The 4th & 5th installment in my series on the Book of Revelations.
As in said in my first post on this review, I expect you to tear me apart on it but that is fine by me. My instructor has already tore it apart for spelling, grammatical, and sentence structure errors. However, he could not refute my facts and I was able to get a score of 80 from a possible 100 on it.
My instructor at college was an atheist and did not like me doing a book report on Revelations, but he did accept it for my grading.
He still docked me 20 points because he said my review was incomplete. He did not agree with me that Revelations was one of 66 book, and the Bible was a volume of books. He is still waiting for the rest of my book review.
I do believe someone here will benefit from the knowledge I share.
I will enjoy reading your comments, but I will not respond to any of them., as I am too busy working to comment on every remark.
This is not a sermon it is just giving you a little start in your quest to understand some things about the Scriptures, in a historical and spiritual context.
We all have our own demons we need to deal with, and I will try my best to help you come to grips with the thorn in your side.
Should you desire a personal chat with me, then PM me. I promise to help you with any and all issues you have, and I also promise to keep what you tell me in confidence.
Pming gives me more time to respond at my leisure without interrupting the work I need to get done.
I am sure you all understand, and I appreciate the personal responses I have received so far. You have all been more than kind to me.
I pray to the Lord Most High that someone opens up to me and I can truly help. Lord my Father in the name of Jesus Your Son, I pray for guidance as I step into this hornet’s nest and attempt to do Your will. Amen
Here is the fourth & fifth installment on the book “THE REVELATION of JESUS CHRIST”
Ephesus
The Loveless Church
The first church Christ mentions is Ephesus, which means darling. With over 300,000 people, Ephesus was the largest city and the Capital of the Asian Province. Founded by Paul around 50 AD it was also the location of the third ecumenical council in 431 AD. With an important seaport it boasted of being the home of the Greek goddess Diana, known to the Romans as Artemis the moon goddess, and to the Asiatic as the nursing mother of gods, men, animals, and plants. The Temple of Artemis was one of the seven ancient wonders of the world whose goddess was commercialized as a trinket god supplying great wealth to the local silversmiths. Paul’s preaching interfered with the commerce of this idol and aroused violent opposition from the merchants (Acts 19:23-25).
At the time when Paul founded this church hardly anyone there knew of the true Gods temple. Now, two thousand years later, no one knows of Artemis. This ancient wonder was burnt and rebuilt and finally destroyed, and the world is better for that destruction. Meanwhile the true temple is majestically nearing completion with new members being added to the Lambs Book of life every day. Christ recognized the Ephesians tireless perseverance in bearing up under trial for His name’s sake, and how they opposed false apostles like the heretical Nicolaitians; (Rev 2:2-3; Rev 2:5). However, He reproved them for having left their first love, (Rev 2:4) and admonished them to remember where they had fallen from, (Rev 2:5). They are warned to repent and return to their first works or else He will come and remove the candlestick out of its place, (Rev 2:5). As a reward to all those who overcome and persevere, the fruit from the tree of life is offered. Those who allegorize the churches to represent the different ages match Ephesus with the early church age roughly from 33 AD to 70 AD, marking the fall of Jerusalem.
Smyrna
The Persecuted Church
Situated at the head of the Gulf of Izmir where the Hermus River flows into the Agean Sea, Smyrna is one of only two churches receiving a message that remains to this day. This city had worshiped Rome as a spiritual power since about 195 BC, explaining Smyrna’s historical pride in its Caesar cult. A fact that was not overlooked by Rome, as the Emperor Tiberius granted them the right to build a temple to him in 26 AD. Resembling a diadem, many beautiful and majestic public buildings formed a circle around the summit of Mt. Pagos that the locals called the “Crown of Porticoes”. Thus we have the reference (Rev 2:10) to a crown of life for those who are faithful unto death. Famous for science and medicine Smyrna was a wealthy city, but the church itself suffered in abject poverty because its professing members would not renounce Christ in order to get work from the local trade unions.
Smyrna means myrrh, and like that spice, the Smyrna church was to be crushed to release its fragrance. A reference to how its Saints were to be persecuted, thus becoming a sweet aroma to the Lord (Rev 2:10). Recognizing their spiritual commitment to Him, Christ encouraged them to persevere in the face of trials and tribulations that will last for ten days. As a result of persecutions, many Saints from this church would be martyred for their faith. The most famous of these would be Polycarp, a disciple of John who was martyred by fire in 55 AD. Those who lean toward a literal interpretation often consider the ten days as representing ten waves of persecutions the Christians suffered in the first three centuries until Constantine became Emperor and legalized Christianity. Between five and seven million Christians were martyred in this period. Like all Christians throughout history, Christ tells the Smyrna Christians to hold fast to their faith and stay true to Him and the second death will have no effect on them. To the allegorist, Smyrna represents the church age from the time the Temple was destroyed by Titus until Constantine became Emperor, 70 AD to 313 AD.
