His Inheritance Ministries

The Church at Ephesus: some who left their first love

This is the second part of a treatise, BLUEPRINT FOR APOSTASY, focusing on Revelation Chapters 2&3, whose INTRO is here.

As Yeshua taught in His parable, the “birds of the air” were going to come into the now-huge mustard tree, representing the church. (MATT 13) “Birds of the air” represent, in this case, evil schemers.

EPH 2:2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience….

These schemers or heretics were in the church, even some unrighteous clergy, and were misleading the believers. One must know the Scriptures for one self!

The Revelation letters (chapter 2&3) were directed to assemblies/churches, not the individual. But an individual can certainly learn from these letters! The devil wants to corrupt the churches and, if possible, prevent anyone from becoming a confirmed believer! If they hear what the Spirit teaches them, true believers will have the promises offered to them by our loving King.

FIRST LOVE

This Church of Ephesus had a lot going for it, but the rebuke of Christ cautions them that they were in danger of collectively losing their lampstand!

REV 2:1 “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write,
‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:
2 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;
3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.
4 NEVERTHELESS I HAVE THIS AGAINST YOU, THAT YOU HAVE LEFT YOUR FIRST LOVE.
5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works,

Remember: JOHN 6:29 Jesus answered … “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

REV 2:5b or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
6 But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”

They had works, labor, patience, and could not bear those who were evil. That’s great!

They tested those who say they are apostles but were not. St. Paul, an apostle himself, called for the Elders of Ephesus while he was in Miletus. He had warned them about “savage wolves”:

Acts 20:28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. 31 Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

The Ephesian assembly had encountered the Nicolaitans, who had led “lives of unrestrained indulgence” as Irenaeus, the Bishop of Lyons, described them.

These false apostles were found to be liars! They were trying to deceive them through “every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting”. (EPH 4:14)

But what had happened to this assembly in less than three decades? St. Paul visited Ephesus in 57AD. From the time of St. Paul’s writing this masterful, highly spiritual epistle (c. 62AD) to the time of St. John’s vision on Patmos (c.95-96AD), what had caused these Christians to err? The reason: Because they had left their FIRST LOVE. The FIRST LOVE is the love of God, the love of the LORD. How can this be otherwise?

MATT 22:37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment.“

And to what or whom did they lose that love? There is much debate over this subject, but this theory has much plausibility: They lost their love to a Mother-Goddess.

ST. PAUL IN EPHESUS

After Yeshua had risen, He sent out His Apostles. St. Paul, after he was converted, eventually arrived in Ephesus (c. 57 AD). He came across some disciples:

ACTS 19:5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.

He performed miracles and “even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them”. (Acts 19:12)

When a Jewish chief priest tried to chase out a demon in the name of “Jesus who Paul preaches”, the evil spirit leaped upon him, saying “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”… So “fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.” (Acts 19:13-17)

ACTS 19:23 And about that time there arose a great commotion about the Way. 24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen. 25 He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said: “Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. 26 Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands. 27 So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.” 28 Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”….34 for about two hours, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”

ALONG COMES ST. JOHN

St. Paul left Ephesus after this uproar. But then a while later, according to tradition, along came St. John.

“John, the disciple of the Lord, who reclined at His bosom, also published a Gospel, while he was residing at Ephesus in Asia.” Against Heresies, Irenaeus

St. John was given the responsibility of caring for Miriam (Mary), the mother of Our LORD. Miriam may have resided near Ephesus, at least for awhile, under John’s care while he wrote the gospel. According to the Kirkindje, descendants of Christians from this earlier age, on Nightingale Mountain, there are ruins of a house that is thought to have sheltered Miriam. Also, the first church buildings dedicated to both St. John and to Miriam were erected in Ephesus. So it could be that for awhile this was a home to St. John and Miriam.

