REVELATION: Ephesus and Their First Love

The first “letter” written within the book of Revelation is the letter to the church in Ephesus. Many scholars have pointed out that the order of the seven churches comes in the order the postal delivery route traveled in the first century. The letter begins in Ephesus, for that is where the letter is most likely penned. This is where the apostle John ended up being stationed as the “Pastor to Asia,” and Church tradition holds that he lived here with Mary (the mother of Jesus).

Ephesus was written about by some as “the head of the snake” in reference to the Christian movement. While many people speak of Antioch being the headquarters of Christianity, this was only a reality for a small period of time. As this early movement exploded throughout the world of biblical Asia and Asia Minor, Ephesus (the second largest city in the Roman empire) was centrally located and became the likely port city for the movement to call its home. Because of this, one of the battles Ephesus constantly had to fight was that of false apostles, false teaching, and all kinds of bad orthopraxy.

This appears to be something they handled quite well, at least if the letter to Ephesus is any indication. Let’s look at that now.

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

You can see John mentions more than once their faithfulness and endurance in the realm of not tolerating wicked people, of testing things for the act of discernment. John also references the Nicolaitans. From what we know in history, our best understanding of the Nicolaitans is that they were a group of people who proposed full engagement with the pagan Roman culture. Probably influenced by the same Gnostic heresies the New Testament writers are often battling, these false believers had proposed that one could engage the pagan practices in the flesh, while keeping their spirit pure and totally devoted to God.

In a sense, it would be like somebody crossing their fingers behind their back while they offer incense to pagan gods. The explanation goes something like this: “I’m not truly worshipping those gods. God knows what’s in my heart.” And what is so damning for many of us is how much we find that thinking prevalent in our own lives and hearts — if we are willing to look closely.

There are many other details in the letter to Ephesus we simply don’t have clear ideas on from history. It is the wrong church letter to teach the greater principles about the methodology of John in Revelation, so we’ll keep moving in order to see those principles more clearly. However, rest assured that we won’t be leaving the overall discussion about Ephesus, but only the letter in chapter two. Since Ephesus was the place where the letter was penned, we will find its culture and imagery come up over and over again as we study.

Don’t fret. We’ll return to Ephesus in good time.

JUDE: False Teachers

Before we get started in the book of Jude, it might be helpful to go back and review the letter of 2 Peter. The two are incredibly similar in their content and structure, and the student of the two would swear they were together as they penned their respective letters. The context of Jude is similar to that of 2 Peter in that Jude is concerned about the false teachers who are leading God’s people into horribly destructive practices. These pagan practices are leading God’s people to compromise in the areas of idolatry and sexual immorality because they want to advance in the Roman system, hungry after wealth, prestige, power, and influence. One might remember the guild systems we’ve spoken of before, where sexual immorality and idolatry ran rampant, and recall that if one is going to find financial peace and security in the Roman world, it’s going to come at a price. They will have to sell themselves to the idolatry of their culture.

Jude seems to be concerned.

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,

To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

There are apparently teachers within the movement who are using God’s grace and promise of free forgiveness to say it’s acceptable to engage this Roman culture of debauchery. They are saying compromise is the way of success, but Jude says they make a mockery of the way of God. He also claims this problem is nothing new; God’s been speaking to His people about this for some time. Jude’s now going to show that to be the case.

Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

Notice the three groups Jude points out, drawing off of Hebrew Text and midrash. He speaks of the destruction of the idolators who were destroyed at the Golden Calf. He draws off of the midrash of 1 Enoch (a pseudepigraphal work that shows up in ancient midrash all throughout Jewish literature) and speaks of the fallen angels — a reference to the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:1–4, where Enoch says they were punished for their disobedience. For those familiar with how this plays into Greek mythology (an explanation of which would be beyond the scope of this writing), you will realize this is a reference to wanting advancement through disobedient means.

Jude also references Sodom and Gomorrah, a story that is about our call to love and show hospitality to all people. It should be noted that this is the only biblical reference connecting Sodom and Gomorrah to sexual immorality (the handful of references throughout the Old Testament always link the idea to pride, wealth, and failing to take care of the poor; see Ezekiel 16:49 and context). The reason for linking this story to sexual immorality is the cultural context of Jude. His larger point is that they are neglecting their true calling (love and hospitality) and engaging instead in the sexual immorality of their Roman world.

My point is to help us notice how culturally perfect these references are.

In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.

