Seven Churches in Revelation: The Church in Ephesus

The book of Revelation is addressed to seven churches in Asia Minor, the first of which is the church in Ephesus. In this article, we’re going to take a look at the world this church had to navigate as they followed Jesus—the city of Ephesus. First, here is the letter from Jesus to the church in Ephesus we read in the Book of Revelation:

“To the angel of the Church in Ephesus write this: the One Who has hold over the seven stars in His right hand, Who is walking among the seven golden lampstands, says, ‘I know your deeds, and your toil and perseverance, and that you are not able to bear the evil ones, and put those calling themselves apostles and are not to the test, and have found them liars, and have perseverance, and take up all on account of my Name, and have not worn out.

“However, I have against you that you have let go of your first love. Remember then from where you have fallen, and repent! And do these first deeds! For if not, I shall come to you and I will remove your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent. However, you have this, that you detest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I likewise detest. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. To the conqueror I will give him to eat from the Tree of Life, which is in the Paradise of God.’” (Revelation 2:1-7, Author’s Translation)

So, what can we know about Ephesus, and how can that help us understand this letter?

The Basics of Ephesus

Of the seven cities to whom Revelation is addressed, Ephesus was the closest to Patmos, the island where John is banished. Ephesus was arguably the most important city in the province of Asia. All seven cities the Seven Churches were in were extremely important cities in the ancient world, with many books having been written on each. Much has been discovered and continues to be discovered through archeological excavations at the locations of these cities.

Ephesus was of course where the Ephesian church was located, one of the churches we read about in Acts. It was the church to whom Paul’s letter to the Ephesians was written to (our New Testament book Ephesians), and now the first church Revelation is sent to.

Ephesus served as a major harbor on the gulf of the Aegean Sea which made it a very important commercial and export center. These were all totally pagan identity cities, but there was also a good-sized Jewish population in Ephesus.

Today, you can visit the ruins of all seven cities in Asia Minor. They continue to be excavated. One Ephesian artifact is worth mentioning as it helps us understand the morals of this ancient city. If you were coming by boat back then, right as you enter the city, coming off of the dock, you are greeted with a sign engraved on the ground, which you can still see today, pointing to the prostitutes.

“Ephesus was arguably the most important city in the province of Asia.”

Sexual “Ethics” in Ephesus and the Greco-Roman World

One of the biggest issues for these churches and us today is worldly ethics of sex. While Christians today can be very dramatic about how bad things are today with modern Western culture, if John’s audience visited the worst of America today, they might think they were in Amish country.

It helps us understand Revelation to understand the world of the pagan Gentile nations and their sexual norms. It also helps us understand what it mean to follow Jesus, as He called them to live in that world and be involved in that world and endure the social pressures and scorn for a while for the sake of the greater good of witnessing the truth. They were not called to hide their light under a basket or bury their salvation like a talent. The insanity of their world was exactly why they were needed to be there, to testify the truth of His sacrificial love for these very people, to redeem them by His Blood, to be a kingdom of priests to our God.

Eating a meal together was more intimate than sex in the ancient world. In The Odyssey, Odysseus’s struggle is a deep pain, distress, and longing to return home to his wife and son. On his journey home with his crew, he stops and meets the witch-deity Circe. He then has sex with her for a full year. The crew nags him as they want to go home, and eventually he leaves.

“Eating a meal together was more intimate than sex in the ancient world.”

When Odysseus finally makes it back to his wife Penelope and takes care of the suitors trying to take over his household, he tells Penelope all about his adventures. This includes his sexual relations with the witch. And Penelope is just listening and loving hearing about all of it and thinks it’s a great story without a care in the world that her husband stopped to have sex with a witch for a year.

I think this is a great example of the Gentiles’ notions of sex. It was the equivalent of having mixed nuts at a bar. Rich hosts had prostitutes for guests. There’s a story of a Jewish guest in a Roman’s house who had to deal with his host’s anger because he offended him by having to refuse his prostitute for religious reasons.

Sex was often aggressive and cruel, men expecting to get what they wanted when they wanted from women. If you read ancient authors, you will often be shocked by many events in which very disturbing accounts of rape appear in the story. Also while it was ideal, it often was not a thing at all for a man to love his wife. Her purpose wasn’t romance but rather her role in the household. In their world, true beauty was often considered to be between the same sex, as their culture often preferred sexual relationships between the same sex. The elite would often have boy lovers, which some Romans literally called “toy boys.”

“Sex was often aggressive and cruel, men expecting to get what they wanted when they wanted from women.”

Sex was often public. It’s well known how Romans loved wine and orgies which could happen just after dinner. Nudity was common in many activities. This is one reason sports were such a major controversy for Jews—because sports and games and gymnasium activities were fully nude. Religious rituals could also be extremely sexual as pagan temples had full-time prostitutes. These sexual norms were all around the followers of Jesus across all the cities of Revelation, and returning to Ephesus, they would be advertised fresh off the boat.

