The Temple of Artemis, also known as
the Temple of Diana was dedicated to the goddess Artemis. It was
located in Ephesus and was completely rebuilt three times before its
eventual destruction in 401. The first destruction was by flood, the
second by arsen and the third is an interesting tale.
It is this third temple that we read
about in Acts 19:35 and don't worry if you hadn't really taken note
of it before, neither had I. The 2nd century apocryphal
book, the Acts of John (not included in the bible) recounts how John
prayed publicly in the Temple of Artemis, exorcising its demons and
“of a sudden, the altar of Artemis split in many pieces and half
the temple fell down,” instantly converting the Ephesians who wept,
prayed and took flight.
We should raise a shout of praise that
in the presence of God no demonic altars can stand! As Christians we
are the temple of the Holy Spirit and once we are born again we need
only concern ourselves with one destruction, that of our earthly
body. Unlike rebuilding a temple with brick and mortar, our Spirit
lives eternally and will never require any 'building work' again.
We can give praise and glory to God
that our temple is eternal and everlasting and that the Church of
Christ will have dominion over all the earth!
No comments:
Post a Comment