The city of Ephesus and the Nicolaitans

By Dr. Eli lizorkin-Eyzenberg and Peter Shir The city of Ephesus was one of the most remarkable jewels of the ancient world. It contained the third largest population in the Asia Minor (around 150,000 people). When, in 27 BCE, Emperor Augustus moved the proconsul of Asia from Pergamum to Ephesus, the great period of political and financial prosperity for the city of Ephesus officially began. Years later, Strabo, an important Roman historian, stated in his writings that Ephesus was a city second in greatness only to Rome itself. (Strabo, Geography, Vol. 1-7, 14.1.24.) Like other cities of the ancient world this city too was a religious institution. The Ephesians were the protectors of the cult of Artemis the Great (Acts 19:35), a Greek mother goddess of prosperity, well-known and adored throughout the Greek lands. She in turn was thought to be supremely concerned with the well-being of the city of Ephesus, and by extension, anyone who paid her homage from any other place in the Greco-Roman world. The Temple of Artemis was so magnificent that it was counted among the seven wonders of the ancient world. It is interesting that, although no archeological evidence of a Jewish synagogue was found in Ephesus as per the description in Acts 19:8 (“Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God), on the steps of the magnificent Library of Celsus one can see, even now, a picture of the Jerusalem temple menorah engraved into the stone. This shows that the book of Acts’ testimony about a Jewish presence in Ephesus was accurate. The city of Ephesus also had a very interesting and rich history of the followers of the lord Jesus connected to it. Apostle Saul Paul lived and worked there, proclaiming the Gospel unhindered for several years (Acts 19:10). Sometime in the mid 60s Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians, and also several other letters, from there. There Saul Paul stated: “…I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” (1 Corinthians 16:7-9) Luke stated in Acts 19:17 that “Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus… were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.” This outcome was in response to an evil spirit’s rebuke to some Judeans residing in Ephesus who used the name of Jesus and Paul for purposes of healing and exorcism (Acts 19:15-17).

What was their first love? Revelation 2:4: But I Have This Against You: You Have Departed From Your First Love! 5 Therefore, Remember From What High State You Have Fallen And Repent! Do The Deeds You Did At The First; If Not, I Will Come To You And Remove Your Lampstand From Its Place - That Is, If You Do Not Repent. The traditional interpretation of this verse among Christians today has to do with the accusation of Jesus against the believers in Ephesus that the original emotional passion they had when they first encountered the Living God was no longer present in their lives. However, this does not fit the line of thought here at all. If this was so, then after the words: “You have departed from your first love! Therefore, remember from what high state you have fallen and repent”, Jesus ought to have said something like: “Revive the passion you once had!” Instead he called them to Do The Deeds They Once Did. So whatever it was that Christ was confronting the believers in Ephesus about, it was certainly not the lack of emotional engagement that once characterized their faith. Something else was in view here: He confronts them, not about their emotions, but rather about the deeds they no longer practiced; not living out their convictions as they once did. The congregation in Ephesus was one of the seven lampstands of the Heavenly Menorah of God among which Jesus, the Heavenly High Priest, was seen walking (Revelation 1:12-13). Hence, if it was no longer representing the heavenly life of God in the world, Christ threatened to come and remove their congregation from its place. This is a serious warning. However, there was also an encouragement that followed, and it is this encouragement that provides us with a considerable amount of clarity about the content of the criticism itself, although it is particularly difficult to understand. Nicolaitans 6 But You Do Have This Going For You: You Hate What The Nicolaitans Practice - Practices I Also Hate. (Rev 2:6) The encouragement had to do with the Jewish Christ’s affirmation that the believers in Ephesus hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans. In order to understand what those deeds may have been, we need to see what John was asked to write to the congregation in another great Roman city in the Asia Minor – the City of Pergamum. We read in Revelation 2:13-15: “I Know Where You Dwell, Where Satan’s Throne Is… I Have A Few Things Against You, Because You Have There Some Who Hold The Teaching Of Balaam, Who Kept Teaching Balak To Put A Stumbling Block Before The Sons Of Israel, To Eat Things Sacrificed To Idols And To Commit Acts Of Immorality. So You Also Have Some Who In The Same Way Hold The Teaching Of The Nicolaitans.” (Revelation 2:13-15) In these verses we see reference to the evil deeds of Balaam in teaching Balak to entice Israel to sin. The treachery concerned two things 1) eating foods sacrificed to idols and 2) engaging