Why was Paul forced out of Ephesus before he wrote 2 Corinthians?
Paul was forced out of Ephesus because of the tremendous hatred for the gospel from the pagan followers of Diana, whose statue oversaw the whole city of Ephesus. This opposition drove him to leave and travel north to Troas, where he evidently began a congregation and expected to meet Titus.
Les explains that the second letter to the Corinthians was written sometime after Paul had been forced out of Ephesus because of the tremendous hatred for the gospel from the pagan followers of Diana, whose statue oversaw the whole city. After leaving Ephesus, Paul went north into the northwest corner of what is now Turkey to the ancient city of Troas, which was the city of Troy. There he evidently began a little congregation. He was supposed to have met Titus (not Timothy) in Troas, as mentioned in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 13. Les gives this background to show why Paul was under such constant satanic attack, noting that as soon as God made the classic statement in Genesis 3:15 about the seed of the woman bruising the serpent's head, Satan knew it was about the coming of a Redeemer and kicked into gear everything to prohibit the coming of a Redeemer for the human race.