Rev 2:1"To the angel of the church of Ephesus write,

To the angel of the church of Ephesus write. First of all, who is writing this letter? Jesus is writing the letter. John is simply taking dictation.

What is the significance of the "angel?" The word is aggelos (ä'n-ge-los). Interestingly, it’s a masculine noun. It means "a messenger, envoy, one who is sent, an angel, a messenger from God". Now, that could be the pastor or other human being in the position of being the messenger for the Church of Ephesus. It could also mean an actual "angel." That word is used 186 times in the New Testament, and 179 times it means "angel." You can make a good biblical case for every church having an angel assigned to it. However, for our purposes, it doesn’t really matter.

'These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: This is how Jesus refers to Himself in this letter. Remember how Jesus had explained what they represented:

Rev 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.

So, Jesus is identifying Himself with the church in this letter to Ephesus. Of all the books of the Bible, which one has the church as its main theme? The book of Ephesians.

Eph 1:22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Eph 4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

How is the church explained in Ephesians? As the bride of Christ:

Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

It’s interesting that even the name of the city fits this theme. Ephesus means desired one or desirable, beloved, darling.

I know your works. Don’t pass by that statement too quickly. Jesus knows exactly what each church is about. He knows exactly what you are about. We were created to do good works:

Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works , which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Jesus will know every work, and every attitude with which we did that work. And, He will know that not all of our "works" are good:

1 Cor 3:13 each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is.

Some will have been done grudgingly. Some were for show. Some, as in this letter, will have been done without love.

Now, the Ephesians were commended for their works, a seven-fold praise:

Revelation 2:2 "I know your works, (1) your labor, (2) your patience, and (3) that you cannot bear those who are evil. (4) And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3 (5) and you have persevered (6) and have patience, (7) and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary.

These are good things. Jesus is not criticizing their works.

1. Your labor: kopos (ko'-pos) a beating of the breast with grief, sorrow, trouble, intense labor united with trouble and toil. They continue on in their work, even though it causes them intense trouble and possibly persecution.

3. You cannot bear those who are evil. The “bear” is bastazō (bä-stä'-zō). It means to support, to carry or sustain. They don’t put up with those who are evil. They don’t listen or allow them to remain. The "evil" is kakos (kä-ko's):

4. You have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars.

They had apparently taken Paul very seriously when he warned them:

Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. 31 Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

So, at least at this time, they are testing those who say they are apostles, and they are not fooled. They are not allowing false doctrine to spread.

5. You have persevered. This has the idea of bearing a burden. The Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers says:

When Jesus said, "Take up your cross and follow me," these folks were doing that. They were bearing their crosses, putting up with sufferings, continuing on in the face of persecution.

6. And have patience. Here is the same word again (as in number 2), only this time, it’s being used with a verb instead of as a noun. There is apparently a slightly different meaning here. The tense of the verb is present and active. They are not only steadfastly enduring, but they bring that same characteristic to their work. They do their work with steadfast endurance.

7. And have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary. They are working for Christ – in His name and FOR Him. There is a little play on words here, because the word "labored" means to grow weary, tired, exhausted (with toil or burdens or grief) but Jesus is saying they are giving that kind of labor, but they are not growing weary of working that way. Their toil is for Jesus. Everything they’re doing is for the sake of Jesus. They know what Jesus wants them to do, and they are doing it, for His name’s sake.

Wow. You look at that list and goodness, what could be wrong with any of that? There isn’t anything wrong with their works. There’s something wrong with their attitude. What does Jesus say?

Revelation 2:4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

Left: aphiēmi (ä-fē'-ā-mē) The Thayer's Greek Lexicon, Copyright © 2000, 2003, says:

First: prōtos (prō'-tos) It means to be first in place or first in rank, first in influence or honor, chief or principal.

Jesus is saying that they left, abandoned, deserted, forsook their best love, their highest priority love. What is the best love, the highest priority love that we have?

Matt 22:37 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

The best love, the highest priority love that we have is to love God with all our hearts, and then to love others, especially fellow believers:

John 15:12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

The Ephesians had great works, wonderful works, but they didn’t do it out of love. They did it for Jesus, for His name’s sake – but not for the love of Him. They were so busy doing for the king that they had no time for the king. What does Paul say?

