Demetrius could smell parchment burning, along with his profits.
Ephesian citizens, the ones who were drawn to the dark arts, brought their magic books and tossed them into a communal fire. As the thousands of pages warped and crackled, men and women renounced the spells, incantations, and rituals that had bound them.
Someone had a mind to count the value of the books that had been turned to ash. The grand total? Fifty thousand pieces of silver.
These new Christians had never been more free.
Demetrius the silversmith had never been more frustrated.
Ephesus was one of the oldest Greek settlements in the Mediterranean. By New Testament times, the Romans had chosen the city as the empire’s provincial seat of government in Central Asia.
Ephesus was a premier destination for another reason. It contained a great temple dedicated to Artemis, the goddess of hunting, the wilderness, and wild animals. Her powers also included blessing her followers with fertility and childbirth.
Worshippers from all over the empire made the pilgrimage to Ephesus so they could pay homage at one of the seven wonders of the world.
In Comes A Troublemaker
Then someone named Paul showed up.
He brought the good news to some disciples of John the Baptist. They were faithful in what they knew, which was the John’s baptism of repentance. But they hadn’t gotten the rest of the story. Paul filled them in: Jesus, His resurrection, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Twelve men converted, agreed to be baptized, and have Paul pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit. They began speaking in tongues and prophesying, spreading the good news to their Ephesian neighbors.
Paul continued preaching throughout Ephesus, and everyone took note of the extraordinary miracles God worked through him.
Sicknesses left.
Demons fled.
Ephesians gave up their pagan practices, following Christ instead.
And a silversmith named Demetrius was hemorrhaging money.
Paul spent three months teaching the Jewish populace in the Ephesian synagogue, persuading converts even while facing stiff resistance.
He then logged many hours in the Hall of Tyrannus, a place where Ephesians gathered to hear daily lectures. Paul and his disciples were a fixture there for the next two years, and “all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:10).
Shrinking Market Share for Shrines
All this time, Demetrius lost business. His silver shrines of Artemis had formerly been bestsellers.
Ephesians would set up these idols in the comfort of their homes and pray for her to bless their efforts to start a family, as well as protect their daughters’ health until they matured and were ready to marry.
Artemis still held prestige and remained the top god in the city. But the followers of the Way had cut into the silversmith’s profit margins. To Demetrius, every time the name of Jesus was declared it was another drachma that didn’t go in his money pouch.
Our silversmith may have earned a living working with his hands, but he also possessed a silver tongue.
One day, he gathered his fellow craftsmen and metalworkers. If their guild had existed today, you might call them something like, “The International Brotherhood of Metalworkers and Craftsmen, Local #6 of Ephesus.”
Demetrius stood up and delivered a rousing speech.
“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.”
– Acts 19:25-27
Protect our trade, protect your profits.
Paul is the enemy.
The honor of Artemis is at stake.
Take a bow, Demetrius.
Look at what he led off with. From this business we have our wealth. Demetrius was about money, first and foremost.
But a good speaker knows that to a get a crowd to bite, you need to wrap meat around the bone. In this case, it was religious pride. Are you men going to stand there while Paul dethrones Artemis, the goddess whom all Asia and the world worship?
This meeting of organized labor wouldn’t be complete without a slogan, and the metalworkers took it, ran with it, and rioted with it.
GREAT IS ARTEMIS OF THE EPHESIANS!
GREAT IS ARTEMIS OF THE EPHESIANS!
GREAT IS ARTEMIS OF THE EPHESIANS!
Taking It to the Streets
They walked the streets, fists balled, bellowing it out again and again. Curious onlookers joined the fray. Numbers swelled until a crowd turned to a mob. Many of them had no idea what was going on, but the sheer energy, rage, and excitement drew them in.
The metalworkers kept an eye out for any followers of the Way. They found Gaius and Aristarchus, two believers and traveling companions of Paul. Someone had to pay, and if it wasn’t Paul, the two Macedonians would do just fine.
The mob naturally found its way into the Ephesian theater, the gathering place for city assemblies where political business was conducted. It was a 20,000-seater, and for two hours they shouted over and over and over and over and over and over.
GREAT IS ARTEMIS OF THE EPHESIANS!
Paul, whom the crowd had not swept up, tried to enter the theater and make a defense. Fellow believers pleaded with him to turn away. They assumed that Gaius and Aristarchus were likely goners, and they didn’t want the same to happen to Paul.
Demetrius was likely in the thick of it all, reveling in a job well done, his pursuit of restored profits nearly complete. He had the backing of the metalworkers, the popular support of the people, and the religious fervor maxed out.
Gaius and Aristarchus stood somewhere in the thick of it, probably at the center the theater so everyone could hurl insults, spit, and chant for their death. They were alone, with the exception of a few believers who may have ventured in to witness the scene, pray, and communicate back to other believers.
Mobs don’t have a reputation for being delicate convoys, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if each man was already smarting from at least a few punches or kicks. Besides, these men represented blasphemy against Artemis, and that would make their deaths honorable, even pleasurable, to the crowd.
A Sudden Switch & Another Speech
But Demetrius failed to secure the approval of one key decision-maker: the town clerk. No, he was not the man who maintained the local general store and checked them out at the counter. He was the city’s chief administrative officer, the liaison between the town assembly and the Romans.
Although he was a worshipper of Artemis too, he had visions of wrath that far exceeded what was happening around him.
He knew this was an unlawful assembly. The Roman Empire did not take kindly to said unlawful assemblies.
There would be reprisals, violent ones. And a lot more people would be arrested, charged, and executed than the two men that day. Commerce and trade would sputter out. Fear would grip the city. Pilgrims planning to travel to Ephesus would pause their plans.
The town clerk also understood that his head would be first to go in such a scenario.
So he cleared his throat and did the impossible, talking down the mob.
“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?
Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess.
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. But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly.
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.’ And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.”
– Acts 19:35-41
Demetrius, to his misfortune, had the second best speech of the day.
The town clerk also appealed to the city’s religious pride, ensuring them that their credibility as the seat of Artemis was not in trouble. Then he laid the cold reality in front of them. We are in danger of being charged with rioting today.
If Romand foot soldiers and cavalry arrived, there would be no turning back.
The confused mob stood down and dispersed. Gaius and Aristarchus, the two believers, were released, their lives spared. And Demetrius left with a Pyrrhic victory.
Yes, he had stirred up a renewed zeal for Artemis. But he hadn’t eliminated the pesky problem of Paul and the followers of Jesus Christ.
New Realities
It’s not hard to imagine that, in the days following the riot, Demetrius saw an uptick in business. The town clerk had publicly committed the city to Artemis, and many people were riding high off that.
Still, he never could recover that lost market share from the followers of the Christ. Before leaving for Macedonia, Paul strengthened his fellow believers, they continued to plant churches, and Ephesus became a launching pad for evangelism all throughout Asia.
Turns out that a silver tongue is no match for the work of the Holy Spirit.
If you enjoyed this story from start to finish…
Comment below, share with a friend, or send your thoughts to kevin@replenishstories.com.
Kevin Cochrane is the creator of Replenish, the site to resupply your faith with overlooked insights from Scripture-based stories.
replenishstories.com 