GOD’S EXTRAORDINARY POWER
ACTS 19:8-20
NASB
8 And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the [a]people, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. 10 This took place for two years, so that all who lived in [a]Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
11 God was performing extraordinary [a]miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. 13 But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” 16 And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. 18 Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. 19 And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it [a]fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So [a]the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.
19:9 [a]Lit multitude 19:10 [a]I.e. west coast province of Asia Minor 19:11 [a]Or works of power 19:19 [a]Probably fifty thousand Greek drachmas; a drachma approximated a day’s wage 19:20 [a]Or according to the power of the Lord the word was growing
NLT
8 Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God. 9 But some became stubborn, rejecting his message and publicly speaking against the Way. So Paul left the synagogue and took the believers with him. Then he held daily discussions at the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for the next two years, so that people throughout the province of Asia —both Jews and Greeks —heard the word of the Lord.
11 God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles. 12 When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled.
13 A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. 15 But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” 16 Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.
17 The story of what happened spread quickly all through Ephesus, to Jews and Greeks alike. A solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored. 18 Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices. 19 A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars.[*] 20 So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect.
[19:19] Greek 50,000 pieces of silver, each of which was the equivalent of a day’s wage.
On the border between Arizona and Nevada, a massive wall of concrete stands silent watch over just a little more than one trillion gallons of water.[178] There’s enough water behind Hoover Dam to transform the state of Pennsylvania into a wading pool one foot deep. In the heart of this massive concrete wall, seventy stories high and more than a fifth of a mile across the top, seventeen turbines turn the high-pressure flow of water out of Lake Mead into 2,080 megawatts of electricity. To stand at the top is to see incredible potential power; to see the machinery transforming water flow into energy is amazing. But it’s still hard to appreciate the power of this engineering marvel. Perhaps the best way to gauge the power of Hoover Dam is to look down from an orbiting space station at night to see more than two million tiny dots spread across Nevada, Arizona, and Southern California, each light representing a home all lit up. And yet, Hoover Dam represents more than just the energy to turn on lights and operate appliances. Its real power might better be measured in terms of change. Since its completion in 1936, the project has supplied vast stretches of uninhabitable land with power and water for eight million people.[179]
Of course, the power of Hoover Dam is nothing compared to the power of God, who is omnipotent, “all-powerful.” We cannot measure His power; we can only appreciate His ability to accomplish change wherever and whenever He chooses. While the universe, in all its enormity and complexity, testifies to the immense power of the Creator, the cosmos is too vast to comprehend. We can gain a better appreciation of His omnipotence by observing the changes He brings to otherwise-hopeless lives.
By the time Paul reached Ephesus, much of the known world had been changed by the rapid spread of Holy Spirit power, following the pathways of the gospel as it radiated outward from Pentecost. But many places, like the province of Asia, had yet to be delivered from the death grip of evil. Now, during Paul’s two-year stay in Ephesus, the Lord’s power would be especially manifest, accompanying the gospel through miraculous signs and successful confrontations with demonic activity in ways that would begin the transformation of hardened hearts throughout Asia.
— 19:8-10 —
Luke introduces the ministry of Paul in Ephesus with a summary, using the imperfect tense (indicating ongoing, repetitive, or customary action) and painting the scene in broad strokes. As always, Paul began his work in Ephesus by speaking in the synagogue (19:8), which must have been sizable for a city of two hundred fifty thousand or more.[180] For three months, Paul “reasoned” with the Jews, building on the solid teaching of Apollos (18:24-26) and having the testimony of twelve new disciples in the area (19:1-7). He had enjoyed initial success during his first visit, receiving an enthusiastic invitation to stay (18:19-21). Now, however, the pattern began to follow that of other cities. Some Jewish leaders and a number of people from the congregation believed, but the majority turned against Paul and became resolutely opposed to his message, even resorting to slander. So, as in other cities, the apostle turned from the Jews to focus on the Gentiles.
