The Book of Acts

Spotlight on Ephesus
(Acts 18:18 - 19:41)

After 18 months at Corinth Paul sailed for Syria taking Priscilla and Aquila with him. However, before leaving, he took a Nazirite vow at Cenchreae, the Corinthian port. The law respecting the Nazirite vow is given in Numbers 6. For the duration of his vow the Nazirite was to drink no wine or grape juice nor have contact with a dead body. He was also to refrain from cutting his hair. At Cenchreae Paul had his hair cut which marked the conclusion of the vow. The severed hair would eventually be burnt in Jerusalem under the sacrifice of the fellowship offering.

He goes up to Jerusalem
Paul was now on his way to Jerusalem, and the purpose of the vow was probably to conciliate the law-zealous believers in Jerusalem. The next time he went to Jerusalem he was advised to make a similar vow, just to prove that he was living in obedience to the law (21:24). As he says in 1 Corinthians 9:20, "To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I am not myself under the law), so as to win those under the law." Paul observed the law as a good Jew, but he was not under the jurisdiction of the law, not bound by it. Like all true believers, he was not under law but under grace (Romans 6:14-15).

The words of verse 21 in the KJV , "I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem" is not included in the later translations, but it may nevertheless give the true reason for his hasty departure. If so the feast was probably Passover. His visit to Jerusalem is only mentioned by inference in 18:22: "he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch". "Going up" and "going down" are frequently used of journeys to and from Jerusalem, and as Bruce remarks, "it is from Jerusalem, and certainly not from Caesarea, that one would 'go down' to Antioch".

Paul's third missionary journey is summarised in verse 23. He revisited the churches of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe, which he had founded during his first journey (chapters 13 and 14) and consolidated during his second (16:6). His travels are passed over with lightning speed. From his departure from Ephesus in 18:21 to his return there in 19:1 is reckoned to have been all of 1500 miles. But Luke was not with him and there was nothing, apparently, which he felt constrained to record.

Apollos
We are introduced instead to an Alexandrian Jew called Apollos who had come to Ephesus. He is described as "a learned (or eloquent) man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures". He spoke with great fervour ("burning in spirit") and taught about Jesus "accurately", but he only knew about the baptism of John. He appears to have had accurate knowledge about the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, but was ignorant of Christian baptism "in the name of Jesus", and of the giving of the Spirit at Pentecost.

He was heard by Priscilla and Aquila in the synagogue at Ephesus. They were evidently impressed by what they heard, but were acutely aware of his limitations. They therefore took him aside after the meeting, invited him to their home, and explained to him the way of God "more accurately". It seems to have been Priscilla who took the lead since here, as in verses 18-19, she is named before her husband.

Apollos went on to Corinth where he proved to be of great value to the believers. He also "vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ". Paul pays tribute to his useful work in 1 Corinthians 3:6 where he says, "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow."

Apollos has his counterpart in many preachers and teachers today. In accurate knowledge of the gospel they cannot be faulted; in words of power and eloquence they cannot be surpassed; but with very few exceptions they know nothing of the secret revealed in Ephesians. In this important respect their presentation is defective, and it may on occasions be possible for some of us, like Priscilla and Aquila, to lead them to a "more accurate" understanding of truth for today. Only God however can open a person's heart to understand the truth. With man it is impossible, as all of us have learnt from our own experience.

The disciples at Ephesus
Soon after, Paul himself returned to Ephesus. There he found some disciples, about twelve in number, who shared the same limitations as Apollos. When asked, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?", they replied, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." It was not the Person of the Holy Spirit of whom they were ignorant, but the gift of holy spirit imparted at Pentecost. Like Apollos they knew only about John's baptism, but unlike Apollos they had no accurate knowledge of the Scriptures nor spiritual power in their lives.

Paul baptised them again "in the name of the Lord Jesus" (which had not been necessary in the case of Apollos) and laid his hands on them. Only then did the Spirit come on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. Their experience was now in conformity with the pattern given by Peter in Acts 2:38: they had repented, been baptised "in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins", and had received the gift of holy spirit. This is the pattern found all through the book of Acts. Repentance, baptism, and receiving the Spirit are the three moments in the experience of conversion, and ideally they all took place at one and the same time.