In another reference to the midrash (this time to “the Testament of Moses,” another pseudepigraphal work), Jude talks about these false teachers who slandered true authority for the sake of advancement. One might also note the reference to the “beast nature” or sarx that we talked about in Romans, or the larger conversation we had years ago surrounding Adam and Eve.

Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.

These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

Notice again, the intentionality of the references. There is a reference to Cain, which you might remember is a story about wealth and acquiring (Cain’s name means “to acquire”). There is a reference to Balaam, who — according to the midrash — told Balak to destroy the Israelites by enticing them into sexual immorality (and idolatry) with the Moabite women. There is also a reference to the story of Korah, who rebelled against authority.

The same three themes — over and over again.

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

Here Jude quotes directly from the book of 1 Enoch. Although this raises all sorts of good questions, it’s not the point we are making now. The point is that Jude is quoting from their context, to their context, to make an incredibly relevant point.

But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Jude then reminds his readers to be faithful to the same three things we’ve been discussing the whole time. He calls them to purity and obedience. He calls them to respect the authority God places in their lives. He calls them to remain steadfast to the work of love and hospitality, committed to others, pure in their walk, respecting the teaching of the apostles — not giving in to the temptations and idolatry of their world.

COLOSSIANS: Gnostic Heresy

Paul also pens a letter to the church in Colossae, a small city off the main road that runs through Hierapolis and Laodicea. I’ve always found the conversation that surrounds Colossae moving, because this church is the recipient of one of Paul’s letters, and yet the entire city doesn’t survive but a few decades after the establishment of the church. We have mentioned before the many earthquakes that decimated cities throughout the Roman empire. Many of these cities would be central to Roman infrastructure; unfortunately for the people of Colossae, their city did not make the list. The earthquakes of the AD 60s leveled the city, and it was never rebuilt. To this day, the tel of Colossae — a small hill in the Turkish countryside — sits unexcavated, if not nearly forgotten.

The unexcavated tel of Colossae

From a literary perspective, Colossians mirrors the structure of Ephesians point by point. Most scholars believe they were penned together. While Paul didn’t have the ability to use the “copy and paste” function, he definitely uses the same literary technique in the two letters. Here’s what I mean.

Ephesians is six chapters long and Colossians is a little shorter at four chapters. If you look at the first half of both letters, you will notice that Paul talks theology, or what I like to call ‘orthodoxy’ (removed form it’s cultural usage, the etymology of the term refers to “right belief”). The last half of each letter speaks very deliberately of ‘orthopraxy’ (“right practice or behavior”). If you compare Ephesians 4–6 to Colossians 3–4, you will see an identical pattern. Paul speaks about household behavior as it relates to husbands and wives, parents and children, and masters and servants.

It’s the first half of the letters that differ in content. This is because of the context of the recipients. I say that based on assumption because there is so much we don’t know about Colossae (since it lies unexcavated). What we do know comes from the few finds that were scattered along the fields of the local farmers and other things like currency. However, one of the things that seems apparent is the struggle in Colossae with the dangerous teachings of Gnosticism.

Now, the moment you begin talking about Gnosticism, you have entered into tricky waters, because the word can refer to so much and a student of philosophy and Greek belief has many strong opinions about the topic. I’m no expert, so I’ll quote one of my favorite excerpts on the issue from NT Wright. In Surprised by Hope (p. 88), Wright describes Gnosticism as it relates to biblical theology:

For Plato, the present world of space, time, and matter is a world of illusion, of flickering shadows in a cave, and the most appropriate human task is to get in touch with the true reality, which is beyond space, time, and matter. For Plato, this was the reality of eternal Forms.

To oversimplify once more, we may say that Plato’s picture was based on a rejection of the phenomena of matter and transience. The mess and muddle of the space-time-matter world was an offense to the tidy, clean, philosophical mind, which dwelt upon eternal realities. […]

The Platonic strain entered Christian thinking early on, not least with the phenomenon known as Gnosticism. Since the Gnostics have been making something of a comeback recently, a word about them is appropriate. The Gnostics believed, like Plato, that the material world was an inferior and dark place, evil in its very existence, but that within this world could be found certain people who were meant for something else. […] The Gnostic myth often suggests that the way out of our mess is to return to our primeval state, before the creation of the world. In this view creation itself is the fall, producing matter, which is the real evil. I hope it is clear both how closely this view parodies some aspects of Christianity and how deeply and thoroughly it diverges from it.

Wright will go on to explain how some Bible students will go to great lengths to show how some elements of this thought are preserved in the New Testament, but he will spend the rest of the chapter showing how dangerous this way of thinking is to biblical theology.