The Religious Scene in Ephesus

A traveler entering Ephesus could come through a 35-foot-wide road from the harbor to the center of the city. The population was around 250,000, which is larger than the combined population of Eugene, the university city I live in, and Springfield, its sister city. Ephesus had a major marketplace, stadium, and theater. The theater was huge, built on the slope of a mountain and could fit 25,000. When Paul was accused of teaching things not supportive of Artemis and her temple, the mob gathered together in this theater.

One of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Temple of Artemis (the fertility goddess with a major cult) was here. Paganism was in general intertwined with every walk of life in these cities. This especially was the case in the marketplace and temples. Ephesus would have a major element of paganism ingrained in their city’s identity with the famous temple. It was also a huge part of the economy of the city.

To tie this back with the sexual practice of the context, the centerpiece of the Temple, of which miniatures were the most common souvenir, was a giant idol to Artemis covered in bull testicles.

The Temple was four times the size of the Parthenon and was four stories tall. Some ancient writers say it was more impressive than the Pyramids. So, it must’ve been something to behold, because the Pyramids are extremely impressive to us.

“Paganism was in general intertwined with every walk of life in these cities.”

Yet in the shadow of this pagan city was a growing band of Christians. This particular church here in Ephesus to which John was writing had an extremely close relationship with the apostle Paul. Paul had a primary role in founding this church. He stayed with them three years and maintained an extremely close relationship with them throughout the rest of his life. Acts records Paul’s last visit with this church right before his arrest and journey to Rome:

“Now from Miletus Paul sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. And when they came to him, he said to them: ‘You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. . . .

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.”

Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:17-21, 28-32, ESV)

False Teachers in the Church

It’s good being prepared for the future, and we see right off the bat confirmation of this as Paul’s warning of wolves in sheep’s clothing came true in Ephesus. But as we see in Jesus’ message to the church, the Ephesian Christians were ready and handled the problem. They tested those who called themselves apostles and were not and found them to be false. They hated their works, which Christ also hated:

“I know your deeds, and your toil and perseverance, and that you are not able to bear the evil ones, and put those calling themselves apostles and are not to the test, and have found them liars, and have perseverance, and take up all on account of my Name, and have not worn out.” (Revelation 2:2-3, Author’s Translation)

These extremely harsh words against false teachers are important because there really is nothing worse than false teachers who insert themselves into the community. There’s a major urgency to dealing with them. It’s much better to have an uncomfortable conversation that takes a second than to doom many in your church.

False teachers will not be afraid to rock the boat, and they will teach your church to hate you and turn on you before you even are aware of what’s going on. It will reach a breaking point, and you will have to deal with it. The longer you put it off, the worse it will be. There is an incredible amount of verses about dealing with false teachers in absolute terms. Have confidence knowing Christ’s words. Be firm. As we see in this message, Christ was there with them as they experienced and handled the false teachers.

“It’s much better to have an uncomfortable conversation that takes a second than to doom many in your church.”

Losing Your First Love

The love which His Body in Ephesus once had for one another complements the hate of evil teachings trying to doom the brothers. If you love the Church, you’ll hate Satan’s deceptions. It should be no surprise Jesus would take so seriously the attempt to damn His people.

Knowing what we do about this city, it would be seriously hard being faithful in that environment. Not only that, but the loss of Paul who was killed in Nero’s persecution which began in A.D. 64, a horrific and painful event for the Jesus movement, would’ve been especially heartbreaking for the Ephesian church. The Lord says to them about their patient endurance that they were “bearing up for my Name’s sake.” To bear everything for the Name of Christ is a beautiful thing. To just have the Name of Christ is beautiful.

Yet we need to watch out because we can lose our identity as they were losing their identity, which was the root of love.

“However, I have against you that you have let go of your first love. Remember then from where you have fallen, and repent! And do these first deeds!” (Revelation 2:4-5a, Author’s Translation)

The message both is assurance and a warning of what was needed, in this time more than ever! The love that they had at first. It’s a message many churches still need reminding of. We can forget the hope we were called to.

Whatever your situation, it’s important to not forget what made you first fall in love with your church. What first brought you there? What were the dreams for this church when your church began? Remember when you converted. Why was this church planted? Do you remember things this congregation loved and used to believe in?

“Whatever your situation, it’s important to not forget what made you first fall in love with your church.”

As Christ says to them, “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” This isn’t a suggestion. Christ is serious and says to get it together! It’s like a slap in the face. This isn’t a game!

So, don’t forget to make love the center of everything you do. Get your spark back and refill and reprioritize what makes a Christian a Christian and a church a church: true love with the love with which God loves us. What defines a church is Christ’s love for the Church and the church’s love for Him and each other.

We can gather from these letters to the Seven Churches that Christ is walking among us as well, you and your church and your lampstand. He holds the angel of your church in His hand. Jesus speaks to the angel of your Church. He has the authority. He knows your works/deeds. The image of Christ we get from these letters is of Him here—right here, right now among us all who are a lampstand.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. To the conqueror I will give him to eat from the Tree of Life, which is in the Paradise of God.” (Revelation 2:7, Author’s Translation)

Excerpted from The Song of the Lamb: The Beautiful and Powerful Art and Message of Revelation by Jonathan Young. Used by permission.