Morning Light – Acts 19 Part 2: The Timings of God

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Today: [Acts 19 Part 2:] The Timings of God: In part 2 of Acts 19 we see the Apostle Paul planning to leave the city with two of his disciples. In the midst of his preparations to go, Paul inexplicably sends his two team members on ahead and lingers behind. The result is very negative, and as such it constitutes a lesson for us about moving in the timings of God and not lingering in an existing assignment when God is calling us to move on.
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[Acts 19:21-41 KJV]
21 After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. 22 So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season. 23 And the same time there arose no small stir about that way. 24 For a certain [man] named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen; 25 Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. 26 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: 27 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. 28 And when they heard [these sayings], they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great [is] Diana of the Ephesians. 29 And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre. 30 And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. 31 And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring [him] that he would not adventure himself into the theatre. 32 Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. 33 And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people. 34 But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great [is] Diana of the Ephesians. 35 And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, [Ye] men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the [image] which fell down from Jupiter? 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly. 37 For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. 38 Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another. 39 But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly. 40 For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse. 41 And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.
In verse 20 we see in Ephesus that the word of God grew mightily and prevailed. What was Paul’s response to this? Did he drop anchor and build a shiny new venue to teach from? What he did was understand that the work was established and he moves on with his mind set on the city of Rome. What is the logic in this? In the earliest church documents, instructions were found to apostolic workers to keep moving forward to new territories. It is the characteristic of an apostle not to rest on their laurels or luxuriate in the aftermath of great successes. I know in our own ministry when my spouse and I work in an area and find tremendous and unbroken favor with the people, we realize that our work will soon be done. On occasion this creates problems. In one city at the beginning of our ministry, the Spirit of God was moving, lives were being changed, and the people decided to put us in a traditional pulpit and pew church setting and call upon us to stay there indefinitely and pastor them. We knew this was not what God wanted. These people were getting up and singing odes to Russ and Kitty, and we continually told them not to put their eyes on man but to look to God. Eventually, they understood what we were saying, and their accolades turned to accusations and a very opposite spirit all because we would not allow them to make us their dependency rather than God Himself. When you see success and find yourself moving in great ministry effectiveness, start looking for an exit strategy. Know that there are other assignments as Paul does when he leaves Ephesus and travels to Rome after a brief visit to Jerusalem.
As Paul is in the midst of transitioning out of Ephesus, there is a great stir among the people. The city is changed, and the gospel is impacting every sector of that culture. A certain silversmith by the name of Demetrius realized he is losing money because people are not buying trinkets he manufactures for the worship of Diana the moon goddess of Greek wisdom. He gathers certain tradesmen together and asserts that the influence of Paul is negatively affecting the economy and a great insurrection ensues. Here we see what often is at the heart of resistance to the move of God. When the status quo is threatened, even brothers in Christ and fellow leaders will rise up to object. They won’t say this is why they are raising the alarm, instead they will say they are concerned for souls lest they be led astray by the leadership of the new movement. In fact, the prevailing leadership will resist the emerging thing that God is doing because they are concerned for their loss of influence and the impact of what God is doing on the bottom line and their own financial solvency. Learn to judge righteous judgment in these matters and to exercise discernment rather than to get pulled into controversies whose motives are seldom displayed out in the light of day.
In the confusion raised up in the city, the apostle Paul attempts to go in and deal with things, but the brotherhood restrained him from doing so. Here is wisdom – never answer your critics. They come in many forms and often with very demanding spirits and will mount whatever offensive they can to get your attention but there is little to be gained by responding. When have you ever responded to a critic and actually saw them repent and change their minds with the same loud exclamations that they stirred up trouble and created their confusion in the first place? It is a fact that once strong opinions are held and expressed, you can expect very little in the way of repentance unless something very unusual happens to change that person’s mind.
In the midst of the idolators that worshipped Diana in this mob, there was also a contingency of Jews. Since there were many Jews who followed Paul, they force one of the disciples by the name of Alexander to the front of the crowd, and Alexander attempts to make a defense of Paul’s ministry and the gospel of Christ. What is the result? Hours and hours of ringing shouts crying “great is Diana of the Ephesians!” Why all this fuss? One aspect of the worship of Diana involved ritual prostitution. These people were protesting with very high sounding religious sentiments, but something much darker was controlling their passions. What will be the end of the matter?
Finally, after much tumult, an unnamed city clerk gets up to speak, and things settle down. Is he a Christian? No, if he were a disciple, the narrative would make a note of it. Sometimes it takes a pagan to speak common sense to non-reasoning people. Paul cannot settle things down. Neither Alexander nor any of the other Christian brothers and quell the disturbance. All they can see is the problem but this man who doesn’t even know God is nonetheless used by God to solve the problem. As a result, the day’s uproar is brought to an end without any loss of life, and Paul prepares to complete his interrupted preparations to leave the city.
The question we ask is, did Paul wait too long before leaving Ephesus? Things were going so well, and thousands had come to Christ. Paul was undoubtedly led to make an exit in verse 21, but instead of a simple conclusion in verse 22 he sent two of his team on ahead, and he stayed in the area just a bit longer. Why did he delay? It didn’t bring any positive result but rather the opposite outcome. Let this be a lesson to you as well. Always make your exit on a high note from a situation when you know God is leading you on. Know when it is time to make a timely change of assignment. Failure to do so will result in the opposite outcome and much difficulty and adverse circumstances. If Paul left the city with Timothy and Erastus, whom he sent on ahead, none of this might have happened. Remember in your own life there is a timing to things. Christians tend to want to put down roots and get as much positive fruit and benefit out of their current circumstances as possible. This often leads to difficulty, and while they create the problem by their lack of faith they question God “why didn’t things work out…” Learn to heed the voice of the Spirit and move in the timings of God.