Paul seems to agree. His first half of the letter to the Colossians talks very directly about this false idea propped up by Gnosticism. Consider the following passage:

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Notice the tense of the statement. Paul says not that God will deliver us, but that He has. The next verses continue even further into this.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Paul makes sure to use the most inclusive language possible for the incarnation and reconciliation of all things. He speaks of all things and makes sure to clarify that these are from heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. He speaks of how all these things were created through him. He speaks of how all of creation is held together in him. And, for good measure, adds that the complete fullness of God dwelt in the Christ.

Paul will go to play with this idea in the second chapter, at times very tongue-in-cheek.

It certainly behooves the Church today to consider the words of Wright above, that these Gnostic ideas “deeply and thoroughly diverges from” the teachings of the Apostles. The truth is that far too much Gnosticism has crept into Christian theology. The idea that we are spirits trapped in prisons of flesh, walking in a world that is doomed to destruction, just waiting for “some glad morning,” is not the mission God called us to and is not congruent with the teachings of Jesus, let alone Paul and the New Testament.

The Kingdom of God is here — deeply engaged with this world of flesh and blood, soil and spirit.

Bad Trees and Good Fruit

There are some teachings of Jesus that show up repeatedly throughout His ministry. Whenever I see this, I sit up and take notice, as it gives me the impression Jesus taught that particular idea frequently. Anything the Son of God is going to repeat over and over again is going to get my attention. The last teaching I want to touch on with the Sermon on the Mount is a teaching I feel like we don’t deal with enough. It’s a teaching that Jesus covers multiple times and in different contexts. And it’s a teaching we could find very useful in our world today — even though it will upset our common assumptions that help us feel safe.

The teaching goes like this in Matthew 7:

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”

The teaching is so straightforward — I am surprised (but not really) that we don’t like it more. Simply put (at the risk of being redundant): You cannot get bad fruit from a good tree; you cannot pick good fruit from a bad tree. It does not work.

And yet, we can’t seem to get our minds around this idea. Talk to anybody about “false teachers” and you’ll immediately hear about their alignment with Christian orthodoxy and “sound doctrine.” Very rarely will anyone mention the teachings of Jesus. Sound doctrine isn’t the measurement for false teachers, however; fruit is.

Jesus said so.

I don’t care how sound the doctrine is, if you have a teacher who produces (in their teaching and lifestyle) anger, division, fits of rage, debauchery, malice — you have a bad tree. You cannot get bad fruit from a good tree. Yet time and time again, our Christian subculture justifies the bad fruit with all kinds of trite explanations. Of course, I’m not talking about the occasional mistake or misstep; I’m talking about fruit — the fruit of their life.

And Jesus makes the truth go the other direction. If you have a teacher who produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, you have yourself a good tree. You cannot pick figs from thistles, nor grapes from thornbushes.

This is the part that messes us up. I have repeatedly heard Bible teachers teach that when non-Christians produce peace in their lives, it’s not really peace. Jesus blatantly disagrees. When you see peace, it comes from God. Period. Because God is at work in all people. To quote Rob Bell in Velvet Elvis, this means that whenever you find truth and good fruit, you are free to call it out for what it is, because all truth is God’s truth.

This helps us when we have those people in our lives who produce the fruit of Godliness, but don’t have their “labels” right. When you find truth, celebrate it. It’s God’s truth. And God doesn’t need your labels. Besides, trying to figure out everybody’s label is exhausting; trying to figure out what box everything belongs in will drive a person insane. And we love our boxes. We love them because we believe that it will make everything clean and easy and tidy. But life isn’t clean and tidy and labels don’t stick to people very well.

Jesus comes with some good news: If we use his measuring stick for discerning light and darkness, the discernment process gets a lot easier.

“Do people pick figs from thistles?”

Of course not. So why do we think it’s different with people? When you see God at work, then God is at work. Why would we be surprised by this? Isn’t God always at work? We spend far too much time trying to figure out the appropriate designation for things, rather than discerning light from darkness. In every encounter, in every situation, in every church event, in every teaching — what is the fruit here? Goodness? Love? Self-control? Anger? Division?

“By their fruit you will know them.”

It will blow up our world of labels and assumptions. It will disrupt our false sense of tidiness. And it will surprise us to find where God shows up (and even where He isn’t at times).

But God’s been showing up in weird places since the creation of the world. It almost seems like a hobby of His.