THE GREAT RIOT AT EPHESUS!--A thrilling true story from Acts Chapter 19!

After his trial before Governor Gallio in the city of Corinth, Paul travelled far and wide in his missionary journeys. Many months later, he and other fellow-Christians journeyed down the Roman Imperial highway through the interior of Turkey. Finally they arrived at the city of EPHESUS which was on the seacoast in western Turkey in what was then called the Roman province of ASIA.

With a population of 225,000 people, Ephesus was the commercial and religious center of Asia. It was, in fact, the WORLD center for the worship of DIANA, a pagan Roman goddess. The Temple of Diana, built out of the finest marble, and with 127 Grecian pillars each 6O feet high, was the most magnificent building ever constructed by the Greeks and was considered one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World"!

Much of the commercial life of Ephesus centered around Diana-worship, because worshippers, pilgrims and curious tourists from all over the Roman World came to see the famous Temple, and to carry away some talisman or souvenir. So there was a prosperous guild of silversmiths who had a lucrative business manufacturing and selling idols and miniature silver images of the Diana. There was a large population of Jews in Ephesus, many of them, despite their professed faith in God, were engaged in the lucrative silversmith guild.

During his first three months in Ephesus, Paul went to the Jewish synagogue every Sabbath day and tried to convince the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. But many of them simply refused to believe it, and even began to speak against Jesus in front of the entire assembly. So Paul merely left them and took his new converts with him. But none of them had a house large enough for them to all gather and meet in.

In the center of Ephesus was a giant public square called "the Agora", and Paul was standing by the great sun-dial in the center of the square one day, preaching to a crowd, when a distinguished-looking Roman nobleman stopped to listen. After the crowd had left, he came up to Paul and said, "I find your message very interesting and you are quite a convincing speaker. But tell me, why do you teach in the public marketplace?"

Paul smiled, and wiping his brow, said, "I have no other place to speak."

"Then perhaps I can help you," the nobleman said. "My name is TYRANNUS and I have a LECTURE HALL here in Ephesus where the most brilliant minds in the entire Province of Asia come to study. If you need a place to teach, I would be very pleased to have you teach in my school every day."

What a golden opportunity! Paul and Tyrannus became close friends, and soon the little group of believers was meeting daily in the most famous hall of learning in the entire Province of Asia, where philosophers, poets, law-makers and sons of the rich Roman rulers either studied or came to lecture.

Several of them sat in to hear what this new Jewish teacher had to say, and as the weeks and months went by, many leading government officials of the city were converted to faith in Jesus! Students, Roman officials, city fathers and common citizens began coming, not only from Ephesus, but from faraway cities to listen!--And THOUSANDS of them joyfully received Jesus into their hearts and dedicated their lives to Him!

Even many of the more sceptical city rulers looked on in wonder as they saw God perform outstanding miracles of healing through Paul! One such sceptic was Silvanus, the mayor of Ephesus. Yet, as odd as he considered Christianity to be, he knew there was great POWER in the name of Jesus Christ, and had a high respect for Paul. The entire city of Ephesus, in fact--even the unbelievers--held the name of JESUS in HIGH HONOUR! Paul went on to dramatically convert many of the WORST citizens of the city! Men who had formerly been into WITCHCRAFT and BLACK MAGIC came forth and confessed their evil deeds, and, in a spectacular display of repentance, burned $1O,OOO worth of their strange occult books in a great bonfire in the public square one night! Silvanus was, quite frankly, very impressed.

By the end of two years, the Word of the Lord had grown in such power and influence that all the inhabitants who lived in the Province of Asia, Jews, Romans and Greeks alike, had heard the message of Salvation!

Up until this time, the thriving sale of shrines and idols had kept the many craftsmen in Ephesus busily employed. But as more and more Ephesians turned to Christianity, the silversmiths began to feel a noticeable drop in their sales. The LEADER of the silversmiths--who employed many craftsmen in his guild--was a man named DEMETRIUS, and he began to view the influence of Paul's teachings with increasing jealousy and alarm!

Finally, he called together all his craftsmen--along with the workmen in related trades and crafts--and when they had assembled in his shop, he said, "Men, you know we receive a good and prosperous income from our silverwork! But as you see and hear, this fellow Paul has led ASTRAY large numbers of people here in Ephesus--AND in practically the WHOLE PROVINCE of Asia!--and persuaded them to CHANGE their religion!"

Gesturing to his shelves full of intricately-made little shrines and idols, he said angrily, "He preaches to everyone, saying that man-made gods are no gods at all! Why, our entire trade is in danger of losing its good name if he persists!

"Of course, I am not only talking about our loss of income, but that the magnificent Temple of our great goddess Diana will be DISCREDITED!--And the goddess herself, who is worshipped throughout the entire Roman World, will be FORGOTTEN!"

When the assembled craftsmen heard this speech, they were overcome with fury and religious rage, and began shouting in unison, "GREAT is Diana of the Ephesians!"

The confusion soon spilled out into the streets and before long the entire city of Ephesus was in an absolute uproar! Down through the broad marble-paved streets of the city the mob surged, and soon arrived at the house where Paul and his friends were staying! Bursting into the house, they discovered that Paul was not there and only two of his Christian friends, Gaius and Aris tarchus from Greece, were there!

Seizing them, the frenzied mob dragged them down the streets toward the great Roman amphitheatre in the northeast corner of the city! By this time all the officials and government heads of Ephesus had heard that the city was in an uproar over Paul and that the mob had seized his two friends! Paul was with a small group of believers, teaching at the home of a prosperous Christian merchant named Onesiphorus when the news reached him. The roar of the chanting mob was now echoing across the city with deafening volume!