Miriam physically died or “fell asleep” and went to be with the LORD in either Ephesus or Jerusalem. We just don’t know. There is no Scriptural evidence that she was assumed into heaven. These writings come in later centuries. There is also a fanciful account that the apostles were translated to her before her burial but this writing is from the 4th or later century AD.

When Miriam died, what would have been the response of the believers? Oh, they would have mourned. That would be natural. But Christians should know that “to be absent from the body [is] to be present with the Lord.” (2COR 5:8) 

However, there are demonic forces at work on earth and also in Ephesus.  Could they distort this natural mourning into an idolatrous devotion?

EPHESUS: THE CITY OF THE MOTHER GODDESS

Let’s go back in time to before Christ. Ephesus, according to legends, was founded by the Ephos, Queen of the Amazons, who may well be part of the Nephilim, the giant race, half women and half fallen angels (GEN 6:4). This female warrior race may have built the Temple of Artemis (Diana), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

“At Ephesus also they [the Amazons] built a very costly and beautiful temple for Diana, because of her delight in archery and the chase—arts to which they were themselves devoted.”
Jordanes, The Origin and Deeds of the Goths (VII.51)

Greek history states that the Ionian prince Androkol of Athens founded Ephesus but it had previous inhabitants who worshipped the local Anatolian goddess Kybele, called also Magna Mater (Great Mother) and Mater Deum (Mother of the Gods). The Greeks combined the history of Kybele with their goddess Artemis/Diana, who eventually blended into one. A statue of the Artemis, the many-breasted one, is in the Vatican Museum in Rome, which is against the Word of God!

Supposing that this city was founded by these giant Nephilim. They built temples to their false gods. The evil spirits of these Nephilim do exist. Some are territorial spirits – they have certain areas of which they are in charge. The demonic spirits do not want to lose their dominance! But they were losing it to Christianity! What to do? Did these demons take Miriam and morph the image of her slowly throughout time into a new mother goddess?!

“Marian devotion appears on two levels. There is the Mary of the official theology and of the monks, which venerate her as the Virgin who was docilely obedient to the divine will. … But there is also the Mary of the people who is still the earth mother. She is venerated for her helping power in natural crises.” –

Rosemary Radford Reuther, feminist writer and religious studies scholar [I am not a feminist, but this quote is noted just to state that there are those who view Mary as an earth goddess, for example, the Earth Mother Tonantzin .]

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A PAGAN HOLIDAY NOW A CHURCH FEAST DAY

The Nemoralia, a Roman feast to celebrate this virgin goddess Diana, was August 13th -15th. Now isn’t it coincidental that the Roman Catholics celebrate the Assumption of Mary on August 15th? The Orthodox Church, while not celebrating the Assumption, celebrate the Dormition of the Theotokos (Mary) also on August 15th.

These territorial spirits with the help of unrighteous people began the recasting of this pious maid Miriam into one that could be perceived as a new goddess! The devil wants worship for himself but anyone will do for now, just not the Redeemer, of the world, Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah) in whom alone is salvation! Or is it Satan himself who is “appearing” as Mary in some of these apparitions?

2COR 11:14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.

Could this be the reason that the Ephesians were losing their love to Yeshua the Savior and placed it on an idolized Mary? The devil, who twists and lies, would attempt to draw people into paganism and the cult of the Virgin Mary!

Christians should honor Miriam as the mother of our Lord, but that dedication has turned into idolatry in many cases! Satan, the father of lies, maybe saw this devotion to Miriam could be easily turned with deception. He would construct a “fake Mary”! This “fake Mary”, appearing in hundreds of places as a fallen angel, does what is perceived as “miracles” around the globe. And would the real Miriam ask for a shrine to be built to her? Never. Miriam was a humble servant of Adonai.

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FANCIFUL DOCTRINES

We will now see some of the factors that some churches believe about Miriam that could contribute to almost deify her! And it all started in Ephesus!

