Ephesus was the host city of the temple of Artemis. Paul's preaching and teaching was starting to have an economic impact - at the start of the chapter there were 12 men who were filled with the Spirit. Now Demetrius is bemoaning the fact that "large numbers of people in Ephesus and practically the whole province of Asia" had heard Paul's message.
Not only was this a message that spread, but it was a message that had an impact!
If you read the rest of the chapter, it's very interesting to watch the events unfold. Demetrius leads a march of the "Silversmithing Union". They claim loyalty to Artemis, but their real issue is economic. The mob gets unruly and grabs some of the Christian leaders, Paul wants to speak to the mob and it looks like the stage is being set for Paul to be stoned again (it happened in Iconium in Acts 14)
But there is an interesting turn of events as some high profile people intervene: They persuade Paul not to speak to the mob and then the city clerk uses his influence to settle the crowd.
This leads us to a few observations:
1. The spread of the gospel has been very effective
2. Paul wasn't afraid to speak straight.
3. Lifestyles were being changed: People weren't buying idols
4. The care and concern that people had for Paul.
5. The gospel had spread through all strata of society.
This brings us to the end of the Introduction to Ephesians - tomorrow we'll start (finally!) the letter to the church in Ephesus.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
