Lesson 1. The Message to the Church in Ephesus. Interpretation of the seven messages to the churches from the Book of Revelation (the Revelation of John). Teacher – Dmitriy Leo. Father’s Blessing Church.
School: “Revelation to the Seven Churches.” Contents
Lesson 1. The Message to the Church in Ephesus
The inhabitants of Ephesus were known for superstition, magic, love of luxury, extravagance, and a debauched lifestyle. Ephesus – means “desired” or “desirable.” It was an ancient trading city on the shore of the Aegean Sea, with marble-paved streets, libraries, a marketplace, and a magnificent theater that could hold more than 25,000 spectators.
Ephesus was a center of one of the Eastern mystical cults of Artemis. The pride of Ephesus, the Temple of Artemis, was considered one of the seven wonders of the world: 150 meters long and 70 meters wide. It was built of red wood and blue, yellow, and white marble, with golden steps and 127 columns. In this city, the silversmith Demetrius incited a riot against the Apostle Paul and his disciples, and the city’s inhabitants “shouted for about two hours: ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’”
Rev. 2:1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:”
“To the angel.”
The word [aggelos] means messenger, which may refer either to a person sent on a specific mission or to an angel –, a heavenly being and messenger of God. Since in the Bible angels deliver God’s commands to people, not the other way around, we may adopt the view held by many interpreters that the angels of the seven churches – are the bishops of these churches.
It also seems strange that angels are “condemned for wrong actions in their churches” (Guthrie 1996:746).
The Lord calls the bishops (pastors) of the churches His [aggelos] messengers. Being a pastor is not a profession; pastors are people sent by the Lord, through whom He regards the entire church and provides direction, teaching, and correction. The Lord did not refer to the bishops by their earthly names, “to the messenger Andrew ...,” but they are identified in heaven by their territorial ministry in the Body of Christ on earth: “to the messenger in Ephesus.”
“He who holds the seven stars in His right hand.”
Here Jesus appears as the One holding seven stars in His right hand, that is, the elders of the seven churches (Rev. 1:20) to whom the messages are addressed. The word translated as “holds” [krateu] means to hold, grasp, or hold firmly.
In other words, Jesus personally holds these messengers in His hands, directs them, and protects them. Sometimes people mistakenly think that a pastor has supposedly taken the rule over the church into his own hands and that this is his “business.” Pastors are held firmly by the hand of Jesus, under His watch and guidance, and this is a very responsible position, unlike that of an ordinary churchgoer.
“Walking among the seven golden lampstands.”
Next, Jesus presents Himself as walking among the seven golden lampstands. According to the text of Scripture (Rev. 1:20), the seven lampstands symbolize the seven churches.
This means that the Lord personally sustains the spiritual life of the church by being present among it. Sometimes we think that Jesus walks only among “our” church because it is the most correct one. He walks among all the churches—with both their strengths and shortcomings—because they are His churches. Ephesus, Laodicea, Pergamum ... all are His.
“lampstands.”
The churches are presented here as golden lampstands. In the Old Testament tabernacle, the lampstand—the “seven-branched lampstand”—stood in impenetrable darkness to illuminate it. It had to be cleaned and refilled with oil every day. Such is the position of the modern church in this world: it is surrounded by darkness and must be cleansed daily and filled with oil.
The great purpose of the church as a whole and of each of its members – is to shine in this world. We also need daily cleansing and filling with the Holy Spirit, just as was prescribed for the lampstand in the tabernacle. This was God's condition for the lampstand to shine brightly and not go out.
Rev. 2:2–3 I know your works, your labor, and your patience, and that you cannot tolerate those who are immoral; you have tested those who call themselves apostles, but are not, and have found them to be liars; you have endured much and have patience, and for My name’s sake have labored and have not grown weary.
“you cannot tolerate those who are immoral.”
The word translated as “to bear” [bastazo] means – to take up and carry, to bear a weight or burden. “Wicked” [kakous] means – evil, bad, harmful, and prospering in evil. Jesus commended the church in Ephesus for not “carrying” wicked, corrupt people or taking on burdens they would be unable to bear.
Today, some might accuse this church of lacking compassion and love for their brothers and sisters. But since Jesus commended them for this action, it means that we are not required to carry everyone. We must be wise and remember Jesus’ words: the enemy comes and sows weeds among the wheat—the sons of the evil one. We do not want to think about anything bad, but we cannot avoid it.
