2009 Holy Land Tour – Turkey

Part 11 - Ephesus

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Today I want to take you to the ancient city of Ephesus.  There are extensive ruins at Ephesus because the city has not been built over by a later city.  We had most of an entire day to visit these ruins.  First, let’s locate the city of Ephesus on the map.

The city of Ephesus lies between two mountains – Mt. Pion and Mt. Koressus.  Let me point out some of the ruins on this picture.  I will come back and show you some close-ups.

There are three major streets in Ephesus.

                   •  Curetes Street

                   •  Marble Way

                   •  Harbor Road (sometimes called Arcadia Street)

In the photo to the left, you will also see the location of:

                   •  Celsus Library

                   •  Commercial Agora

                   •  Theater.

                   •  Odeon

Let me take you to the Odeon now.  The upper city was where city officials would hang out and conduct business.  One of the first things we saw was the Odeon, which was a small, 2,300 seat theater.  It would have been covered with a wooden roof.  This is where the city council (the boule) would assemble.  The common person was not allowed into the upper city.

The ruins of ancient Ephesus was a busy place the day we were visiting.  One group after another making their way through the ruins.  At the other end, where the buses were waiting for their groups, there were some 30 to 40 buses parked there.  Many of them come from cruise ships anchored at Kusadasi.  Our hotel was in that city.

There were some specific places I wanted to visit at Ephesus, so I was allowed the freedom to explore on my own most of the time.  For the most part, I knew approximately where the rest of our group was at any given time.  So I could join them whenever necessary.  I took more than 300 photos at Ephesus, of which you will only see a few.

The next photo was taken from the top of the Odeon.  It is of one of the places I specifically wanted to visit.  I am talking about the level ground above the arches. I won’t say anything right now about this place, but will return to it later.  As you can see, there is some archaeological work going on there right now.  I know what the stones in the background are, and what else once stood on that plateau.  As a group, we did not go there.

We continued down Curetes Street.  Part way down, you see the covered area on the left.  And you will see a separate sidewalk inside the columns.  Here is a close-up, showing it to consist of very fancy mosaics.  What we have under the cover of this building are where the rich people lived. 

At right is an aerial view showing Curetes Street and the covered area.  They have identified seven separate homes under their covering.

This area was under cover 4 years ago when I was last here.  At that time, they had just gotten started uncovering these homes.  On this trip, I had heard they might allow tourists to visit these homes.  If they did, I knew there would probably be a separate charge for entrance.  Seven of us paid the price and spent nearly an hour inside, while our guide took the rest of our group to visit other sites.

These homes were very ornate, with much masonry and brick work.  From the many pieces they have uncovered, they are reconstructing the homes. 

There was running water in these home.  In fact, at least one home had hot and cold running water.  They also had indoor toilets – they didn’t need to use public restrooms.  And several of these homes were multi-level.  Since these homes were built on a hill, you could easily arrange a tri-level.  Here are the floor plans of a two level home.

We started at the bottom of these homes, and ended at the top.  This was the view as we came out from the covered homes.  The other six walked down the steps beside the covered area, while I went left along the side of the hill.

I wanted to get some shots from above of the Celsus Library and the Gates of Mazaeus and Mithridates.  Here is a photo of this area which I did not take.  Those gates lead to the commercial agora.  This is probably where the apostle Paul had a shop for the tents he made.  Aquila and Priscilla also were tent-makers and had a shop here as well.

I showed you this photo earlier, but it is a good one to show what is beyond the gates.  You can see the agora – and the street called Marble Road.  On the right, you can see part of the huge theater.  Here is another view of the agora, with the library and gates at the lower right.

We walked through the agora to the Harbor Road.  That’s the street leading from the harbor to the theater.  This theater is probably the largest in ancient Asia Minor.  It will seat nearly 25,000 people in three tiers.

Now let me show you a model of the city as it may have been at thetime of apostles John & Paul.  You would see this model if you visited the museum here – which we did not.  This model shows the small theater – the Odeon – not covered.  Some believe it was covered.  Here is another model with it covered.

While we look at the theater, let’s bring in apostle Paul.  Ephesus was a city who’s economy centered in the worship of their goddess Artemis.  That’s the Greek name for this goddess – The Romans called her Diana.  If you have a King James Bible, you will find Diana mentioned in Acts 19.  Others, like the NIV, read Artemis.

And here came Paul, this Jewish man – Shaul, to say it in Hebrew.  He is educated in the Torah, knowledgeable about Scripture, intensely passionate about Jesus.  Paul arrived here at the end of his second missionary journey, and also during his third missionary journey, when he spent nearly 3 years here.

When Paul came into this city he went first to the synagogue.  That’s logical because  that’s the people he knew, the tradition he knew, and he knew their Scripture, and he began to teach and show them from the Torah and from the prophets and from the ‘writings’ how they were supposed to live.  I’m sure he began to tell them about Messiah – Yeshua.

The Bible tells us that after several months, Paul left the synagogue and went to a certain lecture hall of Tyranus.  And there, for two years, every single day, he spoke and taught the good news.  In fact, he spoke it so freely and so powerfully, that all Asia, the Scripture says, heard about it.  And he was completely unapologetic about this being the truth.  And he was completely comfortable to declare that out in the public arena.  He simply went and spoke the truth without embarrassment.

And I think to myself, how often have I been hesitant or ashamed of speaking the truth, as if somehow the wisdom and truth of someone else is so much bigger because it is scientific, or it has the support of the academic community or this degree or that degree and all I have is the Word of God.  But this was the truth, and it had every right to compete in the market place with any other “truth.” 

