Acts 19:19

‘And not a few of those who practised magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all, and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.’

And the result was that a goodly number of them who had practised magical arts brought their books and burned them openly in the sight of all. They were now only too glad to get rid of them and destroy them for they recognised them for what they were. Satan was in full retreat. It may well be that Luke saw here a sense in which the Holy Spirit had come in fire to purge the believers from their sins and to destroy the evil that was among them.

‘And they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.’ This unusual note emphasises the quantity and value of what was being burned in terms of silver. These were thus in direct contrast with Demetrius and his fellows in Acts 19:24-25 who for the sake of silver would put the world in uproar. These now wanted to bring the world peace. And as the amount spoken of reveals, this was not just a matter of a few deviant Christians, it was evidence that many had still been dabbling in the occult, possibly without being aware of its inconsistency. In total the value was fifty thousand pieces of silver, a huge sum, demonstrating (even though books were expensive) how many were involved. It revealed that along with Satanism Mammon was also being ‘destroyed’. The believers, unlike the followers of Artemis, now had no thought for either.