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Revelation 2:1-7 Part I
December 18th 2016
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Okay, let’s read through all that the Lord says to the Church at Ephesus before hitting each verse.
Revelation 2:1 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 labored, 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.
Okay, “Unto the messenger of the church of Ephesus write.”
Let’s talk about Ephesus first and try and understand the general view of the city, of the nature of its people.
Ephesus was a celebrated city of Ionia in Asia Minor, and was about 40 miles south of Smyrna, and near the mouth of a river called Cayster.
The river waters a fertile vale of the ancient Ionia making it the most beautiful and fertile part of Asia Minor and was settled almost wholly by Greek colonies.
Apparently the climate of Ionia is remarkably mild, the air is and the people were known for being refined in the arts, loving luxury and were also fond of indulging in sensual sin.
History tells us that there were a number of festivals there where men and women appeared all dressed up for time of debauchery.
Apparently Ephesus was not known for having commercial advantages (like Smyrna was) and result was it fell into ruin however it was important because of its resort-like attractions and the fact that it had a temple of Diana where foreigners would come to involve themselves in pagan worship.
Lacking commercial enterprise this city was once the most splendid city in Asia Minor. It was therefore given the name “Epiphanestate,” which means, “Most Illustrious;” and the historian Pliny calls it “The Ornament of Asia.”
In Roman times it was THE metropolis of Asia, surpassed by none. I think our concerns about the earthquake wiping it out don’t adequately describe the place all the place.
As I said it was most noted for its celebrated temple of Diana. The power and sway of this temple is exhibited in Acts 19 where for hours on end pagan worshippers chanted, “Great is the temple of Diana in Ephesis.”
Apparently all of the provinces of Asia Minor contributed to the creation and building of this materially splendid temple and the thing apparently took some two hundred years to put together.
It is also known – perhaps more popularly depending on the age – as the temple of Artemis.
Artemis was a Olympian goddess, the daughter of Zeus and Leto. She was the goodess of the moon and the goddess of the hunt and was also the twin sister of Apollo.
Ephesian Artemis was a form or type of this Greek God who seemed to be directly tied more to fertility and sexuality than hunting.
The first temple to her was built in 800 BC but it was destroyed in the the 7th Century BC. Reconstruction took place in 550 BC but it was also destroyed.
Like the temple on Mt. Moriah each time the Temple of Artemis was destroyed it was rebuilt on the same spot.
It was so glorious that Antipater of Sidon said that of the Seven wonders of the World it was the greatest.
Apparently the guy who set fire to the second one did it for fame but his plan backfired because anyone who mentioned his name after it was destroyed was put to death so this wasn’t exactly played out as he wished.
The third temple – the one present at the time Jesus and addressed here in Revelation – lasted some 600 years and was finally destroyed by the Goths in 268 AD.
The site where it once stood, if the sources I checked are correct, is now a swamp but remnants of the temple can be seen in the British Royal Museum.
In the reign of Tiberius, ending in 37 AD, Ephesus was greatly damaged by an earthquake but it was repaired and embellished by the emperor so we know that the temple stood after the earthquake and that it was still magnificent – therefore it would have continued to draw foreigners (and therefore their money) into the city coffers. I mention this in relation to how Jesus describes the church at Ephesus as rich and this helps us answer the criticism that Revelation could NOT have been written before 95 AD because Ephesus could not have been seen as rich due to the 37 AD Earthquake.
Then, we know that the Gospel was introduced into Ephesus by the apostle Paul. He first preached there when on his way from Corinth to Jerusalem, which we think was about the year 54.
Acts 18:19 tell us that on this visit he went into the synagogue, as was his usual custom, and preached to his own countrymen, but he does not appear to have preached publicly to the heathen.
He was requested to remain longer with them, but he said he must “by all means be in Jerusalem at the approaching feast–probably the passover.”
In Acts 18:21 Paul promises to visit Ephesus again (if possible) and then sailed from Ephesus to Jerusalem.
Two persons had gone with Paul from Corinth–Priscilla and Aquila–whom he appears to have either left at Ephesus or who returned there shortly thereafter to labor.
According to Acts 18:18,26 during the absence of Paul, there came to Ephesus a certain Jew, born in Alexandria, named Apollos.
He was apparently an eloquent man, and “mighty in the Scriptures.” Interestingly, Apollos had received the baptism of John and continued to teach John’s doctrine (which we aren’t really sure what it entailed but it was probably a focus on repentance and water baptism and looking for the Messiah to appear).
His teachings were zealously embraced and it was in this state of mind when Priscilla and Aquila more fully taught him the doctrines of the Christian religion, and communicated to him the views which they had received from Paul, who having gone to Jerusalem, returned again to Asia Minor, and revisited Ephesus, remaining there about three years.
