Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: ACTS #32 - 19:21-41)
XVIII. 19:21-21:41 INWARD WORKINGS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
A. 19:21-41 A NORMAL GOSPEL EXPANDS AMIDST PERSECUTION
1. 19:21-22 EXPANSION OF THE GOSPEL PLANNED
a. 19:21 FURTHER TRAVELLING PLANS OF PAUL
Hos de e-pleROtheTAUta, Ethe-to ho PAUlos en toPNEUma-ti,
Now as these things were being fulfilled, :Paul purposed in the spirit,
di-elTHON ten Ma-ke-doNIan kai A-CHAIan, poREUes-thai eis Ie-roSOlu-ma, eiPON [HOti],
when he had passed through :Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying [that],
MeTA to geNESthai me eKEI, DEI me kai 'ROmen iDEIN.
After I have been there, I must also see Rome.
b. 19:22 DEPLOYMENT OF PAUL'S TEAM MEMBERS
a-poSTEIlas de eis ten Ma-ke-doNIan DUo ton di-a-koNOUNton [1247]auTO,
And having sent into Macedonia two of them that were ministering to him,
TiMOthe-on kai Eras-ton, auTOS ePEschen [1907] CHROnon eis ten A-SIan.
Timothy and Erastus, himself stayed in :Asia for a time.
2. 19:23-41 POCKETBOOKS: A KEY TO PERSECUTION
a. 19:23 And about that :season no small stir arose concerning the Way.
E-GEne-to de kaTA ton kaiRON eKEInon TAra-chos [5017]ouk oLIgos peRI tes hoDOU.
b. 19:24-25 THE LIVING OF IDOL-MAKERS
DeMEtri-os GAR tis oNOma-ti, ar-gu-roKOpos [695],poiON naOUS [3485] ar-guROUS ArTEmi-dos,
For a certain Demetrius by name, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana,
paREIche-to tois techNItais [5079] ouk oLIgen er-gaSIan [2039 ];
brought no little business unto the craftsmen;
25whom he gathered together, with the workmen of like business, andsaid,
ANdres, ePIstas-the[1987] HOti ek TAUtes tes er-gaSIas [2039] he eu-poRIa [2142] heMIN es-tin.
Men, you know that by this :business we have our wealth.
c. 19:26-27 RELIGIOSITY: SMOKE-SCREEN TO ENDANGERMENT OF WEALTH
kai the-oREIte kai aKOUe-te, HOti ou MOnon E-PHEsou, alLA scheDON PAses tes A-SIas,
And you see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all :Asia,
ho PAUlos HOUtos PEIsas [3982] meTEste-sen [3179] hi-kaNON OCHlon,
this :Paul has persuaded andturned away a large crowd,
LEgon HOti ouk eiSIN theOI, hoi diA cheiRON giNOme-noi:
saying that they are no gods, that are made with hands:
ou MOnon de TOUto kin-duNEUei heMIN to MEros eis a-pe-legMON elTHEIN; alLA kai to tes meGAles
27and not only is there danger that this our :trade come into disrepute; but also that the temple
theAS ArTEmi-dos hi-eRON eis ouTHEN lo-gisTHEnai [3049],
of the great goddess Diana be made of no account,
MELlein te kai ka-thaiREISthai tes me-ga-leiOte-tos auTES hen HOle he A-SIa kai he oi-kouMEne SEbe-tai.
and that she should even be deposed from her majesty whom all :Asia and the inhabited earthworships.
d. 19:28 RESULT: RELIGIOUS WRATH AROUSED
aKOUsan-tes de kai geNOme-noi PLEreis thuMOU,
And when they heard thisthey were filled with wrath,
Ekra-zon, LEgon-tes, MeGAle he ARte-mis EpheSIon.
and cried out, saying, Great the Diana of Ephesians.
e. 19:29 CONFUSION AND PERSECUTION
kai ePLESthe he POlis tes sugCHUse-os [4799]: HORme-SAN te ho-mo-thu-maDON eis to THEa-tron [2302],
And the city was filled with the confusion: and they rushed with one accord into the theater,
su-narPAsan-tes [4884] GAIon kai A-RIstar-chon, Ma-keDOnas, su-nekDEmous [4898] tou PAUlou.
having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonian men, Paul's companions in travel.
f. 19:30 And when Paul intended to enter in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.
