

3.21 Acts -- Ephesus Erupts
After Athens, Paul went to Corinth and Ephesus. For all his earlier complaining about Jewish opposition, he continued his pattern of starting to preach at the local synagogues, until opposition forced him to move on. He stayed two years at Ephesus, preaching to both Jews and Greeks. He moved from the synagogue to a philosopher's lecture hall (Acts 19:9-10). Again, we note that his teaching was accompanied by "demonstration of the Spirit in power" (1 Cor 2:4) -- particularly healing miracles (Acts 19:11-12).
This fruitful time was brought to an abrupt end by a local silversmith who felt threatened by Paul's message of faith in Jesus Christ. His business was dependent on the worship of the goddess Artemis, and every convert to Christianity meant the loss of one customer. He got the crowd stirred up, and nearly caused a riot. After the mob dispersed, Paul left Ephesus and returned to Greece (Acts 20:1-3). At least this commotion was not the fault of the Jews, but the pagans.