that their system was a system of false worship, no one would come to visit the temple, no one would want to buy their goods and they would have no reason to be great in the region or among the nations.  They were losing the very things that they found their identity in as a culture--the things that they imagined united them into one people--and they no longer no how to function when there are a group of people now have a different worldview that has transformed everything about them.

The city apparently united around the cry of "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!," and when the people of the city heard this cry they gathered into a mob to join the chant--even though they did not know what was going on.  The city was filled with confusion and the people seized two of Paul's companions, Gaius and Aristarchus, who were both Macedonians, and dragged them to the theater (probably the largest venue they could find to seat everyone for the "trial" they were going to put on).  However, they refused to let Paul enter.  Most of the mob that was gathered together didn't even know why they were there--there was great confusion and chaos to say the least.

There was one man, Alexander, a Jew, who tried to motion to the crowd to let him speak in defense of the men they had dragged into the theater, but when the men of the city recognized Alexander as a Jew, they simply shouted "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" for two hours so that no one could speak.  Finally the town clerk stood up and calmed everyone down and recited the history/lore/mythology around the city and why they worshiped Artemis.  Apparently this was something everyone, not just the Ephesians, should have known.  The town clerk told them to be quiet and to not riot in such a way against those who were neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers (their belief in and preaching of a different God was not against the laws--people were free to choose which gods and goddesses they wanted to worship and in the mind of the government, Jesus was just another one among many religious options for people to choose from.  They did not see the exclusivity of the gospel that Paul preached like these craftsmen did).

The clerk told Demetrius and the other craftsmen that if they had a legal case to file against Paul or any of his companions that they should do so in court or bring their case to the proconsul.  Anything else that these men or the crowd sought in terms of the people wanting to change the laws would have to be done in regular assembly (essentially the town clerk is ruling this assembly out of order and dismissing it), and the clerk reminded the crowd that there were laws against rioting, which they were in danger of violating, and at this the crowd was dismissed and returned to their homes.

While nothing happened to Paul or his companions here, this was the sign that Paul needed that it was time to move on.  Paul will return here one more time on his way back to Jerusalem, but his time of staying there in Ephesus and teaching them for about three years has come to an end.  It is now time for him to revisit the other churches from the second missionary journey and to go back to Jerusalem one last time before heading to Rome.