When Paul withdrew and took the disciples away from the synagogue, he moved to “the school of Tyrannus” (19:9). The Greek word for “school” or “lecture hall” (scholē [4981]) originally referred to “leisure,” because that was the luxury considered necessary for the scholarly pursuits of discussion, study, and contemplation. Typically located within the city, the architectural design of a lecture hall followed the function of teaching, taking full advantage of both lecture and the Socratic method of dialogue. This particular facility belonged to Tyrannus. Unfortunately, the significance of his name has been lost to history. Tyrannus was a very common name among Romans, so he could have been a wealthy disciple who allowed Paul to use his facility, or the leader of a school of philosophy who rented the space to Paul, or a businessman who lent the space to any paying customer. Regardless, Paul used the scholē effectively for two years (19:10). Ephesus became Paul’s base of operations and the lecture hall of Tyrannus his headquarters, where he taught daily when he wasn’t on a trip into the interior of Asia.
— 19:11-12 —
Throughout Acts, Luke highlights the fact that God accomplished similar things through Peter and Paul. Both healed a disabled man (3:2-12; 14:8-18). Both cast out demons (5:16; 16:16-18). Both confronted magicians (8:18-24; 13:6-11). Both raised the dead (9:36-40; 20:9-10). Both were dramatically and miraculously released from prison (12:7-10; 16:25-26). Luke didn’t write this for the purpose of encouraging factions —the ministry of the gospel isn’t a competition —but to accomplish at least one implied purpose of his narrative: to validate the expansion of the church among the Gentiles while explaining the relative lack of Jewish Christians. In this regard, Luke supplied the data while Paul articulated the theology (see Rom. 9–11).
EPHESUS, THE MOTHER OF COMMERCE IN ASIA
ACTS 19:1-41
Ephesus was a city built of marble. Marble paved the streets, lined the foundations, supported the monuments, and channeled rainwater to the sea. Even the public toilets were constructed from polished marble. The city gleamed with white iridescence, as if to say to the world, “This city will shine forever.” And of all the cities in the Roman Empire, Ephesus would have been one of the most difficult places in which to establish an orderly church. The city of Corinth struggled with rampant immorality, and that enemy was easy to spot. But a church in Ephesus also had to be on guard against two insidious killers of congregations: enticing prosperity and distracting philosophy.
This port city sat alongside the Aegean Sea at the mouth of the Cayster River and near the intersection of two important mountain passes. Ephesus, therefore, commanded a strategic position offering access in all directions from the sea, making the city an unusually busy and affluent economic hub for the Roman province of Asia. Materials and knowledge flowed into the city from all over the world, feeding its voracious appetite for more wealth and new ideas.
Ephesus was renowned for its paganism —as many as fifty different gods and goddesses were worshiped there.[181] None, however, challenged the economic and mystical power of the towering temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Worship of the “earth mother” had become a huge attraction, combining tourism and sensual idolatry with such success that it fueled the city’s core economy, even without its already burgeoning import/export trade. City officials set aside one month of every year to honor the goddess with a grand celebration, during which all work ceased. The stadium hosted athletic games, the theater produced plays, the odeum held concerts, and people flocked from every corner of Asia and beyond to make offerings in the sacred grove, the mythical birthplace of Artemis. Worship of the goddess brought such enormous sums of money into the temple that it became an important banking institution, perhaps the first of its kind in Asia. Moreover, the city of Ephesus became a sanctuary for debtors,[182] a place of refuge for anyone seeking to avoid a creditor’s demands.
If the lure of money and magic didn’t create enough chaos, the city of Ephesus also attracted schools of philosophy. Around 500 BC, Heraclitus, a Greek noble of Ephesus, taught that the universe operates according to a unified ordering principle, which he called the logos, that is, “the word.”[183] Later philosophers built upon this theory, claiming that all the laws of physics, mathematics, reason, and even morality can be traced back to an impersonal divine mind. By the time of Paul, Ephesus had become a veritable cauldron of competing philosophies and a celebrated repository of texts on Greek philosophy.
