It is my main objective to bring the actual scriptures to you as literally, historically and grammatically as they were written by the 40 inspired writers of the Holy Bible (KJV) while sharing with you my beliefs and why I believe them. However, I urge you NOT to believe a word I say but rather be as the Bereans at Thessalonica were and search the scriptures daily to see if what was said is true. (Acts 17:11)
**********
Revelation is the only book in the bible that offers a blessing to those who read and understand its pages.
Tonight, we will continue in our Bible Study of the Book of Revelation written by John of Patmos. Revelation is the ancient Greek word apokalupsis (apocalypse). The word simply means “a revealing, an unveiling.”. It is important to note that Revelation is singular and is NOT the Revelation of John but rather the unveiling of Jesus Christ.
**********
The Outline of the Seven Letters
The ‘Seven Letters to the Seven Churches’ authored by Jesus Christ and written by John of Patmos are a hotbed of disagreements among scholars. Each letters have (you guessed it) Seven (Heptadic) parts to it. They were all local churches surrounded by many other churches (i.e. Church of Jerusalem, Roman Church, Church of Galatians, etc.)
*Every letter was written to a specific Church by name given in a specific order by Jesus Christ.
*Each letter has a commendation. There are two churches within the seven that have no commendation.
*Each letter has the phrase: “I know thy WORKS! Jesus knows everything about you and your activities. There is nothing you or the church can hide.
*Each letter has a condemnation of what the church is doing wrong. Again we find, there are two churches that have no condemnations.
*Each letter has a recommendation for that specific church
*Each letter is addressed to each of you. ““He that hath an ear, let him hear ...”
*Each letter is addressed to all seven churches as we find in the phrase;”what the Spirit saith unto the churches”. It appears that each church has a part of all seven churches problems and thus represent all churches past (first century) and present. If the Pastor of each church applied all seven letter principles to his church, there would be a percentage of all seven church letters within the congregation.
*Each letter has a promise to the OVERCOMER! This promise is again specific to the congregation of that particular church, thus it is to each of us.
NOTE: It is interesting to note that these promises to the Overcomer is as a post script in the first three letters and is in the body of the letter in the last four letters. Why is this? I'll leave that to you to search out.
Jesus names these churches in a specific order for John to write. By doing this, these churches appear to represent the main religious demeanor throughout the centuries. If these churches were in any other order or any different churches this could not happen.
**********
Ephesus
(Desirable One)
Map of all Seven Churches in Asia Minor
In 129 B.C., King Attalos of Pergamon left Ephesus to the Roman Empire in his will and the city became the seat of the regional Roman governor. The reforms of Caesar Augustus brought Ephesus to its most prosperous time, which lasted until the third century A.D.(1)
Today, Ephesus is located about 80 kilometers south of Ismir and around six miles inland on the western shores of Turkey. The harbor of a once vibrant port city began its decline during the reign of Tiberius. It was during this time, The Roman army cut the trees allowing silt to fill-in the Harbor.
Ephesus is mentioned 17 times in the Bible and is the recipient of one of the Seven Letters written for Jesus Christ by John of Patmos. Christianity during the first century A.D. was very alive and active in Ephesus with Apostles Paul and John spending a good amount of time in the city; bringing many Jewish converts to Christianity as evidenced by the Letter to the Church of Ephesus ( Rev 2: 1-7).
Mary, the mother of Jesus and John are buried here. Jesus while on the Cross gave charge to John (not his brother but the Apostle John) of His Mother (Jhn 19:26-27). After John was released from Patmos around 95-96 AD, he retired to Ephesus.
Because of earthquakes in the sixth and seventh centuries and the fact that the harbor was in rapid decline, Ephesus continued on it's death spiral until the fifteenth Century when the Ottaman Empire abandoned it to the archeologists of the future.