After 2½ years, Paul ran into a huge problem.  You see, the truth always has implications.  And the folks of this city began to discover that if Paul’s truth was the real truth, it was undermining their truth.  If Jehovah is God, and Yeshua is His Messiah, then who is Artemis?  You can imagine Paul scratching his head and saying, ‘I’m sorry to tell you this, but Artemis is the figment of your imagination.” 

And many people were coming to know the real truth about Jesus.  And they began to be converted and decided to give up their old practices.  And in this city, along with the immoral nature of worshiping of Artemis, was the accompaniment of the black arts – sorcery and black magic.

And Acts 19:19 (NIV) tells us:

19     A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. 

A drachma is equivalent to one day’s wages.  50,000 drachmas is worth about 200 annual wages.  Today, that would surpass 10 million dollars.

And so a certain Demitrius decided that what Paul was saying threatened the whole belief in Artemis, which then threatened the whole economy of Ephesus.  The implication of the truth undermined their whole lifestyle.  The Bible says that Demitrius said to the people, this man Paul is teaching that our god isn’t really a god.  So a crowd gathered, rushed into this theater.  Literally, a riot breaks out as recorded in Acts 19, starting with verse 23.

As I mentioned, this theater seats about 25,000 people, spread out in three tiers.  There was a beautiful stage, the acoustics are fantastic, the view is spectacular.  Imagine that place filled with 25,000 people, all chanting in unison, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.”  And they continued their chants for a very long time.  Verse 34 tells us this chanting and anger lasted for two hours.

Finally the crowd was calmed down and the mayor finally said, “Hey, you are going to be in trouble if you stir up a riot.  The Romans will come and take away our goddess and our city and our freedom.”  So Paul escapes with his life. 

I thought to myself, when was the last time I spoke the truth, so lovingly, so clearly, and so without fear, that the implications of the truth were an offense, and people got worked up enough to chant “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians” for two hours.  And I wonder if I have the courage, the intensity of passion and faith of Paul.

And the other thought I had:  When you speak of God, and of Jesus, there will always be implications.  You don’t need to undermine and put down and attack others.  All you need to do is speak the truth.  And the implications of the truth are powerful.  And so, Paul, with intense courage, faced intense opposition.  I honor him and his little group of believers.

The second part of the story comes some time later, and it involves John, not Paul.  Scholars believe that John arrived in the late 60’s or early 70’s.  Emperor Domitian comes to power in 81 A.D. and reigns until 96 A.D.

Domitian was the first of the emperors to really demand his own worship.  He wanted to be called “Lord and God,” even by his wife.  He believed he was divine.  Now, in Ephesus, apparently the people approved, because they built huge structures to Domitian.

This takes me back to that small level plateau I showed you at the beginning.  It doesn’t look like much today.  When Domitian decided to become a god, or to be honored as a god, the Ephesians donated this place as the center of his worship in the whole world.

That flat area was about 220 feet wide and about 325 feet long.  But they needed a little bit more space than was available on the flat plateau.  So what they did was to extend the edge of this platform, and to hold that platform up, they put a series of columns.  And that platform went all the way to those columns, like an overhang.  Here is a picture of what they think it looked like.

But what’s intriguing to me is that the top part of each column is carved in the figure of one of the Roman and Greek gods.  So this whole platform stood on the backs of all the Roman and Greek gods.  In the middle they built a temple.  Actually it was a medium size temple – about 40 by 60 feet, with an altar in front.

But an impressive part of it was the statue.  Somewhere, probably close to the side of the columns stood a statue of Domitian.  The statue was 27 feet high.  And the head is huge.  The arm in the museum is unbelievable.

At the edge of Domitian Square, you would find this round altar.  It was a street altar to Domitian.  And once each year, each citizen had to pass this altar and say, “Caesar is Lord.”

When I stand at this altar, I am moved. Because those early Christians had such passion and commitment, and such courage, that they would have stood there and said, “I can’t!  And I won’t acknowledge the lordship of anyone but God!”  I wonder how many, maybe even by that altar, paid the ultimate price.  And I wonder if I would have.  But they did.

So what can we take from this?  I think there are a number of things.  One – I want to take with me that boldness and that passionate faith that is unafraid to publicly live and speak for Jesus.  In so many ways, I don’t think I deserve to compare myself with those believers who lived in this city, putting their lives on the line.  I haven’t had to do that where I live.  But I do want to learn from them that passion – of John, Paul, those early believers.

In the book of Revelation, John writes, “I know your deeds, your hard work.  The Greek word there means your constant, persistent toil.  He says, you persevered and endured great hardship for my name and you never got tired.  I want that.

Where in the world did they get the courage and the passion to come here to this city?  They were ordinary people just like us, yet they made such a difference.  This community – this church of believers – was commended in the book Paul wrote to them because they loved each other.  And I think that part of their tirelessness was their mutual love and support for each other.

Another poignant moment for me was a left turn off of Curetes Street, and up above a short set of steps, and just about at the top of where the current excavation stops, a paving stone.  And in the paving stone, a fish – sort of home made, obviously not by an artist – and a little cross.  Now, no one knows the whole history, but apparently that was very ancient, maybe even in the first century, during John’s time.

And as I stood there and looked at that now uncovered, it struck me that somewhere in this rich and powerful city was a person, maybe a family, I don’t know, who wanted passersby to know, in a quiet unobtrusive way, who is really Lord of lords and King of kings.  Jesus, the Messiah, Son of God, Savior.

How will we testify that the basis of our life is Lord of lords and King of kings.  That to me is the message I take from Ephesus.