TIMOTHY AND THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS.... Tradition would have it that John, had lived in Ephesus, during his old age. It was through him that the exalted Lord chose to address the church at Ephesus. Paul wrote to Timothy, whom he had instructed to remain on at Ephesus in order to deal with those who were teaching false doctrine (I Tim. 1:3-7). Of particular concern in the first epistle to Timothy was the matter of church leadership. Chapter 3 is devoted to the qualifications of elders and deacons. It would seem that some wished to be teachers who majored on the minors. Brief Historic Background: Ephesus was a city of the greatest commercial importance, because at that time communication was not as we know it today and roads were not as plentiful or as good as we have today. Trade was mostly conducted by the river that flowed down the river valley, thus the city was set at the mouth of the river Cayster. Also three roads converged on Ephesus. The great trade route from the Euphrates reached Ephesus by way of Colosse and Lodicaea, this bought in East trade...The road from Galatia came into Ephesus from the Sardis area.brining trade from Asia Minor...and the third road came from the south... Ephesus was at that time the Glamour Country of the Ancient world. Just read Revelation 18: 12-13... to see the merchandise. Ephesus was also a city of the greatest political importance.. it was know as the Supreme Metropolis of Asia, it was known as the free city because it enjoyed the freedom to self govern from Rome. Ephesus was a city of the greatest religious importance. At the heart of this city as the Temple of Diana. want to add that record shows that a Temple always existed in the city. The worship of the Temple was a weird. Worship in the temple was accompanied with shouts and wailing, the burning of incense, and the playing of music, The worshippers would work themselves into a frenzy and some of the darkest and most shameful things did happen. Lastly the people of the city of Ephesus were characterise as bad...notoriously BAD.... they were superstitious, and immoral. Such was the city of Ephesus... Thats were Paul left the youth preacher Timothy to work.. Let us never forget that as bad as Ephesus was ...God had a people there.... Good can always be found amongst the bad. To be continued.. dont want to bore you nice people.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 21:55:02 +0000
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