The term “Theotokos” while technically correct, has led some to error as it seemed to elevate Mary to somewhat of a goddess! Notice that Kybele is referred to as the “Mother of Gods”.

Actually, the very first church to be dedicated to Mary/Miriam was the Church of the Virgin Mary which was on the south end of a former pagan temple in Ephesus. Did the Christian leaders of that time go forth and cast out these demons?

This building held the Council of Ephesus that was convened in 431AD. (Many bishops refused to attend these councils, as they felt it was a union with the Empire.) It was at this Council, that they dubbed her “Theotokos”.

“Theotokos” means “Who gave birth to one who was God”. However, “Mother of God”, as it is usually translated in English, could mislead the unlearned to think that God had a beginning! There is also no record of the very first Christians (apostles and Miriam) ever calling her “Theotokos”.

The gospel calls Miriam the “mother of my Lord”.

LUKE 1:43 But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

The hypostatic or mystical union of Christ, “fully God, fully man” is a wonderful doctrine of the Church. However, Nestorius preferred to call Miriam the “mother of Christ” (Christokos), the human side of Yeshua the Messiah. He was labeled a heretic by numerous bishops, those who were willing to have this union with the Roman Empire. It may have been a misunderstanding.

“Nestorius never claimed Jesus Christ was two different people. Rather, he emphasized the distinction in Jesus’ two natures and argued that Mary was the christotokos for fear of a heretical twisting of the incarnation. Since the eternally begotten Son of God has no beginning, Nestorius famously declared that the Logos could never be two or three months old. The reader may find affirmation in this statement for condemning Nestorius, but we should consider how often each of us has been misunderstood. As Christians plead with one another to listen to both sides of modern cultural and theological clashes, we will do well to consider the possibility that Nestorius, due to his arduous pursuit of heresy, misinterpreted theotokos and was likewise misinterpreted himself. Martin Luther claimed to have scoured the writings of Nestorius and found no heresy…..Nestorius was unjustly condemned there for a heresy that he did not profess.” IN DEFENSE OF NESTORIUS by Matthew Bryan

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CONSTANTINE THE GREAT

This was not the first council of the church. We have to back up a little to Constantine the Great, emperor of Rome between 306 to 337AD. Incidentally, Constantine was NOT the first to grant Christianity the status of “religio licita” but it was done in 311 by Galerius in the Edict of Serdica. However, Constantine did return confiscated property to them.

Yet Constantine, no matter his motivations, called an ecumenical council to settle the Arian debate at the First Council of Nicaea in 325AD, against the LORD’s instructions of Matthew 18:15-17. He invited 1800 bishops. Maybe no more than 318 (some say as little as 250) attended but there were deacons and elders there also who traveled with them. Therefore, not all the bishops came. Many did not want to support the Roman Empire being unified to the Church.

“They wanted no marriage with the state, and no centralized religious government, and no higher ecclesiastical government of any kind, than the individual church. These Christians (Baptists) nor the churches ever at that time or later, entered the hierarchy of the Catholic denomination.” (pt. 18, The Trail of Blood by by J. M. Carroll)

Constantine was probably not even a Christian at the point of this council! He was baptized by an Arian in 337AD on his deathbed.

It is no longer there, but on the top of the Column of Constantine had been the pagan idol Apollo. Constantine replaced the head with a likeness of his own head (330 AD)! This was a prime example of syncretism, the mixing two or more religions.

On that infamous day in 330AD, Constantine also dedicated the “New Rome”, later Constantinople, to the Virgin Mary. He had a likeness of his head on an idol of Apollo AND he was dedicating this city to the Virgin Mary on the same day??

OTHER COUNCILS AND ERRANT DECREES

Now, remember that these councils were not attended by all the believing church.

At the First [Second ecumenically] Council of Constantinople in 381AD, perpetual virginity was claimed but this has no basis in Scripture.

