“Acts 19: The Third Journey”

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Chapter 19 finds Paul in ancient Ephesus. In New Testament times, Ephesus was a Roman city in Asia Minor. It is now part of modern day Turkey.

As Paul converts people to the Lord in Ephesus, another new congregation is established. The church in Ephesus will be a powerful influence for good. Paul will later write a letter to the church in Ephesus that becomes a part of the New Testament. Also, in Revelation 2 and 3, when seven churches in Asia Minor receive letters from the Lord, Ephesus is one of those congregations (Revelation 2:1-7).

The chapter begins (verses 1-7) as Paul finds twelve men who had been baptized with John’s baptism. Upon further teaching, they are baptized in the name of the Lord.

Paul preaches for three months in the synagogue of Ephesus and then sets up a teaching situation in a local school for two years. This allows the whole province of Asia to hear the gospel (verses 8-10).

After performing many kinds of miracles (the Bible calls them “unusual miracles”), Paul casts out a demon which some “itinerant Jewish exorcists” had failed to remove. These miracles have their intended effect (John 20:30-31) and many people come to faith. Their repentance is shown by their willingness to burn many expensive books of magic. The Bible makes this powerful statement: “So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.”

One more incident concludes chapter 19 (verses 21-41). A man named Demetrius, along with others of his fellow silversmiths, recognizes the danger to his trade caused by former idol worshipers converting  to Christianity. So they put together a protest against Paul and his companions. For a long time, they cry out “Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” (Some Bible translations call her “Artemis of the Ephesians.” Diana was her Roman name and Artemis was her Greek name.) The whole city is in an uproar and chaos is reigning with some citizens not even knowing what is happening. Finally, the city clerk resolves the crisis by telling the silversmiths to pursue legal action against Paul and his friends or else to simply drop the matter.

--Roger Hillis

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