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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Acts 19:18 - 19:20
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A further result of this event:
v. 18. And many that believed came and confessed, and showed their deeds.
v. 19. Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
v. 20. So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed.
The beating which the exorcists received in consequence of their unwarranted use of the name of Jesus had a good effect also upon the disciples that had come to faith, that had joined the congregation at Ephesus. The fear that Jesus was mightier than all idols and demons was spread far and wide, Now, the city of Ephesus, like most of the large cities of that day, was full of witchcraft and superstition. And this fact was here brought out in a remarkable way, since fear of punishment opened the mouth of many. They confessed, openly declared, their wrongdoings in this respect; they disclosed the magic spells which they had used. And many of those that had practiced magical arts collected their books on these subjects, burning them openly, in the sight of all the people. They also computed the price of these books and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver, almost ten thousand dollars. "Their value depended not so much on their number or their size as on their contents; for they contained plainly written directions for the performance of tricks of jugglery and magic, and the purchaser, by a little practice, could be just as skillful a juggler as the original owner. " So did the Word of the Lord grow with power, with such irresistible force did it persuade the hearts of men and gain new converts. And such strength did it exhibit in changing the hearts of these converts that they voluntarily renounced all connection with superstition and witchcraft. This power of God, even today, is exerted through the Word and shows the same results. The foolishness of men's perverted minds, together with the power of the kingdom of darkness, is helpless before the power of God in His Word.