Let's start today by reading last week's passage, Revelation 1:9-20:
(9) I, John-- your brother and partner in the affliction and in the kingdom and in the steadfastness in Jesus-- I was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God
and the testimony about Jesus.
(10) I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day,
and I heard behind me a great sound like a trumpet, saying,
"What you see, write in a book,
and send [it] to the seven churches-- to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamum, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea,"
(15) and I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me,
and, turning, I saw seven gold lampstands,
(13) and in the middle of the lampstands, one similar to a son of man, [Daniel 7:13]
dressed in a robe reaching to his feet, [Daniel 10:5]
and girded around his chest [with] a golden belt, [Daniel 10:5]
(14) now, his head and his hair [were] white like wool-- white like snow-- [Daniel 7:9; 1 Enoch 46:1]
and his eyes [were] like a fiery flame, [Daniel 10:6]
(15) and his feet [were] like fine bronze, like in a furnace having been burned, [Daniel 10:6]
and his voice [was] like the sound of many waters, [Daniel 10:6; Ezekiel 1:24; 43:2]
(16) and he had in his right hand seven stars,
and from his mouth a sharp double-edged sword coming out, [Isaiah 11:4; Isaiah 49:2]
and his face like the sun shines in/with his power ("like the sun" is focused), [Ezekiel 1:28]
(17) and when I saw him, I fell toward his feet like a dead person, [Isaiah 6:5; Ezekiel 1:28; Daniel 8:18]
and he put his right hand on me, saying,
"Don't fear!
I am the First and the Last, and The One Living, [Isaiah 44:6; 48:12; Joshua 3:10]
and I was dead,
and LOOK! Living, I am, forever and ever,
and I have the keys of death and of Hades/the Netherworld.
(19) And so then, write what you saw,
and what is about to happen after these things.
(20) The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my hand, and the seven gold lampstands--
the seven stars, angels of the seven churches, they are, ["angels...churches" is focused]
and the seven lampstands, the seven churches, they are. ["seven churches" is focused]
So John has seen the exalted Jesus, in all of his glory. This glory is hard to adequately explain. All John can say, is that Jesus is "similar" to certain things, and that he looks "like" things. Jesus has eyes "like" fire, and hair "like" wool, and feet "like" fine bronze. His face shines "like" the sun. All of these things can be unpacked, using the OT, and I think John expects us to know to do that. And, on top of that, we can make pretty good guesses about the significance of some of those things. Feet like fine bronze is a symbol of strength and power.
But there are two things, in verse 20, that are explained for us, and we don't have to make any guesses about, or open our Old Testaments to figure out:
The first, is that the seven stars are seven angels.
There is something approaching a scholarly consensus (at least among my commentaries), that every church has something like a patron angel who is responsible for it. This angel is charged with making sure the church is walking rightly with God, and following Jesus faithfully. How angels do this, I have no idea. Revelation doesn't explain how it all works. But the idea, basically, is that God doesn't do everything himself. He delegates some of the responsibility to his heavenly family. And this shouldn't surprise us, because this is exactly how God did it in the OT. God gave responsibility for the nations to his heavenly family. Their job was to make sure that the nations-- the Gentiles-- did things the right way. And they also served, I think, as representatives of different people groups in heaven (as in Job 1, Job 2).
One of the clearest pictures of this is found in Psalm 82. Several years ago, we studied this passage (building off of Michael Heiser's book The Unseen Realm; this is my "Sons of God" series). But it's a little unfair of me to simply assume you remember how all of this works, so let's turn there (my translation). Here, the psalmist is given a picture of God standing in his heavenly council, in the mist of the sons of God-- divine beings, who are his heavenly family. And the psalmist speaks into this council, starting with a challenge to the sons of God to start doing a better job. He ends by calling on God himself to fix what's broken in the world:
(1) God (Elohim) is taking his stand in the community/assembly of God (El),
In the midst of the gods (Elohim) He is exercising authority.
