THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES - Chapter 16 - Verse 19

Verse 19. The hope of their gains was gone. It was this that troubled and enraged them. And this is as likely to enrage men as anything. Instead of regarding the act as proof of Divine power, they were intent only on their profits. And their indignation furnishes a remarkable illustration of the fixedness with which men will regard wealth; of the fact that the love of it will blind them to all the truths of religion, and all the proofs of the power and presence of God; and of the fact that any interposition of Divine power that destroys their hopes of gain, fills them with wrath and hatred and murmuring. Many a man has been opposed to God and his gospel, because, if religion should be extensively prevalent, the hopes of gain would be gone. Many a slave-dealer, and many a trafficker in ardent spirits, and many a man engaged in other unlawful modes of gain, have been unwilling to abandon their employments, simply because the hopes of their gain would be destroyed. No small part of the opposition to the gospel arises from the fact, that, if embraced, it would strike at so much of the dishonourable employments of men, and make them honest and conscientious.

The marketplace. The court, or forum. The market-place was a place of concourse; and the courts were often held in or near those places.

The rulers. The term used here refers commonly to civil magistrates.

{i} "gains was gone" Ac 19:24,27 {2} "market-place" "court" {k} "rulers" Mt 10:18