Chapter # 2 Paragraph # 1 Study # 1
July 16, 2023
Broadlands, Louisiana
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Thesis: The Ultimate Sovereign over the churches has a message for a church that is going to be held accountable for how well it is living up to its identity and purpose.
Introduction: As we begin our studies of the letters to the seven churches, we are going to look into the way Jesus is presented to the Church in Ephesus in the light of its pursuit of God's agenda for all of the churches.
- I. The Letter To Ephesus.
- A. The "angel" is "aggelos". This word is used in 72 texts of this Revelation, and most of the time it refers to that category of created beings known as "angels" and defined in Hebrews 1:14 as "ministering spirits who have been sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation."
- 1. However, in this letter (and the following six others), the "angel of the church" is, apparently, a leading teacher in the church who has some level of influence so as to control the doctrine and practices of the church.
- a. In this letter, the "angel" is addressed one-on-one ("I know your (sou: second person singular of the personal pronoun su) works...").
- b. In every letter to the churches, it is the "angel" who is held accountable and given "warning" and/or "promise" in respect to whether the "problem(s)" is/are corrected.
- 2. Thus, the major idea is not "angel" as a "spirit minister" so much as it is a "messenger" (as the one controlling the content of the doctrine of the church); i.e., a leading "teaching elder" (1 Timothy 5:17).
- B. The Ephesian church is well known to the readers of the book of Acts.
- 1. Ephesus was the city which contained the Temple of Artemis which housed an image that was supposed to have fallen into Ephesus from heaven (Acts 19).
- 2. The church in Ephesus figured prominently in the New Testament and was where Timothy was left by Paul to oversee the doctrine that was being taught in the church (1 Timothy 1:3).
- 3. The designation, "church" (ekklesias) was a word coined to refer to a group of people who were "called out" (ek+kaleo) from their setting in their lives in this world so as to be a group that were summoned by the Lord to a wholly different kind of "life in this world" (identified in 1:6 as a lifestyle of "Kingdom" principles aligned with a "priesthood for God" concept in mind).
- a. According to John's third use of this word (1:4, 11, and 20), the "church" was symbolized in vision form as a "lampstand"; this word being used in Hebrews 9:2 to refer to the lampstand described in Exodus 25:31 as having seven lamps placed upon a single stand that had seven lamp holders with three on each of two sides with a single one in the middle of the sets of three.
- b. As such a lampstand, the purpose it served was to give light within the "Holy Place" so the ministering priests could see to go about their tasks.
- c. The parallel analogy between the "churches" and the "lampstands" has to do with the "Church's" identity as given in 1 Timothy 3:15 ("the pillar and support of the Truth") with its purpose as given in Ephesians 3:10 (the instrument of God to express "the manifold wisdom of God...to the rulers and authorities in the heavenlies").
- 1) These elements of identity and purpose are the underlying reason for the seven letters.
- 2) The identified problems are crucial for the expression of the "manifold wisdom of God".
- 3) The point is this: the "churches" are supposed to be giving the "priests of God" the "light" that makes their service to God legitimate.
- a) Obvious to this "point" is that the Church is to establish The Truth, explain The Truth, and proclaim The Truth.
- b) Just as obvious to this "point" is the fact that when the Bible is dismissed, or made less than its identity as the Word of God, the visible churches will not be able to fulfill their identity or purpose.
- C. The One Who is sending this letter by John's hand is identified.
- 1. He is first identified as "He Who is Powerful" by reason of organizational skill (kratos), particularly in order to dominate.
- a. This "power" is demonstrated by His grasp of the seven stars in His right hand.
- b. This "power" is, thus, that of the One Who determines what will happen as a downline outcome in respect to each of the "seven stars".
- c. But, this "power" is not exercised absolutely in terms of the details; this Powerful One has allowed the decisions of the particular "angel" to be made and executed in line with his identity as a "fellow worker with God" (1 Corinthians 3:9-17).
- 2. He is also described as "He Who is walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands".
- a. This expands the issues involved with the "seven stars" to include the "golden lampstands".
- b. This makes the "warning(s)/promise(s)" more pertinent: these are not idle words.
- D. The particular message that is suitably constituted for the "Ephesian" called-out group, but it does have implications for any other group with similar characteristics.
