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.
-Acts 19:23-41
There is so much going on in this passage, but I think we can pull three interesting things from here.
1. This riot is instigated by the silversmith Demetrius, who seems to have a good business going on, selling shrines of Artemis. However, with the rise of the Way and Christianity spreading in Ephesus, he finds his business in jeopardy. Therefore, it seems that he tries to use Artemis and that religion as a way to arouse the people to drive Christianity out and hold on to their worship of Artemis. However, I suspect that his motive and intent is to save his business, and driven by greed, uses Artemis as a way to undermine Paul and win back the people. Due to our human nature, I think it's common for people to want to do whatever they can do get what they want, and in this case, Demetrius uses the worship of Artemis to save his business. However, as Christians, we aren't called to worship God and use Him for our advantage or favor, but rather worship Him as He is and allow God to use us and our devotion to Him to further His kingdom. We must be careful of our motives and intentions.
2. Paul must have been fired up after hearing what happened, and wants a piece in the action. However, he is quickly held back by the disciples and his friends. As Christians, we have our times of action and times that God uses us in the front lines. However, probably more often than not, we are called to wait on Him, to be still, to be not quick to speak or do. God uses our friends, mentors, and different things around us to remind us of how to act, and we have to trust in that rather than be quick in action, which might sometimes lead us to more trouble.
3. As Paul takes a step back and let's the situation play out, we actually read that the government steps in and takes over, ultimately dismissing the situation and calming the riot. It turns out that God allowed the government to take over the situation, which seems to have eased the tension. Governments aren't perfect, but God still uses them to address some situations, and as Christians we are called to submit to authorities (Romans 13) and pray and trust that God will use them to fulfill his perfect will. This is one of the many ways God works in our world, and we have to allow God to work rather than always putting things in our own hands.
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