The Church In Ephesus (ch. 2:1-7)
Ephesus was a thriving sea port metropolis. The goddess Diana or
Artemis was the goddess these people worshiped. There was a huge temple
built for her which was one of the wonders of the world at that time. It
was said that Diana fell from the sky and thus was also known as the
"moon god" She was the god that protected animals and the
various statues made of her often had deer beside her symbolizing this.
She was also known as the "mother god’ symbolizing fertility.
Statues of her ranged from being young with a short tunic or dress to more
mature wearing no top to cover her multiple breasts, symbolizing her
nurturing aspect. The constant reminder and worship of Diana might have
been part of the reason why Ephesus was known as a city that was far from
moral.
The church at Ephesus was established by Paul, and the Christians there
came to love him. Yet when the book of Revelation was distributed to the
seven churches Paul was long gone. The next generation of believers were
now the one’s this prophecy was directed to.
Jesus is speaking to the church at Ephesus. He introduces Himself as
"the One who holds the seven stars in His hands and walks among the
seven lampstands". Whether the stars are real angels or some other
kind of messenger, Jesus holds them. He protects, cares for, and has
authority over them.
Jesus also walks among the lampstands. Jesus walks among these seven
churches. My thinking is that if He walked among these particular
churches, He probably walked among the other churches back then and still
does today, that is, unless He’s blown the lights out of the church. If
He has blown the lights out of the lampstand, I doubt if there’s any
need for Jesus to stay around.
Jesus says that He knows certain things about the church at Ephesus
which He speaks well of. He says that He knows their deeds, hard work and
perseverance. Jesus acknowledges that these Christians are a very hard
working group of people that don’t give up.
Also, Jesus acknowledges the fact that this church does "not
tolerate wicked men". He also knows that they "have tested those
who claim to be apostles and are not, and have found them to be
false". This is a church not only that has much good works but an
emphases on truth and right teaching, and why not, having one of its
leaders being John.
Note that Jesus Himself calls false teachers wicked men. We should do
the same.
In verse 3 we see that this church had endured much hardship and had
not given up or "grown weary", such a very good quality to have.
You’d think that Jesus would be very happy with this church but He
isn’t totally happy. After building these people up and acknowledging
some of their good points, He then says in verse 4, "yet, I hold this
against you". This must have been a little bit of a shock to these
guys. After hearing the good words they might have been feeling pretty
good about themselves. Now Jesus says that He holds something against
them.
The NIV uses the word "yet". Some use the word
"nevertheless". Either word pretty well wipes out all of the
good things that Jesus just said about these people. One
"nevertheless" wipes out a number of good characteristics with
this church.
What Jesus had against them was the fact "they forsook their first
love". These people didn’t lose their first love, they left it,
that means they walked away, whether knowingly or unknowingly they left
their affectionate relationship they once had with Jesus. They probably
left it on an individual bases and a collective basis as well. Remember,
Jesus is talking to the whole church here. He's saying that the church as
a whole has lost its collective love and affection that they once had.
Yes, doctrinally speaking they were doing well. They were working hard,
but their love for Jesus was lost. And how this is often the case. The
Christian life for both the individual and the church becomes routine as
we go about the business of church. This is one of our main problems
today. We’re about the business of church and we’ve lost the love and
affection that we had at the beginning, much like husbands and wives cool
down in their relationship after a few years of marriage.
In verse 5 Jesus says, "remember the height from which you have
fallen". This fall evidently wasn’t just a little drop. It sounds
like a major fall from a high cliff. Jesus wants them to think about what
He is saying by using the word "remember". These people needed
to be made aware that they’ve fallen out of love to a major degree.
So what was Jesus’ advise to these people, or should I use the word
command. He first told them to "remember". They were to
"remember" how it used to be. Once remembering, then Jesus told
them to "repent", that is change your ways, Then He says to
"do the things you did at first".
There’s three things Jesus says here - remember, repent, and do the
things you once did. But how could they do that? This is Jesus’ advice
concerning renewing the spark that has been lost. Once you remember how it
used to be and turn back towards that direction and then start doing the
things you once did, then the spark returns.
The same can be said of husbands and wives. As time goes on, things
cool down, and the spark in their hearts is lost. Jesus would tell this
couple to remember how things used to be and turn your attention to
returning to those days, and do some of the things you once did. The doing
of these things will create an affectionate spark in the heart once again.
It is important to know that everything is new only once. There is some
excitement that comes with newness. I’m not speaking of a return to
great excitement. I’m speaking of an affectionate spark in the heart of
men and women in their marriage relationship. The same is also true for
the believer.
