And the same time there arose no small stir about that way.
The stir arose at Ephesus after more than three years of labor that had raised up a flourishing church and spread the gospel throughout the province of Asia among both Jews and Gentiles. At that time Paul was planning another missionary journey through Macedonia and Achaia to Jerusalem and then to Rome, and he had sent Timothy and Erastus ahead into Macedonia. He had decided to remain in Ephesus until after Pentecost because the cause there still needed his presence, but the stir hastened his departure.
The verse reports no small stir about that way, meaning a serious disturbance in which persecution and opposition arose against the Christian faith in connection with the apostolic work. The opposition was provoked because the gospel challenged Diana worship in Ephesus. During the annual festival believers were ridiculed and insulted, attendance at and enthusiasm for the pagan worship had declined, and even some who had not openly accepted the gospel had lost confidence in their gods.
The spread of the gospel stirred strong hostility because it threatened the income of the makers of pagan images and the priests who benefited from their trade. The craftsmen stirred up the tumult against Paul to protect their business, making economic self-interest a cause of persecution against the apostles. The episode to which the verse belongs ended with civic officials judging Paul innocent of unlawful conduct and restraining the mob, which preserved his life and kept Christianity from being disgraced by the tumult. Together with the speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance recorded in the same chapter, this stir corroborates present experience as matching the experience of the early apostles.
The stir arose at Ephesus after more than three years of labor that had raised up a flourishing church and spread the gospel throughout the province of Asia among both Jews and Gentiles. At that time Paul was planning another missionary journey through Macedonia and Achaia to Jerusalem and then to Rome, and he had sent Timothy and Erastus ahead into Macedonia. He had decided to remain in Ephesus until after Pentecost because the cause there still needed his presence, but the stir hastened his departure.
The verse reports no small stir about that way, meaning a serious disturbance in which persecution and opposition arose against the Christian faith in connection with the apostolic work. The opposition was provoked because the gospel challenged Diana worship in Ephesus. During the annual festival believers were ridiculed and insulted, attendance at and enthusiasm for the pagan worship had declined, and even some who had not openly accepted the gospel had lost confidence in their gods.
The spread of the gospel stirred strong hostility because it threatened the income of the makers of pagan images and the priests who benefited from their trade. The craftsmen stirred up the tumult against Paul to protect their business, making economic self-interest a cause of persecution against the apostles. The episode to which the verse belongs ended with civic officials judging Paul innocent of unlawful conduct and restraining the mob, which preserved his life and kept Christianity from being disgraced by the tumult. Together with the speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance recorded in the same chapter, this stir corroborates present experience as matching the experience of the early apostles.