SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
1/18/2015 8:54 AM
My Worship Time Focus: More from the church at Ephesus
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
2:1b
Message of the
verse: “Ephesus.” Today in this Spiritual Diary we will look at
the city of Ephesus during the time when this letter was written as this will
help us to better understand the challenges that the church had during this
time period.
Ephesus was not the capital of Asia Minor but it was the
most important city in Asia Minor.
Actually Pergamum was the capital of the providence. John MacArthur states in his commentary on
Revelation that the population was between 250,000 and 500,000 people when this
letter was written to the church at Ephesus.
There is not a city there today, but ruins of the old city can be
found. Turkey is the name of the country
that all of the churches and cities are found today. Even though Ephesus was a part of the Roman
world at that time it was a self governing city as there were no Roman troops
stationed there.
During the time when this letter was written to them the
city did have a harbor which was good for trade as the boats could get to it up
the Cayster River some three miles.
However even during John’s day the river was beginning to have a large
amount of silt in it which would eventually prevent boats from coming up the
river, thus hindering the trade there.
Today the remains of Ephesus are now six miles from the harbor. Not only was Ephesus able to have sea travel,
but four of the major Roman roads went through there too, which was also good
for the trade and business of the city.
MacArthur writes “But Ephesus was most famous as the
center of the worship of the goddess Artemis (Diana)—a point of great civic
pride (Acts 19:27, 35). The temple of
Artemis was Ephesus’s most prominent landmark.
Because its inner shrine was supposedly inviolable, the temple served as
one of the most important banks in the Mediterranean world. The temple and its environs also provided
sanctuary for criminals. Further, the
sale of items used in worship of Artemis provided an important source of income
for the city (cf. Acts 19:24). Every
spring a month-long festival was held in honor of the goddess, complete with
athletic, dramatic, and musical events.
Paul may have anticipated this annual event as a unique evangelistic
opportunity and have been waiting for it when he wrote the Corinthians that he
intended to remain in Ephesus (1Cor. 16:8).”
As we look at this brief description of the ancient city
of Ephesus we can be sure that the church was placed in a very difficult place
for them to be faithful to the Lord. As
we look at places around the world today we can see that the effects of the
communications through modern technology cause many problems with the
church. This modern technology can also
benefit the cause of Christ too. I can’t
help but think of when the world only had one language and we can see what
happened to it when we read in Genesis about building the tower of Babel. I have mentioned that this was a tower called
a ziggurat used to chart the stars and the beginnings of Astrology. Our world today is very close if not
surpassed what people can do if they speak only one language because of modern
technology. God scrambled the languages in order to stop the progress of
mankind when the tower of Babel was being built; the question is what will He
do to stop the progress of evil in our world today. Perhaps the prophecies of this book we are
studying will begin to come true very soon.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Even though I,
like those in the Ephesian church were obeying the Lord in many ways, I can
learn from their good ways of serving the Lord and also learn from what they
were lacking.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Learning to love the Lord with all of my
mind, soul, and strength is my goal this year and I want to do it better. I also want to live my life with the
assurance of knowing that the Lord loves me.
Memory verses for the
week: 2 Peter 1:5-9.
5 Now for this very
reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and
in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6
and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control,
perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness,
and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and
are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind
or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Gennesaret” (Luke 5:1).
Today’s Bible
question: “Whose wife turned into a
pillar of salt?
Answer in our next SD.
1/18/2015 9:33 AM
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