If you have had a chance to look at the slideshow of photos, you may remember those of Ephesus. Two thousand years ago this city was dynamic and cosmopolitan and vibrant. It prospered as the capital and largest city of what was then, Asia Minor. Today, the remnants and ruins only whisper of this past. Scarlet poppies amongst the stone.

But this amazing thing happened at that place. Among the broken marble and rubble. This realisation that I was at the actual setting of a city where millennia before, conflicting worldviews were passionately fought out, where the power of God clashed with magic and witchcraft and cult worship, where the earliest New Testament apostles and evangelists travelled to and ministered. Being physically present there, at a place of such significance, was kind of haunting in a way I did not realise.

This really full on situation happened there. In Greek mythology, Artemis was the goddess of the wild and the hunt, as well as wild animals, fertility, and some say, the moon. She was also the principal deity of ancient Ephesus, where she was worshipped at a Temple (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World).

It was in this context that Paul and his helpers evangelised. The Biblical account describes the way that “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul” here, and the way that “the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power” (Acts 19:11;20).

The thing is that this man called Demetrius became threatened by what was happening. Demetrius was a silversmith and he made shrines of the goddess Artemis for the people of Ephesus and for tourists and pilgrims. This was good business. And Paul’s message about the one true Lord, Jesus Christ, threatened this. So he decided to make trouble. He called a meeting together of those similarly employed, and this is what he said to them,

“Men, you well know that we have a good thing going here—and you’ve seen how Paul has barged in and discredited what we’re doing by telling people that there’s no such thing as a god made with hands. A lot of people are going along with him, not only here in Ephesus but all through Asia province.

“Not only is our little business in danger of falling apart, but the temple of our famous goddess Artemis will certainly end up a pile of rubble as her glorious reputation fades to nothing. And this is no mere local matter—the whole world worships our Artemis!” Acts 19:25-27

The account is amazing. This meeting set the craftsmen off in a frenzy. They ran out onto the streets yelling “Great Artemis of the Ephesians! Great Artemis of the Ephesians!” and very soon, the city was in a riot. It’s quite interesting because Acts describes the way that a lot of the people who joined the riot “did not even know why they were there” (v 32). The crowd  stampeded the city theatre  seizing two of Paul’s travelling companions along the way. Paul himself wanted to appear before the crowd in the theatre, but was prevented by the disciples who would not let him go in. Officials of the province, also friends of Paul, begged him not to go in as well. In the end, the uproar was quieted by a town clerk who effectively exonerated Paul and his companions and dismissed the crowd.

The photos are of this actual theatre. The place of the riot, almost two thousand years ago.

~ by Birgit on May 14, 2007.

Posted in Christianity, Devotional, Travel