When Mobs Erupt - Acts 19:21-41

Background

One of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world was the great Temple of Diana (Artemis, gr.) in Ephesus. As you might expect, it was a massive and impressive building, supported by 100 column and was truly a sight to behold. Not only were the locals quite proud and fond of the temple, but hundreds of thousands, and perhaps millions of people in that area of the world came there to worship the goddess of the moon. Legend said her statue fell from the sky, sent by her father Jupiter, and it was housed in the temple.

The local silversmiths made a comfortable living selling souvenirs of models of the great temple to the tourists and worshippers who came through Ephesus. While Paul probably never went to the temple and denounced Diana, his teaching of the gospel had the predictable outcome of people coming to Christ and leaving behind their pagan religion. As we saw earlier in this chapter, they voluntarily burned millions of dollars worth of spell books after coming to Christ, and then people stopped buying souvenirs of the temple. Jesus was slowly taking the city from Satan. Because of this, Satan began to fight back, and he used the local craftsmen to do it.

The Progression of the Riot

Demetrius is upset

he is concerned about his occupation (money) being endangered

his religion is being threatened

the status quo is being challenged

He riles the crowd with his grievances

the mob hears his words and finds truth in what he says

they become filled with wrath (rage)

‘thymos’ is incipient anger and displeasure fermenting in the mind

among followers of Christ, wrath should be an almost foreign emotion

“a soft answer turneth away wrath,” - Proverbs 15:1

“love thy enemies,” - Jesus

“In no way can thy enemy so hurt thee by his violence, as thou dost hurt thyself if thou love him not.” - Augustine

they take up a chant, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”

The mob falls upon Gaius and Aristarchus

from this verse, we know they are from Macedonia

in Acts 20:4, we are told Aristarchus was from Thessalonica and Gaius from Derbe

they are rushed into the theatre, and Paul’s disciples prevented him from following for his own safety.

it is possible that Aquila and Priscilla harbored him in their home

this could explain what Paul said about them in Romans 16:3–4 “Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well.”

there is such chaos that nobody seems to know what is going on (v. 32)

all they know is there is an uproar and they are drawn to it, not as spectators, but as participants

this is not uncommon behavior in mobs; they don’t have any facts, but they operate on emotion and fleeting circumstances

Psalm 2:1 “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?”

finally, Alexander is brought forward to speak, presumably for the Christians, but as soon as the mob discovers he is a Jew, they go back to their shouting and chanting

once again, we see an action that is often characteristic of unruly mobs: repetitive, loud, boisterous disruptions

I will not go so far as to say this is always true, but in most cases, the faction that is acting in this manner is on the wrong side of truth and justice

The calming of the rioters

The townclerk (a magistrate and keeper of the archives) intervenes for a very practical reason. (we’ll look at his reason in a moment)

First, he appeals to the history of Ephesus and of their temple

although the entire region worshipped Diana, they had possession of two very important things: the temple of Diana, and the image of Diana

by saying “the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana”, he is saying “the guardian.” The Greek word literally means “temple sweeper” or warden

furthermore, they were the keepers of the image of Diana, which was said to have fallen from Jupiter as a gift to the Ephesians

The keeper then says (in verse 36), “seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against,” or in other words, “seeing that these facts are indisputable, you are getting worked up over nothing.”

Second, the townclerk compliments Paul, although almost certainly unintentionally

(verse 37) these men had not come into the temple and stolen or smashed their idols, nor spoken out against their goddess

this shows that Paul showed great restraint and grace towards these idolators, whilst preaching against idolatry and about Christ

had he come in and insulted the feelings and superstitions of the Ephesians, he would not have been able to reach them in a way that up until now had been very fruitful

this is similar to how he preached in Athens; not against the false gods, but for the One True God

there are those who claim the moral high ground who have no such restraint, and they will rob and vandalize churches, blaspheme the One who created them, and disrupt the worship of Him by true believers

this is a superb lesson for missionaries, but even for laypersons and ministers in America

insulting those we are trying to reach will not win them over

some years ago, a pastor in North Carolina made headlines because he held a book burning in which he burned the Quran

while I would agree with his premise that such a book is wicked and has led millions astray, how many Muslims do you think he reached with the love of the gospel because of that? Likely none, but many were offended and turned away from the gospel.

on the other hand, being winsome and carefree in how we present the gospel will not properly convey the urgency of the gospel (miniature Jesus figurines, “Jesus Loves You” bumper stickers, etc)

there is a line, and sometimes a fine one, between the Truth being offensive, and the bearers of the Truth being offensive. We would do well to study that line and tread it carefully

on two separate occasions, Jesus purged the Temple of those who were abusing the house of the Father for personal gain, but there are two very important facts to remember:

the offenders of the Temple were ripping people off who were coming to worship

He is God

Jesus was not fighting oppression, bigotry, social injustice, or any of the other hot button topics of our day

the closest thing we could probably come to in comparison would be the grifters who take people’s money in exchange for extra prayers, healings, indulgences, etc. Yet, Jesus did not call us to attack them or their houses, but to pray for our enemies and to give them the Truth

The townclerk then appeals to the mob and tells them if they have a case against the Christians, they need to take it before the deputies (judges) in a lawful assembly

then and there, as it is now, it was lawful to assemble, but it was unlawful to riot and enact vigilantism.

in the case of the town officials, they could be impeached or deposed, and in some cases, physically punished for not preventing riots

because there was no lawful case for trial, the mob dispersed and the assembly was dismissed

In today’s passage, we see a little bit of what we should do, and a whole lot of what not to do. Christians, we need to remember that our God is neither the author of confusion, nor of riots. There are Christians who are very much opposed to the actions of the Federal government in it’s efforts to locate and arrest illegal aliens, but joining the mobs in the streets and invading churches is absolutely not a Christ-like approach. On the other hand, joining protesters at the US Capitol and invading the offices of elected officials was not only foolish, but un-Christlike. We must be careful to remember not only the words of Jesus, but the example that He set for us.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 tells us there is a time for everything, including a time to keep quiet, and a time to speak, a time to heal, and a time to kill. A time for war, and a time for peace. There certainly are times when Christians must take a stand, and even draw our swords, but such times must be bathed in prayer and clothed in wisdom, certainly never goaded by emotion or hype. In my home, and in our church, we stand ready to defend against the workers of iniquity. It’s not my first choice, nor is it my hope, but if riotous men and women come calling, we will protect our people. The house of worship that the Lord has given us is a safe haven for worship as long as the Lord wills.

Finally, let us spread the true Gospel with all of the zeal and none of the anger that permeates the culture of the pagans. Remember that Christ is King, and He has already emerged victorious. Let us not fear the one who can destroy the body, but fear the One who destroys both body and soul in hell. Urgently spread the good news of Christ’s sacrificial atonement for sin, and if we’re going to hype anything, hype Christ!