To the Church at Ephesus
History
The name Ephesus means “desirable” or “the desired one”. Ephesus was a bustling town, and with its artificial harbor made it the most accessible city in Asia. In the New Testament times Ephesus had a population of about 250,000, and it was the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire coming in behind only Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch. It was connected to the sea by a huge harbor, and connected to the inner parts of Asia by a network of roads. With its great access, it was a natural magnet that drew political and religious groups from all over the known world. Also, when Christians were brought from Asia to Rome to be killed in the Coliseum by lions they had to go through Ephesus, and this is why Ignatius called the road from Ephesus to Rome the “Highway of the Martyrs". Paul went to Ephesus many times to preach to the Jews and about things of the Kingdom of God. However, Ephesus was known for his huge amount of wizards, sorcerers, witches, astrologers, diviners, and palm readers. After hearing Paul preach many burned their books “so the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed" (Acts 19:19-20), but many Ephesians still worshipped their main idol which was Diana.
The Temple of Artemis (Diana was her Roman given name) at Ephesus was regarded as one of the seven wonders of the Ancient world. According to lore, she was the twin sister of Apollo, and the daughter of Zeus. She was also known as the goddess of hunting, the moon goddess, and the patroness of young girls. Her image was housed at the temple on Ephesus, and was said to have come directly from Zeus (Acts 19:35). The temple that held her image was actually four times larger than the Parthenon, and during the Roman period they even had coins that had the inscription “Diana of Ephesus” imprinted into them. She was to some the embodiment of female principles from fertility to the one day eternal return of life to the earth. With all this idol worship it is no wonder that Ephesus would be a magnet for so many false teachers and apostles. However, The Temple of Diana was also the center for prostitution and an asylum for criminals. The priestesses of Diana were also prostitutes, and were known as the Prostitutes of Babylon. Paul gave the Christians at Ephesus a dire warning so that they would be ready when false teachers would try and draw them away from the faith. “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you over-seers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:28-30).
To the Church at Smyrna Write:
1) 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;
2) 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:
3) And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
4) Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
5) 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.
6) But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7) 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.
Chapter 2 Verse 1
The seven golden candlesticks represent the seven churches that John was told to write to. This verse also shows us that it is Jesus himself who holds the seven stars (the messengers to the churches) in his right hand, and it is Jesus who walks among them which shows Christ’s intimacy with these Churches. In addition, Jesus establishes that he is dictating every word that John vote. Once we realize that it is Christ himself delivering the messages to the Churches we can then understand that he doesn’t just want us to read them, but he wants us to understand and heed these warnings as well. This speaks to the power and love of Christ that he would not only give us warnings (and a chance to repent), but also that would give so many amazing promises to those who endure till the end. As lampstands he also reminding us that we are the light of the world, and if out light is snuffed out then what good are we? This is why trusting in the Lord is so important, and understanding the spiritual nature of these letters is equally important. We live in perilous times, and understanding Satan’s traps is more now than ever before.
Chapter 2 Verse 2-3
In these two verses Jesus shows what the Church of Ephesus was doing correctly. He says that he knows their work, labor, patience, and that they have not grown weary in their good works. In other words, they were a very evangelical church. He commends them for not listening to false apostles and finding them to be liars, which means they did not allow false teachers to come into their congregation. So far, Ephesus sounds like a great Church, and in many ways it was but why? First, the Word tells us that works are very important to the Kingdom of God and a sign of a changed person. In Matthew 5:16 it says