Revelation Chapter 2 (breakdown of Ephesus)

"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."(Rev.2:1-3)

The letters to the 7 churches of Revelation have been interpreted by theologians over the years to be description of 7 church ages. This first letter is to the angel or pastor of the Church of Ephesus. This church is descriptive of the "Apostolic Church Age" which is marked by the purness of the early church marked by the fact that they "canst not bear them which are evil" and how they have "tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars." So this particular church had some what of grasp on the reality of not only being set apart but, the soberness of mind to understand and know that false teachers were lurking and they generally sniffed them out and exposed them. This church was under extreme persecution.



Revelation 2:4-7 reads, "Nevertheless I have [somewhat] against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

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."

I want to key in here on verse 4 and 5 many use these verse to dispute eternal salvation and say that this church had "fallen" because it left its "first love" and that without repentance they would remain in this "fallen" state. I strongly disagree folks. the greek word "fallen" here is the word "ekpipto" which basically means to "fall down from a place." It is not the greek word "parapipto" with is the word used to described UNSAVED people posing to believe that fall away in apostasy denying the true gospel and Jesus Christ. So repent here is not to turn "back to God" but rather to turn "and do the first works." Jesus removing the candlestick out of his place does not mean he is going to destroy them or some other spiritual condemnation. The candlestick or lampstand represents the church or church age. Remember during this age sin is dealt with almost immediately {i.e the death of Ananias and Sapphira(Acts5:1-11)}; sin is as a cancer to God this church would have simply been taken out of its place stil remaining in the grace of God through faith but none the less not in an assembly in ephesus. The greek word for the phrase "will remove" is the greek word "kineo" this word means "to move or set in motion." The Greek word "place" is the word "topos" which means metaphorically here "the condition or station held by one in any company or assembly." Christ the head of the church would would come and remove this church's position and/or location from where it is to somewhere else. He would not allow the sin in this church to corrupt other sister churches surrounding it or any new converts. It is quite simple. Jesus goes on in verse 7 saying how they did hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans.The Nicolaitans were by name: Ignatius, Irenaus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertillian,and Hyppolytus. These men were men who professed to be christians but lived a completely licentious lifestyle. They were sexually unrestrained and lawless men carrying the name of Christ and lead many asstray. The phrase in verse 7 follows verse 6 it says "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life" Now the tree of life was taken out of Eden to keep man from consuming it a living forever. Well in the new testament it is given to "him that overcometh." this phrase appears after the mention of each of the seven churches from Ephesus to Thyatira. Once again many theologians and false teachers teach that you will miss out on the tree if you do not overcome through obedience and cardinal deeds. Well that's stupid. overcome here is the same as overcome in 1John 5:4-5 tell you how to overcome and who they are that overcome. it says, "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, [even] our faith.Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? " So who are they that overcome the world? The born again children of God. How do they victoriously overcome? The put their faith in Jesus Christ. So to overcome at the end of each age is the same criteria to simply believe that Jesus is the Son of God. This concludes the first church Ephesus and its relation as the "Apostolic Age of Persecution" stay tuned we have six more churches to go!!