(2) How long will you exercise authority wrongly,
while the faces of the wicked you will lift up? -Selah
(3) Exercise authority for the helpless and the orphan,
To the suffering and the weak act faithfully.
(4) Rescue the helpless and the poor;
from the hand of the wicked deliver them.
(5) They haven't known,
and they haven't understood.
In the darkness they are going about/around.
The foundations of the earth are being shaken.
(6) I have said,
"Gods (Elohim) are you,
and sons of the Most High (Elyon) are all of you.
(7) However, like a man you will die,
and like one of the commanders you will fall.
(8) Rise up, God (Elohim),
Exercise authority over the earth,
because you possess/own all the nations/peoples.
What we will see, starting today, is that just as the sons of God often failed to do their job in the OT, so also the angels to the churches often fail.
And what John does, is basically what the psalmist of psalm 82 does. He is given a message from Jesus for the seven angels. These seven angels are something like patron angels for the churches. They are responsible for the churches, and they serve as representatives for the churches in heaven.
So these messages pass from Jesus in heaven, to John on earth, back to the angels in heaven. And we-- the churches-- are given the blessing of getting to eavesdrop into God's divine council, and learn from Jesus' words. We get to see how Jesus evaluates churches. What does Jesus look for, from his churches? What's the basis for his evaluation, on if a church is healthy or messed up? What does Jesus want from us? The seven messages to the seven angels give us answers to all of this. The book of Revelation began by calling itself a "revelation from Jesus." And all of this certainly qualifies.
So today, we will work through just the first message. Let's start by reading Revelation 2:1-2:
(1) To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write:
"This is what the one holding the seven stars in his right hand-- the one walking in the midst of the seven gold lampstands-- says:
(2) 'I know your works, [every 2nd person word in here, "your" and "you," is singular]
and your labor/toil,
and your steadfastness,
and that you aren't able to tolerate/endure evil,
and you tested the ones calling themselves 'apostles' and they aren't,
and you found them lying/false,
Jesus starts off by praising the angel, and the church he represents, for doing a lot of things right. They have a lot of good works that are praiseworthy. Jesus acknowledges that serving God, as a kingdom of priests, is hard work. It can be called "toil." And the Ephesian church embraces that. They work hard. They are "steadfast"-- not quitting, not giving up-- even when the Christian walk is overwhelming-- and even when everything seems hopeless.
It's also a church that doesn't compromise. They don't "tolerate evil." They don't tell themselves that sinful things are actually okay. They don't tell themselves that compromise, once in a while, is alright. They are legitimately faithful.
Around the end of verse 3, Jesus says something that maybe surprises us. The angel, with his church, has done a good job testing those who claim to be apostles, and aren't.
I grew up thinking that there were only ever 12 apostles. Well, 13 technically, once you include Paul. But the NT assumes that lots of people were apostles. In Acts 14:14 Barnabas is called an apostle. In Romans 16:7, a fiercely debated passage, a female, Junia, is called an apostle, along with Andronicus. And that verse makes it sound like there's a much larger body of apostles.
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Linda Belleville, "Women Leaders in the Bible," pg. 80ff, in Discovering Biblical Equality, shows that the Greek phrase "well-known/notable among" there is quite clearly saying she's an apostle. She also argues that it doesn't mean "well-known"; it means "notable." Here are the examples she cites:
Additions to Esther 16:22 (NRSV): Therefore, you shall observe this with all good cheer as a "notable day among" your commemorative festivals.
Josephus, Jewish Wars 2.418: So the men of power . . . sent ambassadors; some to Florus . . . and others to Agrippa, "eminent among" whom were Saul, Antipas, and Costobarus.
Lucian, On Salaried Posts 28: So you must raise your thirsty voice like a stranded frog, taking pains to be "conspicuous among" those who praise [the mistress] page]."
Lucian, Dialogues of the Dead 438: We had quite a crowd with us on our way down, "most distinguished among" whom were our rich countryman Ismenodorus [and others].
