Read Part One HERE
A WALK THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS
PART XIX - IX
"I, Demetrius, am quite upset... I thought that we, the silversmiths in Ephesus, were making progress.... For we managed to get the crowd on our side.... We knew that when they began to shout that Artemis is great... And they kept that up for two hours.... We were convinced that this man Paul would be picked up and thrown into prison... But, unfortunately, that did not happen.... Quite the opposite happened... The city clerk suddenly appeared... The other silversmiths and I looked at each other... We realised that our moment of triumph had passed... For he would make sure that things would settle down... That is indeed what happened... He managed to calm the crowd down.... Everyone left quietly soon thereafter... I and my fellow silversmiths had no choice but to go home as well.... We have been told that if we wanted to make a case against this man Paul we would have to follow legal procedures... That may cost us only more money.... I can now only hope that this man Paul will leave town... I have heard he has plans to go to Macedonia.".... Please read the typed out attachment when you will learn how the city clerk managed to bring calm to the city of Ephesus...
ATTACHMENT A WALK THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS
PART XIX - IX
It was only when the city clerk spoke up that the situation became calm as you can know from Acts 19:35-36
The city cleark quieted the crowd and said, "Fellow Ephesians, 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? Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and do not do anything rash."
And the city clerk helped as well the people to see that there was no case against this man Paul even though Demetrius had wanted to stir things up against him as you can know from Acts 19:37
"You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess."
He then made it clear how Demetrius should proceed against Paul if he still wished to do so as you can know from Acts 19:38-39
"If then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly."
The city clerk wanted peace and rioting would only cause serious problems in the city. So it must not be allowed under any circumstance as you can know from Acts 19:40
"As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it."
Demetrius may have thought there was a good reason to riot but the city clerk did not agree and put a stop to it. He then dismissed the assembly as you can know from Acts 19:41
After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.
The crowd then quietly dispersed... The excitement was over and calm had once again set in... Demetrius and his fellow silversmiths and other workers dispersed as wel. They knew there is nothing they could do about the situation with Paul. It seemed like a lost cause.
As for the believers In Ephesus, no doubt, they were very relieved that things have settled down so they could continue their ministry in Ephesus sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ among the Gentiles as well as Jews, eventhough they had now become aware of their enemies such as Demetrius. However, they will have remembered as well that Jesus taught His followers to pray for their enemies and that is what they will have done... They will have begun to pray for Demetrius and others like him... Who knows one day some of them may even have become believers for nothing is impossible with God as you can know from Matthew 19:26b
.... But with God all things are possible.
And Paul had not been put in prison despite what had happened, at least not this time.... He was, in fact, about to leave for Macedonia.....
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