REVELATION SIMPLIFIED

 

CHAPTER 2.1

Gleanings from the Book of Revelation:

A Weekly Verse-by-Verse Bible Study Series

 

The

REVELATION TO JOHN

(The Apocalypse)

 

Chapter Two

The Key to the Book of Revelation is Jesus Christ

 

LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES

 

 

OUTLINE

 

1. The Addressee – To whom the letter is addressed

2. The Address – To where the letter is addressed

3. The Addresser – From whom the letter is addressed

4. The Approval – The acclamation of good qualities

5. The Accusation – The presentation of bad qualities

6. The Appeal – The application to change

7. The Advice – The recommendation to change

 

 

(Verse 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.

 

Ephesus

1.         The Addressee – To whom the letter is addressed:

Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write

To the angel (Greek – aggleos: angel, messenger, minister, pastor) of the church of Ephesus, Asia Minor. Recall, the stars were the messengers in His right hand (cf. Revelation 1:16, 20). So, Jesus was holding this messenger or pastor in His right hand.

 

The Church of Ephesus in Asia Minor: Ephesus [Greek: Ephesos, efesos, (Strong's, G2181)] means desirable or desirable. The common (koine) Greek would render the meaning as to how a young Greek male would feel about his espoused (bride-to-be). This would correlate to the love Jesus Christ had for His church. He loved it so much that He was willing to sacrifice His life (cf. Ephesians 5:25), a sacrificial, self-sacrificing love.

 

The Ephesian Church was the first post-Apostolic church. They were the closest to the truth, teachings, and doctrines of Christ. Originally, they were a spiritually strong church exhibiting a tremendous love for Christ. They heard first-hand from the disciples who saw Him that salvation was through Jesus Christ.

 

According to the book of Acts, this church was visited by the Apostle Paul on his second missionary journey and recognized as a church on his third missionary journey (cf. Acts 19:1-7) when he preached a powerful Gospel message (cf. Acts 19:4-6). Their first pastor was Timothy (cf. 1 Timothy 1:3). Visiting lecturers included: Apollos (cf. 18:24-26), Aquila and Priscilla, (cf. Acts 18:18-19), Onesiphorus (cf. 2 Timothy 1:16, 18), and Tychicus (cf. 2 Timothy 4:12) who were also outstanding preachers, teachers, and evangelistic Christian leaders.

 

Church history assigns John as the pastor of Ephesus until he was banished for about ten years to the Isle of Patmos. When he returned from exile, John penned his three Epistles:  1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. Hence, it was a church strongly rooted in the Word of God.

 

For further study of events during this time, I recommend reading the book of Acts chapter 19. This chapter details the rise and consequences of the Jesus Movement in the city.

 

A Brief Summary of Acts 19

 

Verse 1 – The chapter opens with a small group of followers who were on fire for the Lord.

Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and found certain disciples.

 

Verse 8 – The Apostle Paul entered the synagogue and boldly preached the Word for three months.

 

And he (Paul) went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.

 

Verse 9 – As always (compared to contemporary times), there were a few folks who did not like what they heard.

But when divers (some people’s hearts) were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude…disputing (quarreling) daily.

 

Question: What was that way?

Answer: Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (cf. John 14:6).

 

Verse 10, 18 – After two years of preaching, the result was a great revival in the land.

All the inhabitants of Asia, both Jews, and Greeks (Gentiles), heard the message about the Lord.

And many that believed came, and confessed (Christ), and shewed their deeds.

 

Verse 19 – When everyone came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, thousands of occultic books were tossed into a huge bonfire.

Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

 

Note: Nero devalued the silver coin by 5 %. Some estimated today it would be worth approximately $37,000.

 

The Key verse to the Church at Ephesus:

Verse 20 – So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed.

 

The foundation of the Ephesian church was the Word of God. It increased and prevailed. The church had biblical characteristics:

·   The pure Word of God from the apostles and first-hand hearers.

·        Great teaching and preaching of sound doctrine

·        Many conversions to Jesus Christ

·        Spirituality

·        Brotherly love

·        Healings

·        Personal evangelism

 

Verse 23 – And the same time there arose no small stir about that way.

·        No small stir – Contrasted to an explosive disruption

·        That Way – Jesus Christ

As we will soon discover, Ephesus was the hub of pagan worship in the Roman Empire. Verses 23 through 29 expose the core issue. Sales dropped because no one was purchasing idols made by silversmiths. Between decreased silver idol sales and occult books, the city’s economy was spun into turmoil.

 

Observe how the story unfolds:

Verse 24 - For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain (decreased sales and profit) unto the craftsmen.

 

Demetrius (the union boss) then had a meeting with the silversmiths and argued,

Verse 25-26 - Ye know that by this craft we have our wealh. Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands.

Again, as a result of Paul’s preaching, many turned to Christ.

 

Verse 28-29 – And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. And the whole city was filled with confusion.

No matter where the Word of God is preached, it has a powerful dynamic effect. And as we shall see, the Ephesian church professed its first love to Jesus Christ.

 

 

2.         The Address – The City of Ephesus.

 

Geographical Facts

Today the closest most visited town Selcuk, Turkey stands about one mile northeast of Ephesus, about an hour away from Izmir City. It is about 36 miles southwest of Smyrna. Geographically, the ancient city was approximately the center of the entire Empire.

 

Equidistant between Rome and Jerusalem, Ephesus housed a population of up to three hundred thousand. Standing 3 miles inland, from the mouth of the Cayster River (or Kaystros River) on the Aegean Sea, was their major seaport, extremely important for commerce and trade. Because of its construction and location, ships were able to travel 3 miles inland to the harbor and turn around to return.

