Acts 19:26

“And you see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they are no gods, which are made with hands.”

Then he turned their attention to their major problem. Throughout the whole region, as they could see and had no doubt heard, many people had ceased buying silver shrines, and the reason was because Paul had turned them away from worshipping gods which were made with hands and were therefore not gods at all. The drop in trade was wholly his fault.

This admission was, of course, evidence that what was done in the Name of Jesus had proved far more powerful and effective than anything connected with the name of Artemis of the Ephesians. Her followers might yell her name for hours, but she was totally ineffective, whereas all had seen earlier what the Name of Jesus could do (Acts 19:11).

‘This Paul.' Paul was a much loved figure by Christians, but he was also much hated. His very success was his undoing. Here many important people in Ephesus hated him because of the effect he had had on their Temple trade. We can compare how around that part of the world many Jews who had rejected the name of Jesus also hated him so much that in many cities they were constantly seeking means to kill him, something which we constantly discern throughout Acts (Acts 14:5; Acts 14:19; Acts 17:13; Acts 20:3; Acts 21:30; Acts 22:22; Acts 23:12; Acts 25:3), to such an extent that they were willing to travel some distances to do so. This intense hatred cannot be described as normal even in those days. Such intense hatred was directed at no one else as far as we know. He took the blame for all their anger directed at the name of Jesus. Even some extreme Judaisers among the Christians hated him. It was probably they who had tried to make the Corinthian church hate him. He was possibly the most loved and the most hated man in the world.