6/18/2025

One of the most fascinating places I’ve ever visited is the ruins of Ephesus on the west coast of Turkey. When you enter the harbor side of the city, you wander down the old harbor road, past the marketplace where Paul sold tents and where Demetrius the silversmith sold images of Artemis. Turning right onto the marble street takes you past the great theater which featured in Acts 19, past smaller temples, the great library, the bathhouses, civic buildings, until you reach: 
  

This was once the great temple for the emperor Domitian, and the fallout from its construction was most likely the reason why the book of Revelation was written. 

When the temple was being constructed around 96 AD, John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, was the pastor of the church in Ephesus and the overseer of at least six other nearby churches. As John stood on that marble street looking up at the rising temple, he knew that while the temple was a symbol of pride for the citizens of Ephesus, for the people of his congregations, it promised to be the greatest threat they had faced up to that time — a threat spiritually and physically.  

Why a temple to Domitian? Starting with Caesar Augustus, some of the Roman emperors actually believed they were gods! The worship of Roman emperors, living and dead, became the State religion throughout the empire. One temple erected in honor of Augustus in his lifetime was at Pergamum, one of the cities in Revelation (in Rev. 2:13 it’s called ‘Satan's throne’). The worship of the emperors probably began out of genuine gratitude for the benefits brought by Rome, but as time went on, and the emperors became more tyrannical, the imperial cult became more and more a test of loyalty to the regime. To refuse to perform the required rituals carried harsh penalties. 

For example, if you were a builder in Ephesus, you had to belong to a guild of builders. Each guild was responsible for work on the emperor’s temple. Furthermore, before you joined the guild, you were expected to offer a pinch of incense to the statue of Domitian, honoring him as a god. 

If you refused to worship the emperor, you couldn’t belong to the guild, and if you didn’t belong to the guild, you couldn’t work, and if you couldn’t work, then you didn’t have any money to buy or sell. 

So, as a Christian, what would you do? 

Believers had three options. One, they could just chuck their faith, offer up incense to the emperor and go on with their lives. Two, they could compromise. They could pledge allegiance to the emperor, even offer up their pinch of incense but keep one hand behind their back with their fingers crossed (yes, that’s where that most likely began). Three, they could remain faithful to God, refuse to help build the temple and certainly refuse to worship the emperor . . . and lose their jobs, their homes and possibly their heads. 

Which option do you think John advocated? To the church in nearby Smyrna (modern day Izmir), John would write, "Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Beware, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have affliction. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).

Be faithful until death. 

That sort of message did not sit well with the authorities! To shut John up, the rulers in Ephesus exiled John to a nearby island of Patmos, one of three nearby islands where political prisoners were banished. Here, separated by about 37 miles of the Aegean sea from his congregants, he would be safely away from the believers and Ephesus’ precious temple could be built in peace! 

But God had other plans for John and for the believers. While on Patmos, God gave John a revelation — the Greek word is apocalypse — in which Jesus holds a scroll sealed with six seals that contained God’s plans for delivering his people.  Times might be tough now, but their future was assured! 

To each of these churches, God made specific promises, each beginning with the words, “To the one who overcomes . . .” To be an overcomer meant that you remained faithful to God, whether you were facing persecution or whether you were simply trying to live as a child of God in a pagan society. 

And that’s how we’re looking at Revelation this summer because that’s how I believe the book is supposed to be read. You see, as believers living in any age, we are faced with a choice of sides. One side we’re going to call “Team Dragon” and the other, “Team Lamb.” The fate of one side is destruction; the fate of the other is eternal life in the New Jerusalem. 

Believers in John’s day were faced with that choice. Believers in the future will be faced with that choice. We’re faced with that choice as well. 

Please join us this summer as we explore one of the most fascinating books in the Bible! And be prepared to choose sides . . . 

Blessings,
Pastor Terry