NT 260: Part TwoBeispiel

Paul goes to Ephesus where he finds some followers of John the Baptist who had not heard of Jesus. They were eager to learn of Jesus. As usual, Paul’s message meets resistance by the Jews, so he is forced to leave the synagogue. The message of Jesus is so successful in Ephesus, it begins to damages the businesses that make their money off of the worship of Artemis. These craftsmen decide to turn people against Paul, so they can stop the spread of message of Jesus.

The reaction of the people who worship Artemis is interesting. First, they seem to be more interested in making money than they are in knowing the truth. Perhaps their real god was money, not Artemis. Secondly, Artemis will suffer if people do not worship her. How powerful can she be if she requires worship in order to be strong? Our worship of God should not be like this. God should not be worshiped for our personal gain. God is powerful whether we worship Him or not. We worship Him for Who He is, not for our benefit or to strengthen Him.