Letters to the Churches: Ephesus

Revelation 2 and 3 consist of John's letters to the churches of Asia that we discussed previously. The letters address the seven churches and what they are doing wrong. Many people believe the seven churches represent seven different types of Churches. I suggest that you keep both ideas in mind when reading these chapters. Today I want to discuss the first church, Ephesus.

To the Church in Ephesus

 ¹ “To the angel^[a] of the church in Ephesus write:

   These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: ² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

   ⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. ⁵ Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶ But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

   ⁷ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Let me first give you a background on the church at Ephesus. Ephesus was a large seaport that had around a quarter of a million people. They had many temples, the most famous one dedicated to the Roman goddess Diana. By the end of the first century, the church in Ephesus was probably one of the largest in the world.


The beginning of this letter lets the church know that the letter is being dictated to John from Jesus. Jesus lets the church know that He is with them, and He is aware of the good things they are doing. He commends them for their hard work and perseverance. He also commends them for not believing false teachers, and for enduring hardships. After this Jesus rebukes the church for not showing love like they did at first. They were following Jesus out of duty, it was all religion versus relationship. The "fruit" of a church is the deeds they do out of love, a church without love is a dead church. He tells the church to repent and to do works motivated by love and not duty.


²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23



 Jesus warns the church that if they do not change, He will remove their lampstand. A loveless church is not truly a church, and will die out. He does commend them for hating the Nicolaitans, who were false teachers. Jesus ends the letter with a challenge to the church to change their ways, and overcome the problem. If they do so, they will live forever with God in paradise.