by Harry BuererIn the second chapter of the book of Revelation John is being told to write letters to seven churches in Asia minor. The first of these letters is to the church in Ephesus. After commending the church for some things, John is told to rebuke the church because, “You have forsaken your first love… Repent and do the things you did at first.” (2:4-5) What was this “first love” that the church abandoned?
Since the teaching of Jesus was that the first and greatest commandment was to love God with all one’s being (Mark 12:28-30), it seems that the love of God is likely what is being referenced here. But the emphasis in the passage seems to be on doing particular deeds. As we examined last week, love of God seems to be connected with following his commandments throughout scripture. In light of this, the first love, that was abandoned, could have been God’s Torah.
The Psalmist certainly seems to consider God’s law as something to be loved. From the very first Psalm, the law of the Lord is to be delighted in and meditated on by the righteous person. (Psalm 1:2) But the Psalm that focuses the most on this issue is the longest Psalm, Psalm 119.
In the 176 verses of this Psalm, virtually every verse extols the virtues of God’s commandments. And loving them is the focus of many verses. “For I delight in your commands because I love them. I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees.” (119:47-48) “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” (119:97) “I hate double-minded men, but I love your law.” (119:113) “All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross; therefore I love your statutes.” (119:119) “Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.” (119:127-128) “I hate and abhor falsehood but I love your law.” (119:163) “Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.” (119:165) “I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly.” (119:167) and others. Truly this Psalm is a testimony of love for God’s law.
Incidentally, many of the verses of this Psalm also proclaim God’s law to be eternal. “Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.” (119:89) “Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.” (119:111) “Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever.” (119:152) “All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.” (119:160)
A common interpretation of this part of the book of Revelation is to consider the letters to the seven churches to be dealing with chronological eras of church history. Thus the letter to the church at Ephesus would describe the first few centuries after the ministry of Jesus. This brings to mind one of the most significant events in church history, the Fiscus Judaicus.
As you will recall, the Fiscus Judaicus was an onerous tax levied by the Roman empire against Jews in the later part of the first century. The way that the tax collectors determined who were Jews was by their worship and lifestyle. At this time there were many Gentile believers in Jesus. They were not Jews and they didn’t see any reason to pay a lot of money on the supposition that they were. Certainly scripture had instructed them to live a life that was pleasing to God, as they had become part of covenant Israel. But it’s easy to understand the incentives to minimize or eliminate that connection with Israel in order to save a lot of money.
It appears that it was about this time and for this reason that Gentile believers began to distance themselves from Jews and Judaism and began to define their religion as “Christianity” in contrast to Judaism. In order to distinguish themselves from Jews, they chose a different day of worship, ignored the biblical festivals, and began to interpret some of Paul’s writings as teaching that God’s law had been abrogated and no longer needed to be followed. This was in spite of the fact that both Jesus (Matthew 5:17-18) and Paul (Romans 3:31) insisted that the law was not obsolete but that it continued to be in effect.
Because it was politically popular, the bulk of the church began to hate and persecute the Jews as a people, accusing them of being “Christ-killers”. Over the ensuing centuries much of the anti-Semitism came from the Christian community, who thought they had replaced the Jews as God’s favored people.
This wrong turn by the bulk of Christianity in the late first and second centuries certainly fits the description of “leaving their first love.” The effects of it have continued to affect the practices of Christianity to this very day.
If we are to right this grievous wrong, we need to do what John writes to the church at Ephesus, “Repent and do the things that you did at first.” (Rev. 2:5) This would be turning back to God’s law and doing the things he instructed his people to do, as the first-century believers did.