In this study of Revelation I start Chapter 2, the letter to Ephesus. The city of Ephesus was the capital of the Roman province of Asia, and the greatest city. The temple of the demon god Artemis was located there and it was home to many magic arts and mystery cults. As a great center it was sought by the Apostle Paul, who founded the church and labored there more than three years (Ac 18:19 19:1), and afterwards addressed to it the Epistle to the Ephesians. Aquila and Priscilla and Apollos also labored there. At a later period Paul placed Timothy there and addressed two epistles to him. All early church tradition declares that John, from about A.D. 70, made this city his home until his death.
1 Seven stars = those angels of Rev. 1:16
Seven golden candlesticks = those 7 churches of Chapter 1:20
3 Precept 1: Deeds Prove Our Faith. We are saved by grace through faith, not by works (Eph. 2:8-9, Rom. 11:6) But as Christians we must have the fruits that come from faith in the grace of Yahshua Messiah (Gal. 5:22-25) and deeds (James 2:26). (1) Yahweh plants the tree. (2) The branches either bear fruit or are pruned.
Precept 2: Work Hard. Christians work hard spreading the gospel.
Precept 3: Persevere. Yahweh will help us persevere as we continue to trust and obey.
Precept 4: Discern. We are commanded as Christians to test the spirits. We test with the Word and its doctrines, by long term lasting fruit, and by whether or not there is Christ-centered teaching and lifestyle.
We must discern false teachers and false prophets. They are distinguised by laying error alongside truth.
"Error is never taught in an obvious way because it might be exposed and found out. But it is always dressed up in pretty clothes so that it looks good and attractive on the outside so that it can seem truer than truth itself. -Irenaeus
Mt. 7:15 Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
We are to rebuke them.
Then we are to mark and avoid them.
Have no fellowship with their works but expose them.
Eph. 5:11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
Precept 5: Don’t Grow Weary. We must run and not grow weary and Yahweh will help us.
My intention is to take this study to a deep level. Deeper than most of you are used to! I am asking no one to agree with me; however I do ask that you check every detail that I present out for yourself.
Don’t end up like those in Hosea 4:6 ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God (Elohim), I will also forget thy children.’
But, be like those in 2Timothy 2:15 ‘Study to shew thyself approved unto God (Yahweh), a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.’
Join me as we go Chapter by Chapter, Verse by Verse, Unraveling the Words of Yahweh!
Have any questions? Feel free to email me at utwoy@netzero.net
