Burning Books And Bridges

A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly.
Acts 19:19

Would you build a bonfire using two million dollars’ worth of kindling?

That’s approximately what “fifty thousand drachmas” in Roman times would be worth in today’s currency!

The book burning in Ephesus was expensive, and Luke records how the gospel brought about economic disruption in the idolatrous city of Ephesus. But such changes are often necessary when God is at work, as Albert Barnes explains.

WALK WITH ALBERT BARNES
“The Word ofhad power in this wicked city, and the power must have been mighty which would make them willing to destroy their property.

“From this instructive passage we may learn that: 1. True religion has the power to break the hold of sinners on unjust and dishonest means of living. 2. Those who have been engaged in an un-Christian and dishonorable practice will abandon it when they become Christians. 3. Their abhorrence of their former course ought to be expressed as publicly as was the offence. 4. The evil practice will be abandoned at any sacrifice, however great. The question is ‘what is right?’ Not ‘what will it cost?’

“If what they did when they were converted was right—and who can doubt it?—it sets forth a great principle on which new converts should act.”

WALK CLOSER TO GOD
Cherished dreams. Ingrained habits. Goals for advancement in a career. Previously unquestioned ethics. Sorcery in its many subtle forms. Each may take on a new appearance when seen in the light of God’s Word.

Albert Barnes’s remarks provide helpful guidelines to show believers how the Word of God prevails in our daily life to replace un-Christian conduct with Christian convictions.