THE EPHESIAN LETTER HAS A LOT IN IT FOR ALL CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS. Not simply believers in Ephesus.
EPHESIANS 1
EPHESIANS 1
World English Bible
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Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus:
Hebrew and Greek Original Pau'loß ajpovstoloß Xristou' #Ihsou' dia; qelhvmatoß qeou' toi'ß aJgivoiß toi'ß ou\sin Íejn #Efevsw/Ñ kai; pistoi'ß ejn Xristw'/ #Ihsou':
Verse 1 Of Christ Jesus
(Cristou Ihsou). So B D, though Aleph A L have Ihsou Cristou. Paul is named as the author and so he is. Otherwise the Epistle is pseudepigraphic. By the will of God (dia qelhmatoß qeou). As in 1 Corinthians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Romans 1:1. At Ephesus (en Epeswi). In Aleph and B these words are inserted by later hands, though both MSS. give the title Proß Epesiouß. Origen explains the words toiß agioiß toiß ousin as meaning "the saints that are" (genuine saints), showing that his MSS. did not have the words en Epeswi. The explanation of the insertion of these words has already been given in the remarks on "The Destination" as one copy of the general letter that was preserved in Ephesus. It is perfectly proper to call it the Epistle to the Ephesians if we understand the facts A.T. ROBINSON
The author, if he was not Paul himself, has carried the apostle's thinking to its logical conclusion, beyond the point where the apostle stopped and has placed the coping-stone on the massive structure of Paul's teaching. Of such a second Paul early Christian history has no knowledge. That Paul was a prisoner at the time of writing is expressly stated more than once in the course of the letter. He refers to himself as 'I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus in behalf of you Gentiles' (3. I), as 'the prisoner in the Lord' (4. I), and as 'an ambassador in chains' (6. 20). We have the evidence of Acts for two periods of imprisonment which Paul underwent, each of two years' duration, one in Caesarea (24. 27) and the other in Rome (28. 30 Of these more abundant imprisonments, there is a good reason to believe that one at least must be dated during his Ephesian ministry. 1 The time and place of the present imprisonment does not make much difference to the exposition of Ephesians. But the position adopted here is the common one, that Ephesians (as also Colossians and Philemon ' was written at some point during Paul's Roman imprisonment, between the beginning of A.D. 60 and the end of A.D. 61. If any orderly progress at all is to be traced in Paul's thinking, then Ephesians must be dated last of all his letters to churches, and immediately after Colossians. A comparison of Eph. 6. 21 f. with Col. 4. 7 f. makes it evident that Ephesians was sent to its destination by the hand of Tychicus at the same time as Colossians. We may, therefore, look for the destination of both letters in the same area. Colossians was manifestly sent to the church at Colossae, in the Phrygian region of the province of Asia. The words 'at Ephesus might seem to be the obvious destination of this letter, but for the fact that some of our earliest and weightiest authorities for the text omit these two words. It would be surprising, too, to have such an absence of personal references in a letter written by Paul to a church in whose midst he had spent the best part of three years. The most acceptable view, having regard to the general character of the letter, is that it was intended for all the churches of the province of Asia, some of which were personally known to Paul, while others were not (cf. Col. 2. I). While the message of the letter was never intended to be limited to one local church only, we may quite justifiably call it 'The Epistle to the Ephesians', provided that we remember that it was sent also to other churches in the province of which Ephesus was the capital city.
For nearly three years-probably from the summer of A.D. 52 to the spring of A.D. 55-Paul had established his headquarters in Ephesus, the chief city of the Roman province of Asia, and not only planted a strong church in that city, but with the help of a number of colleagues evangelized the whole province. No doubt all the seven churches of Asia mentioned in Revelation, and others as well, traced their origin to these years (Acts 19. 8-10)." pp12 F.F.BRUCE, THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAN.S
The population of Ephesus was 225,000, and it had a large Jewish population. In the days of Paul, Ephesus is a seaport and is 2nd or 3rd next to Rome in size. The first ranking city of Asia Minor in commerce, wealth, politics, and religion. It is like the New York of the ancient world. The city has a central hub that connects the eastern world with the western world. It is the communications hub for virtually every part of Asia. The emperor's college of messengers is also based in the city.
The city's wealth shows itself in its marblepaved main street to the mosaic floors in its aristocratic homes. One of the seven wonders of the world is also there: the great temple of Artemis (in Latin her name is Diana; she is a nature-fertility goddess
In Acts 18:19, when Paul first arrives in Ephesus with Priscilla and Aquila, he leaves them there and goes on to, back to Antioch, his home church. (v. 22) Later in Acts 19:1-7, he meets twelve disciples of John the Baptist. Paul leads them all to Christ and baptizes them in the name of Jesus. He then lays his hands on them, and the Holy Spirit falls on each one. The twelve men begin to speak in tongues and prophesy. These twelve men, along with Priscilla, Aquila, and Epaenetus, form the nucleus of the Ephesian church. Two other Greek converts are made and are added to the church. In time, they will be added to the six Gentiles that Paul is training to be apostolic workers, thus making a total 0 eight. The two Greek converts are:Tychicus Trophimus There is a community or a first church in the great city of Ephesus who is expressing God's divine nature-the Body of Christ is born in Asia!
The Hall of Tyrannus For three months, Paul preaches Christ with great power in the Ephesian synagogue. The Jews reject and malign his message, so Paul moves his ministry center to the Hall of Tyrannus-a lecture hall that he rents, Every day from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Paul preaches Christ, trains the eight apprentices that are with him, and lays a foundation for the Ephesian church." (Tyrannus probably lectured in the morning, while Paul used the hall in the afternoon. In the Greco-Roman world, the business day ended at 11 a.m. when most of the city ate a meal followed by a siesta.)"
Paul mends tents in the morning, beginning before sunrise, preaches in the afternoon, then mends tents again in the evening. With his own hands, Paul supports himself and the eight men he is training. He often goes hungry and thirsty. n
The community of Christians in Ephesus is meeting from house to house while Paul conducts the work from the Hall of Tyrannus. One of the homes where the church gathers is the house of Priscilla and Aquila." Paul has received a wide-open door to preach the gospel in Ephesus; however,
he encounters many adversaries." On top of this, on a daily basis, he expericnccs .mixed emotions over' the well-being of the eight churches he has planted and teach in the Hall of Tyrannus for two years. pp115 FRANK VIOLA, "The Untold Story of the New Testament Church |
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