And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.
This moment comes at the close of Paul's work of more than three years in Ephesus, where a flourishing church had been raised up and from which the gospel had spread throughout the province of Asia among both Jews and Gentiles. At that time Paul purposed to pass through Macedonia and Achaia to go to Jerusalem and afterward to see Rome, sent Timothy and Erastus ahead into Macedonia, and decided to remain in Ephesus until after Pentecost, when an event hastened his departure.
It took place during the yearly ceremonies at Ephesus in honor of Diana, which drew great numbers of people from all parts of the province and were conducted with utmost pomp and splendor. It was a trying time for those newly come to the faith who met in the school of Tyrannus, who were an inharmonious note in the festive chorus and faced ridicule, reproach, and insult. Paul's labors had given heathen worship a telling blow, causing a perceptible falling off in attendance at the national festival and in the enthusiasm of the worshipers. His influence extended far beyond actual converts, so that many who had not openly accepted the new doctrines were enlightened to lose all confidence in their heathen gods.
Paul wanted to enter the theater and go in to the people to speak to the rioting crowd during the Ephesian uproar. The disciples, his companions, would not let him enter, because his appearance would inflame the mob and put his life in immediate and extreme danger. They knew that seeing Paul would intensify the mob's anger and leave his life beyond any human hope of rescue, while his companions were not the crowd's main target.
God had protected Paul, and the time for his martyrdom had not yet come, and the disciples' action helped preserve his life amid the tumult. The chapter to which the verse belongs records the experience of the early apostles as matching the promised blessing now received, including speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance and meeting persecution with it.
This moment comes at the close of Paul's work of more than three years in Ephesus, where a flourishing church had been raised up and from which the gospel had spread throughout the province of Asia among both Jews and Gentiles. At that time Paul purposed to pass through Macedonia and Achaia to go to Jerusalem and afterward to see Rome, sent Timothy and Erastus ahead into Macedonia, and decided to remain in Ephesus until after Pentecost, when an event hastened his departure.
It took place during the yearly ceremonies at Ephesus in honor of Diana, which drew great numbers of people from all parts of the province and were conducted with utmost pomp and splendor. It was a trying time for those newly come to the faith who met in the school of Tyrannus, who were an inharmonious note in the festive chorus and faced ridicule, reproach, and insult. Paul's labors had given heathen worship a telling blow, causing a perceptible falling off in attendance at the national festival and in the enthusiasm of the worshipers. His influence extended far beyond actual converts, so that many who had not openly accepted the new doctrines were enlightened to lose all confidence in their heathen gods.
Paul wanted to enter the theater and go in to the people to speak to the rioting crowd during the Ephesian uproar. The disciples, his companions, would not let him enter, because his appearance would inflame the mob and put his life in immediate and extreme danger. They knew that seeing Paul would intensify the mob's anger and leave his life beyond any human hope of rescue, while his companions were not the crowd's main target.
God had protected Paul, and the time for his martyrdom had not yet come, and the disciples' action helped preserve his life amid the tumult. The chapter to which the verse belongs records the experience of the early apostles as matching the promised blessing now received, including speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance and meeting persecution with it.