Despite all its temptations and challenges, Ephesus was a perfect location for Paul’s base of operations in Asia because “roads from Ephesus radiated in every direction along the coast and through the interior of the province.”[184] To ensure that the church would remain morally clean, doctrinally pure, and spiritually vibrant, Paul spent more time in Ephesus than in any other Gentile city. Moreover, he nurtured the congregation from afar, sending envoys to check on its members’ well-being, writing at least one letter, and —perhaps most significant of all —placing them in the hands of his beloved disciple Timothy.
While in Ephesus, Paul served as God’s conduit of power much like Peter had in Jerusalem (Acts 5:15-16). The phrase translated “performing extraordinary miracles” (19:11) is especially curious in Greek. Literally rendered, it’s “works of power, not the ordinary ones.” By definition, all miracles are beyond normal; the fact that anything miraculous occurs is extraordinary. Luke means to say that the miracles God “was performing” differed from what Timothy and other disciples had seen before. In the words of A. T. Robertson, “In Samaria Philip wrought miracles to deliver the people from the influence of Simon Magus. Here in Ephesus exorcists and other magicians had built an enormous vogue of a false spiritualism and Paul faces unseen forces of evil.”[185] G. Campbell Morgan described Ephesus this way: “The atmosphere of the city was electric with sorcery and incantations, with exorcists, with all kinds of magical impostors.”[186] In other words, evil held the city of Ephesus and the region of Asia so tightly that the Lord had to exercise even greater and more unusual divine power to break its grip.
Now, as we look back, it becomes clear why the Lord sent Paul to Europe first. He set the gospel in motion there before returning Paul to Ephesus to begin a long, difficult battle against the powers of darkness. Paul thought in terms of geography; God knew that success depended upon timing. Before the apostle arrived to begin his work in earnest, Aquila and Priscilla began laying a foundation for ministry and Apollos expertly taught in the synagogue, using the Old Testament Scriptures to establish Jesus as the Christ.
Luke states that the power of God worked so extraordinarily and so often that people began to associate the power with Paul. They used the cloths he touched like talismans to ward off evil or to cure diseases (19:12). While Luke does not record that Paul sanctioned their use in this way, and Paul most likely discouraged the practice, the Lord nevertheless used the people’s superstition to validate Paul’s message (cf. Luke 8:44; Acts 5:15). That’s the Lord’s prerogative, however, not anyone else’s. Modern-day charlatans should tremble at the consequences of their fraud.
— 19:13-16 —
Some in Paul’s day did indeed try to cash in. Luke records an incident that serves three purposes in his narrative. First, to demonstrate that even earnest efforts to combat evil apart from the Spirit of God are dangerous. Second, to show that the power flowing through Paul came directly from God; Paul neither controlled nor directed the miracle activity. Third, comic relief. While the episode deals with a deadly serious matter, it’s humorous!
Luke notes that seven sons of a chief priest attempted an exorcism. The number seven (19:14) should have been a good omen; Hebrew numerology associated seven with God’s perfection. Their being the sons of a chief priest (whether or not that was true is open for debate) should have given them some clout in the spiritual realm. Furthermore, they had a foolproof incantation against evil spirits. In the ancient world, one invoked the authority of a higher power to command lower spirit beings. In this case, the men invoked the name of Jesus, whom they knew to be a wonder worker, and they tossed in Paul’s name for good measure (19:13).
They moved from town to town, playing their confidence game wherever they could find people frightened enough to part with their money. Then they came to Ephesus, where evil didn’t play games. In response to the seven schemers, the demon acknowledged Jesus (19:15). The second verb, translated “know about” (epistamai [1987]), denotes a cursory acquaintance that’s even less formal than the first “know” (ginōskō [1097]). Regardless, the demon didn’t wait for an answer; he pounced on the men and nearly tore them to pieces (19:16). (The sight of the seven con artists flying through the door naked must have been hilarious.) Luke further describes their state using a Greek word we transliterate to get the English term “traumatized.”
