Pre Chapter 2:1-7

Before we dive in, we need to know that the first letter was to Ephesus.  So, what kind of place was the letter addressed to?

 Ephesus was a providence of Asia and not the capitol but, was Asia's greatest city.  It was considered "The Light of Asia".   One large reason making it great was its location.  It was on the coast making it the greatest harbor in Asia.  The majority of the roads converged there, from major cities such as Mesopotamia, Cayster Valley, Euphrates, Colossae and Laodicea.  The road from Galatia actually reached the sea through Ephesus.  This made the city a huge market place.  All major travel and Roman elite came by way of Ephesus.  Ignatius called Ephesus the Highway of the Martyrs.   The position of Ehpesus alone made it the greatest and wealthiest city in Asia.

If a city gave "service" the the Empire, it was considered a "free city".  This allowed Ephesus to be self-governing, and was not forced to have Roman troops there.  The Roman governors toured most of the provinces and tried many important cases at Ephesus during their tours.   In addition, there was sports!  Yearly games in Asia were held in Ephesus drawing people from all around.

The Temple of Artemis was there and people worshiped Diana of the Ephesians there.  This temple was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  Don't forget the temples made for the godhead of the Roman Emperors such as Nero, Claudius, and Hadrian were located there as well.  Of Ephesus religion, paganism was by far the strongest.  Ephesus produced the Ephesian Letters, charms and amulets used for illness, to bring pregnancy, to ensure prosperity and similar things.  These were big selling items, and people came from all over to buy them.

So, I would guess  you could imagine that with the huge city population, and an ecclectic group of persons traveling into the city for, worshiping , celebrating, visiting, traveling, selling and buying comes immorality, crime and deviance.  The Temple had a special place of "right of asylum", which meant that any criminal was safe there...if only they could reach the area.  The temple also housed many priestesses who were sacred prostitutes!  I would venture to say that Ephesus could be a very evil crime filled immoral place.

This was a perfect place for Christianity to have some wonderful "wins"!  Paul stayed in Ephesus for an extended time, Timothy was call its first bishop (1 Tim 1:3), Aquila, Priscilla and Apollos was there.  John was  familiar with Ephesus and Ephesus familiar with John.  It was the place to find the lost and to spread the gospel.

What of Ephesus today?  Nothing!  It is all in ruins.  But it was a great place to prove the power of Christ and Christianity.

I will leave it there for tonight.  Next, we start with the letter.

Blessings to all,
Calabash