Acts 19:30-34 (NIV)
Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.
The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. The Jews pushed Alexander to the front, and some of the crowd shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
Paul wanted to go into the arena where the riot was taking place, believing that he could persuade the crowd about what he was teaching and the truth of the gospel. But God placed wise friends around him, including some officials of the province, who knew his proclivities, that he was likely to try to wade right into the riot, and warned him away.
This was wise because this was not a group that was interested in reason or logic. That moment had passed. It was now just a mob, some of whom were not even sure what they were protesting but had simply joined in the mayhem.
The Jews in the crowd saw this as the perfect opportunity to turn the whole group solidly against Paul. They pushed Alexander, a member of the synagogue, forward to testify about the mayhem that Paul had caused among their own numbers.
Alexander got the crowd to quiet down enough to hear him, and he began. But as soon as he mentioned the synagogue, the crowd realized that he was a Jew, another “foreign cult” that endangered their own religion, and they shouted him down with a unison chant of “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” a chant which they kept up steadily for two hours, until the city clerk was able to silence them.
Father, as Solomon noted in Ecclesiastes 3, there is a time for everything, including (verse 7b) a time to be silent and a time to speak. Even though Paul was wanting badly to speak, this was his time to remain silent. Thank You for putting wise people around him who could discern that, and who were able to persuade him. We all need people like that in our lives from time to time. Keep putting people like that around me, and help me, from time to time, to be that person for someone else. Amen.
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