Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1897-08-26

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| Lesson for August 20.
| Golden Text.-"Take heed, and beware
Of covetousness. Luke -: 10. +
Paul Opposed at Ephesus is the subject
Of this lesson, Acts 10: 21-34. We now
return to the narrative in the Acts, and
take up the story of Paul's difficulty at
| Ephesus on account OF the maker OF
shrines. The events between the last
lesson in Acts Qesson 81 and the present
must be carefully reviewed. IL the pupils
are to get any clear idea of Paurs ca
reer.
| The events intervening may be briefly
summarized, from the book of Acts,
as follows: After spending a year and six
months in Corinth "a. ID. 52-54), Paul
was accused before the proconsul, Gallo,
but the prosecution came to nothing, ow-
ing to Gallio's lack of interest (Acts IS:
12-1O. Paul stayed some time longer and
then departed for Ephssus. On the way
he stopped at Cenchreae, near Corinth,
where he had his head shorn in fulfillment
of vow, the exact nature of which is not
clear Us: 49,. He stayed but short
time in Ephesus, being in haste to reach
Jerusalem in time for a feast, supposed
/
Us: 1920. Sailing from Ephesus direct
for Caesarea, he went from the latter
place to Jerusalem and "saluted the
church," and then returned to Antioch
| Us: 22). Thus ended the second mission,
airy journey.
The third journey began by land trip
through central Asia Minor, 1.-The region OF
Galatia and Phrygia in order establishing
/ N ha n o.. In hay
ing passed through the upper country,
came to Ephesus" 90: u. There occur.
red the incident of the twelve disciples
who had misunderstood Johns baptism,
not understanding Johns prophecy of one
who was to follow, and not knowing of
the Holy Spirit. After their Christian
baptism, Paul laid his hands on them, and
the Holy Spirit came on them 90: 30.
Then, for about three months, he preach
ed to the Jews in the synagogue until
further work Of that sort seemed unpro-
fitable 90: 8, 81. Then for two years he
taught and preached, using as headquar-
tiers the building occupied by one Tyran-
nus as a school. 90: 8, 10) Miracles
were wrought by Paul 40: 12). At the
end of these two years occurred the dis
| turbnnce which is narrated in the present
4
Mt any rate in sufficient detail to make
clear in the minds of all the general chron-
ology of the period.
| Explanatory.
| One thing worth noticing about Paurs
methods is that he constantly used the
services of others, when less wise man
would have felt obliged to so himself in
spite of other and more important duties
The worship of the Ephesian Diana Tor
Artemis, as her name was in Creek was
one of the things for which the city was
noted. The temple was one of the So
called "seven wonders of the world Ii
was Of marble, in the Iona style, 425 feet
in length and DO in breadth, with col
umns sixty feet high. The wood used
was cypress and cedar; decorations were
in rich colors, and there were paintings
and statues in abundance. The famous
image itself, however, which was suppos-
ed to have fallen from the sky, was ex
tremely rude, carved from wood. 1t rep
resented Diana as an oriental rather than
the Greek goddess whose graceful appear
| ance as huntress is so familiar i'm an
| cient art.
Certain of the chiefs of Asia" this
should be "Asiarchs." The Asiarchs were
ten men chosen annually from the chief
| towns in proconsular Asia to superintend
the games and festivals held every year
in honor of the gods and the Roman en-
peror. They were chosen from the wealth
Ter class of citizens, since, like the Roman
ardiles, they were required to provide for
these exhibitions at their own expense.
| Those who had filled the Office once re-
tanned the title for the rest of life. They
were thus prceninent men, and the fact
that Paul had friends among them shows
how rapidly the gospel had spread in
Ephesus.
Here is a vivid picture of typical
crowd, gathered for some reason unknown
to most of them, and unwilling to dispense
without some exciting incident. The
meaning of this episode seems to be that
the Jews desired to assure the multitude
that they had no sympathy with the Chris
tians, and thus escape the blind wrath
which was likely to overwhelm everybody
of the hated Jewish race, whatever his
belief. Greeks and Romans were CON
stantly confusing Jews and Christians
Alexander's attempt was to make this
matter plain to the bowling mob. But it
was n vain attempt.
The lesson should by all means include
the rest of the story, VS.. 35-41. The
town clerk" whose speech Quoted the
crowd, was a much more important man
than this translation of his title would in
dictate. He was keeper Of the public rec
ords, presided over public assemblies, and
had other important duties. He might
better be called ''the recorder" or "the
chancellor" His address is a skillful one,
appealing not only to the good sense Of
the citizens, but to their prudence, remind
ing them of the severe punishment which
the imperial government was accustomed
to mete out to rioters and disturbers Of
the peace. No inference can be drawn
that this city recorder really sympathized
with Paul, for his whole speech may have
been simply that of clever politician;
but it served Paul just as WELL
Teaching Hints.
Compare these tactics of Demetrius
with those of the liquor dealers of our
time, and show the unblushing selfishness
of his appeal. Bring out the folly of the
human mind, which is capable OF such
superstition even in high state of ciyili
zation.
The church at Ephesus grew and pros
pered Notwithstanding these obstacles. Its
influence spread throughout all the prov
ince of Asia, and during this period were
probably founded the other six of the
| .o,,on churcboa Of Aaio fn x,,h;nk -