Letter to the Church of Ephesus
Warnings to the Seven Churches and the Rewards for the Victorious
1. The Letter to the Church of Ephesus (Revelation 2:1–7)
“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.”
—Revelation 2:1–7
Christ’s Presentation to the Church of Ephesus
Jesus presents Himself to the church in Ephesus as the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and who walks among the seven golden lampstands. He appears as the High Priest of all high priests, the Great Cohen HaGadol, tending to His lampstands—His churches—by refilling their oil and trimming their wicks with the golden scissors of His Word.
Christ reveals Himself as the supreme leader of the Church:
the Messenger above all messengers,
the Lord of lords,
the One who walks among the lampstands,
the One who holds all authority to encourage, correct, and reward His people.
Because of this, He must be obeyed above all, and loved above all. He is to be first in everything.
The Rebuke: Losing the First Love
Jesus rebukes the Ephesian church because they had forsaken their first love. This means they had ceased obeying the greatest command:
Matthew 22:37
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
Biblically, loving God is proven by obedience:
John 14:21
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.”
Thus, the church in Ephesus had lost its first love because it had stopped obeying Him. This resulted in a spiritual falling away—similar to the fall of Adam and Eve, who disobeyed God and were cast out of Eden and barred from eating from the tree of life.
Likewise, because of disobedience, the Ephesian church lost access to the “tree of life” and the lampstand—their spiritual illumination—was removed from its place.
Eden, the Holy Place, and the Lampstand
In this passage, the holy place and the lampstand are symbolically parallel to Eden and the tree of life:
Eden is where humanity enjoyed perfect communion with God.
The holy place is where priests minister before God in fellowship.
The tree of life represents the Spirit who gives eternal life.
The lampstand filled with oil represents the Spirit’s continual presence and light.
Just as disobedience expelled Adam and Eve from Eden, the church of Ephesus lost its spiritual communion and authority because it ceased obeying the first command.
Disobedience Leads to a Loss of Authority
Disobedience breaks communion with God and causes believers to fall from a high spiritual place to a low carnal place. A loss of intimacy leads to a loss of authority.
When we disobey, we relinquish territory in our hearts and give Satan influence where Christ should reign.
If we want to understand why the global Church today lacks the power and authority seen in the early Church, we must return to its Genesis—the beginning. The root issue is the same: disobedience to the first command.
Authority has been lost because love has grown cold, and love grows cold when obedience fades.
Returning to Spiritual Authority
To be a victorious Church, we must repent and return to our first love. We must do again the things we did at first. When the Church globally returns to obedience and love for Christ above all, Satan will be cast down from the heavenly realms because he will lose his place of influence.
Then the Bride of Christ will be seated with Him in heavenly places, exercising authority over principalities and powers as promised.
Revelation 12:7–11 describes the moment when Satan is cast out of the heavens and the saints overcome him by:
The blood of the Lamb
The word of their testimony
Not loving their lives even unto death
This victory belongs to the obedient, purified Church.
Restoration, Victory, and the Return of Christ
The warning to Ephesus is foundational. It was the first pitfall of the early Church, and it remains the root issue today. If we return to loving God above all things, everything else will fall into order:
Spiritual authority will be restored.
Victory over sin and Satan will follow.
Communion with God will be renewed.
The Church will once again eat from the tree of life—living in the fullness of the Spirit.
When the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, Israel will be provoked to jealousy. Salvation will come to Zion, and Christ will return to remove ungodliness from Jacob and establish His millennial kingdom.
Romans 11:25–27
“Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in; and in this way all Israel will be saved… ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.’”