And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.
Comment: Obviously the town clerk was a capable and wise man. He seemed to have avoided the issue of money, which I still think was the real cause of the rioting. The religious issues were a means of getting the mob stirred up. The missionary team had been positive in their presentation of Jesus and not attacking the ‘goddess’ Diana. You realize that this is not completely true for without ‘anti-Diana’ preaching, they had been calling for single hearted devotion to Christ! If people accepted the gospel then idols had no place in the worship of the True and Living God. The town clerk pointed out that there were Roman courts to deal with money matters, and as money wasn’t the issue for the majority the riot ended. I fancy that Paul realized that it was just a lull in the opposition’s plans and maybe thinking of moving on.
Prayer: Keep us remembering that we cannot serve two Masters, O Lord!
As I read it! 