 

Of equal significance, was the convergence of 4 major inland trade routes (north, south, east, and west), conveniently positioning the   Market Place of Asia. Centrally located, Ephesus became the wealthiest city in all of Asia. Surrounding Ephesus were 230 independent towns, villages, and communities. The church of Ephesus, about 250 miles south of Istanbul, Turkey, presently lies in weed-covered ruins.

 

Literary Arts

The Celsus Library – A two-story Library: The third greatest library in the world after Alexandria in Egypt and Pergamum containing twelve to fifteen thousand scrolls. This library was also the hub of Greek philosophy.

 

Athletics

1. The Stadium – This was a thirteen-thousand-seat stadium for spectators where theatrical, musical, and public events were held.

 

2. The Great Amphitheater – A facility for all sporting events. In May, Olympic-style races and athletic events took place here. Known for its pageantry and parades, it would be comparable to a circus atmosphere. The contests between the gladiators and lions were also the main attractions. The open-air theater accommodated between twenty-five to fifty thousand fans. It has been documented that up to two million visitors gathered in Ephesus for the Olympian-style games. 

 

Political Facts

Primarily due to its culture, commerce, and trade, Ephesus was politically important because it was a free city (i.e., self-governing, thus exempting Roman troops and garrisons). Trade guilds, comparable to today’s labor unions, were extremely influential over silversmiths and politics.

 

Historical Facts

Apart from Rome, Antioch of Syria, Alexandria of Egypt, and Ephesus of Asia encompassed a triad of the most prominent cities of the Roman Empire during the first three centuries. In Paul's day, Ephesus has deemed the megalopolis of Asia Minor.

 

Historians called it, the Vanity Fair of the ancient world. Roman historian Pliny labeled it, the Light of Asia. Its population ran between 225 to 300 thousand citizens. Transients from all over the world visited Ephesus.

 

Temples to Gods and Goddesses

Asia was where the East met the West. As a religious metropolis, the citizenry was polytheistic (worshipping many gods). And of course, many temples of various pagan gods existed. First and foremost was the Temple to Artemis (Greek) [known as Diana (Roman)] – a multi-breasted fertility goddess – the most sacred idol of heathenism. Not only was she worshipped more than any other gods or goddesses in the civilized world, but also, her temple was the largest Greek temple ever constructed – four times larger than the Parthenon at Athens, Greece. As such, it became one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.

 

The Seven Wonders of the World

1.  The Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt

2.  The Hanging Gardens of Babylon (Iraq)

3.  The Colossal Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Greece

4.  The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, (Turkey)

5.   The Colossus of Rhodes, a Mediterranean Island

6.  The Pharos or Lighthouse of Alexandria, Egypt

7. The Temple of Artemis, Asia Minor (Turkey)

 

The Temple of Artemis

(Facts)

1.  A great work of architecture

2.   Alexander the Great led its construction

a.  The altar was created by one of the greatest Greek sculptors of that day – Praxiteles

3. A museum for the world’s largest collection of art

4.  An asylum for criminals worldwide

5.  Held the world’s largest bank depository for kings and merchants

6.  Had a mega-business for sales of shrines, idols, and silver images of Diana.

7.  Held the grossest and wildest rites of sexuality: Thousands of priests and priestesses involved themselves in services of cult prostitution

 

The barbaric Goths in A.D. 356 destroyed the temple by fire. Byzantine Roman Emperor Justinian I (A.D 427 – 565) later took some of the temple columns for the construction of the Hagia Sophia – a temple that now stands in Constantinople/Istanbul, Turkey.

 

Other Temples

1.  The Temple of Serapes

A universal male god of the sun, underworld, fertility, medicine, knowledge, and peace

 

2.  The temples to the emperors (Emperor worship) Claudius, Nero, Hadrian, and Severus were mandated to be worshiped as gods. Ephesus was the first major city to entertain Imperial cult worship.

 

Artemis Worship

Imperative for contrast: What would one expect to see when paying homage to the goddess Diana? The worship service would include:

a.  Scores of eunuchs who were once slaves serving as temple guards or servants to the priests and priestesses

b.  Thousands of priestesses (who were prostitutes)

c.  Unnumbered heralds

d.  Singers

e.  Dancers

f.   Lute or lyre (handheld stringed instruments) players

g.  Flutes and reed-type instrument musicians

 

And, behind a purple (symbol of power) curtain was a lewd and crude image of Artemis or Diana [daughter of Zeus (Greek name) or Jupiter (Roman name)], the goddess of fertility and hunting who supposedly fell out of heaven like a meteor. Acts 19 documents:

Acts 19:35 - Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?

 

Everything in the practice of this religion was related to:

a.          Fornication

b.          Eating animals sacrificing to idols

c.          Indulgence in the basest sexual rituals

d.          Excessive wild bacchanalia

e.          Indescribable extreme perverse activities

 

Heraclitus, an Ephesian scholar known as the Weeping Philosopher wrote:

“The morals of the Temple were even worse than the morals of the animals – For even dogs do not mutilate each other.”

 

This is quite some religion. If someone started a church like this, it would probably be just as popular. Sadly, to say, there are some elements practiced today.

 

But, huddled in the middle of this worldly extravagant activity we find a little group of Ephesian Christians who are faithfully in love with Jesus, and a huge assembly rapidly developed. We will talk about its character in the next lesson.

 

 

QUESTIONS:

1.  How does the risen Lord speak to the seven churches?

2.  What does Ephesus mean?

3.  Where was Ephesus located?

4.  What was the problem in Ephesus, as described in Acts?

5.  Name three important features of Ephesus.

6.  Why is Ephesus the first of seven churches spiritually?

7.  What was the turning point in Ephesus?

 

 

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