“You have tested those who call themselves apostles.”
Jesus commends this church for knowing how to distinguish true apostles from false ones and for hating the wicked. As early as the first century A.D., people appeared who distorted Christian teaching. They are divided into Judaizing heretics, who tried to subordinate Christianity to Judaism, and paganizing heretics (Manichaeans and Gnostics) – who sought to mix the Christian faith with Eastern religious worldviews or Greek philosophy. They presented their errors as a Christian worldview and also claimed the apostolic title for themselves.
The Church must test the authenticity of those who claim the high title of apostle. Of course, we should not be overly suspicious of everyone and everything or fall into extremes, but we are obliged to look at the fruit and recognize whether the tree is good or bad.
Rev. 2:4 But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
“You have left your first love.”
This was, after all, a zealous church, laboring diligently, firmly holding to the teaching of the Bible, and rejecting false teachings. All of this is always right and necessary, but it does not prove that everything is well with the church.
The church in Ephesus had left its first love. Most likely, this refers to love for the Lord. No matter what great things the church had done throughout its history or how firmly it stood in sound doctrine, losing its love for the Lord was a tremendous loss and problem for that church. Losing its love for the Lord could become the church’s downfall. The Lord warned about this in the following verse.
Rev. 2:5 Therefore remember from where you have fallen; repent and do the former works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
“Remember from where you have fallen.”
Literally, it says: “remember how..., through what..., you fell.” Jesus directly regards the loss of first love as the church’s fall. The church had to find the cause—the point at which it turned from the right path and left its first love. Perhaps this happened because they were too busy working for the Lord.
“... I know your deeds, your labor, and your perseverance,” as well as exposing all kinds of heresies and false teachers, they gradually diverted attention from the person of Jesus and close relationships with Him. Jesus spoke to the church about repentance and returning to its first fervent love.
“I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”
As we remember, the lampstand – is the church itself. History shows that this is exactly what happened. This threat was fulfilled. Ephesus, once a great world center, became a heap of ruins. Today, a small Muslim village exists on its site. No Christians remain there at all, and a mosque now stands on the site of the former Church of St. John the Theologian. The great lampstand of early Christianity was extinguished forever.
Jesus warns that He can remove the church from its place if it does not repent of a specific sin.
Of course, this concerns serious matters. Jesus did not say that He would destroy the church, but He says, “I will remove it”—that is, move it to another place, and there will no longer be a church in that place.
As history shows, Jesus simply leads all the people out of the church into various other communities, and thus the church no longer exists in that place (territory) – it has been moved.
Rev. 2:6 Nevertheless, you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
“You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans.”
According to some historians, this heresy was begun by Nicolaus of Antioch, a convert from paganism who was among the first seven deacons of Jerusalem (Acts 6:3–6). Later, he fell away from the true faith and became the founder of the Antinomian sect. The teaching of the “Nicolaitans” concerned freedom of the flesh.
The “Nicolaitans” preached freedom of the flesh in order to mortify the flesh. The goal was tempting, but the path to achieving it was extremely dangerous – not to fear the sins of the flesh, because, supposedly, they could not defile the soul. The “Nicolaitans” taught that the best way to mortify the flesh – was to bring it to exhaustion and weakness by committing the sins of the flesh.
“The Nicolaitans also rejected the law concerning food:
“The Nicolaitans – a Gnostic sect (that is, one combining elements of Christian faith with pagan and Jewish traditions) in the ancient Christian Church that rejected the obligation to observe dietary laws and adhered to the teaching that satisfying all the demands of human nature was lawful” (Barclay)
We see that Jesus hates the teaching of the Nicolaitans, and we need to be on guard against: pleasing and indulging our flesh instead of putting it to death; satisfying all our human needs and desires; and mixing Christianity with pagan customs and traditions.
Rev. 2:7 Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches: To the one who conquers I will grant to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
“Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
As we see, the message is now addressed to everyone who hears it (who has ears to hear), and it is intended for many churches, not just the church in Ephesus.
Jesus concludes the message by encouraging those who overcome with the reward they will receive.
In view of the complex symbolism of the promises concerning the future made to “the one who conquers,” we can only suppose the possible meaning of these symbols. Thus, we suppose that Jesus meant that the tree in the middle of Paradise, from which Adam and Eve did not eat at the beginning, will ultimately become accessible to those who overcome.
End of lesson.
Source: Father’s Blessing Church
Teacher: Dmitriy Leo