By doing the things you did when you first became a Christian, the
spark can return as well. Maybe it was reading your Bible. Maybe it was
witnessing. Maybe it was praying. There’s all sorts of things we once
did. Start doing them again and see the spark return. This is Jesus’
advice to apathy.
The last part of verse 5 sounds devastating to me. Jesus says that if
the Ephesian church does not repent, He will come and take away their
lampstand. This means that Jesus will depart from them, and He will no
longer have them as one of His churches. Yes, they may continue to exist
organizationally, but as a false church. He will take away their lampstand.
That means, take away His Holy Spirit from their midst.
Many churches today exist in name only. They are self propitiating.
They can exist on their own effort, but Jesus has long since left them.
The very crux and intent of the New Testament is for God to live among
His people through His Spirit. These people were losing God’s intent for
them. If they were going to continue on this path, then God Himself would
remove Himself from this church.
Verse 5 is a devastating thought so Jesus had to pick these people up a
bit and so He told them that they had one thing in their favour and that
was they hated the practice of the Nicolaitans as He did too.
The Nicolaitans were a heretical group with their false apostles and
teachers. They were quite immoral and engaged is sexual orgies.
Note that Jesus hates the practice of these people. He doesn’t say
that He hates the people. So we see that Jesus does hate the sin but not
the sinner. This does not suggest that the sinner will be saved in the
long run. Another thing to note is that Jesus "does hate". He
still has the capacity to hate. Such hatred is clearly a righteous hatred.
In verse 7 we read, "he that has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches". We see a couple of things here. One
thing we see is that the Holy Spirit is speaking. But I thought that Jesus
was speaking? It is the Spirit of Christ speaking.
Another thing to note is that "he that has an ear, let him
hear". Who might "he" be referring to? Is it only
"he" who is a part of this Ephesian church? I don’t think so.
Jesus didn’t say, "he that has an ear from Ephesus, let him hear
what I say to the Ephesian church. He basically says "anyone who
hears these words that I say to any of these churches, let him hear".
If this is true, then these words apply to other first century churches
and to us as well.
Jesus closes by saying that "he that overcomes" will be able
to eat from the "tree of life in the paradise of God". This
suggests that there is an overcoming process. We just don’t slide
through the Christian life. It’s not all over as soon as we get saved.
We’ve got things to overcome.
To The Church At Smyrna (ch. 2:8-11)
Like Ephesus, Smyrna was a bustling commercial city. It was in
existence for a thousand years prior to this point but for four hundred
years it lay in ruins until it was restored.
Jesus addresses this church by saying He is the First and Last, one who
was dead but now lives. Like the city of Smyrna itself, Jesus had come
back to life.
The acknowledgements that Jesus made to the Smyrna church is that He
knows their affliction and their poverty. Their poverty most likely
resulted from their affliction, meaning, the persecution they received for
their faith in Jesus.
"Yet you are rich", Jesus says. It is clear that the richness
that Jesus is referring to here is rich in the Spirit, rich in faith. Even
though these people were materially poor, Jesus saw them as rich. This
tells you something about Jesus’ view of richness.
Verse 9 is interesting. Not only were these Christians being persecuted
by the Romans, they were also being "slandered" by Jews. After
Jerusalem was burned to the ground in 70 AD Jews fled to all parts of the
known world and there was a large community of Jews in Smyrna.
It is interesting to note what Jesus Himself says about the Jews at
Smyrna. He says that these Jews "say they are Jews, and are not, but
are a synagogue of satan". These are very strong words and do remind
you of Jesus while on earth telling the Jews that their father was not
Abraham but the devil. (John 8:44)
Concerning the Jews in Smyrna, they burned the body of Polycarp after
he was killed for his faith in this city in the mid second century.
Polycarp was a student of John’s.
Jesus tells these Christians to not fear what they will soon experience
in the way of persecution. They will be put into prison and some may even
die. Yet all this will be "a test". If they pass the test, even
though they die, they will receive a "crown of life". Jesus will
reward them in Heaven.
The NIV says that these people will suffer persecution for 10 days.
Some scholars say that these words can also be interpreted "within 10
days", meaning, "within 10 days" persecution will begin.
Whether these people experience persecution for 10 days, or it will come
in 10 days, Jesus wants them to remain faithful, and even more than that.
The Greek verb tense suggest that they actually become more faithful in
these times of tribulations, not merely keeping the faith they have.
Some try to make something out of these 10 days. The 10 days are either
10 literal days or a short time. Some Greek scholars say that this is
actually a first century Geek idiom, meaning a short time.
Once again the admonition is given to those who hear what is said to
the churches – he that has an ear to hear, let him hear.