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So all of this should make us stop and recheck what the NT means by the word "apostle." An apostle is an envoy, or ambassador, for Jesus. It's someone who is sent by Jesus, on mission, for his Church. So when we return to Revelation 2, the idea isn't simply that the angel at Ephesus had a church directory with pictures of the twelve apostles, and that he made sure no one claimed to be John or Peter, when they were actually just a Joe. The idea is that people showed up at the church, claiming to have been sent by Jesus as his envoys, or ambassadors, but they were actually lying. And the angel, along with the church he represents, did a good job of testing those claims. Some people were truly apostles, and some weren't. And this evaluation was something the church got right.
Now, all of this matters because there are quite a few people today who claim to be apostles of Jesus, sent by him as envoys to the church. In my opinion, we shouldn't just rule these people out by default, and call them false brothers or sisters. Their claims need to be tested. How you do that, I'm a little less certain about. Perhaps by their fruit, and their teaching. But the claim should be tested, and not simply rejected. And this is something the Ephesian church did well.
At this point, let's add on verse 3:
(3) and steadfastness you have, ["steadfastness" is focused]
and you tolerated/endured [much] because of my name,
and you haven't become tired,
For a second time, Jesus praises the angel, and, by extension, the church, for his steadfastness. But here, I think, the angel's steadfastness in evangelism is praised (reading the following two lines as unpacking this one). This is a church that openly declares Jesus' name. People hear them talking about Jesus, bringing Jesus into everyday conversations. And when you do this, the end result tends to be suffering. Lots of people react negatively to the name of Jesus, and you will find that you have to "put up with" harsh, mean responses. This, again, is something that the angel and the church have done well. They've accepted the consequences of sharing the gospel, and they haven't grown tired.
In the past, I've tended to rush through verses 2-3, but Jesus means all of these things sincerely. This is an angel, along with his church, that does a lot of things right. Jesus recognizes, and praises them, for lots of things. They do, however, have one possibly fatal flaw. Verse 4:
(4) but I have against you
that your earlier love you abandoned/left behind [Steven Runge thinks "you left" is focused through
delay; he's probably right].
This is an angel, and a church, that at some point along the way stopped loving. They left love behind.
Now, who have they stopped loving?
Some English Bibles translate it just a tiny bit differently, and read that they left their "first love" (KJV, Young's). And when you hear that word translated "first," instead of "earlier," you tend to think that Jesus must be talking about their love for God. God is our first love, right? But the word can also have the sense of "earlier" (NIV, NLT, NRSV all translate it more neutrally, in this sense).
So maybe Jesus' focus is on how the angel, with his church, has stopped loving God (Paul Gardner's approach). Or maybe Jesus' focus is on how the angel, with his church, has stopped loving others within the church (Mitchell Reddish's approach, I think). Maybe it's both (M. Eugene Boring's approach).
I could be wrong, but I think once we add in the threat of verse 5, probably Jesus' rebuke is that they've stopped loving one another.
Sometimes, it feels like the life of the church is a lot like juggling. There's a lot of things involved in being a productive, well-ordered church. You need a lot of volunteers, to do a lot of things. Or, you need a few volunteers at least, to do everything. You need people with discernment, who can hear when something dangerous is being taught. You need to be faithful in evangelism, even after you suffer for telling people about Jesus. You need to work hard, and toil, and not grow tired. There's a lot of things you need to do.
And if you get caught up in this, and a little overwhelmed by it, the natural next step, I think, is to become a "task-driven church." There is so much to do, that we simply can't waste time and resources. We need to do everything effectively, to the best our ability. We need to be focused, and disciplined. We need to somehow juggle everything, and keep all the balls up in the air.
And what tends to happen, in task-driven churches, is that they fail. And in all of their juggling, love is the first ball to fall.
Some of you work for big corporations that have high expectations for their employees. They've measured out how long it should take you to do every single thing, and they measure your performance against that. There's a lot of work to do, and a lot of shareholders to keep happy, and they need to squeeze as much production out of every worker that they can. In that context, the tendency is to stop treating employees as people. You are just a resource to be used up, and replaced. There's too much to do, and the expectations are too high, to spend a lot of time worrying about people, or people's feelings.
