Ephesus

The first angel to receive a message for a church is the one at the church of Ephesus, Revelation 2:1.

The city of Ephesus is on the Asia Minor (now southwest Turkey) seacoast. At the time of the writing of Revelation, it was a capital of Roman Asia. The harbor at Ephesus is noted for its shifting bottom. This gives added meaning to the expression "...that you have left your first love.",

"Ephesus" itself means "desired". It is the same kind of desire that Paul talks about in Ephesians 5:25-30 that a husband, who loves his wife, has for her. In the same way, Christ "desires" the church at Ephesus and wishes to take care of it.

Ephesus, as a church, was established by Paul on his second missionary journey (Acts 19). John, the author of Revelation, was "minister" there for quite some time. Between Paul and John, there are indications that Timothy was in charge of the churches in the area. Extrabiblical sources indicate that Mary the mother of Jesus died here.


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   1"To the messenger of the church in Ephesus, write:
        The one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lamp stands, says:
    To the MESSENGER of the church in Ephesus, write:
  • The ONE who holds the seven STARS in his RIGHT HAND,
This is part of the vision John saw in the first chapter (Revelation 1:16). The right hand denotes the hand of power and authority.
  • the one who walks among the seven GOLD LAMP STANDS, says:
This, too, is where John's vision in chapter 1 opens with "one like a son of Man" in the midst of the lampstands (Revelation 1:11). The fact that He walks among the golden lampstands verifies that these really do exist and may be removed (Revelation 2:5).
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