Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 19-20.

Today’s passage begins with Paul’s second visit to Ephesus.  It mentions that Paul met twelve men who were “disciples” who had not heard of the Holy Spirit.  These men appear to have been disciples of John the Baptist and only somewhat aware of Jesus.  Although another possibility is that they became believers after hearing Apollos preach before he learned of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  I am still inclined to think that they were disciples of John the Baptist who had never heard the Gospel of Jesus, but were fully prepared for it by John’s teaching.  It was only after Paul spoke to them that they were baptized in the name of Jesus and received the Holy Spirit.  No matter what understanding we have of these believers (were they disciples of John the Baptist who were only a little aware of the Gospel of Jesus, or were they disciples of Jesus who had not heard of the Holy Spirit?), we see the importance of receiving the Holy Spirit.

Reading this passage, I realized that I always thought that Paul spent more time in Corinth than anywhere else on his missionary journeys.  However, I noticed today that he spent over two years in Ephesus.  Paul decided to leave Ephesus after an incident which led to the Believers in Ephesus to give up their occult practices.  The incident involved some Jewish exorcists being overpowered by a demon-possessed man after they tried to drive the demon out in the name of “Jesus whom Paul preaches.”  The contrast between the way these exorcists drove out demons and the way in which Paul did led them to realize that the power of Jesus was not in rituals or special incantations.  They realized that those things were a form of idolatry which came between them and God.  Luke tells us that they destroyed 50,000 drachmas worth of paraphernalia, which comes out to over 130 years of wages for the average person.  The reason I mention this is that shortly after Paul decided to leave Ephesus (but before he did so), a riot broke out inspired by craftsmen who felt economically threatened by the growing Christian Church.  I suspect that Demetrius, who started the riot, saw what the Believers did with their sorcerous paraphernalia and perceived that such would impact his business in time.  All of this highlights how we as Christians need to subordinate our economic interests to our faith.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 19-20.

The first thing which stood out to me when I read this passage was that Paul found twelve disciples when he arrived in Ephesus, the same as the number of Apostles Jesus called.  I believe Luke mentioned that number because he was struck by it as well.  The context suggests that these men had come to believe in Jesus because of the teaching by Apollos.  As I read this part of today’s passage to write about these disciples I took notice that they had not even heard that there was a Holy Spirit.  Considering that, up to this point, Apollos’ teaching about Jesus was primarily based on his understanding of the Old Testament, this highlights how the New Testament reveals things about God which are not apparent from the Old Testament.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 19-20.

Off and on when I have read this passage, I wondered why Luke finds it necessary to point out that Apollos was in Corinth when Paul preached in Ephesus.  It struck me today that perhaps Luke was addressing the idea that Apollos and Paul had either learned from each other, or that there was animosity between them.  We learned in yesterday’s passage that Apollos was a scholar of Jewish Scripture, as was Paul.  Which suggests to me that perhaps Apollos preached a message more similar in style to that taught by Paul than the way in which Peter and the other original followers of Jesus preached.  Remember, the Sanhedrin considered Peter and John to be uneducated men.  So, it seems likely that Luke was making the point here that Apollos did not derive his teaching from Paul, but instead both arrived at similar positions from their study of Scripture.  Some see the difference in emphasis between Paul, and perhaps also Apollos, and the original followers of Jesus as evidence that Christianity, insomuch as it follows Pauline teachings, fails to follow Jesus’ teachings.  However, I believe the way in which the Jerusalem Council embraced Paul’s teaching indicates that the original followers of Christ found Paul’s understanding to be a correct interpretation of what Jesus taught.

There is another aspect of faith in Christ which this passage highlights.  Luke highlights that some people came to faith in Jesus without being baptized by the Holy Spirit.  It is not clear to me from the account here, and elsewhere in the Book of Acts, that those who had received only the “baptism of John” were not saved.  However, it IS clear that receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit should be desired and taught.  I think it is also clear that God will provide means for those who genuinely seek to follow Him to obtain teaching in the ways to do so.  God will pour out His Spirit on those who choose to follow Him.  However, it is also important that we as the Church teach about the Holy Spirit and lay on hands with the intention of the Spirit filling those who have come to faith in Jesus.

*I want to add a final note that I wish I could have found a way to include a reference to the Holy Spirit in my title, because I believe that Apollos’ understanding of the Gospel was deficient before the Holy Spirit was poured out on him.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 19-20.

