Dr. Dan Doriani said in a sermon, “Causing Trouble,”:
To get the most from our story, it helps to know a little about Ephesus. It was a large port city on the west coast of today’s Turkey; they called it Asia. With over 300,000 people, Ephesus was the leading city of the province. It was the region’s center of trade, banking and commerce. Today no one lives there.
The city’s ruins include statues by the hundreds, stone carvings, wide streets and public spaces. Ephesus had a four story library guarded by statues extolling the virtues of wisdom and knowledge. Outside, lovely stone steps and stone plaza, lined by trees, just off the wide main street, ran from the commercial district to the amphitheatre, built into a hillside, with seating for 25,000 people in seventy tiers.
It was also an old city. People had worshiped the goddess Artemis for centuries. There was a great image of her with a meteorite at its core. Her temple was a wonder of the ancient world twice as big as the Parthenon. Every spring, thousands traveled to worship at this image, to gain her favor.
Artemis was the goddess of the moon and the hunt, protector of women – the virtuous maiden and the mother in childbirth. She made the fields fruitful and commerce successful. She controlled the zodiac and fate. The devotion was strong and there was profit in serving her devotees.
Paul threatened all of this. He said, “An idol is nothing” (1 Corinthians 8:4). Artemis claimed a wide sphere of influence for a goddess, but Paul says God “is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands” (Acts 17:24-25). Paul said Jesus provides everything Artemis claims and much more. So many trusted in Christ that society was changing; Paul was causing trouble!
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 