THURSDAY October 12, 2023
The Temple Guardian
And when the city clerk had quieted the crowd, he said: “Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple guardian of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Zeus?”
Acts 19:35
With authority, the city clerk was able to quiet down the crowd and cause them to listen to reason. It was a well-known fact that the city of Ephesus was a guardian to the great goddess Diana––nothing would change that. She was known worldwide, and there was no way she would become despised and her magnificence destroyed––that lie, spun by Demetrius to stir up trouble, was quenched.
The Romans worshipped Jupiter, and the Greeks worshipped Zeus. It was believed in this culture that Diana was one of the daughters of Zeus. The city clerk continued to speak sensibly to the zealous crowd. He used common sense to cause them to really think about what they were doing:
“Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly. For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of your goddess” (Acts 19:36-37).
The city clerk again called for calm. He asked the crowd to quiet down and to think before acting rashly. This situation had come about all because Demetrius and the craftsmen were afraid of losing money when trying to sell their idols. There was a better way to resolve issues. In Ephesus, there were already laws established to deal with these kinds of disagreements (Acts 19:38).
Did you notice how the clerk defended Paul and his companions? He brought to light that they were not robbers or blasphemers of the goddess Diana. God, using the city clerk, defended them.
Let the pure gospel go forth in all its lion-like majesty, and it will soon clear its own way and ease itself of its adversaries.
~C.H. Spurgeon~
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