Ephesus — Return to your first love

Artemis: faith that affected livelihoods

The workshop, the sanctuary and a city’s pride.

In Acts 19, Demetrius gathers the craftsmen who earned money from small shrines of Artemis. His concern joins income and religion: if Paul’s preaching persuaded people, their business would lose value and the goddess would lose honour. The crowd ends up in the theatre, acclaiming Artemis for about two hours.

For a Christian with relatives or customers in that setting, a change of faith could be received as a threat to the family’s livelihood. Refusing a religious practice could bring a painful question: why do you despise what supports our household?

Biblical references

Atos 19:23-41

Apocalipse 2:2-5

Sources

UNESCO · Ephesus

Giving up what promised protection

Valuable books, fear and a new trust.

Acts 19:18–20 recounts converts confessing former practices and people involved in magic burning their books. The narrator gives their combined value as fifty thousand silver coins. This decision affected costly possessions and knowledge believed to carry power.

For someone seeking protection through these practices, abandoning them could mean facing illness, uncertainty and the future without previously trusted resources. Conversion changed both their relationship with money and their way of handling fear.

Biblical references

Atos 19:18-20

Apocalipse 2:2-6

Sources

Works, endurance and first love

Reference

Apocalipse 2:2-5

Sources

Christ acknowledges the Ephesians’ work and endurance but says they have abandoned their first love. Effort and resistance to error do not replace the love that should guide the community’s life.

The response has three movements: remember from where they have fallen, repent and do their first works. Remembering should lead to concrete change. The shared table in the image evokes this care for people.

Historical context

Artemis: faith that affected livelihoods

False apostles and Nicolaitans

Reference

Apocalipse 2:2-3; 2:6

About this passage

The identity and organisation of the Nicolaitans remain uncertain.

Sources

Atos 20:28-31

The community tested those claiming apostolic authority and rejected their false claims. Acts 20:28–31 had already warned Ephesian leaders that teachings capable of drawing disciples away would arise.

The letter mentions the Nicolaitans by name. In Pergamum, the same name appears beside the rebuke concerning food sacrificed to idols and sexual immorality (Revelation 2:14–15). This proximity helps locate the controversy in connection with participation in idolatry.

Historical context

The lampstand and the tree of life

Reference

Apocalipse 2:5-7

Sources

Génesis 2:9

Génesis 3:22-24

Apocalipse 1:20

Apocalipse 22:1-5

Christ walks among the lampstands, identified as churches in Revelation 1:20. Ephesus is not assessed merely by its reputation: the one in its midst knows its works and can remove its lampstand. His introduction thus prepares the warning about its lost first love.

In Genesis 2–3, the garden had a tree associated with life, but disobedience led to loss of access. The promise to eat from the tree presents victory as life with God. Revelation 22 returns to this image in its description of final restoration.

Historical context