The "slow to anger" part of God's name is to our great benefit. God is patient, and restrains his wrath, giving us time to repent. But we must not test the limits of God's patience. "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts...Hebrews 3:15
"I'm Warning You!"
November 4, 2008
The writer of Hebrews is sounding a warning. If you are in Christ, you share in the heavenly calling.
As a result we are to fix our thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. We are to encourage one another daily...so that none of us may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. Hebrews 3
The book of Revelation starts with words of warning to the believers of that day. The church at Ephesus had forsaken its first love. They were told to repent, to do the things they had done in the beginning.
And then they we given an ultimatum - a difinite warning. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. Revelation2:4-6
Ephesus in now a ruins, with part of the city dug out, but the vast majority of its formerly glorious buildings are dirt-covered impressions on the hillsides. What happened?
When Paul preached for two years in the Hall of Tyrannus, did anyone dream that within a hundred years or so the city would not be inhabitable? Preposterous!
And when this warning came, that they needed to remember the height from which they had fallen, and repent - was it just ignored? It now appears that the wrath of God was slowly poured out on that city in the following centuries, till it was no longer a city.
The harbour of Ephesus was the key to the city's wealth and trade, but silt carried by the River Kaistros (the Small Menderes River) began to cause problems during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, from 117 to 138 A.D.
By the fourth century, the harbour could hardly be used. Commerce decreased significantly, and Ephesus found itself facing an unavoidable decline.
In the sixth century, by reducing the area enclosed by the city walls, they attempted to simplify its defences. But when even this proved inadequate for their defence, they built a citadel on St. John's Hill.
Much of the population moved inside the walls. In the seventh and eighth centuries, Arabian armies threatened the city. Caliph Suleyman's armies reached Ephesus in 716.
The ancient city was completely abandoned by the tenth century, the remaining people finding a village a few kilometers to the east up in the hills more suitable. When Turks arrived at the beginning of the fourteenth century, they found Ephesus completely in ruins with no inhabitants.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. Revelation 2:7