Bible Studies In The Word of God

ACTS 19

 

Verse 1. Paul came to Ephesus after Apollos had left that city and gone to Corinth in Greece.  See chapter 18:27, 28.) The disciples he found at Ephesus were evidently the persons whom Apollos had baptized (chapter 18:25).

Verse 2. Paul knew that in those days a baptized believer was entitled to the gift of the. Holy Ghost (see the comments at chapter 2:38), but he also knew that even their baptism did not automatically bestow that gift until an apostle had laid hands on them (chapter 8:18). He did not know whether that special favor had yet been given to them, hence the question stated in this place. When they told him they had not heard anything about such a subject as the Holy Ghost, it showed that something was wrong.

Verse 3; In answer to his question about their baptism, they told Paul that they had been baptized unto John’s baptism. (See chapter 18:25.)

Verse 4. The difference between
“John’s baptism” and “Christian bap-
tism” is indicated in this verse. When
John baptized a man he was required
to believe on Christ who was to come.
He had not yet come and hence no

person could be baptized into His

name or by his authority. But John
was dead and Christ had come when
Apollos was preaching, hence it was
unscriptural to use John’s baptism.
Both baptisms were “for the remis-
sion of sins,” and both had to be pre-
ceded by repentance (Mark 1:4; Acts
2:38). But the latter was by the au-
thority of Christ which put the be-
liever into His name.

Verse 5. These were rebaptized and
it was into the name of Christ. No
person but John could use his baptism,
but the ones whom he baptized never
had to be baptized again, for they were
then prepared for the service of Christ.

Verses 6, 7. What happened when
Paul laid hands onthem, was what he
was inquiring about in verse 2. Only
those who were baptized with “Chris-
tian baptism” were entitled to that
gift, and even then it _required the
hands of an apostle.

Verse 8. Disp-ating is from the same
word as “reasoned” in chapter 17 : 2.
By reasoning on the subject, Paul was
able to persuade some in favor of the
kingdom of God.

Verse 9. After three months of ef-
fort before the general multitudes as-
sembling in the synagogue, the opposi-
tion to the truth became such that
Paul concluded he c-ould accomplish
more by working elsewhere. Separated
the disciples means he withdrew with
the ones who were truly interested and
who were eager to hear more of the
truth. School is from the Greek word
sci-rout. Robinson defines it, “leisure,
rest, vacation, attention, devotion,
study.” He then explains it to mean,
“A place of learned leisure, where a
teacher and his disciples came to-
gether and held discussions and dis-
putations.” Thayer defines it, “Free-
dom from labor, leisure; a place where
there is leisure for anything, a school.”
Moffatt renders it, “lecture-room.” This
“scho-ol,” then, was a place main-
tained by Tyrannus, a kind of public
auditorium that was open to the public
for the free use of any persons who
wished to engage in cultural and rec-
reational activities.

Verse 10. This school was frequented
by many people of all races and from
all over Asia, for in the two years that
Paul spent inhis teaching there, the
word of the Lord was heard through-
out that area.

Verses 11, 12. Special miracles denotes those that were not commonly performed even in the days of miracles. God is able to accomplish any kind of wonders and by whatever means He wills. As an encouraging support for the work of the apostle in this center of various thought and activity, the Lord saw fit to use the pieces miraculously that had been in contact with the preacher.

 
Verse 13. Vagabond Jews were some  who were wandering around from house to house. An exorcist was a person who expelled demons from men by pronouncing some mysterious sentence, or by commanding the evil spirit by some important name. But even evil characters can be imitated and their work be pretended to be done by mere impostors. The present ones were frauds and pretended to be working through the name of Jesus; and to add weight to their pretense, they used the name of Paul.

Verse 14. Sceva was a high priest,
and he had seven sons who were prac-
ticing this fraud, attempting to cast
out a devil from an unfortunate man.

Verse 15. Jesus I know. This evil spirit was telling the truth, for the devils were originally in heaven and had been cast out because of sin (2 Peter 2:4), and it was there that they had their acquaintance with Jesus.  That accounts for the statements in Mark 1:24, 34. Since these men were frauds the spirit did not recognize them.

Verse 16. Being possessed with a
devil did not have the same effect on
every person. In the present instance
it produced unusual physical strength
and activity. Acting through the man
in whom the devil was dwelling, it
pounced upon these pretenders and
they fied from the house in fright and
stripped of their clothing.

Verse 17. The word fear is used in
the sense of respect in this verse, since
it caused the name of the Lord Jesus
to be magnified by both Jews and
Greeks.

Verse 18. This respectful fear was proved by their confession of evil deeds.  

Verse 19. These penitent Jews and
Greeks did not stop with mere con-
fessions, for the event about the exor-
cists convinced them that the business
of dealing in trifles was wrong. Curi-
ous arts is from PERIERGOS, which is
defined by Thayer as things “imperti-
nent and superfious,” and he explains
it to mean “arts of magic.” These were
chiefly a system of superstitious per-
formances, and they had their recipes
written in books by which they would
mislead their victims. When they be-
came penitent over their sinful prac-
tices, they proved their sincerity by
burning the collection of their evil
formulas. Moffatt renders the value oi
the books to be 2,000 pounds of silver

Verse 20. The word of God grew,
because every genuine demonstration
of repentance was attributed to the
power of that word o-ver the minds of
men. The increase of the word means
that the number of believers in the
word was increased.

