Great is God of Heaven and Earth

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

GREAT IS GOD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

Acts 19:28-35

28 When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" 29 Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia, and rushed as one man into the theater. 30 Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. 31 Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater. 32 The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. 33 The Jews pushed Alexander to the front, and some of the crowd shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. 34 But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" 35 The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: "Men of Ephesus, 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?

NIV

It is interesting how one man can become a mob, with most of them not even knowing what the protest is all about. Demitrius, the silversmith, was in the center of it all, and his motivation was his profit or his concern about money. However, he used the goddess Artemis as his excuse to create this riot. When they heard about what he suggested would happen to their beloved goddess, they rushed into the theater 6as one man. We wonder if people are that vehement about a statue in a temple that cannot hear, see, or speak to them. It is this statement of the city clerk that is the most bothersome. The way he worded it makes it sound like the image of Artemis fell from heaven. How is that possible since the temple and an image would have been crafted by the hands of men? The name Artemis in Greek means Diana, and it was supposed that her image was a gift from Jupiter to the city of Ephesus. No doubt this was perpetrated by the priests who served, or made their income from serving in the temple. How could anyone have seen a statue fall from the sky? Lies can be easier to believe than the truth. The crowd was confused because most of them had no idea what the commotion was about; they were only following a few who had caused it. How would this play out in our culture today? The news is happy to report on the protests about anything. However, it is the world, or the people who serve themselves, who usually cause the chaos of the protest. Why are we Christians so silent about our God? The people of Ephesus shouted loudly, creating chaos over a god they had never been blessed by, or heard speak, or had any written account of. We have both a written account of our God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We have eyewitness testimony to the truth of Jesus, and we have first-hand knowledge and experience of the Holy Spirit's presence within us, yet for most of the time, we remain silent in the public square. There are a few high-profile people who get some attention, but we as believers barely speak to anyone in the world about Jesus. Shouldn't we be causing a crowd? The men of Ephesus rushed into the theater as one man, or as one accord. We wonder how much accord there is among believers when we see so many divisions, with so many denominations, each with its own interpretation of scripture. There are even differing views within a single church. How could we stand as one accord that would throw our community into an uproar, shouting, "Great is God Almighty of heaven and earth."