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Sketches from the Life of Paul
At last there came a momentary silence, from sheer exhaustion.
Then the recorder of the city arrested the attention of the crowd, and
by virtue of his office obtained a hearing. By his prudence and good
judgment he soon succeeded in quieting the excitement.
He met the people on their own ground, and showed that there was
no cause for the present tumult. He appealed to their reason to decide
whether the strangers who had come among them could change the
opinions of the whole world regarding their ruling goddess. Said he:
“Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the
city of Ephesus is a worshiper of the great goddess Diana, and of the
image which fell down from Jupiter? Seeing then that these things
cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing
rashly.” He bade them consider that Paul and his companions had not
profaned the temple of Diana, nor outraged the feelings of any by
reviling the goddess.
He then skillfully turned the subject, and reproved the course of
Demetrius: “Wherefore if Demetrius and the craftsmen which are with
him have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are
deputies; let them implead one another. But if ye inquire anything
concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly.”
He closed by warning them that such an uproar, raised without apparent
cause, might subject the city of Ephesus to the censure of the Romans,
thus causing a restriction of her present liberty, and intimating that
there must not be a repetition of the scene. Having by this speech
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completely tranquilized the disturbed elements, the recorder dismissed
the assembly.
The words of Demetrius reveal the real cause of the tumult at
Ephesus, and also the cause of much of the persecution which followed
the apostles in their work of promulgating the truth. “This, our craft,
is in danger.” With Demetrius and his fellows, the profitable business
of image-making was endangered by the teaching and spread of the
gospel. The income of pagan priests and artisans was at stake; and for
this reason they instituted the most bitter opposition to the apostle, and
refused to receive or investigate the new religion, which would have
made them wise unto salvation.
Paul’s labors in Ephesus were at length concluded. He felt that
the excitement which prevailed was unfavorable to the preaching of
the gospel. His heart was filled with gratitude to God that his life