Churches in revelation bible study8/31/2023 It is located on the west coast of Turkey. The ancient city of Smyrna is the modern city of Izmir, Turkey. The city of Smyrna was located approximately 40 miles north of Ephesus. The Letter to the Church at Smyrna Background Then as time passed, they become tolerant of their culture and lost their true commitment to sound doctrine and the gospel. These churches loved God and worked overtime to serve Him. These churches have started out as doctrinally strongholds with a fervent passion for the gospel. The church at Ephesus also represents individual churches throughout history. Like the church at Ephesus, the churches in Apostolic period started out strong but toward the end they began to lose their fervent expression of the love and witness of Christ. The Apostolic period lasted from A.D 30-100. During the Apostolic period, the writing of the New Testament was completed. In church history this period is known as the Apostolic Church. This is a good description of the early churches. Christ promises that those who repent He will give the Tree of Live ( 2:7). Christ does praise the church for its stand against the Nicolaitans ( 2.6). Albert Barnes states that, “The expression is equivalent to saying the church there would cease to exist.” In other words if the church did not repent, then Christ was going to remove it from the city. Christ also warns the church that if they did not repent then He would remove their lampstand. The first love refers to that love a person has when they first accept Christ as savior.Ĭhrist exhorts the church to repent and return to their first love ( 2:5). The losing of their first love was not a completer forsaking of the love toward God but was a lack of the fervent expression of that love. They were the offspring of the Christians who converted under Paul’s ministry. The members of the church which the letter was addressed were second generation Christians. Christ condemns the church for losing its first love ( 2:4). The church at Ephesus was faithful to Christ, but it also had a problem. The church had separated itself from the culture. Third, they did not tolerate false doctrine. The church had endured the persecution of the culture. Christ compliments the church of Ephesus on three things ( 2:2-3). Christ is always present and concerned about the church. The omnipresence of Christ is illustrated. The letter opens with the introduction of Christ as being the one who walks among the seven lampstands which is representative of the seven churches ( 2:1). The letter to the church Ephesus is found in Rev 2:1-7. The Apostle John was said to have lived in Ephesus before and after his exile on Patmos. The church at Ephesus was the product of Paul’s third missionary journey. This temple was beautiful and was considered to be one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The city was built near the site of a shrine to an old Anatolian fertility goddess. Ephesus was not only a trade center but was also a center for cult worship. It was a trading center with a beautiful and accessible harbor. The population of Ephesus was more than 300,000 people. The city of Ephesus was located at the mouth of the Cayster River on the west coast of Asia Minor, Ephesus was the capital of the Roman providence of Asia. The Letter to the Church at Ephesus Background By studying the background of the churches, a better understanding of the content can be gained. All the letters end with a command for all the churches to take notice of the letters. The churches are exhorted to repent and are told what would happen if they did or didn’t repent. The commendation is followed by a condemnation of the evil in the churches. There is a commendation, in which Christ praises the good works of the churches. The body of each of the letters contains basic elements common to each. In the introduction an aspect of the nature of Christ is described. The letters begin with an introduction of Christ. The content of each of the letters follows a similar format. Third, these churches are representative of the stages of development of the Christian church. Second, the problems which these churches had are representative of problems that churches throughout history have faced. First, they were real churches that had real problems. These seven letters had a threefold significance. These churches were a result of the missionary efforts of the Apostles.Ĭhrist instructed John to write to only these seven churches. These seven churches are only a representation of possibly 100 separate and independent local churches, established in the first century. The section of the book is “The things which are.” This indicates that the letters were sent to seven literal churches. The letter to the seven churches of Asia Minor is found in the 2nd and 3 rd chapters of the book of Revelation.
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