My guess is that's basically what happened with the Ephesian angel, and his church. Instead of being God-driven, or people-driven, or love-driven, they accidentally became a task-driven church.
How does Jesus feel about that?
Verse 5-6:
(5) And so then, remember from where you (still singular verb tense) have fallen,
and repent,
and the earlier works, do.
Jesus calls the angel here, a fallen angel (h/t Ian Boxall). He's messed up. He's sinned. And he, and the church he represents, need to repent, and do the first works again.
What are the "earlier" works?
If Jesus' focus was on loving God, you'd eventually find yourself talking here about the spiritual disciplines. Jesus calls on the angel, with his church, to read his Bible, and pray, and worship, and spend one on one time with God. Honestly, I can't quite make sense of what it would look like to do the earlier "works," if the focus is on loving God.
But if the focus is on loving each other, then what needs to change?
Jesus calls on the angel, with his church, to repent of their failure to love one another. You can't be so focused on mission that you lose sight of people. You can't treat people like a large corporation, and tell yourself that sometimes you just have to run people over, and not be too concerned about "feelings," to get stuff done.
All of this doesn't mean that Ephesian angel, and church, shouldn't have been hard-working, and productive, and faithful, and steadfast. None of those things are wrong. Those are all things that Jesus looks for, and praises.
But what Jesus wants, is when we look at each other, that we recognize who we are seeing. You are not speed-bumps in my way. You aren't a resource to be used up, to get the job done. You are my brothers and sisters in Christ. You are human beings who God loves, and who I need to love.
So what would it mean, to start doing the earlier works again? Loving one another isn't just about feeling differently about each other. Love includes practical "works." Listening to each other. Caring about each other. Helping one another. Being patient with one another. Building one another up. It means seeing each other's needs, as clearly as we see false teaching, or as clearly as we see the need for hard work in ministry.
Do these things, or else Jesus will do what? Jesus continues, still verse 5:
Now, if you don't, I am coming to you,
and I will remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent,
We saw in Revelation 1:9-20 that Jesus stands in the midst of the seven lampstands, and that the seven lampstands stand for the seven churches. So what would it mean, for Jesus to remove the angel's lampstand from its place?
Honestly, up until this week, I've always read this as a threat that the church would cease to be a church. The church at Ephesus would become a simple club, or a social gathering. But that's not exactly what Jesus says. Jesus' threat is that he will move the lampstand, away from its place. And where is it right now? It's close to Jesus. Right now, Jesus stands in the midst of the seven churches. But the day is coming soon, when Jesus will stand in the midst of six churches. So I think this threat, is the threat of losing your connection and access to Jesus. Jesus won't be with them, or near them, for much longer unless the angel, and the church he represents, repents.
And all of this isn't an end-times judgment. Jesus isn't threatening to come hundreds or thousands of years later. In the near future, if things don't change, the lampstand will be moved. So this verse should make us stop and think, in at least ways:
(1) Perhaps Revelation isn't only about the very end of days. Perhaps what Jesus reveals, is relevant to every church, starting 2,000 years ago.
(2) There are things that we, as a church, can do, that will result in Jesus coming in judgment against us. The idea that Jesus is always for us and never against us, that he never changes how he relates to us, is something we need to set aside.
Verse 6:
(6) but this you have: that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans-- which I also hate."
The Nicolaitans are a shadowy group, probably made up of libertarian Christians who think it's okay to do some pretty terrible sins. The Ephesians know who this group is, and we really don't. So what Jesus says here to the angel at Ephesus made perfect sense to him, but less to us. The Nicolaitans will pop up again later, and I think it'd be better for me to wait to try to talk about them until then.
With this, we come to verse 7. Let's read just the first line:
(7) The one having ears should hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Verse 1 had told us that everything we've read were words from Jesus, for the angel at Ephesus. Here, we are told that the speaker is the Holy Spirit, and it's addressed to the churches.