**********
Revelation,
the Series: Chapters 2:1-7
Rev 2:1-7 (KJV)..”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; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”
**********
The Seven parts of the Ephesus Letter
1. Name: “Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus (The Desired One) write;” Who or what this angel is unknown. It may be the Pastor or a messenger of some sort (i.e. Angel). It is clear that the letter is for the whole congregation.
2. Title: “These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; “ This a title from Rev 1:13,17 tells us that Jesus is holding all seven stars (angels) of each church in His hand while He is in the midst of them. While Jesus has many names, one name (Immanuel)(2) verifies : God is with us, always.
3. Commendations about the condition of the Church: “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.” During the first century the Jewish community treated/persecuted the Baby Christian churches throughout the area. It was not unheard of for a Jewish person to come into the church proclaiming they are Christian, only to later try to persuade other congregation members to leave the church and return to Judaism. This Ephesus did well but in the process they forgot------ Today churches have so many projects going on at the same time, they also forget their first love.
4. Concerns: “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” Ephesus did well with the removal of the infiltrators so well they forgot about their first love. Jesus Christ
5. Recommendation/warnings: “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” Yet, Jesus understood this church hated the pagan rites of the (Nicolaitans)(3) as much as He did. A stern warning of a removal of the candlestick. This refers to the church as a whole and the Church as individuals. No, this does not mean one will lose their salvation but they will lose their witness to the world, they will not be able to bring the light of Jesus forth to others.
“As I travel, I find churches that are just like the church in Ephesus. They are on their toes. Their libraries are full of commentaries and they look up the original Greek during their Bible studies. They have a great deal of head knowledge about the Bible, but I find no real affection as I walk around their church bodies. There isn’t any love. There isn’t any caring, and it’s noticeable. Visitors can walk in and leave without being acknowledged, or they can be greeted with warmth but then summarily dropped. The people within the church don’t have that bond of comfort and care for each other that should mark every church that serves Christ. There’s something wrong there. The people might be spot-on when it comes to doctrine, but they have overlooked the heart of the matter - the love of Jesus Christ.(4) This is no small failing on the part of the Ephesians, and Jesus addresses it with a serious warning:”
6. Declaration/Command: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;” This phrase “He that hath an ear”speaks directly to each of us then and now, telling you listen to what He is saying to the Churches.
7. To the Overcomer: “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” This promise of Jesus is to all the overcomer who repent, turning their life around and follow Jesus Christ will inherit the kingdom of God.
**********
*The next post will be about the Church of Smyrna, Rev 2: 8-11. I urge you to read all of chapters 2 and 3 and then try to outline each church. There are some surprises in store for you there.
“to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (Rev 1:6)
*The
Authorized King James Edition (1611, 1769) was used exclusively as
other versions are somewhat different depending upon the year of
their printing.
*All verses in the Bible are: “All
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness:” (Note: we have placed all scripture in RED
for your convenience)
*God is considered the
author of all 66 books through 40 writers including those of Psalm 2
by the author of this blog.
*Because
none of us know when
our time on this earth is at an end; it is paramount that
you know exactly where
you are in your walk with Jesus Christ.
Since your justification/salvation
is not determined by the church
you attend, the amount of good work you do,
your status in society, etc.; I
urge you to make sure of your personal
relationship with Jesus Christ in the privacy of your own mind.
Don’t
put it off, Time
is Short
1
Cor 15:3-4.."Moreover,
brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you,
which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye
are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye
have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that
which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures; And that he
was buried, and that he rose again the third day according
to the scriptures:"
We welcome your comments, suggestions and questions.
Please keep them precise and clean!
**********
References:
1. History.com Editors
2. Isaiah 7:14; 8:8,
3.
2
John 1:9,10 : The Nicolaitans, Why does God hate their deeds?; Brian Shields
4. An excerpt from a commentary of David Guzik
**********
Sources:
1.
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2. Blue Letter Bible
3. The King James Edition
4. Koinonia Haouse
5. Apocalypse Road, Revelation for the Final Generation
6. History.com Editors
7. A&E Television Networks, LLC
**********
