Ephesus - 'Temple-keeper Of The Great Artemis'

by George Prasher, Manchester, England | Category: New Testament Churches Of God | Sept 1999

'Great is Artemis (Roman name Diana) of the Ephesians!' a menacing mob chanted incessantly against disciples of Christ in the Church of God there. Appealing to the agitators, the city clerk said: 'Men of Ephesus, doesn't all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?' (Acts 19:35 NIV). The temple in Ephesus was indeed well known: it ranked among the seven wonders of the ancient world, for it was a magnificent building. But what did it represent? The dark, Satanic cult of the fertility goddess, with its associated immorality and prostitution.

Through the work of Paul and his helpers the gospel had made such impact in Ephesus that craftsmen who made silver shrines of Artemis felt their livelihood threatened. Hence the riot! How powerfully the Lord must have been working in that city! Let us trace briefly the growth of a thriving Church of God with its challenge to Satan's kingdom of darkness.

Paul and his fellow-workers had wished to take the gospel to the province of Asia some years earlier, 'but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to' at that time (Acts 16:6,7 NIV). They were diverted to other areas, as though the Holy Spirit was encircling Ephesus with other churches of God before the chosen moment for assault on the central citadel of Satan in Ephesus itself. The Spirit of God is sovereign in the direction of the gospel. Paul had learned the importance of waiting to be assured of the Spirit's direction in all his service. Whether then or now, the planting of churches of God would be possible only where He chose to work in power for the making of disciples who would commit themselves to carry out 'the whole counsel of God' (Acts 20:27).

Paul had left Aquila and Priscilla in Ephesus, we are told in Acts chapter 18, while he returned to Syrian Antioch at the end of his second great missionary journey. Then the main objective of his third missionary thrust from Antioch was the province of Asia, with Ephesus at its centre. What a patchwork of religions he found there! Acts chapter 19 describes his experiences.

First there was the group of about twelve men who had known only the preaching and baptism of John the Baptist. 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?' asked Paul (Acts 19:2 NIV). A striking question because it illustrates that it was normal for those receiving the gospel simultaneously to receive the Holy Spirit. But these men had not even heard that the Spirit had been given. 'John baptized with the baptism of repentance', explained Paul, 'saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Jesus. And when they heard this they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus' (Acts 19:4,5). It is noteworthy that God often works to bring further spiritual light to people who are earnestly seeking it. Sometimes they are led by stages to the full knowledge of the truth. Our hearts should be open to receive further light from Scripture and be willing to give effect to what God shows us.

Then for three months Paul reasoned boldly in the synagogue, seeking to persuade the Jewish congregation in Ephesus about:

...the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus (Acts 19: 8,9).

A typical pattern of rejection to apostolic testimony in synagogues! Paul usually took the message to the Jew first as he moved from city to city. As he presented the challenge of Christ crucified some would respond; but always the majority were hardened, the synagogue doors were barred to further preachers of the gospel, and they turned to the Gentile populace with the word of life. As Paul said to the Jews of Rome:

Be it known therefore unto you, that this salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles: they will also hear (Acts 28:28).

Many Gentiles in Ephesus gladly heard and accepted the gospel. They were obedient to the faith and along with Jewish disciples formed a Church of God in that city. As Paul later reminded them when he wrote his epistle to the Ephesians:

...now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition... And he came and preached peace to you that were far off, and peace to them that were nigh: for through him we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father (2: 13-18).

Ephesus was the main city of the Roman province of Asia, an ideal centre for the wide spread of the gospel to other parts of the province. Paul continued in Ephesus for two years, helping forward the growth and progress of this new, dynamic Church of God. As a result... 'all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks' (Acts 19:10).

A sinister aspect of religious life in Ephesus was the practice of magical arts; the lure of the occult was powerful then as it is today. God worked remarkably to expose the evil of certain Jewish exorcists who presumed to use the name of Jesus whom Paul preached. They had the terrifying experience of being violently attacked by a demon-possessed man, so that they fled naked and bleeding. This made a deep impression on many in Ephesus. As a result the Name of the Lord was magnified:

Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practised sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly... In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power (Acts 19:18-20 NIV).

Writing from Ephesus at this time Paul said: '...a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries' (1 Cor. 16:9).

We recall again the obscene prostitution which stained Ephesus in association with the temple worship of Artemis. In brilliant contrast, those reached by the gospel and brought together as the Church of God in Ephesus formed part of 'a holy temple in the Lord' (Eph. 2:19-22). How well the Ephesian disciples would appreciate the splendour of their new standing! For they had turned their backs on the temple of Artemis with its deep, moral corruption, and now enjoyed the pure blessings of a 'habitation of God in the Spirit' with its service of a holy priesthood. Wonderful liberation from the power of darkness 'to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light' (Col. 1:12).

George Prasher, Manchester, England | Sept 1999
New Testament Churches Of God