For those who overcome the tribulation, they will not experience the
second death. The second death is the Lake of Fire, which I believe is
eternal judgment where people are always in the process of dying, and
even wanting to die, but can’t.
To The Church At Pergamum (ch. 2:12-17)
Pergamum
was the capital
city for the Roman province of
Asia
. There were at least 3 very
large temple built in the city dedicated to Caesar and the
Roman Empire, as if the Roman Empire was something to be worshipped.
There were other temples in the city as well, one particular
dedicated to the god Zeus. It was the only temple of its kind in the
empire. People here also
worshipped Asklepois, the god of healing.
Jesus introduces Himself as the “one who has the
sharp double-edged sword”. If
you remember in the description of Jesus in chapter 1, He had such a sword
coming out of His mouth. It
represents His Word, and the power of His Word.
Jesus says in verse 13, “I know where you live –
where satan has his throne”. The
symbol for the god Asklepois was a snake, just like satan’s symbol.
There were also other temples to other gods in this city as well as
the
Roman Empire
temple I mentioned. There was
lots of ungodly worship here. Satan
seemed to live here in a special way.
The Greek word for the English word
"throne" simply means "a seat", usually associated
with the seat, or chair, of the head of the house.
This suggests that satan was in fact the head of this city.
It is understood by many, if not most Bible teachers that, the
reference to "satan's throne" is in reference to the temple
dedicated to Zeus.
Jesus speaks of a man named Antipas, who was killed
for his faith in Jesus. Jesus
acknowledged that the church did not give up on its faith even when
Antipas was killed. Many
might forsake their faith if a friend gets killed for his faith.
The name Antipas means “against all”.
Antipas would have been executed at the
temple
of
Zeus
. By the temple there was a
hollowed out brass bull. Those
being executed for treason against
Rome
, as Antipas would have been for not worshipping Caesar, would have been
placed in this hollowed out brass bull with his head in the head of the
bull. A fire would be lit
under the bull and Antipas would have been roasted to death.
The screams from the torture would have echoed through pipes in the
bull's head, making it sound like the bull was crying.
The point was this. Antipas,
and others, would have been living sacrifices to Zeus.
It is interesting to note that during the last half
of the 19th century much of the
temple
of
Zeus
was excavated and moved to
Nuremburg
,
Germany
. There, a museum was built
with that which was moved, dedicated to Zeus.
The interesting part to this is that Hitler gave his speeches in
front of this museum, where the bull would have been placed back in
Pergamum
. Hitler was speaking from the
very throne, or seat, of satan in more ways than one.
Verse 14 says, “nevertheless,
I have a few things against you…” Jesus
says that within the church there are people like Balaam in the Old
Testament. Balaam tried to walk both sides of the fence, that is, try to
follow God and the Gentile king Balak. That’ s impossible and in the
long run Balaam led
Israel
to worship idols and commit sexual immorality.
Balaam led
Israel
into combining idolatry with sexual immorality.
In the
Roman Empire
, and especially in the European provinces, sexual immorality was not only
permitted but condoned as an act of worship.
Christians who came out of this culture found it hard to leave some
of these things behind.
Jesus also told this church that some followed the
Nicolatian cult, as was seen at the
Ephesus
church.
In verse 16 Jesus tells these people to “repent”
or else He’d soon come and “fight against them with the sword of His
mouth”. These are strong
words. Jesus Himself in one
sense of the word would become the enemy of these people.
Jesus would fight these people.
I’m not clear what this would look like, but it does not sound
very pleasant.
Verse 17 gives the admonition to those who can hear
as He does in the other letters.
For those who can overcome these things, Jesus says
that He will give them hidden manna and a white stone with a new name
written on it. Both of these
signify better things to come in the next life.
There’s a number of possibilities of what the white
stones might be. In Roman
courts, those who were acquitted were given a white stone, and those who
were condemned were given a black stone.
Jesus has acquitted us. White
stones were also often used as an invitation cards to an event.
To The Church In Thyatira (ch. 2:18-29)
Thyatira was the least important and smallest of the seven cities that
are addressed in these letters. One important thing in Thyatira was the
importance of trade unions, which was important if you were in business.
Each one of these trade unions had a god in charge, and union meetings had
the worship of this god involved. Meet offered to idols were eaten in
these meetings. Sexual immorality was part of the meetings, because sexual
immorality was part of all god worship. Lydia, in the book of Acts was
from Thyatria.
Jesus addresses Himself to this church as the one with the "eyes
of fire and the feet of bronze". Jesus sees through everything that
is going on in this church and his feet that has been tried in the fire
will move swiftly in judgment. Eyes of fire suggest judgment of
ungodliness. The feet of brass suggest strength and the refined by fire
process that bronze needs to go through to be strong. Jesus went through
this process and thus has the authority to judge.