While Paul was in Ephesus there was a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit there resulting in many miracles.  This led to other occultists attempting to use Jesus’ name in their activities.  Before long this backfired on a team of exorcists.  This resulted in many Believers who had continued their occult practices after becoming Believers giving up those practices and destroying their “spellbooks” .  I use quotes because we do not really know what was on the scrolls which they burned, only that they were related to their practice of sorcery and had a large value.  Interestingly, only a short time later, Demetrius, a silver smith who made and sold shrines to the goddess Artemis, started a riot against Christians.  He appears to have done so by implying both that the spread of Christianity would hurt business and by threatening those craftsmen he employed with loss of employment with him.

When I started writing the previous paragraph I thought it was going somewhere different, but when I reached the end I cam back to a thought I had before I started writing.  At the end of today’s passage when Paul stopped and spoke with the elders from Ephesus he warned them against false prophets who would arise; men who would distort the truth in order to recruit followers.  The exorcists had attempted to hijack the name of Jesus to accomplish their own ends, rather than serving Him.  Demetrius tried to protect his own beliefs by using violence to silence Paul’s message, rather than making a counter argument for his own beliefs.  In the end, both served to bring glory to God, as will those who attempt to distort God’s Truth today.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 19-20.

At the end of yesterday’s passage, Apollos met Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus, where he was preaching about Jesus even though he had never received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  Luke writes that Priscilla and Aquila explained the way of Christ to Apollos more adequately.  Apollos then travelled to Corinth where he publicly debated those Jews who opposed following Christ.  Meanwhile, Paul returns to Ephesus and discovers some believers there who have not experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  Reading between the lines suggests to me that these believers had obtained their faith by listening to Apollos before he met Priscilla and Aquila.  All told this passage indicates the importance of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  This always troubles me because of those who insist that if you have not experienced a dramatic experience comparable to what the disciples experienced on Pentecost you are not truly saved.  I am also troubled by those who downplay the importance of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  I believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not always as dramatic as what the disciples experienced and I believe that some people are saved without experiencing the baptism of the Holy Spirit (I believe that Apollos, and the believers Paul found in Ephesus were saved before they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit).  However, the true power of our faith comes about when we are filled by the Holy Spirit in that baptism and we should seek that experience.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 19-20

As I read this passage, and what was in yesterday’s passage about Ephesus, when Paul first visited Ephesus on his way back to Antioch of Syria he only spoke to some Jews there, but not enough to convince them to become Believers.  He did leave behind Priscilla and Aquila, and a few other Believers from Corinth.  However, the first Believers in Corinth appear to have been converted by Apollos (or perhaps another follower of John the Baptist).  From there we have an interesting progression.  When Paul returned he discovered these Believers who had not yet received the Holy Spirit, he laid his hands on them and they spoke in tongues.  From there people began to experience miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit such that people saw Paul as a magic worker.  They began to view Paul as a powerful sorcerer who channeled the power of Jesus, which they could integrate into their systems of magic.  When it backfired on some well-known practitioners they realized how wrong they were and turned from the practice of magic.  This turning away from the practice of magic impacted the worship of Artemis, in particular the sale of items related to her worship which were used in magic rituals.  Many of those who had been practicing sorcery would have denied that they were doing so until they heard what happened to the sons of Sceva  and realized that their dabbling was dangerous.  What forms of idolatry do we practice bits and pieces of, thinking it is just an innocent diversion?

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 19-20

We do not know what led Demetrius the silversmith to set in motion the events which led to the riot in Ephesus.  The context suggests that he was alarmed by events which followed Believers realizing that sorcery and incantations were incompatible with following Jesus.  I see two scenarios.  In one of them, Demetrius witnessed large numbers of Believers burning their spell books and realized that as more and more people become Believers, fewer and fewer would be buying the shrines he sold.  In the other scenario, Demetrius observed that he was losing customers and realized this was because they were becoming believers.

In either case, he gathered together the craftsmen to whom he subcontracted work and told them that Paul was bad for business.  Realizing that that those not in his business were unlikely to be concerned with his loss of profits, he made this an insult to Artemis, and thus to the city.  As a result, he was able to stir people up against Christianity.  Or to be more precise, he stirred people up, but most of them had no idea what they were protesting about.  We learn a lot about mobs here.  First, often times those who get a mob started do so for reasons different than those which they talk about.  Second, once a mob gets started people join in without knowing what it is all about.