PAUlon de bou-loMEnou ei-selTHEIN eis ton DEmon [1218], ouk EIon [1439] auTON hoi ma-theTAI.
g. 19:31 FRIENDS OUTSIDE OF EPHESUS AGREED
tiNES te kai ton A-si-arCHON, ONtes auTO PHIloi [5384],
And certain also of the Asiarchs, being his friends,
PEMpsan-tes pros auTON pa-reKAloun [3870] me DOUnai he-auTON eis to THEa-tron.
sent unto him andbesought himnot to venture himself into the theater.
h. 19:32 CONFUSION IN IGNORANCE
ALloi men oun, ALlo ti Ekra-zon: en gar he ek-kleSIa sun-ke-chuMEne [4797];
Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was in confusion;
kai hoi PLEIous ouk Edei-san TInos HEne-ka su-ne-leLUthei-san.
and the more partknew not why they were come together.
i. 19:33a And they brought Alexander out of the crowd, the Jews putting him forward.
ek de tou OCHlou su-neBIba-san [4264] A-LExan-dron, pro-baLONton [4261] auTON ton IouDAIon.
j. 19:33b And :Alexander beckoned with the hand, andwould have made a defense unto the people.
ho de A-LExan-dros ka-taSEIsas [2678]ten CHEIra, Ethe-len a-po-loGEISthai [626]to DEmo[1218].
k. 19:34 HEATHEN AND CHRISTIAN ZEAL COMPARED
e-pigNONtes de HOti IouDAI-OS es-tin,
But when they perceived that he was a Jew,
phoNE eGEne-to MIa ek PANton hoSEI ePI HOras DUo kraZONton, MeGAle he ARte-mis E-pheSIon.
all with one voice for about two hours cried out, Great the Diana of Ephesians.
l. 19:35 WISDOM OF THE TOWNCLERK
ka-taSTEIlas [2687] de ton OCHlon ho gram-maTEUS, pheSIN,
And when the townclerk had quieted the crowd, he says,
[ANdres] E-PHEsi-oi, tis GAR es-tin anTHROpon hos ou giNOskei
[:Men] Ephesians, what man is therewho knows not
ten E-pheSIon POlin ne-oKOron [3511] OUsan tes meGAles ArTEmi-dos, kai tou di-o-peTOUS [1356]?
that the city of theEphesians is temple-keeper of the great Diana, and of the imagefallen from Jupiter?
m. 19:36 FURTHER WISDOM FROM HIM
a-nan-tiREton [368] oun ONton touTON,
Seeing therefore that these thingscannot be gainsaid,
DEon esTIN huMAS ka-te-stalMEnous [2687] huPARchein [5225], kai meDEN pro-peTES [4312] PRASsein.
you ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rash.
n. 19:37 For you have brought these :men,neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our :goddess.
eGAge-te gar tous ANdras TOUtous, OUte hi-e-roSUlous [2417]OUte blas-pheMOUNtas ten thON heMON.
o. 19:38 HIS ADVICE TO DEMETRIUS
ei men oun DeMEtri-os, kai hoi sun auTO techNItai [5079],
If therefore Demetrius, and the craftsmen with him,
Echou-sin PROS ti-na LOgon, a-goRAIoi [60] Agon-tai,
have a matter against any man, courts are open,
kai anTHUpaTOI [446] ei-sin: eg-kaLEIto-san [1458] alLElois.
and thereare proconsuls: let them accuse one another.
p. 19:39 But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly.
ei DE ti pe-raiTEro e-pi-zeTEIte, en te enNOmo [1772] ek-kleSIa e-pi-luTHEse-tai [1956].
q. 19:40 HIS WARNING CONCERNING UPRISING CAUSED BY DEMETRIUS
kai gar kin-duNEUo-men [2793] eg-kaLEISthai [1458]
For indeed we are in danger of being accused
STAse-os [4594] PEri tes SEme-ron, me-deNOS aiTIou huPARchon-tos:
concerning this day's riot, therebeing no cause for it:
peRI hou ou du-neSOme-tha a-poDOUnai LOgon peRI tes sus-troPHES [4963] TAUtes.
as touching it we shall not be able to give account of this :concourse.
r. 19:41 And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.
kai TAUta eiPON, aPElu-sen [630]ten ek-kleSIan.
NOTE: Problems in this world of nations may be put forward as spiritual, as illustrated by Demetrius here. But when we consider the whole matter in context, the real cause of riots and other types of uprising have more often a carnalbasis such as money and greed. We should always dig beneath the surface to understand true motives. This applies especially in the realm of politics and government. The outward reason for change may not accord with the hidden but real motivation. One evangelist said that there are three “g's” beneath the surface that spell ruin for so many of us: Gold, Glory and Girls! Think about it!
In 19:35 the townclerk was under no illusion concerning the true motivation of Demetrius. And fortunately, he had the authority to do something about it, which he did! Would to God modern political and governmental excesses had someone who could step in and restore order. Fortunately the day is soon at hand when God's appointed man, the trueMessiah, will return and function superbly in that role. He will even send his angel to bind and throw Satan into the bottomless pit for 1000 years. “Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!” Thenall false messiahs will be exposed and dealt with. J.A.W.