The Letter To Ephesus
- Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:1-7) -
In the original Greek the word "Ephesus" means the desired one. An equivalent term would be darling, the one and only... It is a term of endearment. Then we have the title of Jesus Christ that He chose. He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. As explained the last post, the point here is that Jesus is ultimately in control.
Verse two, I know thy works... these guys did a good job of digging out heresy, and clinging to sound doctrine. Paul gave a warning to the elders of this church in his epistle. John gave warning as well in his first and second epistles. On a side note, Timothy was probably its first Bishop.
The city was founded around 1400 B.C. with a temple to an ancient Hittite fertility deity. This deity later became known as Artemis or Diana. Under Rome it was a free city, so it had its own municipal government and senate. It was called the Queen of Asia and was one of the most beautiful cities in the region. It was the capitol of Ionia and had the chief harbor. So naturally it spent some time as a naval base. However, as the Romans destroyed more and more of the trees surrounding the harbor, erosion set in over the years. Eventually the use of the harbor became problematic. Today it is six miles inland, but back then it was very beautiful and prosperous. This city was also the principle line of communication between Rome and the other eastern provinces. The library at Ephesus had over two-hundred thousand volumes... and this was before printing. There were also brothels a short distance from the library. I think it very telling that archaeologist had discovered a tunnel at the library that led directly to these brothels
In the New Covenant era, the most impressive piece of architecture in this city was the temple of Diana, who was presumably the daughter of Zeus and sister to Apollo. It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world... four times as large as the Parthenon in Athens. However, it was involved in sexual rights that cannot be described to an audience containing children and pre-teens. Ephesus was also a study center for arts and magic. The people came together and burned a significant amount of their occult paraphernalia as recorded in Acts 19.
In Acts 20:16-38, Paul gives his touching farewell address and warning to the elders from Ephesus.
- And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews: And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:18-21) -
House to house... I think it interesting to note that churches as we think of them today, were not invented until the third and fourth centuries. The medieval church ostracized home fellowships. Even reformers like Luther, Calvin, and others tried to stamp out home fellowships... and many churches today do not encourage home fellowships. However I believe that this is the place where you will see the most growth in believers. I also believe that this is the viable form for the underground church that is coming. It has been prophesied that in America, the true body of Christ will be pushed underground... and this severe, supernatural persecution will be spearheaded by the denominational churches. This was very radical thirty years ago, however it's starting to look like a very real possibility today.
Now thirty-five years later we see Jesus give this church its report card, the warnings were heeded and they are commended for that. John's letter to Ephesus echoes the warnings of Paul and he especially warns of the coming of the spirit of antichrist. He also emphasizes testing the spirits.
- Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. (Revelation 2:4) -
This is the key line of this entire letter. Because thou hast left thy first love. The word "first" here is the word "protos." It means first in rank, influence, honor... the superlative love. They're too busy on the business of the King to have any time for the King. However, God wants intimacy and devotion as well as doctrines and service. That's the heart of the message here. This is about the love of espousal. Yet this goes much deeper than these admonitions. The love that should be the center of everything, the most important, the first priority, is no longer first... nor second, or third, or fourth, or fifth... Devotion and intimacy fade away and all that's left is doctrines and service. God uses marriage to reveal His most intimate truths.
- Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. (Revelation 2:5) -
Friends, I understand this. There was a time long ago when I didn't, but I do now. Dearest God in Heaven... I understand now. Through tears and a continually broken heart I understand...
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen. Remember how close we were when we started. Don't forget about us... think on us... remember. The word "fallen" is the word "ekpipto." It means to drop away, be driven out of one's course, to lose, to become inefficient. This word is a combination of the Greek preposition "ek" which means "from" or "out" (of place, time, or cause). And the word "pipto," which is to fail, or fall down... You've gone off course and have fallen away from me. Your light is still there but dim, because of the distance you've allowed to com between us... and therefore there is no warmth that can be felt from you.
Repent and do the first works... The word "repent" in this verse is the word "metanoneo." It means to "think differently" or "afterwards," i.e. reconsider (morally feel compunction).
Compunction is defined as anxiety arising from guilt... remorse.
Do the first works... Do the things that you did when we first started out and were close to one another. Friends, the first works are works born out of love and faith. These works are living works. They are a delight. These are not jobs done begrudgingly. Nor are they tedious, irksome chores. Neither are they dead, habitual, religious, disciplines maintained by fear. Jesus said I know thy works... He knows not only the works, but the spirit, the heart, and the motivation behind the works. Everything is laid bare before Him and nothing can be hidden. It's all an open book whose pages He can turn to at His leisure. He knows the thoughts and motivations behind our works even when they are hidden from us. And if your works are wrought in anything other than His love, then they are dead, vain, and are as stubble that will burn in a fire.
...or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy lampstand out of his place, except thou repent.
The lampstand is in "his" place... This is not the place where the Lord had originally positioned this lampstand. But these have gone their own way and positioned themselves at a distance. Even though there is no warmth, the light is still there, and Jesus can still be seen. From such a place there is a
- But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. (Revelation 2:6)-
Notice He hates the deeds, not the Nicolaitans. Also, we'll see that this was a possible first century
- He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.(Revelation 2:7) -
Here we have the closing with a promise to the overcomer that they will have access to the tree of life.
So we've gone through the local (historical) and admonitory (warnings and commendations) applications. What is the personal application of this letter? To continually seek God that we may forever remain faithfully and passionately in love with Jesus Christ, and in a never ending pursuit of His heart. Compare and contrast king David with king Solomon... both men loved God. Solomon sought wisdom, and rightly so. But in the end he blew it. His wives turned away his heart from the Lord and he became apostate. David sought fellowship and he blew it to. But because he was so close to God, he would not harden his heart insomuch that it could not become broken and repentant.
As for the prophetic application of this letter, the church in Ephesus seems to fit the profile of the apostolic church. Great on doctrine and service, but severely lacking in devotion and intimacy.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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