It was during this time that the church was founded which soon afterwards became prominent.
I think Mark made an important clarification last week when he proposed that “church” in all probability did NOT mean a brick and mortar – which puts to bed the Catholic interpretation that the angel of each Church was a diocetic Bishop.
We learn from Acts some of the main events that Paul experienced in Ephesus, include –
(1.) the fact that he baptized twelve persons whom he found there that were also disciples of John the Baptist. Also ,
(2.) Paul went into the synagogue there, and engaged in an earnest discussion with the Jews about the Messiah that lasted about three months!
(3.) Then, when many of those Jews opposed him, he left the outreach to the Jews in the synagogue, located a place to preach in (a school-room of a man by the name of Tyrannus) and he continued to preach there undisturbed for about two years – having much success. Much of his success, according to Acts 19, was due to the miracles he performed.
(4.) Paul remained there until his preaching excited “a tremendous upheavel” which is described in Acts 19: 23-41.
But by this time the gospel had found a home in the hearts of the people and there was a fear that the temple of Diana would be forsaken, and that all who were depending on the worship of Diana for a living would be left without a job.
After this upheaval it is not believed that Paul never returned to Ephesus (though there is a possibility that he went back after his first imprisonment at Rome).
Acts 20 tells us that on his way from Macedonia to Jerusalem he came to Miletus, and sent for “the elders of Ephesus,”gave them a heart felt
parting address and expected to see them no more.
Paul remained longer at Ephesus than he did at any other one place preaching the gospel.
He seems to have set himself deliberately there as a means to establish a church that could ultimately overthrow the rampant idolatry among the heathen nations.
For this reason he may had labored so long in this one place. See, throughout most of the “world” Ephesus was the seat of idolatry.
Paul appears to have sought to preach in places of great worldly power and influence (like Antioch. Corinth, Athens, and Rome) and Ephesus was right at the top of this list.
Most of these places had magnificent temples erected to the gods where the worship of idols was celebrated.
In many cases this was because while pagan these open liberal cities often allowed a more liberal expression of all religions which opened the door for him to share the Good News.
This may be why it is believed that the Apostle John made Ephesus his permanent home at the end of his life and spent so many years there as the minister of the church after it had been founded by Paul.
Little is said of Ephesus in the New Testament from the time when Paul left it until the book of Revelation was written.
The tradition is, that Timothy was the first minister at Ephesus after Paul and was then succeeded by the apostle John; but whether John came there while Timothy was living, or not until his removal or death, even tradition does not tell us.
Whatever was the relation it is agreed on all hands that John the apostle spent a considerable portion of his life there.
At what time he went to Ephesus, or why he did it, is not now officially agreed upon.
The common opinion is, that he remained at or near Jerusalem for some fifteen years after the crucifixion of the Lord, during which time he had the special charge of Mary the mother of the Savior.
Then it is taught that he preached the gospel to the Parthians and to the Indians, and then he returned and went to Ephesus, in or near which he spent his latter days, and in which, at a very advanced age, he died.
He is said to have died at Ephesus in the third year of Trajan, A.D. 100, aged about ninety-four years.
Any and all subsequent history of the church at Ephesus is gone.
I am unsure how to explain or justify this but since Revelation IS written to the Seven Churches, and the principle premise of the message from Jesus is, “I am coming quickly, get ready,” I can’t help but believe that while Jesus came with Judgement and Reward to Jerusalem – His own – that the faithful believers in these seven churches were raptured at this time – otherwise I see no reason for the book to be addressed to them.
Okay, then . . .
Revelation 2:1 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;”
(Verse 2)
2 I know thy works, and thy labor, 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 labored, and hast not fainted.
As mentioned last week He first hit them with the compliments, which comprise verses 2 and 3 after He tells them that He
knows thy works, and
thy labors, and
thy patience, and
how thou cannot bear them which are evil
Let’s talk about these lines.
We touched on the fact that Jesus says to all seven churches right off the bat, “I know thy works.”
This is a collective statement – thy works – to the Church at Ephesus, I know “thy works.”
We this ourselves when we describe a group or institution as a whole right? “Oh, UC Santa Barbara is a party school,” or “those people over at CAMPUS are a bunch of radicals.” Stuff like this.
So first off I think we can believe that Jesus is speaking to the collective and to Heidi’s point last week, a collective doesn’t have a heart per say, so I actually think Jesus is speaking to the overall behaviors and actions the body of believers at Ephesus have adopted as a whole – and He has given this report to the Pastor of that body to share with them.
We might see it as Jesus sending us an epistle here at CAMPUS and saying:
I know thy works, how you have tried to do this and you have done that, however I have ought with you.
