PT-1 "The Calming of the Riot" (Acts 19:35-41)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/23/2018 10:50 AM

My Worship Time                                                                      Focus:  “The Calming of the Riot”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 19:35-41

            Message of the verses:  “35 After quieting the crowd, the town clerk said, "Men of Ephesus, what man is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from heaven? 36 “So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash. 37 “For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 “So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against any man, the courts are in session and proconsuls are available; let them bring charges against one another. 39 “But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the lawful assembly. 40 "For indeed we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no real cause for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this disorderly gathering." 41 After saying this he dismissed the assembly.”

            When we look at the words “town clerk” we may wonder why this man would have the power to do what is described that he did in this section of Scripture.  When I looked up this word “clerk” in my Online Bible dictionary (Greek/English), it said that this position was different in different towns, and so we have to believe that in the case of Ephesus this man indeed had the power to do what is described here, and that is to s top the demonstration that was going on.  John MacArthur states that this man was like a mayor of a modern city.  It is believed that if this demonstration was not stopped that this man would be accountable to Rome, and we can surely believe that he did not want that to happen and that is why he came to stop what was going on in the theater.  One of the things that he said to calm the situation was to talk about this god that many of the Ephesians worshiped:  “, "Men of Ephesus, what man is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from heaven?”  In his commentary John MacArthur quotes John Polhil:

“Meteorites were often associated with the worship of Mother Goddess [Artemis].  The most famous of these was the sacred stone taken from Pessinus to Rome in 204 BC.  A meteorite also seems to have been associated with the cult of the Taurian Artemis. Although there is no evidence beyond this text for such a sacred stone being connected with the Ephesian cult, it is altogether likely that one existed, given this common association of the mother goddess with a ‘stone from heaven.’”

            This town clerk continues on by saying “since then there are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash.”  If I am correct in my thinking about this I think that this man was doing something to make sure he did not get into trouble with the Romans.  You may call it CYA (Cover Your Anatomy).  Now due to things that are going on this morning at our house we will have to finish this section in our next SD.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Every eye.”

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘Aeneas, Jesus Christ makes you whole:  arise, and make your bed?’”

Answer in our next SD.

6/23/2018 11:43 AM