Neville Goddard on Acts 19:23-28 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Acts 19 in context

Scripture Focus

23And the same time there arose no small stir about that way.

24For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen;

25Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth.

26Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:

27So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.

28And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

Acts 19:23-28

Biblical Context

Demetrius the silversmith stirs craftsmen by claiming their wealth depends on Diana’s image; Paul’s teaching that idols are not gods provokes anger and a city-wide commotion.

Neville's Inner Vision

Within this narrative the stirring is a mirror of your inner state. Demetrius clings to an old economy of idols, where wealth flows from crafted images. Paul's words that there are no gods made with hands invite a revision: there is no external shrine that must be defended, only the I AM that sustains all. The temple Diana represents your habitual worship of security through forms. If you believe your provision comes from shrines of image, you will defend them as if life itself depended on them. But when you accept that you are the Presence, not the idol's creator, the craft loses its grip and the crowd's anger dissolves into a quiet, luminous freedom. Asia and the world are within you; the outer commotion reveals inner resistance to change. Your task is not to fight the shrines but to return to the awareness that you are the one who says I AM, and that there is no shortage in your consciousness, only a misalignment with truth that can be revised by feeling it real.