“About that time, serious trouble developed in Ephesus concerning the Way. It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. He kept many craftsmen busy.”
Acts 19:23-24 NLT
Luke’s writing sounds like it came right out the the Ephesus Times newspaper. It seems that Paul’s preaching about Jesus actually DID effect the idol businesses of that day or it just gave Demetrius the excuse of “handcrafted idols” taking a downturn.
Diana, or the goddess Artemis, mentioned here was THE prominent and well known and loved idol of the city. Right in front of the massive library, they had built a gigantic statue of her standing, overlooking the main road filled with multi-level houses and lined with street vendors selling their goods. Ephesus was a bustling port city until later, the inlet body of water itself dried up and city became an abandoned wasteland. Diana couldn’t and didn’t stop that natural disaster from happening.
Demetrius called all the smaller business owners (idol-makers) together and designed a city-wide protest against Paul. Demetrius played to their livelihood and their religious beliefs, “Of course, I’m not just talking about the loss of public respect for our business. I’m also concerned that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its influence and that Artemis—this magnificent goddess worshiped throughout the province of Asia and all around the world—will be robbed of her great prestige!” Ah, yes, Demetrius was so “concerned” about their great mascot. Ah, maybe he was a true cult believer.
It got the whole city angry and it spilled into a riot, as Demetrius knew it would. After the crowd found and dragged two of Paul’s friends into the amphitheater, listen to what Luke commentates about this riot, “Inside, the people were all shouting, some one thing and some another. Everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn’t even know why they were there.” Most of them didn’t even know why they were there! Classic mob-brain mentality. Angry, frustrated and ready to do some serious protest-able damage – yet having no idea what it’s about. This #sohuman!
The crowd yelled, chanted and shouted the fury-filled phrase for hours, “great is Artemis!” Until the mayor of the town (Alexander) could finally calm them down, reason with them and then threaten that the Roman government hated riots because of damage it did to the empire. Rome wanted citizens to feel safe, be at peace and spend money (more money equals more taxes). We are well aware of what protests and public riots do – nothing but bad outcomes. It makes people feel unsafe, aggravated and they spend less money! Plus, the business owners have to pickup the cost of repairs after the looting, fires and destruction. Mobs don’t care about a cause, they only care about destruction and violence. Mobs love riots, protests and marches because they take advantage of the cover it provides to steal, kill and destroy!
Alexander, after a few tense hours, was able to appeal to their good senses, “Since this is an undeniable fact, you should stay calm and not do anything rash. You have brought these men here, but they have stolen nothing from the temple and have not spoken against our goddess.” He told them to settle the matter in the courts where real arguments and facts could be presented, where both sides could present their case. Novel idea right? Riots, mobs and protests don’t want court cases, those are driven mostly by reason. Mobs want emotionally driven outcomes that do not lead to change, they just do damage.
Prayer
Dad,
Wow, weren’t not just selfish and full of sin, we’re some fickle and a fragile non-thinking bunch. When we get worked up about something, it’s hard to see truth, hard to see right and wrong. And, certainly hard to make the necessary changes to create a good outcome for all. We are so influenced by each other’s emotions and behaviors. This is still true today. Isn’t it possible that the opposite is true? Wouldn’t our good behavior, our peaceful emotions be as viral as the bad? Like the mayor in this story, it seems that someone needs to address the situation and speak peace before things go to far.