Why did the silversmiths rise up against Paul's ministry and Christianity?
The silversmiths rose up because of greed: their wealth came from making silver shrines to Diana. Paul’s preaching that there are no gods made with hands turned many people away, endangering their craft and the temple of Diana, so their livelihood and idolatrous trade were threatened.
Les teaches that greed is what prompted these silversmiths to rise up against Paul’s ministry and against Christianity. Their wealth came from making silver shrines to Diana, so when Paul persuaded and turned away much people, not only at Ephesus but almost throughout all Asia—that is, Asia Minor, or Turkey—by saying there are no gods made with hands, their trade was endangered. They also feared that the temple of the great goddess Diana would be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshiped. Les explains that this is what idolatry does; it feeds on the baser instincts of humanity.