These Ephesian disciples also have their counterparts today. All too often young converts make no progress in the faith or revert to their former state. They profess conversion and are duly baptised, but their lives remain unchanged. They are like the seed which fell along the pathway or on rocky ground in the parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:4-6). This is often due to lack of follow-up and instruction in the faith. The answer to their predicament is a new beginning. Another dose of water is not what they need. What they do need to do is to repent of their sin and failure, and to receive the Spirit into their lives in all sincerity and truth.

Extraordinary miracles
Paul stayed a long time in Ephesus. For three months he spoke in the synagogue "arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God". After that he withdrew from the synagogue and lectured in the hall of Tyrannus for a further two years, "so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord" (19:10).

God confirmed this ministry by doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul. Even the sweat-rags and aprons, which he used for tying round his head and waist when engaged in tent-making or leather-work, were used by the Lord to heal the sick and cast out demons.

Peter's shadow had the same miraculous powers in Acts 5:15. This is one of many parallels between Paul's ministry and Peter's. Stuart Allen gives a list of 24 such parallels in his book The Acts of the Apostles and Afterwards , pages 170-71. Paul is thus shown to be an apostle of equal standing to Peter, though their respective ministries were totally independent.

But when the seven sons of Sceva, of a Jewish high-priestly family, tried to cast out demons "in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches", they paid severely for their insolence. The evil spirit jumped on them and gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding! It is little wonder that both Jews and Greeks "were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honour".

This section concludes on a triumphant note. Many believers openly confessed their evil deeds, while others brought out their magical scrolls and publicly burnt them. They could have realised 50,000 drachmae (over a million pounds) by selling them, but they preferred to see them go up in smoke!

With Paul's decision to visit Jerusalem and Rome, Acts 19:21, a new section of this book begins. Paul however stayed on at Ephesus for a while longer, so we may be permitted to remain with him.

The assembly was in confusion
The conversion of so many people was a major setback for the craftsmen and traders who profited from the worship of the goddess Artemis, another name for Diana. One of them, Demetrius, who made a lot of money for the craftsmen by selling silver shrines of the goddess, called a meeting of his trade and played on their emotions. It was not simply their craft which was suffering, he said, but the temple of the great goddess itself. This would be discredited, and Artemis herself robbed of her divine majesty.

The result was an uproar in which the whole city became involved. They assembled in the huge open-air theatre, which was estimated to hold 25,000 people, and for all of two hours they shouted nonstop, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" It was only with great difficulty that the city clerk managed to pacify the mob and prevent a riot.

In three places this angry assembly is called an ekklesia , the usual word for "church" in the New Testament. Ekklesia is here used in its secular sense of a meeting of Greek citizens. But could it be that we have here a picture of the church of the future, the final stage of the visible church when the leaven of doctrinal error and political expediency has corrupted the whole mass out of all recognition?

Certainly there are many parallels between the temple of Artemis and the Babylon of Revelation 17-18.

• Ephesus was a place where fortunes were made from the worship of Artemis. It is written of Babylon that "the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries" (Revelation 18:3).
• The temple at Ephesus was a treasury in which a large portion of the wealth of Asia was stored up. So also will Babylon be: "The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls" (Revelation 17:4).
• Artemis was the goddess of fertility, and her worship consisted of debauchery, idolatry and prostitution. So also the woman Babylon "held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries" (17:4).
• The temple at Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the world, a place of unrivalled magnificence. According to Pliny, it was 425 feet in length, 270 feet broad, and supported by more than 100 columns, each donated by a prince. The woman Babylon is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth (17:18).
• Artemis herself was worshipped throughout the province of Asia and the world (Acts 19:27). Babylon also will be acclaimed throughout the world.

The cult of Artemis was a precursor of the worship of the Virgin Mary. Who can doubt that Mary, Queen of Heaven, will be held in high esteem at Babylon. It will no doubt pretend to be Christian, but the Lord's people are commanded to: "Come out of her", not to be involved in her sins or share in her plagues.