Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
Revelation 2 – “Left Your First Love” or “Fear of False Doctrine over Love for Lost Souls”
“Left your first love.” That is more common way of translating this phrase. Others use a less enigmatic phrasing, “left the love you had at first.” “First love” can be a very specific type of love; while “the love you had at first” can be describing that the Ephesians had no love at all any more.
If the late date is correct, then possibly a good parallel is Judg.2:7,10-11 where the third generation was not faithful like the first two. The 3-generation need for continual teaching is also found in Psalm 78. This is still needed.
James Miller gives results of “first love” (J. Miller): 1) A new and wonderful experience; 2) Entered into with a whole heart; 3) Has the purest of motives; 4) Gives unselfishly of itself; 5) Lasts if it is nourished.
Here are some ways the Ephesians previously showed love: 1) Acts 19:19-20 – burning of magical books; 2) Acts 20:36-38 – love shown for Paul in parting; 3) Eph.1:15 – love for all the saints.
A good parallel could be made to the love of a newly married couple who go out of their way to help; not because of duty, but because of love. The Ephesians could have been doing many good works out of duty but without the love that should motivate them – compare v.2 with 1 Thess.1:3.
Tradition holds that John, living in Ephesus and too feeble to walk, would be carried into the assembly saying, “Little children, love one another.” That is such a simple thing to say; but powerful if practiced. Here is a list of interesting quotes:
• “(John) recognizes the appalling danger of a religion prompted more by hate than love” (Caird).
• “Their religion had become a lifeless, mechanical, ritualistic thing, to be done out of a sense of cold duty rather than of glorious privilege, motivated more by fear than love” (J. Tolle).
• “Where love for God wanes, love for man diminishes, and where love for man is soured, love for God degenerates into religious formalism” (G.R. Beasley-Murray).
• The church in Ephesus was “doing” (outward), but not “being” (inward).
A church needs more than “book, chapter and verse”; it needs the love that searches for the “book, chapter and verse” and the love which fulfills the “book, chapter and verse.” It needs a love for people because mercy triumphs over judgment. What the “first love” exactly is, no one knows. It is not even known if it refers to one particular type. A sound opinion is it refers to the zeal found in new converts to convert others. Regardless of what it was, remember this: Any congregation built solely on what it is against – and being against what God is against is godly – will die because it will never be reaching out to others since it is built on fear of false doctrine and not a love for lost souls.
Comments