As in said in my first post on this review, I expect you to tear me apart on it but that is fine by me. My instructor has already tore it apart for spelling, grammatical, and sentence structure errors. However, he could not refute my facts and I was able to get a score of 80 from a possible 100 on it.
My instructor at college was an atheist and did not like me doing a book report on Revelations, but he did accept it for my grading.
He still docked me 20 points because he said my review was incomplete. He did not agree with me that Revelations was one of 66 book, and the Bible was a volume of books. He is still waiting for the rest of my book review.
I do believe someone here will benefit from the knowledge I share.
I will enjoy reading your comments, but I will not respond to any of them., as I am too busy working to comment on every remark.
This is not a sermon it is just giving you a little start in your quest to understand some things about the Scriptures, in a historical and spiritual context.
We all have our own demons we need to deal with, and I will try my best to help you come to grips with the thorn in your side.
Should you desire a personal chat with me, then PM me. I promise to help you with any and all issues you have, and I also promise to keep what you tell me in confidence.
Pming gives me more time to respond at my leisure without interrupting the work I need to get done.
I am sure you all understand, and I appreciate the personal responses I have received so far. You have all been more than kind to me.
I pray to the Lord Most High that someone opens up to me and I can truly help. Lord my Father in the name of Jesus Your Son, I pray for guidance as I step into this hornet’s nest and attempt to do Your will. Amen
Here is the fourth & fifth installment on the book “THE REVELATION of JESUS CHRIST”
Ephesus
The Loveless Church
The first church Christ mentions is Ephesus, which means darling. With over 300,000 people, Ephesus was the largest city and the Capital of the Asian Province. Founded by Paul around 50 AD it was also the location of the third ecumenical council in 431 AD. With an important seaport it boasted of being the home of the Greek goddess Diana, known to the Romans as Artemis the moon goddess, and to the Asiatic as the nursing mother of gods, men, animals, and plants. The Temple of Artemis was one of the seven ancient wonders of the world whose goddess was commercialized as a trinket god supplying great wealth to the local silversmiths. Paul’s preaching interfered with the commerce of this idol and aroused violent opposition from the merchants (Acts 19:23-25).
At the time when Paul founded this church hardly anyone there knew of the true Gods temple. Now, two thousand years later, no one knows of Artemis. This ancient wonder was burnt and rebuilt and finally destroyed, and the world is better for that destruction. Meanwhile the true temple is majestically nearing completion with new members being added to the Lambs Book of life every day. Christ recognized the Ephesians tireless perseverance in bearing up under trial for His name’s sake, and how they opposed false apostles like the heretical Nicolaitians; (Rev 2:2-3; Rev 2:5). However, He reproved them for having left their first love, (Rev 2:4) and admonished them to remember where they had fallen from, (Rev 2:5). They are warned to repent and return to their first works or else He will come and remove the candlestick out of its place, (Rev 2:5). As a reward to all those who overcome and persevere, the fruit from the tree of life is offered. Those who allegorize the churches to represent the different ages match Ephesus with the early church age roughly from 33 AD to 70 AD, marking the fall of Jerusalem.
Smyrna
The Persecuted Church
Situated at the head of the Gulf of Izmir where the Hermus River flows into the Agean Sea, Smyrna is one of only two churches receiving a message that remains to this day. This city had worshiped Rome as a spiritual power since about 195 BC, explaining Smyrna’s historical pride in its Caesar cult. A fact that was not overlooked by Rome, as the Emperor Tiberius granted them the right to build a temple to him in 26 AD. Resembling a diadem, many beautiful and majestic public buildings formed a circle around the summit of Mt. Pagos that the locals called the “Crown of Porticoes”. Thus we have the reference (Rev 2:10) to a crown of life for those who are faithful unto death. Famous for science and medicine Smyrna was a wealthy city, but the church itself suffered in abject poverty because its professing members would not renounce Christ in order to get work from the local trade unions.
Smyrna means myrrh, and like that spice, the Smyrna church was to be crushed to release its fragrance. A reference to how its Saints were to be persecuted, thus becoming a sweet aroma to the Lord (Rev 2:10). Recognizing their spiritual commitment to Him, Christ encouraged them to persevere in the face of trials and tribulations that will last for ten days. As a result of persecutions, many Saints from this church would be martyred for their faith. The most famous of these would be Polycarp, a disciple of John who was martyred by fire in 55 AD. Those who lean toward a literal interpretation often consider the ten days as representing ten waves of persecutions the Christians suffered in the first three centuries until Constantine became Emperor and legalized Christianity. Between five and seven million Christians were martyred in this period. Like all Christians throughout history, Christ tells the Smyrna Christians to hold fast to their faith and stay true to Him and the second death will have no effect on them. To the allegorist, Smyrna represents the church age from the time the Temple was destroyed by Titus until Constantine became Emperor, 70 AD to 313 AD.