— 19:17-19 —
The defeat of these seven false representatives of God sent shockwaves through the region, prompting the people to revere the Lord, and the reputation of Jesus Christ spread farther and faster. People who had been practicing magic or dabbling in the spirit realm confessed and repented.
The measure of this turn from the occult was a bonfire worth “fifty thousand pieces of silver” (19:19). If the pieces of silver were drachmas, each coin represented one day’s wages for a common laborer (cf. Luke 15:8). Fifty thousand pieces represented more than 136 years of continuous labor with no days off! For a conservative estimate of the value today, use this formula:
50,000 days × 8 hours/day = 400,000 work hours
400,000 hours × [hourly wage] = _______________
Luke offers this tangible measurement to help his readers gauge the impact of the Holy Spirit on Ephesus, the surrounding territory, and the Roman province of Asia at large. This figure represents a dramatic shift in the values of the people; they had invested heavily in written volumes containing incantations. Magicians and mediums voluntarily gave up their sources of income, which meant the people spent less money and time seeking help from the powers of darkness and, instead, turned toward the light. This monetary figure also speaks the language of Ephesus. Perhaps more than any other place in the world, money and dark powers enjoyed a symbiotic relationship that kept Asia in Satan’s stranglehold.
— 19:20 —
Two years of ministry resulted in a growing success. As people broke free from their fear and bondage, even the economy of Ephesus began to shift. Luke concludes this summary of Paul’s work with a Greek sentence that could be rendered, literally, “In this way, according to the mighty deeds of the Lord, the Word was growing and prevailing.” The tide had begun to turn. Great news for the church, great news for the people of Ephesus. But this was no time to rest. When the balance of power shifts away from the dark toward the light, Satan fights harder than ever.
APPLICATION: ACTS 19:8-20
Breaking Free
By the time Paul arrived in Ephesus, the province of Asia had become a hard nut to crack. His church-planting efforts in other places came at the cost of suffering, but the response had always been fairly rapid. In each case, a few weeks of teaching and organizing established a small but thriving community that inevitably flourished for many years after Paul’s departure. But Ephesus was different. Slavery to the occult and the oppression of demonism rendered the people so spiritually hardened that few could respond to the good news when they heard it. This required more intense miracles, more consistent teaching, more sustained persistence, and more patient optimism than anywhere else. After two years, Paul finally saw signs of hope.
What occurred in Ephesus can happen to an individual, and the occult doesn’t have to be involved. The hardening of a heart occurs gradually and silently, usually in a subtle, imperceptible manner. Sometimes it begins when we’re children; given no spiritual guidance, we develop methods of coping with guilt and shame in ways that create distance from God. If the pattern continues through adolescence and into the young adult years, we can develop a lifestyle of coping that deepens the hardening and may even cultivate destructive habits. Meanwhile, the Spirit of God continues to point out secret faults while we steadfastly resist. The result is a hardening of the heart and a whole lifestyle of futility. The truth may confront us daily, but it glances off our hard hearts like flint off steel. It flashes and it sparks but it does not penetrate.
Becoming pliable calls for a willingness to surrender, a willingness to abandon everything we’ve used as a substitute for an authentic, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s different for everyone. Money. Possessions. Self-reliance. Power. Relationships. Alcohol. Drugs. Sex. Achievement. Religion. Recognition. The list could go on for pages. You know yours. It’s what you would most fear to lose if the Lord sat you down for a heart-to-heart talk. As long as you look to that replacement god for your safety, fulfillment, happiness, relief —whatever it is you crave —you will continue to harden. The first step is surrender. Then, with your arms empty and open, turn to your Creator.