MEN WHO ACTED WITHOUT AUTHORITY
Sons of Sceva.
Among those who witnessed these miracles were some vagabond Jews who made a living by deceiving the people by pretending to be magicians. When they saw Paul heal the sick in the name of Jesus, they thought they could do the same, and thus make a great deal of money. So one day these seven men who were sons of Sceva, meeting a man who was afflicted with an evil spirit, said, "We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth," to come out of him.
"Jesus I know," said the evil spirit, "and Paul I know, but who are ye?" And the man leaped on them, and overcame them, so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded.
A Big Bonfire.
The treatment that these seven men received through their hypocrisy, soon spread over the city. Many who had practiced such arts as the sons of Sceva had, brought all their books of magic and made a bonfire of them. Paul saw burned that day about $10,000 worth of books and papers.
Annual Festival.
Every year in Ephesus, in the month of May, there was held a great festival in honor of the Goddess Diana. Rich men came from all parts of Asia, and "paid vast sums of money for the entertainment of the people. The entertainments were of different kinds. In the theatre were concerts and shows; in the hippodrome horse-racing; in the stadium gymnastic games of running, leaping and wrestling. There were noisy scenes through the day and night. In every hour of the day there were gay processions to the temple, following the bleating animals crowned with garland, being led to sacrifice. Idlers and drunkards could be seen almost everywhere at any time. * * * The shops and bazaars were filled with all the attractive things of those days which parents and friends would buy themselves and those left in distant homes. The special mementos would be little models of Diana and her shrine. The poorest of purchasers would buy those made of wood; others those of silver; and the wealthy those of gold."[[1]]
A Loss of Trade.
Paul, no doubt, had told the Ephesians as he had the Athenians, that God is not made of wood or of silver, or of gold, "neither graven by art of man's devise." These were hundreds and thousands of people who believed Paul and worshiped the true God. Consequently, at this annual feast, there were not so many images of Diana bought as there had been at other festivals.