The conclusion of the episode

“This became known to all who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.” (1) This event became widely known among all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus. (a) A sense of awe toward God arose. (b) The name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. (c) Naturally, many came to faith. “Also many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they added up the prices of the books and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.” (1) In Ephesus, many believers had not yet broken away from their harmful practices. However, the episode of the seven sons of Sceva prompted them to confess their involvement in black magic and the occult. This phenomenon was unique to Ephesus, a city deeply tied to magical practices. (2) In the world of magic, it is a common belief that “spells lose their power if they are revealed.” These individuals had spent significant amounts of money to purchase books containing secret spells and binding words. However, the moment these spells were made public, they lost their supposed effectiveness. Since owning scrolls or books that had lost their effectiveness was meaningless, they burned them in public while the crowd watched. The value of the burned books amounted to fifty thousand pieces of silver. These were likely Greek drachmas rather than Roman denarii. Fifty thousand drachmas would be equivalent to fifty thousand days’ wages. Assuming one drachma is worth 100 dollars today, fifty thousand drachmas would equal 5 million dollars. “So the word of the Lord was growing and prevailing mightily.” This is the sixth church growth report (ref. Acts 2:47, 6:7, 9:31, 12:24, and 16:5). Acts 16:5, which precedes the vision of the Macedonian man, serves as the starting point. From there to Acts 19:20, which recounts Paul’s ministry in Ephesus, is treated as a single section that details the growth and expansion of the church. Breaking the ties with sin and harmful habits is a vital theme for us as well. “The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let’s rid ourselves of the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let’s behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and debauchery, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ…” (Rom. 13:12-14). To “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” means to walk as He walked.