Verse 21. Purposed in the spirit means that it was Paul’s personal plans to accomplish the things stated.  While he always intended doing and saying the things that were in harmony with the Holy Spirit, this was not an inspired purpose, for part of it was not carried out as he had purposed. He did actually see Rome, but not until he was taken there as a prisoner (chapter 28:16).

Verse 22. Paul’s purpose was to
leave Ephesus and go through Mace-
donia and Achaia (Greece), but he
did not intend starting at once, for
he wished to spend some more time
in the city. Timotheus and Erastus
usually traveled with Paul as co-
workers, but he released them to go
ahead and work in the region of Mace-
donia while he was still in Asia.

Verse 23. That way is a phrase ap-
plying to the Gospel plan, so used be-
cause of its preeminence. (See verse
9; chapter 9:2.) The original word
for stir is defined, “commotion, stir,
tumult” in Thayer’s lexicon. It was
because of the interference it was
making with many of the evils in the
community.

Verse 24. Diana was a heathen goddess and a temple was built for her at Ephesus. Demetrius and his fellow 
workers made a great deal of money
by forming shrines, which were small
models of the temple, selling them to
travelers who wished them for souve-
n1rs.

Verse 25. Demetrius became concerned over the prospect of losing this business and he called a meeting of his partners in the trade.

Verse 26. Demetrius called attention of his fellows to the preaching of Paul, stating that it had extended throughout Asia. The part of Paul’s preaching that worried him was that against idolatry, especially the kind that was the work of human hands.

Verse 27. These men were not con-
cerned about the merits of the re-
ligious issue, but feared that financial
loss would come to them if people
were made to believe in the one living
God. That is the meaning of the state-
ment, our craft [business or occupa-
tion] ts in daugier. It was the old story
of men being "tore interested in their
financial than in their spiritual wel-
fare. Yet they pretended to be con-
cerned about the dignity of the idola-
trous goddess, that was worshiped by
the world.

Verse 28. The inflamatory speech of
Demetrius aroused the mob spirit of
these tradesmen, causing them to make
a boistrous shout in behalf of the god-
dess.

Verse 29. The cry spread until it
affected the whole city, throwing it
into confusion. The excited people let
their wrath be exhibited against the
associates of Paul. They took them by
force into a place where public per-
formances were put on.

Verse 30. Paul wished to appear in
this public place to reply to the com-
plaints of the mob. Fearing that he
might be harmed by the angry popu-
lace, the disciples prevented him from
entering the theatre.

Verse 31. Sent unto him denotes that
a general state of confusion existed,
so that special means had to be used
to communicate with Paul.

Verse 32. This state of disorder made
it impossible to discern just what the
concourse was about or what the issue
was.

Verse 33. A riot is regarded by all
civilized nations as something worthy
of being condemned. The Jews feared
that their people would be blamed by
the Greeks for the present uprising.
They selected this prominent member
of their race to speak in their behalf,
and he prepared to make an address
for that purpose.

Verse 34. This outcry was the oppo-
site of an ovation. It was a disorderly
explosion of anger and disrespect
against the attempt of a Jew to make
a speech in the public theatre of the
Greek people. This raving mob was so
worked up and tumultuous that it took
two hours to get it quieted.

Verse 35. A town clerk was a secre-
tary or public scribe; a man supposed
to be informed in matters of law and
order. After two hours he was able to
get the uproar subdued so that he
could speak to the people. His purpose
was to state the legal and fair aspects
of the situation. He proposed to show
that there was no call for such a
demonstration in defense of the temple
of Diana. That it was common knowl-
edge that the people were devoted wor-
shipers of their goddess, which it was
believed had come down from Jupiter,
another god of the Greeks.

Verse 36. The reputation of the god-
dess in the eyes of the Greek people
was not even questioned by them,
hence there was no reason for being
reckless or unnecessarily hasty in act-
ing against Paul and his companions.

Verse 37. The townclerk was not
siding with Paul in his teaching, but
wished to show his fellow citizens that
they were mistreating him and his
friends contrary to the principles of
human rights. Robbers of churches is
from H1EnosULos which means those
who commit sacrilege or who rob
temples. Paul had not made any vi-
cious attack on the goddess of the
Greeks, but had emphasized the au-
thority of the God of Heaven. But
these heathen had correctly concluded
that if the God whom Paul preached
was the only true one, then all man-
made objects of worship were false.

Verse 38. The reasoning of the town-
clerk was that provision had been
made by the law of the land, whereby
all just complaints could be handled.
Deputies were men authorized to rep-
resent the government in the disputes
arising between man and man.

Verse 39. By other matters he meant
subjects that were differences of
opinion only and not involving any
personal misconduct. Lawful assembly
means one called by the proper au-
thorities and in accordance with the
law.

Verse 40. The townclerk feared that
the higher authorities might bring a
complaint against the community be-
cause of the riot.

Verse 41. The mob was dispersed
without further disorder, because the
people had been shown the lawlessness
of their actions.