After pointing out Ephesus' good qualities, the Lord declares that Ephesus had a big flaw:
"Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love" (Revelation 2:4)
This is one of the most misunderstood verses in all of Scripture. Most preachers seem to think that "leaving one's first love" refers to losing the "zeal and fervor" that many believers experience in their first weeks or months after converting to Christianity. To most preachers, losing one's first love means becoming a "pew-warming" member of the congregation who does not get involved in any of the church's many groups and activities. However, accepting such an interpretation of Revelation 2:4 would mean disregarding the 3 preceding verses. As we saw in the previous section, Revelation 2:1-3 portrays the Ephesians as iniquity-intolerant believers with a zeal for righteousness and as pain-enduring believers who labored without fainting. Does that sound like an indifferent, pew-warming group of believers? Obviously not!!! Therefore, Revelation 2:4 is another example of how preachers constantly take verses out of context, interpreting them with a literal mind and manipulating them in order to advance their religious, activity-driven agendas.
What, then, does the "first love" of Revelation 2:4 refer to? To answer that, we must go to what the Lord says to Ephesus in verse 7:
"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God" (Revelation 2:7)
The "tree of life" refers to the tree that God protected after man was kicked out of Eden:
"23Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." (Genesis 3:23-24)
The "sword" above refers to the logos Word of God, which, according to Hebrews 4:12, acts as a sword that judges the heart and the mind. The fact that the sword is a "flaming" sword refers to how God's judgments consume all unrighteousness and iniquity in us in order to perfect us. The sword's "turning" speaks of how the Word of God produces a process of conversion and transformation. In Scripture, the concepts of "circle", "roundness", and "wheel" are often associated with God's purifying processes that remove imperfections:
"But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream." (Amos 5:24)
[The phrase "run down" was translated from the Hebrew word galal, which literally means "to roll", which speaks of a circular motion.]
"7And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way. 8And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. 9And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day." (Joshua 5:7-9)
[The phrase "rolled away" in verse 9 was also translated from the Hebrew word galal mentioned above. The name "Gilgal" is derived from this word.]
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