Immediately he decided to appear before them in the amphitheatre and try to talk to them, but Onesiphorus and the other brethren would not let him, for they knew that it could very likely cost him his LIFE!

As they continued to try to talk Paul out of his dangerous quest, suddenly a messenger, panting and out of breath, burst into the room and handed a note to Paul! "It's from my friends," Paul said. "A dozen of the top government officials of Asia--including Fortunatus, the Commander of the Roman garrison here in Ephesus--are begging me not to try to go into the amphitheatre!" Meanwhile, across the city, the assembly at the amphitheatre was in a state of total confusion and chaos! Some were shouting one thing, some another, and most of the people did not even know why they had come together. Then all hell broke loose! A Jewish coppersmith named ALEXANDER, who had once been a believer but who had turned against Paul and against Jesus, had joined Demetrius and the silversmiths in their attack! The Jewish leaders now urged Alexander to go to the front of the forum and accuse Paul.

Alexander made it to the front, but as he was motioning for the crowd to keep silence, some of the mob recognised that he was a JEW! Thinking that he was going to speak against DIANA, they went absolutely INSANE with religious fervor and began howling at the top of their lungs, "GREAT is Diana of the Ephesians! GREAT is Diana of the Ephesians!" For two hours the crowd chanted, and the entire city SHOOK with the deafening roar of nearly 25,OOO voices!

At the palace of the city mayor, General Fortunatus paced rapidly back and forth, then shook his finger in the mayor's face. "You get in there and STOP that mob before they kill Paul's friends!" he threatened, "Or I'm sending my TROOPS in!--And YOU will be responsible for whoever gets hurt! Not only that, but I'll demand an official accounting from you for this riot!" Silvanus winced and said, "General, you know I'm FAVOURABLE to these Christians, and I think that Paul has done a great work in our city, but I can't ..."

"Very well, then." Fortunatus answered, and headed for the door.

"No, no, wait!" Silvanus cried, "I'LL go in!" And he did. It was several long minutes before the mob recognised their mayor standing up on the rostrum, waving his hands frantically. By now they were hoarse and exhausted from their shouting, and a weary hush fell over the crowd.

"Men of Ephesus," he pleaded, "all the World KNOWS that the city of Ephesus is the custodian of the Temple of the great Diana and of her image, the meteorite which fell down from heaven! Now, since these facts are beyond question, you ought to be quiet and not do anything rash!"

Motioning towards Gaius and Aristarchus who stood there tied with cords, he said, "Look! You have brought these two men here, but they haven't done ANYTHING wrong, and you KNOW it! They haven't robbed our great Temple or blasphemed our goddess! All they have done is speak of their faith in Jesus."

His tone became more stern: "If Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody and want to press CHARGES, the COURTS are open and in session and there are judges who will HEAR their case. IF they have ANY accusations to bring up, then they ought to settle them through LEGAL channels in a LAWFUL assembly!--In Court!

"As it is, we are in danger of being charged with RIOTING because of today's events. And if the Roman authorities ask me to ACCOUNT for the uproar today, I would not be able to give an explanation, since there is NO VALID EXCUSE for it."

After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly, and sent them all home. Paul and his two friends were safe, and the Christian community in Ephesus continued to prosper!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT--Acts 19

No one, not even the sceptics and unbelievers, could deny that Paul had done a great work in helping people and marvellously changing their lives for the better! So who were his ENEMIES? The jealous, greedy, materialistic men who stood to lose their followers and their lucrative business because of Paul's "competition."

The Bible tells us that one of the main factors for the persecution against Paul and the Christians in Ephesus was because one of Paul's followers, a Jew named Alexander, had totally BACKSLIDDEN in his faith and had begun to speak evil of Paul and his former faith! Because Paul then excommunicated him from the Church for his blasphemous ways (1Timothy 1:19,20), Alexander tried to get REVENGE by helping stir up the city AGAINST Paul. (Acts 19:33)

Several years later, after this story, when Paul was a prisoner in Rome, this same evil backslider travelled all the way from Ephesus to Rome to accuse him before Caesar. Paul said, "Alexander the coppersmith did me MUCH EVIL."--And he warned Timothy, who was now the spiritual leader in Ephesus to watch out for him there also. (2Timothy 4:14,15)

Many Christian groups have experienced this same problem. A disgruntled "Judas" will backslide and go out and spread all kinds of lies to try to discredit them and turn all their friends and any favourable officials against them.--And often people will believe these stories, thinking, "After all, they WERE once MEMBERS!"

Sad to say, Alexander the coppersmith DID finally succeed in turning most of Asia against Paul, including two of his closest friends, Phygelus and Hermogenes. (2Timothy 1:15) But there is a bright ray of hope in the midst of all that! MANY of Paul's friends, DESPITE the continual barrage of bad publicity, stuck faithfully by his side through it all, and even when he was in prison in Rome years later, continued to help and support him! Such a man was the noble ONESIPHORUS! (2Timothy 1:16-18)

What kind of a public stand would YOU have taken that day in the amphitheatre?

Would YOU have continued to remain faithful like ONESIPHORUS, even when nearly everyone else was finally swayed by Alexander's lies and turned away from Paul?

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Prayer: Lord Jesus, please help me to speak up boldly in defense of my Christian friends who are standing up for the Truth of Your Word!--In Jesus' name. Amen.