The Riot in Ephesus – Acts 19:21-41

The Story in a nutshell

Now it seems a great problem was brewing in Ephesus. It concerned preaching about the Way.

Many craftsmen in Ephesus were making idols – shrines to the Greek Goddess Artemis.  It was big business.  But Paul was telling the people that hand-made gods were not gods at all.  That was ruining business.  And on top of that, the craftsmen were afraid that Artemis, the goddess worshipped throughout the province, would lose her prestige.  This made a lot of people mad, and their anger boiled.  Crowds gathered and there was great confusion in the city.  Some people were so confused that they didn’t know why they were angry.  Paul wanted to go and speak to the crowds at the amphitheater and defend what he and others were saying, but fellow believers wouldn’t let him.  Finally, the mayor of Ephesus quieted things down and spoke to the people.  He told them not to do anything crazy.  Paul and the believers hadn’t done anything wrong – they hadn’t stolen anything and they hadn’t spoken against the goddess.  If the craftsmen had a case against Paul and the Believers, they should settle it in the courts.  If the conflict continued, the mayor was afraid the Roman government would charge Ephesus with rioting and that would cause even more trouble.  If Rome wanted to know why the people were rioting, he wouldn’t have a good answer.  So, he told the crowd to go home, and they finally went away.

Do you remember the story?  Can you answer the questions below?  If you need help, go to the story as found in the Bible (Acts 19:21-41).

1. What problem was brewing in Ephesus?
2. What were the craftsmen in Ephesus doing?
3. What was Paul telling the people about the idols?
4. Why was that a problem?
5. When there was great confusion in the city, what did Paul want to do?
6. What did the mayor of Ephesus do?
7. What did the mayor tells the craftsmen to do?
8. What was the mayor of Ephesus afraid the Roman government would think and do?

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