Revelation 2: Meet the Bride in Ephesus

Today’s reading is Revelation 2.

Recall we are about to the read an apocalyptic story leading to a wedding between a Groom (I’ll often refer to Him as the Hero) and a Bride (see Revelation 21). Because of our background in the New Testament, we know Jesus is the Groom and the Bride is His church (Ephesians 5:25-33). Therefore, when we see Jesus’s letters to the seven churches of Asia, we recognize the Groom is writing to His Bride. Obviously, this picture is a metaphor. There is no one-to-one correspondence. But go with the picture and learn the King, the Groom, the Hero is letting His fiancé know what will be needed to actually be in the wedding. We see seven pictures. While we learn what was needed for those ancient Christians to actually be a faithful part of Jesus’s Bride/church, we learn what we must do as well. Today, let’s see what Jesus told His bride in Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7).

First, Jesus declares the wedding is not a done deal. If the would-be Bride does not respond properly to these letters, her lampstand will be removed. The Ephesians Christians will no longer be “in the Bride,” awaiting the marriage feast. If the Ephesians Christians do not repent, they will not be invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb, they will not experience the victory of the Bride/City we see at the end of the book. They will miss out.

Why is it not a done deal for Ephesus? Because the manifestation of the Bride in Ephesus has left her first love. The devotion she had at first has diminished. We might be surprised by this because she’s still doing some really good things. She refuses to follow false apostles. She hates the false doctrine of the Nicolaitans (seemingly a group that promoted compromise with pagan worship). Further, she is “enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary” (Revelation 2:3, ESV). But for all the good, something has gotten lost.

Carrying on the metaphor of the Bride-to-be, we might see this as the Bride of an arranged marriage who has lost her love for the Groom-to-be, but with a stiff upper lip will continue on doing her duty. I love James Sire’s description of this in his book, The Universe Next Door. He contrasts what he calls “Personalized Christianity” with “Depersonalized Christianity.” I like to think of it as the difference between “Covenant Christianity” and “Contract Christianity.” The former in both comparisons is where the Bride started in Ephesus, the latter is where she has devolved. Consider the following contrasts as adapted from Sire’s book.

	Contract/Depersonalized	Covenant/Personalized
Faith	Accepting contract propositions	Committing to a person (the Lord)
Christian Life	Keeping contract obligations	Pleasing, drawing close to a person
Sin	Violating contract rules	Betraying a relationship
Repentance	Change based on contract obligations	Change based on sorrow for personal betrayal
Forgiveness	Canceling contract consequences	Renewing and restoring relationship/fellowship

Adapted and modified from James Sire, “The Universe Next Door,” Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, 2009, p. 135

The Groom asks the Bride to pursue love. To return to the way things were when the relationship was new. Do the same works that came from love and relationship.

The question we must ask today is where we are on the chart? The point, of course, is not to convince us to disobey rules. Rather, the point is to be more focused on the relationship with Jesus than with trying to keep some rules we think will warrant a better eternity even though we aren’t all that interested in Jesus Himself. It’s not about whether we keep the rules, but how and why we do. You might ask yourself this: are you pursuing a heavenly mansion or are you pursuing our heavenly King? The former tends toward bartering a contract, the latter to pursuing a relationship.

We are the Bride. Let’s obey our King because we love our King.

Tomorrow’s reading is Revelation 2.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Revelation 2 admonish you?

Psalm 71: On Guilt and Shame

Today’s reading is Psalm 71.

The ancient people through whom and to whom God wrote Scripture looked at the world, life, and experience through different eyes than we do. So much so, even their perspective on sin differed from ours. In our modern, Western, individualistic culture we think and view sin in almost strictly judicial terms. We focus on guilt, innocence, and justice. We think about the individuals, personal actions, and rules. Despite using the words Testament and Covenant when we refer to the sections of the Bible, we actually think in terms of Contract. Guilt, therefore, is when the individual breaks a rule. Forgiveness means the legal consequences for breaking the rule are remitted.

Shame, in this outlook, also centers around the individual who broke the rule. Psychologists and counselors today will often say guilt is the feeling I did something wrong, and shame is the feeling I am something wrong. In modern terminology, that is a decent differentiation. But notice, it centers around how the individual views self.

Our ancient counterparts did not view things the same way. While we are individualistic and judicial, they were tribal and familial. They focused on shame, honor, and relationship. Certainly, they had rules and laws. We are familiar with Ten of them. They had many others in the Old Testament. But they really did think in terms of covenant. Guilt for them was not so much breaking a rule as betraying a relationship. One scenario in which many still maintain this is marriage. We don’t look down on adultery because it breaks the rules of the marriage contract, but because it betrays the relationship. Shame, in that outlook, was not how the individual felt about him or herself, but how their actions and circumstances reflected on the relationship and on the others in that relationship. Their actions either brought shame or honor to the relationship and those in it.

We can debate which outlook is better. Perhaps theirs, perhaps ours. Perhaps their are pros and cons to both outlooks. The point is when Psalm 71 begins, “In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame!” and ends, “For they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt,” we need to read it through the ancient lens, not the modern one. The psalmist did not beg to be free from the emotion of thinking he is inherently bad, nor that his enemies would come to realize they are internally and naturally flawed. Rather, he calls to mind the deep relationship he has with God. His own circumstances and actions reflect on that relationship and on the God with whom the psalmist is in relationship. He begs God to let honor surround him and his relationship with God. Let the enemies be ashamed. Let their actions and circumstances reflect poorly on them and their relationships. The psalmist wanted to experience honor and glory. He knew the only place to find it was in a relationship with God.

In the middle of the psalm, he writes, “May my accusers be put to shame and consumed; with scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt.” That is, “Let the world see those who hurt ‘Your People,’ God, are the foolish ones who lack honor.” The psalmist’s request is not wrapped up in how he will feel about himself, but about how the society and culture around him will view him. The underlying concern, however, is not how everyone will see him, but how their view of him reflects on the God upon whom he relies. If he has spent his life trusting God, and God does not uphold at the end of his life, the psalmist will be shamed, but worse it will reflect negatively on God.

Therefore, at the end of the psalm, the psalmist expresses the honor he will verbalize toward God in praise and thanksgiving. He will do that because he expects God to uphold the relationship and make good on the trust the psalmist has put in Him. He believes, in the end, everyone will see he made the right choice relying on God. Further, everyone will wish they had made the same choice when it is all over.

Rely on God. He is the rock, the refuge, the deliverer. In the end, though calamity and struggle lies between now and then, there will be no shame for those who put their faith in God and relied on Him.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 71.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Psalm 71 prompt or improve your praise of God?