Charles Ellicott Commentary Revelation 2

II.

To the angel of the church of (literally, in) Ephesus.—On the word “angel,” see Note on Revelation 1:20, and Excursus A.

Adopting the view that the angel represents the chief pastor or bishop of the Church, it would be interesting to know who was its presiding minister at this time; but this must be determined by another question, namely, the date of the Apocalypse.

Accepting the earlier date—i.e., the reign of Nero, or (with Gebhardt) of Galba—the angel is no other than Timothy.

Some striking coincidences favour this view. Labour, work, endurance, are what St. Paul acknowledges in Timothy, and which he exhorts him to cultivate more and more (2 Timothy 2:6; 2 Timothy 2:15; 2 Timothy 4:5). Again, against false teachers he warns him (1 Timothy 1:7).

Further, there is “a latent tone of anxiety” in the Epistles to Timothy. The nature with which he had to deal was emotional even to tears, ascetic, devout; but there was in it a tendency to lack energy and sustained enthusiasm. “He urges him to stand up, to rekindle the grace of God, just as here there is a hint of a first love left.” (See Prof. Plumptre, Ep. to Seven Churches.)

Ephesus.—The chief city of Ionia, and at this time the most important city in Asia.

It possessed advantages commercial, geographical, and ecclesiastical, and, in addition, great Christian privileges. It was a wealthy focus for trade; it reached out one hand to the East, while with the other it grasped Greek culture. Its magnificent temple was one of the seven wonders of the world; the skill of Praxiteles had contributed to its beauty. The fragments of its richly-sculptured columns, now to be seen in the British Museum, will convey some idea of its gigantic proportions and splendid decorations.

But the religious tone induced by its pagan worship was of the lowest order. Degrading superstitions were upheld by a mercenary priesthood; the commercial instinct and the fanatical spirit had joined hands in support of a soul-enslaving creed, and in defense of a sanctuary which none but those devoid of taste could contemplate without admiration.

But its spiritual opportunities were proportioned to its needs. It had been the scene of three years’ labour of St. Paul (Acts 20:31), of the captivating and convincing eloquence of Apollos (Acts 18:24), of the persistent labours of Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:26); Tychicus, the beloved and faithful, had been minister there (Ephesians 6:21); Timothy was its chief pastor.

These things He says. . . .—The titles by which Christ is described at the opening of the seven epistles are mainly drawn from Revelation 1:0. The vision is found to supply features appropriate to the needs of the several churches. The message comes in this epistle from One who “holdeth” firmly in His grasp (a stronger word than “He that hath” of Revelation 1:16), and walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.

The Church at Ephesus needed to remember their Lord as such. The first love had gone out of their religion; there was a tendency to fall into a mechanical faith, strong against heresy, but tolerant of conventionalism. Their temptations did not arise from the prevalence of error, or the bitterness of persecution, but from a disposition to fall backward and again do the dead works of the past.

There was not so much need to take heed to their doctrine, but there was great need that they should take heed to themselves (1 Timothy 4:16). But when there is danger because earnestness in the holy cause is dying out, and the very decorum of religion has become a snare, what more fitting than to be reminded of Him whose hand can strengthen and uphold them, and who walks among the candlesticks, to supply them with the oil of fresh love? (Matthew 25:3–4.)

I know thy works.—This phrase is probably common to all the epistles. See, however, Note on Revelation 2:9. It expresses the way in which all actions are naked and open before the eyes—those flame-like eyes (Revelation 1:14)—of Him with whom we have to do (Psalms 11:4–5; Psalms 139:11–12; Hebrews 4:13). The veneer of a formal faith might impose on the world, but it would not escape His scrutiny (Acts 1:24). He knows, too, and lovingly accepts, the unmarked and unrequited acts of true love (Matthew 10:42; Matthew 26:13), and appreciates, amid all its failures, genuine loyalty to Him (John 21:17).

And thy labour (or, toil), and thy patience.—These are the same things St. Paul had pressed on Timothy (2 Timothy 2:25–26). The first word signifies labour carried on to weariness. The “patience” is more than passive endurance; it is, as Archbishop Trench says, a beautiful word, expressing the brave and persistent endurance of the Christian. But though thus possessed of endurance,

He commends them that they could not endure evil men. In one sense, the lingering of this grace among them is the green leaf indicating better things; they have not lost the power of hating evil . No man loves God truly who cannot hate evil (Psalms 101:3).

And thou hast tried (literally, did try) them . . . and hast found them liars.—St. Paul had warned the Ephesian elders of the appearance of false teachers (Acts 20:28–31). Zeal for pure doctrine characterised the Ephesian Church. It is commended by Ignatius in his epistle (ad Ephesians 6:0).

