There was a great spiritual revival in Ephesus through Paul’s ministry of two years and three months. “A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly” (v.19). A great number of the Ephesians were seized with fear of God and “the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor” (v.17b).

Then Satan sent his minions to strike and push back the wave of spiritual revival happening in Ephesus (cf. Ephesians 2:2). When the gospel was preached, magic artists had repented and burned their expensive scrolls. But the worship of Artemis was still deeply ingrained in the idolatrous culture there. The temple of Artemis was so elegantly built that it was numbered among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, at 425 feet long and 220 feet wide, having 127 white marble columns.

A mob then rose to rid the town of the heralds of God’s truth, namely Paul and his companions. But it was not God’s time yet for Paul to be taken out of this world. God had a plan to take him to Rome, the real hub of idolatrous culture, which was impacting the world far more than Ephesus did (v. 21).
Application: Father, make me strong by putting on “the full armor of God” to fight spiritual battles against idols waging in and around me. Amen.
One Word: “Stand against the devil’s schemes”