Tag Archives: Eusebius

The Church At Ephesus

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Revelation 2:1: “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write.”

The message to the angel of the church at Ephesus was probably meant to be not only to the Ephesians, but also to the several churches on the trade route into Asia Minor. Especially significant for this writing would be the fact that the seven churches addressed in Revelation 2 and 3 were located in cities which constituted one of these trade routes.

Two Maps

In the message to the churches of “Asia,” two maps may be in view: the terrestrial and the celestial. The heavenly, celestial, map is of the polar region, with Christ represented by the pole star and the seven stars by the constellation we know as “Ursa Major,” but which was known in Hebrew as ‘ash. The earthly map is of Asia Minor, wherein the seven contemporary churches lay in a configuration roughly comparable to that of the constellation.

The terrestrial, earthly, map bears a remarkable resemblance to the head of a horse outstretched in a running position[1]. The city of Ephesus lay at the point resembling the horse’s mouth and indeed was the entry point for trade routes to the interior of the continent. The word transliterated to Hebrew might be ‘aph sus the ‘nose of the horse’. The apocalyptic writers typically employed words cryptically; that is, they played with the sounds and made puns on words. The word ‘Ephesus’ could have been used as a pun for the Hebrew words peh sus “horse’s mouth.” The word ‘Ephesus’ then would cryptically suggest that the “horse’s mouth” was the entry point to the other six churches.

Since Ephesus was at “the Horse’s Mouth” it served as an entrance point for those things which were to circulate throughout that portion of Asia.[2]

Revelation 2:2: “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.”

“Them which say they are apostles and are not.” This is in anticipation of the warning in 2:9 (to Smyrna) and 3:9 (to Philadelphia) against “those who say they are Jews but are not.” These false apostles are judged like the false Jews, – they are liars.

Eusebius quotes the writings of Hegesippus concerning “the seven sects” which divided the Church in his day:

“Every man introducing his own opinion in his own particular way. From these in turn came false Christs, false prophets, false apostles, who split the unity of the Church by poisonous suggestions against God and against His Christ.” (4.22.4).

[1] See map of Asia Minor in Kee, Young, Froelich, Understanding the New Testament, 444.

[2] See Lindsell, Harper’s Study Bible, 1746.

Grace And Peace

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Revelation 1:4: “Grace be unto you, and peace.”

The message of the Book of Revelation is not to frighten, discourage, or confuse, but rather to dispense grace and peace. This is according to the nature of the Spirit of God, the gifts He bestows, and the fruits of the Spirit.

Eusebius shares this same purpose in his Histories:

“Other historians have confined themselves to the recording of victories in war and triumphs over enemies, of the exploits of commanders and the heroism of their men, stained with the blood of the thousands they have slaughtered for the sake of children and country and possessions; it is peaceful wars, fought for the very peace of the soul, and men who in such wars have fought manfully for truth rather than for country, for true religion rather than for their dear ones, that my account of God’s commonwealth will inscribe on imperishable monuments; it is the unshakable determination of the champions of true religion, their courage and endurance, their triumphs over demons and victories over invisible opponents, and the crowns which all this won for them at the last, that it will make famous for all time,” (Book 5 Intro.). (Emphasis mine).

The Writer: “I, John”

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Revelation 1:1. ““And he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John.”

The “I” and the “me” of the Book of Revelation is John, the writer of the Book, not the Church or any other entity, but John the writer, except when it is Christ speaking.

So Who Was ‘John’?

The internal testimony of the Book is that “John“ wrote it. Who was this “John”? The only reason for questioning the authorship of the Apostle John, disciple of Christ and author of the Epistles and Gospel of John, is the proposed date of the writing. If the Book were not written until Domitian’s reign, (AD 81-96), it would be unlikely that John lived to write it. However, if the date is placed in the reign of Nero, some twenty-eight years earlier, then it is more probable that the Apostle John wrote it.

Even so, it would seem that there was a tradition that the Apostle John lived to a great age as indicated by the saying in John 21:23: “Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what [is that] to thee?” John would have been quite old even in 68 AD.

Did John Live To See The Coming of Christ?

One reason for assigning the authorship to John the apostle is that there was a rumor that he would live to the coming of Christ, (John 21:22-23). Christ also taught that some of His disciples would “see the Son of man coming in his kingdom,” (Matt. 16:28; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27). He also said that some of those living when He uttered His prophecy of the fall of Jerusalem would be alive to see the fulfillment, (Matt. 23:36; 24:34; Mark 13:30; Luke 21:32). The fact that John lived to write the Book of Revelation is proof of the truth of Christ’s words.

Were There Two ‘Johns’?

The historian Eusebius believed that there were two “Johns” named in his source, (i.e. the historian Papias): one the apostle, and the other a presbyter in Asia in later years. However, it can be demonstrated that Eusebius’ reasoning concerning this is faulty. The source does not clearly determine that there were two separate “Johns.”

Eusebius also quotes Justin, (100-165?): “He refers to the Revelation of John, stating explicitly that it was the work of the Apostle.”

According to the tradition of the Old Testament, God revealed what He was doing through His true prophet, in this case, John. Consistent with Amos 3:7: “Surely the Lord does nothing, without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets.” The Book of Revelation is the revealing of the secret to John.

Lesson 19 of Series – Forty Years of the Messiah

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The Historical Record

The Church historian, Eusebius, says: “After the Saviour’s passion, and the cries with which the Jewish mob clamoured for the reprieve of the bandit and murderer and begged that the Author of Life should be removed from them, disaster befell the entire nation. There is no need to add anything to the historical records. But it would be right to mention, too, certain facts which bring home the beneficence of all-gracious Providence, which for forty years after their crime against Christ delayed their destruction,” (Eusebius, 3.7.3).

The Biblical Record

There was indeed a space of time of 40 years, (as in Numbers 14:34), after the rejection of Jesus as the Messiah, (about AD 30), to the destruction of the nation, (about AD 70). That this period of time was considered analogous to the 40-year wilderness experience is confirmed by Hebrews 3:7-4:11 and 1 Corinthians. 10:1-11. This was the period of time in which the gospel was preached throughout the Roman Empire to all the Jews, Colossians 1:23. This space of time, however, was not a “breach of promise” but was a demonstration of God’s mercy, as Eusebius says.

The Jewish Tradition

In fact, the ‘forty years of the Messiah’ was a tradition amongst the Jews, as attested in their writings. Lightfoot quotes R. Eliezer from Sanhedrin:

“The days of the Messiah are forty years, according as it is said, ‘Forty years…shall I be grieved with this generation.’ The Gloss is, ‘Because it is …(in the future tense) it is a sign the prophecy is concerning the time to come.’ It is ingenuously done, however, of these ‘Jews’, that they parallel that faithless generation that was in the days of the Messiah with that perverse and rebellious generation that had been in the wilderness: for they will, both of them prove a loathing and offence to God for the space of forty years. And as those forty years in the wilderness were numbered according to the forty days in which the land had been searching [Num. xiv.34]; so also may those forty years of the Messiah be numbered according to the forty days wherein he was conversant amongst mankind after his resurrection from the dead.”

The passage in Numbers 14 speaks of the long-suffering of God by waiting forty years while the doubting generation died. This is also referred to in Hebrews 3:7-19 and is applied to the contemporary audience: “Today!” There is a serious problem, however, with the interpretation that “God stopped the clock for a ‘time out’ which has not been called back in yet,” (after 2,000 years!) The forty years of God’s merciful patience with the fleshly nation, Israel, ended in 70 AD.

Next Lesson: The Pattern Fufilled