1 Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love , I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. (without love, speaking in the tongues of men and angels is just noise) 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love , I am nothing. (Great understanding of Scripture, tremendous knowledge, faith enough to do miracles – all mean nothing without love. That "nothing" includes all genders, including things – truly, absolutely nothing. Worse than useless – just NOTHING. ) 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. (Any good works, including giving up all your goods, even your own life – if you’re doing it without love, it means nothing)

How important is that love? Paul goes on:

1 Corinthians 13:4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. That faith is the believing, saving faith. The hope is the hope of eternal salvation. And, yet, agape love is the most important. Obviously, faith is important. Obviously, hope is important. Somehow, though, love is the most important of all.

Jesus goes on:

Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place — unless you repent.

He’s again doing a little play on words. He’s saying those works of the Ephesians don’t matter. If they don’t do their highest priority work – to love God with all their hearts – He’s going to come and remove their lampstand.

That word "quickly" is tachy (tä-khü'). It means speedily or in a hurried way. It’s not soon in time, but when it happens, it happens fast. We get our "tachometer" from it. It’s used 14 times in the New Testament, seven of those in Revelation.

Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place — unless you repent.

Rev 2:16 Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.

Rev 3:11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.

Rev 11:14 The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

Rev 22:7 "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."

Rev 22:12 "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.

Rev 22:20 He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly."

Given these other uses in Revelation, when Jesus says He is "coming quickly," what does He mean? He’s alluding to the end, right? To the "Day of the Lord," as you can see here:

Luke 21:34 "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap . 35 For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."

The "trap" there is one that closes on you quickly and unexpectedly, so fast that you can’t escape. The word means one of those animal traps that the animal steps into and is suddenly caught. The same idea is all through the Old Testament:

Zeph 1:14 (NIV) The great day of the LORD is near; It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; There the mighty men shall cry out.

So, why is Jesus seeming to refer to the Day of the Lord? What in the world is the point, for us today?

Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place — unless you repent.

First, historically, Jesus couldn’t have actually meant the Day of the Lord for that exact church at Ephesus. It’s already gone, and the Day of the Lord has not yet come. However, Ephesus did fail quickly, when an earthquake changed the course of the river. The harbor very rapidly filled in. Between the destruction from the earthquake and the lack of a harbor, Ephesus was soon abandoned, even though it had had a population of 600,000 at its height.

Apparently, they did not repent as a church, and their lampstand was removed. There is no church of Ephesus today. There is no Ephesus today. Jesus did "come to them quickly" in judgment.

What about those churches that fit the Ephesian model? Their doctrine is very good. Their works are very good. The love of God is missing, though. Their love has grown cold. What does Jesus say to them? Repent, or I will not allow you to continue. Jesus will not abide with a loveless church. He will remove its lampstand. That doesn’t mean that He’ll wait until the Day of the Lord to do that. He didn’t wait on Ephesus.

So, where does the Day of the Lord come in? Apparently, a warning of coming Judgment Day inspires repentance. Be careful, church, or that day will close on you unexpectedly, like a trap.

OK, that’s for the "church." What about individually? Is there a lesson here for us as individuals? What does it mean to be a "loveless" Christian?

1 Cor 16:22 If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love . 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

It would appear that a "loveless" Christian had better repent and repent quickly, because she is not really a Christian at all!

Revelation 2:6 But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

What in the world are the "deeds of the Nicolaitans?" Notice they don’t hate the Nicolaitans. They hate their deeds, what they DO.

There are several schools of thought on this. The WELS church doesn’t have any definite statement, but suggests the Nicolaitans were sexually immoral or were Gnostics (salvation by secret knowledge):

http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?1518&cuTopic_topicID=815&cuItem_itemID=15101

Irenaeus (Early church father, c.180) said, "The Nicolaitans are the followers of that Nicholas who was one of the seven first ordained to the diaconate by the apostles. The Nicolaitans lead lives of unrestrained indulgence. The character of these persons is very plainly pointed out in the Apocalypse of John. It shows that they teach that it is a matter of indifference to practice adultery and to eat things sacrificed to idols." This line of thinking says that there was a sect, started by Nicholas that said, "Since we are forgiven and not under law, we can live as we wish."