Jesus acknowledges the good He sees in these people. In verse 19 He
says, "I know your deeds, love and faith, and your
perseverance". Like the other churches persecution was ramped and
many of these people endured with great love and faith. Jesus even says
that their works are more than they were at the first. These people were
growing in good works despite all that was happening to them.
Concerning the growth in good works it is interesting that Jesus points
this out. He must think it is important for us to grow in doing good. Yet
way to often our good works become stagnant and don’t increase.
Yet with this in mind Jesus has something against this church and that
is "they tolerate that woman Jezebel". This woman, a false
prophetess, condoned sexual immorality and eating food offered to idols.
Her religion was a very mystical religion.
Some scholars suggest that the Jezebel is a reminder of the Jezebel of
the Old Testament. She was the King of Israel’s wife who led the nation
away into idolatry. This Jezebel is doing the same.
What most likely happened was that Jezebel encouraged the men to go to
the union meetings where the god worship took place, along with ceremonial
feasts, with the eating of meat. Also sexual immorality took place at
these meetings and Jezebel encouraged this. Men would most likely justify
this by saying it was part of their business, and if they didn’t attend
the meetings, they’d suffer financially.
What Jesus dislikes about the Thyatiran church is that they
"tolerate" this woman and her teaching. This tells you something
about the word "tolerate" that is so often used in society and
the church today, and how Jesus feels about the concept of toleration.
Jesus does not tolerate any kind of sin. Neither should we. The modern
church is way too tolerant.
I need to note one thing about the eating of food offered to idols.
Paul, in 1 Cor. 10 and 11 speaks to this issue. He says that he has no
problem eating food offered to idols, especially if he doesn’t know it
has been offered to an idol, so for that reason, he doesn’t ask any
questions about the food he eats. Paul would eat food offered to idols,
but he would not eat it in the context of idol worship.
So my thinking is that Jesus, when speaking of food offered to idols,
must be thinking in the same context as Paul. This woman was most likely
mixing Christian thinking with idol worship and allowing idol worship into
Christian gatherings. Jesus does not like such a mixture. He didn’t
then, and He doesn’t now.
Jesus says that Jezebel is "misleading His servants". It is
one thing for a person to participate in sin, but it is another thing for
him to mislead another person in the same sin.
In verses 21 and 22 Jesus tells the church that He has given her time
to repent but she "is unwilling". Jesus gave this sinful
woman time to repent. That’s important. He did not throw her out right away.
As a result of her not repenting He will "cast her on a bed of
suffering". The bed is in reference to the bed of immorality. Jezebel
will suffer for her actions.
Jesus doesn’t stop there. For those who follow her He will cause them
"to suffer intensely". This is Jesus speaking here. This should
end any discussion concerning Jesus not being just, or not being angry at
any of us for the sin we commit.
Jesus then says that He "will strike her children dead". I’m
assuming this is literal children. Some might suggest that it is her
spiritual children. If it were her physical children, you might wonder if
they’ve followed her teaching, if not, why would Jesus kill them. This
does show you the degree to which Jesus will go in judgment and it seems
this judgment is not for the future but for the present day in which this
lady lived.
In verse 23 Jesus gives the results of His actions of judgment. He says
that all the churches will then know that it is He that searches the
hearts and minds and will repay evil with His judgment. The Greek
literally says, "heart and kidney". In Greek culture the heart
was the place of intellect, while the kidney was the place of emotion. The
NIV uses "heart and mind" because it is an idiom that best fits
our cultural idiom. This is a scary and awesome thought. Jesus does not
judge according to our outwards works alone. He judges on the basis of
what we think in our minds and how we feel in our hearts. Both heart and
mind must be given to Jesus.
It is Jesus that will repay evil done in this world. Whether we like
that idea or not, Scripture clearly teaches that God’s wrath will be
poured out on the wicked.
In verses 24 and 25 Jesus tells those who have not followed Jezebel in
her evil teaching that He would not put any other burden on these people,
except to encourage them to keep up the good works they are doing.
Jesus calls Jezebel’s teaching "satan’s so-called deep
secrets". Satan has no deep secrets. He has no truth that should be
taught. He’s been a liar and always will be.
Jesus closes this letter by saying that to him that overcomes and does
His will to the very end, He will give authority over nations. We must
overcome and we must continue in God’s will to the end. Too many don’t
make it to the end. But for those who do, Jesus will give them authority
over nations, whatever that means. This might mean a lot to these people
because the government authority that they are under has tormented them to
no end, but someday the tables will be reversed and they will be in
charge. These people will rule in the same way that Jesus Himself rules,
with great power and authority.