Week 8: Uproar in Ephesus

The city of Ephesus was known as the temple keeper for Artemis. The temple was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. Ephesus was a port city on the Agean Sea and an important trading center, connecting the trade routes from the East to the sea route to Rome in the West. It was home to the Guild of Silversmiths, which made a large part of their money by making statues of the Artemis that were sold to people who came from all over Asia to worship this goddess.





We read sections from Acts 19 and discussed the different responses that people had to Paul's message. We saw that their were people in Ephesus that had heard John the Baptist's message, but had never heard about Jesus. Paul explained that John's message was to get the people ready for the Savior and that Jesus was the one that John had been preaching about. These people believed Paul's message and were baptized in the name of Jesus and received the Holy Spirit.




We then learned that Paul went to the synagogue and preached the gospel for 3 months. Some of the Jewish people refused to believe and began to say evil things about Jesus. Paul left the synagogue and began to teach the people outside the synagogue. He spoke to people every day for 2 years and the gospel spread throughout the country of Asia.



While Paul was preaching in Ephesus, God used Paul to do many special miracles. The sick were healed when they just touched clothes or handkerchiefs that had been used by Paul. A group of Jewish men were casting out evil spirits by saying "By the same Jesus that Paul talks about, I order you to come out!". One evil spirit rebuked them by saying "I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?". The man with the evil spirit beat the Jewish men and they ran away. Everyone in Ephesus heard about this and they gave great honor to the Lord Jesus.



Many of the believers began to openly confess about the evil things they had done. They refused to worship Artemis and burned their magic books. The word of the Lord kept spreading and growing.








The trouble in Ephesus got serious when a man named Demetrius met with the silversmiths to share his concerns about Paul and his message. Because many people were turning away from worshipping Artemis, the need for their silver statues was falling and they were losing a lot of money. Demetrius also told them that Paul said the gods were not real, but that there was only one true, living God. The importance of Artemis and the city of Ephesus was threatened by the gospel of Jesus that Paul was preaching. The silversmiths became angry and started shouting. The city was thrown into confusion and Paul and his followers were threatened. The city clerk made the angry crowd be quiet and told them they needed to go home before the city was accused of having a riot. Once the trouble was over, Paul met with the followers of Jesus to encourage them and say goodbye. After 2 1/2 years, Paul was going to leave Ephesus and continue his journey.



The children took some time to make a silver statue to remind them of the events in Ephesus. We were reminded that the gods and goddesses that were worshipped during this time were not real and that their images were made by man. Paul's message to us is the same and it was to the people in his own time - there is one true & living God and Jesus' was God in the flesh that died to save us from our sins.

We continued to practice our new memory verse together... help your kids practice them at home!

"Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously." 2 Corinthians 9:6

"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:7,9