"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;" - Revelation 2:1
From Omega Frequency: Episode 10 - The Trojan Horse (0:48):
Chapter 2 begins our study on the seven churches in Asia Minor, or modern-day Turkey. All seven churches were under the persecution of the Roman Emperor Domitian. He was the same person who banished John to the prison Island of Patmos. They were persecuted for three basic reasons:
First, they were on fire, spirit-filled missionaries. In the early church to become a Christian, was a very radical thing. When a person became a follower of Jesus, they were not content to keep their faith to themselves. They believed in reaching the lost, healing the sick, casting out devils and starting revivals.
Act 17:6 says this about the radical church, "And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;"
Secondly, they believed they were citizens of a heavenly kingdom and not the earthly kingdom of Rome. Christians were persecuted because they demanded absolute and total obedience to the King of Kings, and not to Caesar.
In one verse later in Acts 17:7 we see why they were turning the world upside down, "Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus."
Third, they refused to bow to heathen idols. When an emperor issued a proclamation that people were to worship a certain God, they bowed down or else. The Christians didn't do that. True followers of Jesus were not afraid of death. They felt there was no greater privilege in the world than to identify with their messiah, even if it meant being crucified like him. As a matter of fact it was not uncommon for rows of Christians to be hanging from crosses that were lit on fire. They did this so the Romans could see the roadways in the dark.
When the churches received their copy of the book of Revelation. All of the seven letters where there. One church group could see what was going on in another church group, not just their own. In the same way, we can look at these letters and gain spiritual insight from them just like from reading any of the epistles that make up the new testament. Remember, we are the church of the living God, not only corporately, but spiritually. These letter address seven different spiritual conditions which mankind is prone to fall into. Whatever condition these congregations were in, whether they were righteous or disobedient, god still loved them. He reached out to them with words of encouragement.
All seven letters included the same five elements:
1. A description of Jesus Christ.
2. Congratulations for doing things that pleased God and glorified his name.
3. All of these congregations except for two, received rebuke. When God wanted to bring some sort of correction.
4. After each rebuke, God brings encouragement by showing them what they can do to right their wrong.
5. Lastly, He gives them a promise. A reward for them that overcome their weakness.
As we go through all the letters, be sure to look for all these five elements.
Revelation 1:2 says, "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;"
The first thing w see is Jesus is holding the churches safely in His right hand of blessing. He is walking in the midst of the seven menorahs. This tells us that God desires to be surrounded by the ones He loves. He is not a God that exists in a vacuum. He is a lover looking for a lover.
The second thing we see is that John is writing this letter to the leader of the Ephesian Church. This is not John's message, he is just the secretary. This is Jesus' message. This is what is on God's heart. He is speaking to a specific group of believers, who face specific challenges by living in this city.
Ephesus had a population of 250,000 people. This was huge back then. Ephesus meant desirable and it truly was a desirable place to live. If the Roman Empire could be likened unto America, Ephesus would be its New York City. It was a melting pot of nationalities, Jews, Gentiles, Greeks, Romans, all called this place home.
It derived its greatness from two sources: commercial trade and religion. It was a port city and trade from all parts of the known world flowed through there. it was home to one of the world largest libraries, and it was the intellectual center of the world. It had one of the seven ancient wonders of the world, the Temple of Artemis, who was their fertility goddess. The temple could accommodate 24,500 people.
In this temple they would burn incense and play flute music. The practiced sex magic and engaged in sexual orgies. There was also a huge town brothel. This place made the modern day porn industry look like little league. Over the top sexual immorality was a big part of the economy. The Temple of Artemis was not only a worship center but it was also a banking center. It was where the merchants would bank your money, give out loans and the Temple would receive its interest. Meat was sold here and part of that meat was sacrificed unto idols. To be in any position of authority in the city you had to at least take part in the one day each year where the celebration of Artemis happened. There was a parade where they would take their idols and dip them in the river and and restore Artemis' virginity back to her. then the celebration would culminate in an all night orgy in the Temple.
It was also a huge town market called the Agora where goods around the known world sold and traded. It was the center of life in Ephesus. Imagine the Mall of America times ten. There were three entrance gates. At each one of these gates there was a station where you would take a pinch of incense and drop it into a bowl of fire in honor and worship of the Roman emperor. If you didn't do so it would affect your good standing in the Agora you would not get any deals or discounts, you would be charged a higher tax and you could have restrictions placed upon you if were selling something. Sometimes you would not be allowed entrance at all.
A member of the Christian church would have to choose between the love of money and the love of God in a very real way. If you wanted to be a Christian you had to realize in a very real way. You may not be able to hold positions of authority or your buying and selling in the Agora might become very limited. you may not be able to get the quality of meat and food to sustain your family's health. You may not be able to bank freely or receive loans.
Not only did the Christians face physical challenges, they faced demonic ones also. There was a temple called Tadidimus (sp?) Shamanic priests and Oracles would speak for the Gods. They were fortune tellers. They practiced divination by cutting open animals and watching how their entrails would slide out. They sold enchantments and many demonic miracles happened here. Sorcery was a way of life and a big part of their economy. Before John became the bishop of the seven churches we see that the apostle Paul founded the original church of Ephesus. It was in his letter to the Ephesians where he reminded the believers to put on the full armor of God to fight against the real powers to be in the city, not the government, but the demonic rulers in heavenly places.
In the book of acts we read how Paul went down to the town square daily and preached about Jesus. He boldy fought against these demonic powers. It says in Acts 19:11-12, "[11] And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: [12] So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them." Basically Paul stuck with the Jesus school of ministry plan.
We read in Matthew 10:7-8, "[7] And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. [8] Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give."
It is so sad to see how far the church has strayed from this ministry model. It is as if we don't believe the same evil forces that were in power back then, are not in power now. We see the result of this spirit filled revival was the birth of the church in Ephesus. It was so powerful that those that practiced the magical arts brought their books and burned them. The books alone were valued at 50,000 silver pieces.
The sales of silver shrines began to fall off. the silver Smiths caused an uproar. In retaliation, it became even more difficult for Christians to participate in the economy. You may ask how did the church survive and even thrive in these conditions?
We read in Acts 2:44-47 this of the early church, "[44] And all that believed were together, and had all things common; [45] And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. [46] And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, [47] Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."
They believed in the power of community. They believed in sharing what they had because it was all a gift. They believed that Jesus would provide what they needed to survive. Give us this day our daily bread was something more to them than a line in the Lord's prayer. The stood on the promise of Revelation 2:1. They believed they were part of the ones that Jesus held in his right hand of blessings.
In Christ Alone!
.
