May 19, 2026 | Be Connected
Riots
Scripture: Acts 19:28-31(NIV)
28 When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together. 30 Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. 31 Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.
Devotional
Riots! Nothing new in the world! Today’s scripture puts Paul venturing into a religious cultural coup, a threat to the goddess Artemis.
Rage: Paul and friends are caught in an aggressive, passionate Ephesus situation of violent anger. The rich silversmith, Demetrius, is filled with fear about the idol Artemis being discredited and his business income from knickknack statues is in danger. No one is going to lead his investors astray. He convinces others to join in a fury. This is war!
Intensity: Soon the whole city is in an uproar. Demetrius even pitches the idea that all of Asia will be affected!
Outbursts: The people are collectively shouting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Their goddess Artemis and her fertile image from Heaven are being questioned. Outrageous.
Tribal: The scripture says, the crowd became furious and began shouting and “rushing as one man.” When I took Sociology at Purdue, a professor explained crowd behavior as a group of people who form a loyalty to a strong belief or culture led by firm leadership. He shared how crowd behavior escalates in tension when a belief system is provoked. Each person of the tribe loses self-identity to take on the behavior of the crowd. The professor gave advice about riots, “If ever caught in a riot, you should look into the crowd and start calling out common names” such as John or Katie. This triggers in the human brain an “I am seen” reaction. The people in the riot become conscious of their individuality instead of being part of the anonymous crowd.
Sacred: Obviously, worshipping a stone man-made statue of Artemis is foreign to us, but it was common in the culture of Ephesus. Mark and I visited Ephesus in 2024, and it was filled with statues, trinkets for sale, tour guides teaching and even a shrine to the great Artemis. The oddity about this sacred goddess is that she was in a dark cave-like area with bars that looked like she was in jail. The most sacred idol was barred in the dark. How ironic. Her body was chipped and looked like a tombstone!
Closing Prayer: Dear Lord, today I learn about a specific idol that was fought over and worshipped as a god to replace You. I see how people lost their dignity to defend a sacred myth. I am saddened to see this behavior. As I apply this scripture to my life, I wonder what sacred idols are fertile in my life. What false gods would cause me to riot? Give me wisdom to cast away images, successes, money or independence that prevent me from glorifying You.
