Fr. Abraam Sleman's Blog

  The Letter to Ephesus (Rev 2:1–7) The meaning of the word “Ephesus” is “desirable” or “darling,” it is the word that a Greek bridegroom would use for the girl he desired to marry. [1] The NIV uses the word “darling,” while the NKJV uses “fair” as an adjective to describe the bride in the Song of Songs. Every believer is desirable to the Father, in Christ, for we are His bride. Ironically, the angel that is called “desirable” or “darling” has left his “first love” (Rev. 2:4). The contents of this first letter form the pattern for the other six. It contains five main features: the correspondent, the commendation, the concern, the command, and the counsel. The Correspondent 2:1 “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: Quoting from the vision of “the One like the Son of Man” (Rev. 1:13,16), the Lord Jesus Christ described Himself to the angel in Ephesus. He ...

Intro to the Seven Letters (Rev 2–3) The Lord Jesus Christ commanded John twice to write letters to the seven churches in Asia: “to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and Laodicea” (Rev. 1:11,19). The Addressed Churches The seven churches addressed were existing churches during the time of St. John. Still, they also represent the universal church, every place where God’s people gather for worship, fellowship, and outreach. The Lord Jesus Christ specifically chose the seven churches because they were in the key cities of the seven postal districts of the Roman empire in Asia, currently modern Turkey. They were thus the central points for disseminating information. The seven cities appear in the order that a messenger traveling on the great circular road that linked the churches would visit them. Thus, after landing at Miletus, the messenger(s) bearing the Book of Revelation would have traveled north to Ephesus (the city nearest to Miletus), then Sm...

The One like the Son of Man ( Rev 1:9–20) 1:9 I, St. John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. John identified himself humbly by saying he is the “companion in the tribulation” (Rev. 1:9). Having been exiled with other criminals, he shared in the severe persecution with the believers. He also identified himself as a partner in “the patience of the Lord Jesus Christ” in the suffering and persecution for “the word of God and the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:9). John “bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw” (Rev. 1:2). He was a witness to the things that Jesus did, and he wrote them down in his gospel, in his three Epistles, and the Book of Revelation (John 21:24; Rev. 19:13). The Circumstances of the Vision John was in exile on “Patmos” when he received...