What does Revelation 2:4 mean?
Having commended the church at Ephesus for its doctrinal integrity and perseverance in the face of adversity, Jesus reveals in verse 4 what He found lacking in the Ephesian church. It had abandoned the love that characterized its early history. What remained was devotion to the truth, but not devotion to the Lord.What would a marriage be like if a wife performed all the duties of a wife but without genuine love for her husband? What would a marriage be like if a husband continued to work to provide an income for His family and kept on performing the usual household duties that fall to a husband, but no longer loved his wife? Wouldn't the marriage be a cold, sterile relationship? On the other hand, duties performed out of love for one's spouse gives meaning and warmth to one's marriage.
The decline of the church at Ephesus from a deep love for Jesus to a dead orthodoxy prefigures the history of the early Church from Pentecost to the mid-second century. The Ephesian church's love for Jesus had grown cold, leaving only a slavish obedience to rules and doctrines. Jesus' rebuke needs to be taken seriously today by every church. Sound doctrine and service are important, but they should be grounded in a deep love for Jesus.
Revelation 2:1–7 is the first letter Jesus dictated to John, intended for the church at Ephesus. This congregation is praised for patient endurance and for rightly rejecting false apostles. Despite such an excellent beginning, however, Ephesus had abandoned its first love. They were drifting into coldness and rote religiosity. Jesus instructs the church to remember its early days, repent, and conduct itself as it had done initially. He promises a reward to the victor.
The contents of Revelation 2 are miniature letters to four churches, dictated by Jesus to John. Ephesus and Smyrna were coastal cities, whereas Pergamum and Thyatira were inland cities. Three more such letters are in Revelation 3. Each of these messages contains a unique description of Jesus, a command, a promise. All but one—the church in Laodicea—receive some commendation. All but two of the seven letters—those to the churches in Smyrna and Philadelphia—also contain a critical rebuke. Like churches today, most of the congregations addressed by Jesus had both good characteristics and at least one point which needed correction.