There are only two biblical references to the Nicolaitans – here and in the letter to Pergamum. An alternate view suggests that Jesus is using the word more than a name. Since every name in these letters seems to fit the theme, that is a possibility. In that case, you have to translate the word. The first part of the name " nico" comes from the Greek word which means "to conquer" or "to rule over." The second part of the name "laitans" comes from the Greek word meaning "people." (like our word laity) So, in this view, the Nicolaitans were those setting up some sort of spiritual hierarchy, where the leaders in the church had power over the people.

If that is the correct view, Jesus is saying that He hates that. Unlike the other view, this does have Scripture to back it up (doesn’t mean the other view is incorrect):

Matt 20:20 Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.

John 13:12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet , you also ought to wash one another's feet . 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

He who has an ear, let him hear. We saw this same phrase in the Parables of Matthew 13. He is saying that this requires spiritual understanding. There is more here than meets the eye.

what the Spirit says to the churches. This requires the Holy Spirit to understand. Note the "churches" as in all of them. These letters apply to all churches of all time.

To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.

What does it mean to be an overcomer? The overcomer endures to the end. The overcomer does not lose her faith, does not turn her back on Jesus. The overcomer is the "good soil" in the Parable of the Soils, the "Good seed" in the Parable of the Field, the "Good fish" in the Parable of the Dragnet.

John puts it this way in his first epistle:

1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

There are seven promises to the overcomer in Revelation:

1. Rev 2:7 To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.

2. Rev 2:11 He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death

3. Rev 2:17 I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.

4. Rev 2:26 he who overcomes , and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations — 27'He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels' — as I also have received from My Father; 28 and I will give him the morning star.

5. Rev 3:5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

6. Rev 3:12 He who overcomes , I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.

7. Rev 3:21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

These are all summarized at the end of Revelation:

Rev 21:7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.

So, what is this first promise:

Rev 2:7 To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.

The "tree of life", of course, was in the Garden of Eden:

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Isn’t it interesting that Adam and Eve were not forbidden to eat from the Tree of Life? They just chose not to, apparently.

Gen 2:15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

That sounds really weird, until you realize that people do that all the time. What is the "Tree of Life" right now, in this world? It is the cross. People can freely "eat of it" whenever they want and live forever. They just choose not to.

When Adam and Eve sinned, God, in His mercy, prevented them from eating from the Tree of Life. Had they eaten, they would have lived in sin forever.

Gen 3:22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" — 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Interesting that He placed cherubim to guard the WAY to the Tree of Life. I expect that has a lot more to do with keeping Satan away from it than people. It wouldn’t take multiple cherubim to keep people away from it. (Remember that one angel in one night killed 185,000 Assyrians)

Rev 22:1 (In the New Jerusalem) And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month.

Rev 22:14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

The "Tree of Life" seems to be a real tree with real fruit that we will really eat.

Revelation 2:7 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God."'

Now, one last thought on the verse here. The first three churches have the phrase, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, before the promise to the overcomers. The last four letters have it after the promise. What does that mean? It may mean that there is more to the promise in the last four than it seems. It may mean that the first three are somehow a group and the last four are somehow a group. It may mean something else all together!

Now, there is much more we could explore about the letter to the Church of Ephesus. Remember that we expected it to have multiple layers of meanings:

1. Real letter to a real church with real problems.

2. There is a little bit of Ephesus in every church.

3. There are some churches today that, while they have a little bit of every church, fit more into Ephesus than into the others.

4. There is a little bit of Ephesus in us. Hopefully, we don’t fit best into the Church of Ephesus, but if we do, we need to do some immediate repentance.

5. There have always been churches that fit best into the "church of Ephesus," but historically, the time period that best fits the Ephesus church is the very early church period, the apostolic church period. Their doctrine is correct, because for the most part, they were started by the apostles. However, their works are already becoming duty, ritual, tradition. They’re going through the motions. They know what they’re supposed to do, and they do it – but they’ve left the love that should be motivating them.