'Ac 19:8-32

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Ephesus and the surrounding region (Ac 19:8-22)

After Paul had preached for three months in the synagogue, the Jews forced him out, so he went and taught in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. He carried on his teaching work there for the next two years, during which the disciples took the message into the surrounding countryside (Ac 19:8-10).

This activity seems to have resulted in churches being founded, without Paul’s help, in the towns of Colossae, Hierapolis and Laodicea (Col 2:1; 4:13), and possibly also Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis and Philadelphia (Rev 2:8,12,18; 3:1,7).

The healing ministry of the Messiah that had worked through Peter and John continued to work through Paul (Ac 19:11-12; cf. 3:1-16; 5:12-16; 9:33-35).

Some itinerant Jewish wonder-workers, impressed with Paul’s ability to drive out demons in the name of Jesus, tried to copy him, but were themselves violently attacked by the demons (Ac 19:13-16).

Sorcery, magic and superstition were widespread in Ephesus, but God’s power was at work in the city and large numbers of people turned to him (Ac 19:17-20).

As the churches in the province of Asia grew stronger, Paul began planning his future movements. His ultimate aim was to go to Rome, so that he could help establish Christianity more firmly in the heart of the Empire (cf. Rom 1:11-15).

But first he wanted to go to Jerusalem. During the past year or so he had been organizing a collection of money to take to the poor Christians in Jerusalem, a plan that he hoped would bind the Jewish and Gentile churches together (1 Cor 16:1-4; 2 Cor 8:1-24; 9:1-5; Rom 15:23-27).

His purpose in sending two fellow workers to Macedonia was probably to help promote and organize this project (Ac 19:21-22).