The false apostles spoken of here are not, I think, to be identified with the Nicolaitanes of Revelation 2:6; that verse is introduced as a further ground of commendation, mitigating the censure of Revelation 2:4-5. The claims to be considered apostles, which the Ephesian Church had disposed of, afford additional evidence of the early date of the Apocalypse. Such a claim could hardly have been put forward at a later date. But in earlier periods, such troublers of the Church were only too common (2 Corinthians 2:17; 2 Corinthians 11:14–15; Galatians 1:7; Galatians 2:4; Philippians 3:2–3).

And hast borne.—This verse needs some change to bring it into harmony with the best manuscripts. It should stand, And have (or, had) patience, and did bear for My name’s sake, and did not weary. This last word echoes the word (kopos) translated labour or toil in Revelation 2:2.

They had toiled on to the point of great weariness without wearying of their toil (Galatians 6:9), just as they could not bear the evil and yet had borne reproaches for Christ’s sake. “There is toil, and patience, and abhorrence of evil, and discernment, and again patience, and endurance, and unwearied exertion. What can be lacking here?” (Dr. Vaughan.)

Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee.—Better, I have against you that you did let go. This is the fault, and it is no trifle which is blamed, as the word “somewhat” (which is not to be found in the original) might be taken to imply; for the decay of love is the decay of that without which all other graces are as nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1–3), since “all religion is summed up in one word, Love. God asks this; we cannot give more; He cannot take less” (Norman Macleod, Life, i., p. 324).

Great as the fault is, it is the fault which Love alone would have detected. “Can anyone more touchingly rebuke than by commencing, ‘You no longer love me enough?’” It is the regretful cry of the heavenly Bridegroom, recalling the early days of His Bride’s love, the kindness of her youth, the love of her espousals (Jeremiah 2:2. Compare to Hosea 2:15). It is impossible not to see some reference in this to the language of St. Paul (which must have been familiar to the Ephesian Christians) in Ephesians 5:23-33, where human love is made a type of the divine.

Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, ... and do the first works.—It is argued that we have here evidence that the later, or Domitian, date of the Apocalypse is the true one, since it describes a fall in spiritual life that might have occurred in thirty years, but would hardly have taken place in the few years—ten at the utmost—that elapsed between the visit of St. Paul (Acts 20:29–30) and the reign of Nero.

But greater changes than a decay of this kind have passed over communities in equally short periods. We have seen nations pass from imperialism to republicanism, from the fever-heat of radicalism to the lethargy of conservatism, in a shorter space of time. Has not the past decade shown marvelously rapid movements in the Church of our own land! The change, moreover, in the Ephesian Church was not so great as the advocates of the later apocalyptic date would describe.

There is at present little outward sign of decay; they have resisted evil and false teachers; they have shown toil and endurance; but the great Searcher of hearts detects the almost imperceptible symptoms of an incipient decay. He alone can tell the moment when love of truth is passing into a noisy, Pharisaic zealotism; when men are “settling down into a lower state of spiritual life than that which they once aimed at and once knew.” Such a backsliding is “gentle, unmarked, unnoticed in its course.”

Further, it must not be forgotten that the Apostle did express his presentiments of coming danger, and specially warned the elders (Acts 20:28) to take heed to themselves; and in his Epistle (Ephesians 6:24) he gives in his closing words the covert caution that their love to Christ should be an incorruptible, unchanging love: Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption (“sincerity,” English version).

The advice now given is, Repent, and do the first works. The advice is threefold: remember, repent, reform. Remember the love of the past peaceful hours. “How sweet their memory still!” “There are ever goads,” says Archbishop Trench, “in the memory of a better and a nobler past, goading him who has taken up with meaner things and lower, and urging him to make what he has lost once more his own.” (Compare to Luke 15:17 and Hebrews 10:32.) So Ulysses urges his crew to further exertions.

“Call to mind from where you sprung:
You were not formed to live as brutes,
But virtue to pursue and knowledge high.”

—Inf. xxvi.

Remember, but also repent, and repent in true practical fashion; for Love will recognize no repentance but that which is confirmed in the doing of the first works. It must be a repentance by which we forsake sin. “Christ does not say, ‘Feel your first feelings,’ but, ‘Do the first works.’” “An ounce of reality,” says a modern novelist, “is worth a pound of romance.”

Or else I will come ...—Better, Or else I am coming to you (or, for you, in a way that concerns) you, and (omit “quickly,” which is missing from the oldest manuscripts) will remove your candlestick from its place, unless you have repented—i.e., unless the change has come before the day of visitation. The saying, now they are hid from thine eyes, is not yet spoken for Ephesus.