I see these now as reports given to seven divisions of His Body – and in this light we are able to easily tease apart the difference between what Jesus is saying to a collective over what he will say to every individual – which is what Heidi was bringing to light last week.
In otherwords we make a mistake to use Jesus words to these gatherings of believers who were under the direction of pastors (to who the Revelation was written) and then to assign them to our individual walk!
This is a really important observation. Because in reality, while God will know our works and labors, he more importantly will know our hearts – because that IS what he looks to in the individual.
Proverbs 24:12 gives us a great insight to the connection Heidi mentioned between her point on the heart and our discussion of Christian works. Listen to this:
“If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?”
And in 1st Chronicles 28:9 we read this given to Solomon:
“And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.”
So, to reiterate, the context of Jesus saying to each Church, “I know THY works,” is corporate – and if He is stern or congratulatory this is expected and is not in conflict with all we know about His love and longsuffering and gentleness with individuals who love Him.
So he tells the messenger of the Body in Ephesus that He knows the works of the Body – this is the noun – the body of works as a whole no matter how they are performed – mentally, spiritually, physically – they’re its works – and then He adds
“and thy labors.” This is the verb – the actual activities themselves. The term from where we get labors means “to cut,” “or beat” as in toil in any form – some sort of action that breaks a group down.
So, “I know all you have been about AND I know your actual labors that drain your energies.”
Then He adds
“And thy patience.”
This compliment makes a lot of sense when we consider the paganism that existed in Ephesus – and the carnality and sensuality. I think that the patience Jesus commends them on is that which the Body extended to the sinful souls around them, and their practices, possibly even the overt attempts to corrupt or convert them back over to their carnal ways.
Twice in His compliments to the Church at Ephesus Jesus mentions their patience.
This report from the Lord to them is of great value to people who are living in and among the fallen masses, the lost, and the mislead.
From life in Vegas, LA, NYC, New Orleans, San Francisco, and even here in Salt Lake City area, patience is not only needed, it pleases the King when it is extended.
Really fascinating. But I think it lends greatly to the fact that it is love and the things of the Spirit that will break down the walls and win amidst our unbelieving friends and not the ways of the flesh.
But right after commending them for their patience He then commends them by saying:
“And how thou canst not bear them which are evil.”
They seem counter intuitive, don’t they? “You’ve BEEN so patient AND you cannot bear them which are evil.”
I think we can see that to be patient does not in anyway condone, or appreciate or support evil ways.
In other words, they had no sympathy with their doctrines or their practices; they were utterly opposed to them. They had lent them no countenance and proved that they had no fellowship with them.
We note here in the English a colon and not a comma, suggesting that the evil persons that were being referred to were doubtless those mentioned in this verse as claiming that “they were apostles,” which appears to refer again to those named in verse 6 as the Nicolaitanes.
Now, I want to point something out here which is really intriguing to me. The Jews had a manner of speaking and writing that was repetitive and poetic – some label it chiastic.
But take a look at these two passages on the board. If ANYTHING it shows that whoever wrote this was a Jew and if it was written as Jesus said it, it shows that the speaker was a Jew.
Let’s go to the board
I know thy works, and thy labor, 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 labored, and hast not fainted.
Works – ergon (n) all the efforts
Labor – kopos (v) tiring labors
Patience – hoop om on ay – endurance
Cannot bear
(CENTRAL THEME)
THEM WHICH ARE EVIL AND YOU HAVE TRIED THEM WHICH SAY THEY ARE APOSTLES AND ARE NOT AND HAS FOUND THEM LIARS
Thou has borne
And has Patience
(And for my names sake has)
LABORED
(and not)
FAINTED
So central to the theme of what Jesus says in commending this body of believers is the presence or fact of
and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
These, Jesus says, “are evil” but in the face of them his Church has exercised patience, bearing them patiently, and has not tired.
Who or what is it that the Church is facing?
“They which say they are apostles but are not” and Jesus commends this church for examining them, finding them to be liars.”
These were a group or handful of men (maybe even women – who knows) who claimed to be “ones sent” from God presumably to deliver a message of truth (from God – they SAY they are apostles) to the Body there in Ephesus.
But though claiming to BE apostles they are NOT, and Jesus says essentially, you have done well in discovering them to be liars.
We are not told how they were discovered to be feigning, lying apostles, but they were.
Now, we have to decide were these liars pretending to actually be Apostles who Jesus chose OR where they claiming to have been elected to fulfil the role of an apostle in place of those who died (successors) Or maybe they were simply claiming to have been sent by Jesus with no other explanation. What we do know is they were claiming to be apostles, that they were not, and the Church discovered their phony plot.
