The opening section of Revelation sets the stage for the specific messages that Jesus instructs John to record for the seven churches. What John writes is part of the larger revelation from Jesus. The number seven, being symbolic of completeness, indicates that the Lord aims to address the church universal throughout the generations. Upon reading, it becomes clear that the seven messages can find application to just about any church. For example, it has been pointed out that the message to the church in Sardis could be applied to any period of the history of the church. Or what otherwise faithful church, like the church in Ephesus, does not need to be warned against losing their love for Christ?
Annexed by Rome in 129 BC, Ephesus became one of the four most powerful cities in the empire. It’s population soared to over a quarter of a million souls, an enormous city for the ancient world. Not only was Ephesus a major financial hub, it was a major center of religious observance. The temple to Artemis was one of the wonders of the ancient world and the largest building in the world at the time. Ephesus also led the way in emperor worship housing temples to Julius Caesar and Domitian. A city like this held many temptations which threatened to lure Christians into error.
Despite these temptations, Jesus praises the Ephesian church for her steadfast commitment to the truth, intolerance for error, endurance, and resistance to the temptations of their sinful city. Nevertheless, the Lord rebukes them for having “abandoned the love you had at first” (vs. 4). And so Jesus calls them to “repent and do the works you did at first” (vs. 5). Though the Lord does not specify the “works” that they must return to, it is likely that what they have neglected was a once vibrant public witness to Christ in Ephesus. They had maintained such exemplary virtues but because of a loss of love, their witness had suffered to the point that it threatened their status as one of the Lord’s lampstands. May we have ears to hear this warning lest we allow our love and, therefore our witness to grow cold.