in sexually immoral acts (Num. 22-24), and these things being somehow connected with the evil teachings of the Nicolaitans. Incidentally, the decision of the Jerusalem Council, as expressed in their letter to the Gentile followers of Jesus, while exempting the non-Jews from all kinds of burdens of observance obligatory to Jews, set forth a concrete set of food-related prohibitions for Gentiles as well. We read in Acts 15:28-29: “For It Seemed Good To The Holy Spirit And To Us To Lay Upon You No Greater Burden Than These Essentials: That You Abstain From Things Sacrificed To Idols And From Blood And From Things Strangled And From Fornication; If You Keep Yourselves Free From Such Things, You Will Do Well. Farewell.” It is not hard to notice that out of four behaviors forbidden to Gentiles, two had to do with Nicolaitans and Balam/Balak issues (eating food sacrificed to idols and sexual immorality). It is also important to see that this combination of food and sex-related offenses was particularly important for the Jewish Apostles and elders to address in their letter to the Gentile converts to the the lord Jesus the anointed one. This was not a comprehensive list, but these issues brought up at the Jerusalem Council (consuming food sacrificed to idols, blood, and illicit sex), seem to constitute the central challenges that the Gentile followers of the Jewish Christ encountered in their daily lives in the Roman Empire. In the Roman world, an overwhelming proportion of the meat sold in the market was first offered -dedicated to one or another deity. The only exception to this was the Judean/Jewish population, who were isolated from the bulk of the Roman population, and who had their own slaughter rules and privileges. Most Jews residing in the Roman Empire were part of the network in which food consumption did not follow the normal route of offerings to Roman gods. The writings of the Apostle Paul to the nations (all the letters Saul Paul ever wrote that made it into our New Testament) clearly show that these issues continued to plague the believers enough for him to address them in considerable detail (1 Corinthians 8-10). Judging from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians; 1 Corinthians 5:9), some Gentile followers of Jesus Christ felt they could continue to consume meat that was, prior to market delivery, sacrificed to a pagan deity. Apostle Paul, while agreeing with them that these gods (idols) are nothing, sides with the Jerusalem Council in forbidding all the Gentile followers of the lord Jesus from eating food associated with Greco-Roman worship rituals in any way (1 Corinthians 8:1-13). Having considered this important issue, let us return to the discussion of the Nicolaitans. Nicolaitans as a Hebraism Who were the Nicolaitans and what is the origin of this word that first appears in Revelation 2:6 and is then repeated in Revelation 2:15? The main traditional attempt to understand the etymology of the word is often tied to diaconal appointee, Nicolas, in Acts 6:5: “The proposal pleased the entire group, so they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a Gentile convert to Judaism from Antioch.” Presumably at some later stage Nicolas began to teach what was eventually defined as the Evil Deeds Of The Nicolaitans although the matter is quite obscure. However, there is another, often overlooked option, suggested many years ago by the great Jewish Christian Hebraist, John Lightfoot. It allows one to continue reading the Book of Revelation as a thoroughly Jewish anti-Roman document. He hypothesizes that perhaps deacon Nicolas was a wrong trail to follow. He suggested instead, that Nicolaitans was a Hebraism (in this case something originally said in Hebrew but spelled with Greek letters). What did he have in mind? In Hebrew, in order to say “we will eat”, the verb נאכל (Nokhal) would have been used. We read in Isaiah 4:1, “And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, ‘We will eat (נֹאכֵ֔ל) our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach.’” If this Hebrew word נאכל (Nokhal) is transferred into Greek, it can be used as a term describing the “we will eat” people. In a sense, this was their motto, their sentiment – “we will eat” the food that others think is forbidden (food offered to pagan deities). Thus τῶν Νικολαϊτῶν (ton nikolaton) “the Nicolatians” as a group or teaching could originate from the Hebrew נאכל (Nokhal) “we will eat”, making a cohesive connection to the context of Balaam and Balak and the incident in the book of Numbers referred to in Revelation 2:13-15. 7 The One Who Has An Ear Had Better Hear What The Spirit Says To The Churches. To The One Who Conquers, Will Permit Him To Eat From The Tree Of Life That Is In The Paradise Of God.’ “The one who has an ear, let him hear” is also a Hebraism that is used on a number of occasions in the Gospels by Jesus himself. For example, in the parable of the seed falling on the good soil and producing various quantities of fruit (Mark 4:1-20). The basic meaning of this Hebraism is this: “if one is able to hear it, one must obey it.” In this case (Revelation 2:7) what the Holy Spirit is saying to the followers of the lord Jesus in the congregations of Asia Minor is so important that if one hears it, one must obey it.