Paul mentions the existence of false apostles in his day in 2nd Corinthians 11:13, saying:
2nd Corinthians 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
If we take these words from Paul and take the liberty of assigning them to the fact that false apostles were in Ephesians (according to the Word of Jesus Himself) we can see that they were quite evil, promoting a false gospel of light (which Paul says is no great thing when we consider that the Father of their works was Satan who transformed into an angel of light) and were therefore VERY convincing and alluring (few things in the evil world more alluring than false light, right?)
The church in Ephesus patiently labored and toiled and was exhausted by such in their efforts to expose these false apostles – and Jesus commends them for it.
I want to add a comment here – one that is very important to my view of the purpose and place of the New Testament in our lives today.
Here we are reading about an actual event – false apostles alive and well in the days of the apostolic church – and we have a direct address as to their existence.
I am convinced that this record, while first and foremost a history of those people then, is the LIVING word – and has pertinent warnings, lessons, and principles that are AS VIABLE to us today – as they were to them then.
In the case of the false apostles there is perhaps no better example of this happening in our day and age than the very church that is in this very state and that we are forced to “patiently deal with” as a means to expose them for what they are.
I mean this is a PERFECT, couldn’t be better scripted example of the living word confronting a very similar example in our very day and age.
Here in Revelation, the Church at Ephesus, was being infiltrated by people who claimed apostolic succession or rights and must have been extremely persuasive in their efforts to make disciples of men.
After commending them at Ephesus Jesus will stab them (which we will cover next week. But then after doing this, He will return to a commendation, and will say:
“But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”
Now, I can’t help but believe that this hatred they have for the Nicolaitanes, is in reference to the doctrines and deeds of these false apostles, who were actually apostles of the Nicolataines way (whatever that was) but who promoted deeds which Jesus even admits to hating.
In verse three Jesus tells them that in regard to these false Nicolataines apostles that the Church at Ephesus . . .
“hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast labored, and hast not fainted.”
There are few things as laborious, tiring, relentless and that require constant patience then the confrontation of lies and deceptions in the faith.
In my estimation it is similar to resisting flood waters or insect invasion and has all the properties of war.
If we are not careful the war can become the point rather than the truth – it happens very easily – and next week we will see why I think this is what happened with the Church at Ephesus.
Nevertheless, they are commended for their discovery of these false apostles real identity – and they are commended for their patience amidst the investigation.
Jesus points out that their warfare against these insidious apostles was, “for my name’s sake” He says, “thou hast labored
and hast not fainted.”
Apparently, and we’ve discussed this group before, but the Nicolaitanes, according to church historians many years later (like Ireaneus and Tertullian, and Augustine who wrote extensively about them) were a gnostic sect taught hyper-impure doctrines and practices.
If they were connected to these false apostles (which I think they were) AND they were there in Ephesus where paganism ran amok (with all the sensual pleasures that came with it through the temple of Diana) then it seems like we can say that these false apostles were using the scriptures to justify wanton lifestyles and behaviors which according to the early church histories included a pass on multiple wives, adultery, rampant fornication, eating meats offered to idols along with a mixture of several different pagan rituals.
False apostles would not naturally appeal to the things of the Spirit and so the light with which they seduced others appears to be antinomian (lawless) living – and representing themselves as apostles they probably were drawing people in to their lair by suggesting attitudes and actions of lasciviousness – in the name of God’s grace.
In the face of all of this, I think we are now prepared to understand the correction Jesus gives in verses 4 and 5, when He says:
Revelation 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore, from where you have 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.
I will retouch on these passages as they contain information to big to cover in our short time remaining, but I would suggest the following in relation to Jesus correction:
The church had done well in defending and outing the false apostles of the Nicolataines, but along the way, or in the process, they had “laid aside” their “protos agape” their first love – perhaps among each other, perhaps in relation to those around them, perhaps even to those they were defending themselves against, due to preoccupation with the invaders.
It happens so so SO easily. We become obsessed and determined (in our flesh, typically) to win, to defend, to out the enemy, that we leave out first love aside – which is Him – faith and love – in and through and for, Him; which can be summarized by the great commandments – to love God and to love others.
Out first love is to love – and perhaps this element was lacking in the day to day of the faith.
Go back to it. Change your mind about this approach. Repent, or as Jesus says it;
“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.”
We’ll talk more about this the week after next as I am going to do something unusual for CAMPUS next week – in part, IN PART – because it is the day we celebrate the birth of Christ.
I am going to present all who want to receive it – a gift.
Now, this will sound really arrogant once you see the gift I am going to give you. But in the end it is a gift that was given to me. If you want it come next week. I can’t guarantee you’ll get or appreciate its value, but its all I’ve got to give . . . of any real value.
And as an FYI, I am giving the gift in Milk and then on Heart of the Matter the following Tuesday.
Okay, Q and A
Prayer
