A city in the story of God

Ephesus

Ephesus was a wealthy port city dominated by the temple of Artemis, where Paul spent about three years and where the gospel shook an entire idol trade. It received one of Paul's richest letters and was the first of the seven churches addressed in Revelation.

“And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,”Acts 19:1

The city in Scripture

The city in Scripture. Ephesus was a major city of the Roman province of Asia, in the region of modern western Turkey, famous for the great temple of Artemis, called Diana in the King James Bible, one of the wonders of the ancient world. Paul first visited briefly, then returned for an extended ministry, reasoning daily in a school so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus (Acts 19:9-10). God worked special miracles there, many who practiced magic burned their books publicly (Acts 19:11-19), and so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed (Acts 19:20). The gospel's success threatened the silversmiths who made shrines for Diana, and Demetrius stirred a riot, the crowd crying for about two hours, Great is Diana of the Ephesians (Acts 19:23-34). Paul later met the Ephesian elders at Miletus and warned them with tears (Acts 20:17-38). The letter to the Ephesians unfolds the church as the body of Christ and God's household. In Revelation, the risen Christ commends Ephesus for its labor and doctrine but says, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love (Rev 2:1-4).

What it came to mean

What it came to mean. Ephesus came to mean the collision of the gospel with entrenched idolatry and commerce, and the power of Christ over both. The riot shows what happens when the good news touches livelihoods built on false worship, for the trade in Diana's shrines depended on the very superstition the gospel dissolved. Ephesus stands for a place where faith cost something and changed a city visibly, as sorcerers burned their expensive scrolls and the temple's grip loosened. It also came to mean, through Revelation, the danger of losing first love. A church can be busy, orthodox, and patient, and still drift from the warmth of devotion to Christ that first moved it. So Ephesus holds a double lesson: the triumph of the gospel over idols, and the quieter peril of a heart that keeps working while the love grows cold. The call to Ephesus, remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works (Rev 2:5), speaks to every believer and church that has kept the form while losing the fire.