Revelation 2:1-7

Τῷ ἀγγέλῳ τῆς ἐν Ἐφέσῳ ἐκκλησίας γράψον· Τάδε λέγει ὁ κρατῶν τοὺς ἑπτὰ ἀστέρας ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ αὐτοῦ, ὁ περιπατῶν ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἑπτὰ λυχνιῶν τῶν χρυσῶν·

Οἶδα τὰ ἔργα σου, καὶ τὸν κόπον καὶ τὴν ὑπομονήν σου, καὶ ὅτι οὐ δύνῃ βαστάσαι κακούς, καὶ ἐπείρασας τοὺς λέγοντας ἑαυτοὺς ἀποστόλους, καὶ οὐκ εἰσίν, καὶ εὗρες αὐτοὺς ψευδεῖς· καὶ ὑπομονὴν ἔχεις, καὶ ἐβάστασας διὰ τὸ ὄνομά μου, καὶ οὐ κεκοπίακες. ἀλλὰ ἔχω κατὰ σοῦ ὅτι τὴν ἀγάπην σου τὴν πρώτην ἀφῆκες. μνημόνευε οὖν πόθεν πέπτωκας, καὶ μετανόησον καὶ τὰ πρῶτα ἔργα ποίησον· εἰ δὲ μή, ἔρχομαί σοι, καὶ κινήσω τὴν λυχνίαν σου ἐκ τοῦ τόπου αὐτῆς, ἐὰν μὴ μετανοήσῃς. ἀλλὰ τοῦτο ἔχεις ὅτι μισεῖς τὰ ἔργα τῶν Νικολαϊτῶν, ἃ κἀγὼ μισῶ. ὁ ἔχων οὖς ἀκουσάτω τί τὸ πνεῦμα λέγει ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις. τῷ νικῶντι δώσω αὐτῷ φαγεῖν ἐκ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς, ὅ ἐστιν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ τοῦ θεοῦ.

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

Ephesus was an important port city on the west coast of Asia during the time of John and his readers. It was the location of the temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, and Ephesus was one of the greatest commercial cities of the province of Asia Minor. It had obtained the right to host the Temple of the Divine Julius Caesar and the goddess Roma. The book of Acts testifies to Jewish presence in Ephesus, which is further confirmed in ancient inscriptions and other historical documents (such as Josephus).

John is commanded to write to the “angel of the church in Ephesus”. This “angel” can be understood as either an elder/pastor of the church in Ephesus or a representative angelic being watching over the church. Since the Greek word for “angel” (ἀγγέλῳ, angelō) can mean “messenger” depending on the context, it seems to me that it is better to understand these local “angels” as human representatives of the churches, that is, elders/pastors of their respective churches.

The words that John is commanded to write to the angel of the church in Ephesus are not John’s own words, but rather are the words of “him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands”. This description of the speaker alludes to earlier references of the Son of Man in Revelation 1:13 and 16. The Son of Man who holds the seven “angels” in His right hand and who walks in the midst of the seven churches, He is the One bringing words to the church in Ephesus. This description brings tones of comfort to the readers/listeners in Ephesus, for Jesus holds them in His right hand and He is in their midst.

The words “I know” (Οἶδά, Oida) reflects the fact that Jesus has divine knowledge of all things, including the things of the heart. This brings to mind Revelation 1:14, which describes the Son of Man as having eyes like a flame of fire, meaning that He sees and knows all things, no matter how hard man tries to hide his secret sins from Jesus.

Jesus knows the “works” of the church in Ephesus, that is, their toil and patient endurance. This “patient endurance” was brought up in Revelation 1:9, where John states that he is a fellow brother and partaker “in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus”. This means that the church in Ephesus is enduring some kind of ongoing tribulation, for which endurance the church is commended.

In fact, the church is commended for its intolerance for those who are evil. Rather than tolerating these evil persons, the church “tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false”. This is in accordance with what John wrote in 1 John 4:1:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

The church in Ephesus did not blindly believe those who called themselves “apostles” of God, but rather tested them and found them to be false apostles, that is, those who teach a false gospel. It would appear that the church’s stance against these false apostles led to some kind of present tribulation, that is, these false apostles appear to be the cause of whatever tribulation the church in Ephesus is going through. In light of the general pattern throughout the NT, it is possible that these false apostles were Judaizers who attempted to persuade Ephesian Christians to return to Judaism (the “true” religion of God), and if these Christians refused, these false apostles would instigate persecution against the Christians, possibly by riling up fellow Jews to harass the Christians, or informing the Romans that these Christians are not part of Judaism, and therefore their Christian faith is an illegal religion.

