Paul now decided to visit the churches in Macedonia and Achaia, and then to return to Jerusalem, saying, “After that, I must see Rome also.” Timothy, and another disciple by the name of Erastus, were sent before him to announce his coming to the churches in Macedonia and Achaia.
Just before Paul left Ephesus, a very violent and not unnatural tumult arose in the city. Ephesus was renowned throughout the world for the worship of the goddess Diana. The temple, erected at the head of the harbor for the idolatrous worship of this goddess, was deemed, in its magnificence and dazzling beauty, one of the wonders of the world. It was a common saying, “The sun in its course sees nothing more magnificent than Diana’s temple.” This gorgeous marble shrine of idolatry was 425 feet long, 220 broad, and was embellished by 127 columns, each 60 feet high. The Greek ladies throughout all Achaia and Asia lavished their treasures in almost incrusting the temple with precious stones. It was one of the principal sources of revenue to the city, and of employment for its workmen, to construct silver statues of the goddess, which were sold in immense numbers throughout all the pagan world. But the preaching of Paul was bringing idolatry into disrepute, and destroying the trade in idols.
There was a large manufacturer of these silver shrines in the city, by the name of Demetrius. He called his numerous workmen together, and thus addressed them:――
“Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. Moreover, ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods which are made with hands: so that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.”[148]
These inflammatory words roused the workmen: they were repeated through all the shops in the city. A gathering mob began to surge through the streets with clamor and threatenings. The one continuous cry of the mob was, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” The infuriated populace coming across two of Paul’s companions and friends, Gaius and Aristarchus, seized them, and dragged them into the theatre, an immense enclosure, without a roof, where tiers of stone seats rose one above another, affording room for an immense assembly.