And of course Paul got into trouble at Ephesus as trouble followed Paul wherever he went.
Ephesians 1: 3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”
Many of the local city folk were being converted to the gospel. The number must have been fairly significant because the business men who made money off of the great Temple of Diana began to see their revenues plummet. It was tradition that everyone in the town including visitors would sacrifice to the temple. This sacrifice entailed the purchase of silver artifacts made by the local craftsmen. When this happened a riot ensued and Paul came close to losing his head. Let’s read below and take a glimpse of what this temple was all about.
“Adding to the attraction of Ephesus was the temple of the Greek goddess Artemis, who in the Latin language was called Diana. This temple was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The temple was a magnificent work of Ionic architecture, which was four times the size of the Greek Parthenon in Athens. The temple stood on a platform about 425 feet long and 239 feet wide. The platform had ten steps that led up to its pavement. The temple itself was 342 and 1/2 feet long and 164 feet wide. The temple consisted of two rows of eight columns each in the front and rear and two rows of twenty columns each on both sides of its sanctuary. In all the temple contained one hundred columns. Each column was a monolith of marble 55 feet high. The eighteen columns at each end were sculptured. The temple roof was covered with large white marble tiles. The inner sanctuary of the temple was 105 feet long and 70 feet wide.” Click
Just reading about this 7th Wonder of the world, this vast beautiful temple, its easy to see the town was proud of their temple. Voted number one in that day and time. And Paul was converting its worshipers into Christians. Which in turn was reducing the profits coming into the temple via silver offerings.
Ephesians 1: 7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace”
And back to the Temple of Diana!
“The temple was so rich and prosperous that it became, with the temple in Jerusalem, one of the world’s first banks.” Click
But Ephesus was to become rich in the Word of God.
Ephesians 1: 9 “And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,”
Let’s hear testimony from some locals in that day who testified to the temples grand and glorious splendor and beauty. The following below is personal testimony as to the beauty of this magnificent and celebrated temple of Diana.
“I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, ‘Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught (anything) so grand.” (Antipater, Greek Anthology.
The temple was also described by Philo of Byzantium.
“I have seen the walls and Hanging Gardens of ancient Babylon, the statue of Olympian Zeus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the mighty work of the high Pyramids and the tomb of Mausolus. But when I saw the temple at Ephesus rising to the clouds, all these other wonders were put in the shade.” Click
So Paul is in trouble again and the towns’ people drag some of the Ephesian Christians to the local theater in town.
“…its theatre, capable of holding 25,000 spectators. This open-air theatre was used initially for drama, but during later Roman times gladiatorial combats were also held on its stage…” Click
Let’s read more below about this well-known and famous theater under the stars.
“…a theater that was one of the largest known of all that have remained to modern times. The auditorium was a semicircle that measured 495 feet in diameter, with 63 rows of seats that provided seating for an audience of 24,500 spectators. It was in this theater that the silversmiths led by Demetrius rioted against the Christian mission work of Paul and his companions.” Click
We haven’t yet touched on a description of the city of Ephesus in general. Let’s do so now.
“Ephesus, in contrast to Corinth, was old, about 1,000 years old, when Paul arrived in the summer of 52 CE.” “…Ephesus entered an era of prominence and prosperity which lasted into the second century CE. Augustus made it the capital of the Roman province of Asia and it received the coveted title, “First and Greatest Metropolis of Asia.” “…the third largest city in the Empire, after Rome and Alexandria…”With Ephesus as their base of operation, Paul and his associates spread the Christian Gospel into the adjacent cities and regions of Asia.” Click
But Paul had a reason for putting the city of Ephesus high on his list and itinerary. Read below to understand why Ephesus made a good base of operations.
“His (Paul) choice of Ephesus made sense because it was big, cosmopolitan, multicultural, and a political, economic, and religious center, a meeting place for people, goods, and ideas from all over the Mediterranean. Such diversity of culture, cult, and ethnicity was not benign but spawned culture conflict, simmering hostility and ethnic hatreds.” Click
The city also had a multitude of baths and clean water. What have we learned so far about this city and the people of Ephesus? It had a great big theater that proved a popular place to drag Christians to for purposes of persecution and entertainment. It was the largest city in proconsular Roman Asia. And with all the baths in the city BO must have been kept to a minimum.
“The population of Ephesus has been estimated to be in the range of 400,000 to 500,000 inhabitants in the year 100 AD, making it the largest city in Roman Asia and of the day. Ephesus also had several major bath complexes, built at various points while the city was under Roman rule. The city had one of the most advanced aqueduct systems in the ancient world, with multiple aqueducts of various sizes to supply different areas of the city, including 4 major aqueducts.” Click
Paul wanted the Ephesians to come to see the riches of God. Paul wanted the Ephesians to have hope.
Ephesians 1: 18I “pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,”
Ephesians is an interesting book. For one thing it was the first of Paul’s letters to the churches that were written from the jail cells of Rome. Often the best writing is done in times of great stress and under great crisis.
There has been a lot of debate as to whether this book was actually written to the Ephesians. But for our purpose we will accept that Paul was addressing this letter to the churches in Ephesus. Ephesus was the capital of Asia. Ephesus was a big important town on the byway. But what made Ephesus special was the fact that Ephesus housed one of the 7 Wonders of the ancient world. This wonder was the hugely magnificent Temple Of Diana.
It is thought that Paul spent more time at Ephesus than any other city where he planted a church. Paul in all spent three years ministering to the church body in Ephesus.
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