However, the church in Ephesus continued to endure patiently for the sake of Christ’s name (a reference to the Christian faith in general) and has not grown weary. But Jesus does have something against the church in Ephesus: it has abandoned the love it had at first. Some commentators take the view that this “love” is the kind of love Christians have for one another, whereas others take the view that this “love” is the kind of love that Christians have for Jesus Himself. It seems to me that there is present in the church both kinds of love, such that the church cares for one another to such an extent that they protect one another from the persistent attacks from the false apostles, and the church loves Jesus to such an extent that it cares deeply about protecting and maintaining the true gospel in their midst. On the other hand, it could be that even though the church cared about its purity and sound doctrine, it might not have been as zealous about being a witness to Christ outside of their church community. Doing so might welcome even more persecution against the church in Ephesus, thus increasing their ongoing tribulation. It would appear that the church in Ephesus used to be more vocal as a witness to Christ in Ephesus earlier on, and that in light of their recent struggles with false apostles and their current tribulation, their role as a witness to Christ in Ephesus might have decreased considerably, perhaps even to the extent of non-existence. For this reason, Christ exhorts them to “remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first“, meaning that the church ought to consider what they used to do, and to resume doing those same works that they did at first.

The warning of Christ is solemn: if the church in Ephesus does not repent and do the works that it used to do at first, then He will come and remove its lampstand from its place. It would appear that the “coming” of Jesus in this passage is conditioned on whether the church in Ephesus is repentant or not. Based on Revelation 1, we know that Jesus will come soon in judgment against those who pierced Him. However, this “coming” of Christ will result in either rewards or punishment on the churches depending on their obedience to His Word. Therefore, if the church in Ephesus does not repent, when Jesus comes soon, He will remove “its lampstand from its place”, meaning that He will remove the church itself for failing to act as a witness in Ephesus. Readers should recall the teaching of Christ that His people are called to be light in the world, and that a light should not be hidden under a basket, otherwise it does not fulfill its purpose. Just as salt that has lost its saltiness is useless and good for nothing, light that is hidden and that does not fulfill its purpose becomes useless and might as well be removed from its place.

Before ending His message to the church in Ephesus, Christ again brings a word of commendation: the church in Ephesus hates works of the Nicolaitans, which He also hates. There is ongoing debate as to what the “works of the Nicolaitans” means: some take the view that this represents the followers of Nicolaus, a heretic in Ephesus, who taught that it is permissible for Christians to indulge in pagan idolatrous activities without endangering their faith or salvation; others contend that the Greek word Νικόλαος coincides with the Hebrew בִּלְעָם (Βαλαάμ, Balaam), such that Nicolaus means “conquering of the people” and Balaam means “destruction of the people”. In light of the Jewish overtones throughout the book of Revelation, and the scarce historical evidence for a clear understanding of what Nicolaus might have taught, it seems to me that “the works of the Nicolaitans” is another reference to the same doctrines taught by the false apostles mentioned in this same passage. Just as Balaam deceived the people of Israel (the people of God) into eating things sacrificed to idols and committing fornication, “the works of the Nicolaitans” refer to the teachings of the false apostles who attempt to deceive the church (the people of God) into committing spiritual fornication, that is, rejecting the Messiah and returning to Judaism and to its sacrifices, even including eating what is sacrificed in the temple (which has become an idol for the Jews).

In light of the above, it becomes clear that Jesus hates the teachings of the false apostles, which I argue is referred again here as “the works of the Nicolaitans”, because such false doctrines teach that the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ is insufficient for the salvation of His people, and that Christians must go back to the Jewish sacrificial system in order to be in right standing before God. In sum, the false apostles / the Nicolaitans reject Jesus as the Messiah and further reject that His work on the cross is sufficient to secure the salvation of His people.

The expression “he who has an ear, let him hear” is a standard call to obedience that Jesus used throughout the Gospels. The church in Ephesus (and all churches in general) ought to listen to the words of Jesus, which are here also described as the words of the Spirit to the churches. What Jesus speaks to the church in Ephesus in particular is also what the Spirit speaks and applies to the churches in general. We are all called to heed the words of Jesus, for it is also the Spirit who is speaking to us in this text.

Furthermore, the expression “the one who conquers” appears in the closing remarks for each of the seven letters to the churches. It is fitting that Jesus, the One who overcame sin and death, also calls His people to conquer in Him. It is also fitting in this context that the church is called to conquer, in light of the meaning of “Nicolaus” (conquering of the people). Instead of being conquered, Christians are called to conquer in Jesus.

To the one who conquers, Jesus “will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God”. There is a possible allusion to the date palm tree which was figured on the temple of Artemis in Ephesus. Jesus will grant to eat of the ultimate tree, that is, the tree of life, to those who conquer. Furthermore, readers are here introduced to the “tree of life” and the “paradise of God”, though without additional details. The tree of life was mentioned in Genesis 2, and those familiar with the OT would know that eating of the tree of life represents eternal life. In addition, readers would know that access to the paradise of God, where the tree of life is located, was prohibited after Adam and Eve fell and were evicted from Eden. No one could enter the paradise of God after sin entered the world. Therefore, the promise of Jesus that those who conquer will have access to the tree of life and the paradise of God is amazing. Readers ought to keep the concept of the tree of life in mind later on when we arrive at Revelation 22, which describes the inside of the New Jerusalem, that is, the church of Christ. For now, readers ought to know that Jesus promises eternal life and the everlasting communion and intimate fellowship with God to those who conquer in Him.

Soli Deo gloria!