“Perpetual virginity of Mary” was also claimed at Council of Ephesus in 431AD. Pope Martin I at the Lateran Council of 649AD agreed to this. However, this belief arose at the end of the 2nd century among the ascetic circles who thought it too sacrilegious that the mother of our Lord had sex! Yet, God gave this commandment of the LORD to Adam and Eve: “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28b)

This perpetual virginity began to set up Miriam as very different, above all of us believers, who all have the same Holy Ghost living inside of them.

But that didn’t end there …

Pope Pius IX in “Ineffabilis Deus”(1854AD) wrote about the “Immaculate Conception”. Those who are unaware might assume this was for our sinless LORD, but it was not. This dogma states that Mary was free from sin! This errant tenet has been around since the 4th century. Yet Scripture says that “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23).

Next was the “Assumption of Mary”. Pope Pius XII made this official in 1950. If you don’t believe this lie, you may be labeled a heretic by the RCC. However, in the late 4th century, Epiphanius of Salamis studied this matter thoroughly and concluded that “No one knows her end”. There is no Scriptural basis for this!

This is how the devil would draw people into paganism and the cult of the Virgin Mary! Is this why the Ephesian church lost their “first love”?!

EPHESUS TODAY

Every year more a million Christians and Muslims visit Ephesus today. Yes, the Muslims pilgrimage here, also, as they honor Mary as righteous. They also visit Fatima, where there is a fallen angel that appears as “Mary”. This may be a uniting factor in this soon to come one- world religion!

It is proposed that the biggest statue of the Virgin Mary be erected near Ephesus.

“The Major of Selcuk [town near ancient Ephesus] declared that the biggest Statue of the Virgin Mary ever will be put up in Selcuk at the Nightingale Mountain. The place and the size of the statue are not certain for now. But it is planned to be like the size of Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janerio and Statue of Liberty in New York. For sure this will take more interest of the visitors in Ephesus and the area.” https:// http://www.magical-steps.com/the-gigantic-statue-of-the-virgin-mary-in- ephesus.html

(The Mother of All Asia–Tower of Peace in the Philippines is currently at the time of this writing the tallest statue of the Virgin Mary.)

Do these pilgrims ignore God commandments?

EXO 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a CARVED IMAGE—ANY LIKENESS OF ANYTHING THAT IS IN HEAVEN ABOVE, OR THAT IS IN THE EARTH BENEATH, OR THAT IS IN THE WATER UNDER THE EARTH; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them ….

There is a smaller statue of Mary near to her one-time home near Ephesus. Replicas are made and sold. So the modern day Ephesus is still doing what Paul preached against!

ACTS 19:26 … this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands. 27 So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess [now a fake Mary] may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.”

CONCLUSION

Whatever the reason that the Ephesians lost their first love, be it another person or a thing, this rebuke from the Lord should be a caution to all of us, to keep Him the center of our lives!

Yet, some people have websites that are totally dedicated to Mary, a fallacious one emphasizing these fake “appearances”. Some people sing to Mary. Processions with her as an idol are done in her name. None of this is right according to the Word of God. They say prayers to her. Some Catholics say that they pray to Mary for intercession, but this is a prayer of Pope Francis to Mary that points out his idolatry:

“We fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God”…. Blessed Virgin, illumine the minds of men and women engaged in scientific research, that they may find effective solutions to overcome this virus…. To you, who shine on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope, do we entrust ourselves, O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet Virgin Mary. Amen.” (May 2020) (From the Vatican archives)

Yet God is our refuge and protection! And only the Holy Spirit of God can “illumine” minds!

If the pope is praying this way, do you not think some of his followers pray similar things? Have many of these people who put Mary on a pedestal, lost their “first love”? Yeshua is LORD and God, and He alone deserves all the glory!

For more on the city of Ephesus, please see Arise, Seven Sleepers.

So where will you spend ETERNITY?

“Eternity” and other Christian music by Carolyn Anne Venable may be heard on Spotify, Pandora, Apple & other music apps.