Lesson One

1. Background of Ephesus

- One of four powerful cities in Roman Empire (Rome, Alexandria and Syria Antioch)

- The city has more than a quarter of a million people

- One of the seventh wonders of ancient world (4^th Century)

- It was the centre of commerce and trade for all of Western Asia Minor

- Most prosperous province in Roman Empire

- Greatest city in the area with a thriving commercial and religious life

- Best known for Goddess Fertility Artemis (Roman Diana)

o 1000 priests/priestesses; many sacred prostitutes

o The statue was said to be a meteorite

- The city is the home of many sacred temples

- There was a great interest in magic

- Church was establish by Pricilla and Aquila (Acts 18:18-25; 19:10)

- Church struggled with false teachers

- Eventual the city became overtake by large earthquakes in the 4^th Century

2. Archeology of Ephesus

- In Present day Turkey: http://www.turkey.to/Tours.aspx?TourID=64&Title=seven-churches-of-the-revelation

- 4^th Century: https://www.world-archaeology.com/issues/byzantine-ephesus-life-in-the-city-after-empire/

- Amphitheatre: http://www.ephesusturkey.com/ephesus-highlights/theatre/

- Virtual Reconstruction of theatre: http://virtualreconstruction.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Ephesus_Theatre.jpg

3. Textual Matters

a. Verse 2-3: Good Spiritual Deeds

i. Hard work (toil, labor of love). Successful labour of the church is related to the battle they had against false teachers. According to their history (Read Eph 4:14), they “could not endure evil people.” These heretics were the Nicolaitans. They acted like wandering missionaries/teachers and went from house church to house church calling themselves apostles. Paul warned the Ephesians in Acts 20L19 from these “savage wolves.”

ii. Endurance (patient perseverance in the midst of circumstances). Overcoming is the result of successful endurance. Endurance and Overcoming together form one of the major themes of the book. It is used seven times (1:9; 2:2, 3, 19; 3:10; 13:10; 14:12) in the book in a context of pervasive evil. This speaks of a life of trust and patient steadfastness in hard times.

iii. Have not grown weary (the exhaustion caused by hard work). This is speaking of spiritual exhaustion fighting against persecution and false teachers. In having to do hard work and endure, the Ephesians have maintained spiritual watchfulness, standing firm in orthodoxy.

b. Verse 4: Serious Problem

i. The problem of the Ephesus church is abandonment of their “first love” (the love you had a first, where first means shortly after their conversion). They had lost the first flush of enthusiasm and excitement in their Christian life and had settled into cold orthodoxy with more surface strength than depth.

ii. What is “first love” here? It is the love of the two greatest commandments: To love God and to love thy neighbour as thy self. They kept all the commandments but the two most important ones. They loved truth more than they loved God or one another.

iii. The have the anointing but they lack love (Needed 1 Corinthians 13; 1 John 4). They were a very anointed church but a cold church to go to. The lacked the heart and acts of love.

c. Verse 5-6: Solution

i. The first thing Jesus commands the Church to do in their repentance is to “remember.” They were to remember the past. This is not to just bring the past to mind, but to act upon what you remember. Remembering includes an actualization of the original experience, where the past event is contemporized into the present time and space. We do this when we remember the good moments of our last year’s vacation and how you can’t wait to go on your next trip like it in the future. It is what they call today “contemplation.” It is a lost art in a culture that is focused on “doing” more than “being.”

ii. Jesus called them to remember so they can see how far they have fallen. When they remember, it will convict them of their present errors… it will take them out of their present cultural influences (blind spots)… it will reset their moral and spiritual barometer. But not only will this bring godly conviction but it will also inspire godly change of behaviour. In other words, remembering is the basis of repentance.

iii. Battling against heretics are good works, but what good are good works, when it is not accompanied by love. God does not call us to perfection but to healthy relationships. Right relationships with God and man will always lead to right behaviors; but right behaviors do not always lead to right relationships i.e. Pharisees vs. Jesus conflicting Ministry Philosophy

iv. Remove lampstand: Two debates arise here: (1) Is it present or future judgment and, (2) will they lose of their witness or their status as a church (apostasy). The overcoming passage favours the latter (2:7b). If they don’t repent, they risk being overtaken by the deadening power of Artemis Temple. The Ephesus church will die. Jesus' Church won’t die but individual churches can die.

v. Nicolaitans movement: It has connections to Balaam (2:14) and Jezebel (2:20-23). The two sins found in both are idolatry and sexual immorality. It is likely that the twin problems were syncretism (trying to accommodate pagans by incorporating in practices like emperor worship. Note this is not the same as our holiday name Easter. Church used the name to redeem the day away from the sex goddess Easter practices) and libertinism (showing freedom from the law by doing what one wishes). The name “Ba’al’am” means lord of the people.