There's a close link between Jesus and the Spirit, and between the angel and the church. The angel at the church of Ephesus may be the one standing before Jesus for judgment, but he does so as the church's representative.
Verse 7 closes with this:
To the one conquering/overcoming, I will give to him to eat from the tree of life,
which is in the paradise/park/garden of God. [Numbers 24:6 LXX]
What we see here is an offer, extended to every Christian who hears these words, and obeys them (Revelation 1:3). To the one conquering, Jesus will give to eat from the tree of life in God's garden. God's garden wasn't wiped out in the flood. It won't forever be guarded by warrior angels, to keep us out. One day, those who conquer will get to eat from the tree that Adam and Eve never did-- the tree of life.
We could ask ourselves if this is symbolic, or literal. I like the idea that my life after this one will be lived in a giant park, filled with fruit trees. I find that a lot more appealing than thinking about a heavenly city coming down onto earth (although we will see eventually, that we, the church, are the city). Adam and Eve didn't blow it for all of humanity, forever. God has created a way, through Jesus, for paradise to be regained, and for us to live forever with God. Me liking this verse, a lot, is probably not the best reason in the world to say that this verse is literal, but, honestly, I'm pinning a lot of my hope on this one verse.
But really, there's a more important question here that we should ask ourselves. How do you conquer? What do you conquer? How do you make sure you get to eat from that tree, and live forever?
Based on what Jesus says to this angel, and his church, Jesus expects you to conquer by doing all the things the Ephesian church did, AND doing the one thing the church didn't-- love one another. You conquer by being steadfast, and hard-working, and loving one another.
So if we hear what Jesus says, we will self-check on probably two main things today. Are we working hard? Are we loving one another? And I just want to leave you with the encouragement to consider that. There was a time, "earlier," when none of us had to be told to focus on loving one another. We helped one another, we cared about one another, we prayed for one another. That's something that can't be "left behind."
I'd to focus on one last thing in closing. Let's turn back to Revelation 1:4-6 (NRSV updated no reason):
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and freed[a] us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests serving[b] his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
This book began by telling us that Jesus loves us, in an ongoing way. And this is true for the Ephesian church. Jesus loves them. But what does that mean?
Jesus loving his people doesn't mean that we can live however we want, and that Jesus will still be in our midst.
There's comes a point at which Jesus will no longer hang out with us. We will lose our place with him. And one of the ways that happens, is if we stop loving one another.
So here, I think Jesus proves his love for the Ephesian church in two ways. First, he gives them a fair warning about the judgment that he will bring against them. He doesn't simply kill them. And he doesn't simply abandon them. He warns them, because he loves them.
Second, Jesus gives them time to repent. If nothing changes, he is coming soon against them. But it's not too late to repent, and restart loving one another. Jesus gives them time, because he loves them.
This, I think, is the most valuable thing I can leave you with today. If you have ears to hear, hear what the Spirit says to the churches about how Jesus' love works, and how we need to love one another.
Translation:
(1) To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write:
"This is what the one holding the seven stars in his right hand-- the one walking in the midst of the seven gold lampstands-- says:
(2) 'I know your works, [every 2nd person word in here, "your" and "you," is singular]
and your labor/toil,
and your steadfastness,
and that you aren't able to tolerate/endure evil,
and you tested the ones calling themselves 'apostles' and they aren't,
and you found them lying/false,
and steadfastness you have,
and you tolerated/endured [much] because of my name,
and you haven't become tired,
(4) but I have against you
that your first love you left [Runge thinks "you left" is focused through delay; probably right].
(5) And so then, remember from where you have fallen,
and repent,
and the first works, do.
Now, if you don't, I am coming to you,
and I will remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent,
(6) but this you have: that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans-- which I also hate."
(7) The one having ears should hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
To the one conquering/overcoming, I will give to him to eat from the tree of life,
which is in the paradise of God.
