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  • From: "Kym Smith" <khs AT picknowl.com.au>
  • To: corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: The Destination Of Ephesians
  • Date: Sun, 12 May 2002 08:08:01 -0400


Dear Stephen,

You asked,<<<Do you have a list of passages in Ephesus that are directed
to Revelation?>>>

Following my reconstruction I have a brief introduction to each of the
books written in the period covered by the reconstruction (i.e. all NT
books apart from 1&2 Thess, 1&2 Cor, Gal & Rom). I have included my
introduction to Ephesians below. Added to the introduction, and without
doing a thorough search of Ephesians at the moment, several parallels come
to mind.

- There are the matters which are addressed in the letters to the seven
churches of Asia. Paul speaks of similar issues in, for example, 4:17f;
5:3f.
- There is the mystery of marriage which, as Paul saw it, refers to Christ
and the Church (5:32). The Revelation, of course, climaxes with the vision
of the Bride made pure (Rev 19:7-8; 21:2 - c.f Eph 5:26-27 '...that he
might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle
or any such thing , that she might be holy and without blemish') and the
invitation to the wedding (Rev 19:9; 22:17).
- There is the conflict between 'light' and 'darkness' (Eph 5:7-12).
When ‘every one whose name has not been written before the foundation of
the world in the book of life of the Lamb’ (Rev 13:8) worships the beast
who makes war against the saints (Rev 13:1-10), it is good to know that we
who were ‘chosen in (Christ) before the foundation of the world’ have
already been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places
(Eph 1:3-14).

As a whole, Ephesians was written to encourage the churches/Church in the
profound mysteries of which they had become partakers and in the face of
the expected tribulations (...it is because of these things that the wrath
of God comes [5:6] Look carefully then how you walk...making the most of
the time, because the days are evil [5:15-16]. The letter was sent prior,
I believe, to a personal visit by Paul to each of the Asian churches when
he would personally deal with the particular issues in each of them. He
would make that visit in a circuit of the Asian churches when he was
released, going first from Ephesus to Laodicea and calling in on Colossae
(Phlmn 22).

I am sure a more detailed comparison would yield much, but as yet that has
not been part of my work.

Sincerely,

Kym Smith
Adelaide
South Australia
khs AT picknowl.com.au

AUTHOR: The Apostle Paul.
DATE: June - August of 62 as Paul awaited Peter’s response to the
Apocalypse.
PLACE OF WRITING: Prison in Ephesus.
DESTINATION: Ephesians was a circular letter written, in the first place,
to the Asian churches of chapters 2 and 3 of the Revelation (1), but it
was probably reproduced in every church to which Paul and his helpers went
as they warned them of the coming day of trial. Tychicus carried it, if
not to all the Asian churches, then at least to Laodicea as a precursor to
Paul’s visit to that city and the others mentioned. It is likely that he
did a round trip of the seven churches with the letter.
It has been so thoroughly argued that it needs no discussion here but the
inclusion of ‘at Ephesus’ in the introduction of this epistle (1:1) is not
considered to be part of the original text. A strong possibility is that,
as a circular letter, that space was altered for each new centre as a copy
was produced for it (2). If it was this letter that Paul referred to in
his correspondence to Colossae as ‘the letter from Laodicea’ (4:16), as
some suspect (3), then it is interesting that he did not send the
Colossians their own copy (i.e. with that church’s name). This would make
sense if Ephesians, as it is now known, was directed in the first place to
the seven churches listed in the Revelation, with other copies not being
distributed until after those centres had received it. The great majority
of copies, and hence those that survived, would have been reproduced from
letters to churches other than the seven in Asia – though it was
understood by those churches that the seven were its primary recipients –
and so the name of the recipient is generally missing (4).
PURPOSE: As with 1 Peter and 1 John – and probably distributed with those
letters – this was Paul’s well-reasoned letter of encouragement. Ephesians
was written to prepare the churches for the persecutions about to come and
the glory to follow.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for it is because of these things
that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. (5:6)

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making
the most of the time, because the days are evil. (5:15-16)

Having returned to Asia, Paul had also encountered first-hand the teaching
and behavior of the Nicolaitans and encouraged the faithful not to get
caught up with them but to avoid them.

...do not associate with them, for once you were darkness, but now you are
light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is
found in all that is good and right and true), and try to learn what is
pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness,
but instead expose them. For it is a shame even to speak of the things
that they do in secret... (5:7-12)

Though it warns about those who had perverted their faith, Ephesians is
not a letter of fault-finding or judgment. From a true pastor’s heart it
is a letter of exhortation to strengthen the churches in the light of the
outrage that was looming over them. In it Paul dealt with the great themes
of God’s sovereignty, of the security and fullness of the heavenly
blessing in Christ and of the believers’ union with him. ‘Addressed to a
perilous situation, this document is full of Christian instruction of
great importance.’ (5) After applying these things to their lives, the
apostle also encouraged his readers concerning the battle ahead because
the fight they were facing, and in which they were already involved, was
not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of darkness
which seek to dominate the world.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on
the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles
of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but
against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers
of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the
heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armour of God, that you may be
able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand...Pray at
all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end
keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
and also for me... (6:10-19)
……………………………………………….
(1) Could the writer of the Muratorian Fragment have been confused about
the seven churches to which Paul wrote ‘following the rule of his
predecessor John’? Could it be that it was Ephesians that was initially
addressed, not only to seven churches, but to the same seven named in the
Revelation?
(2) For a more detailed discussion see, for example, Guthrie, D., New
Testament Introduction, Inter-Varsity Press, 1970, p. 508f and Martin
Ralph P., New Testament Foundations, Eerdmans, 1978, p. 226f. ‘Ephesians’
is a particularly apt name for this book if it was written in Ephesus and
if the Ephesian church was the first to receive it.
(3) See, for example, Wright N.T., Colossians and Philemon, Tyndale New
Testament Commentaries, Inter-Varsity Press/Eerdmans, 1986, p. 160f.
(4) This would fit the evidence of the oldest texts and the comments of
Origen and Jerome (and probably Tertullian) that in the best manuscripts
they knew, the words were omitted. It could also allow for Marcion and the
author of the Muratorian Fragment to have seen or heard of copies marked
‘at Laodicea’ (see, for example, Foulkes, F., Ephesians, Tyndale New
Testament Commentaries, Inter-Varsity Press/Eerdmans, 1956, p. 17f).
(5) Martin, Ralph P., New Testament Foundations, Eerdmans, 1978, Vol. 2,
p. 233.




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