Revelation 22:1 “Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;”
“Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write;”
Notice that God is not speaking to the church of Ephesus, He’s speaking to the angel of the church of Ephesus.
If we recall the definition of angel from beginner’s discipleship study, the common definition of an angel that we commonly hear is ‘messenger’ but that’s not an accurate definition. Whenever we look up the word ‘angel’ in the Bible, they do not always give messages. For example, when the Syrians conquer Judah and they were going to kill them, the angel went down to kill all the Syrians, he wasn’t giving them a message. An angel is more accurately defined as an appearance (by Dr. Ruckman) or representative (by Ps Gene Kim).
In this verse, the angel was not giving a message to Ephesus, but God was giving a message to the angel of the church of Ephesus. The angel of the church of Ephesus, meaning: representing Ephesus, appearing for Ephesus, it’s representing Ephesus.
This is one classic example that angels are more likely known to be appearances or representatives of something else:
2 Corinthians 11:14 “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”
This angel appears as light.
If an angel is a representative or an appearance of something, it’s going to be pretty interesting concerning spirits. The Bible talks about spirits:
– there are spirits that are clean, good
– there are spirits that are evil, these are known as unclean spirits or devils.
In the basic doctrine regarding demon possession, it is a result of our sin, that’s how demons possess us. Unclean spirits may also have been born or come from Satan himself, from the sins that we’ve committed.
This is just a theory (not some kind of new doctrine that’s established), if it’s true that unclean spirits come from sins, the Bible says angels are ministering spirits, they’re the opposite, they’re the clean spirits. If they are known to be appearances and representatives, it could be also a representation and appearance from something we do.
The Bible talks about angels as fire, the burning bush. The Bible says it was the angel but he didn’t come down as a man, he appeared as a burning bush. The Bible mentions angels are the morning stars. Some people think that the stars out there are angels, and Pastor doesn’t go out as far as to say that but there may be some truth in there. They might be an appearance of a star, and it might be the same thing with children or your own spiritual state. That’s why it makes sense that God is speaking to the angel of the church of Ephesus. The angel is representing that church. When God is rebuking, He’s speaking to that angel.
Even if it’s not true that angels appear from our actions, it is undoubtedly true that it is a representative or an appearance, it is not a messenger. Any verse that we look up in the scripture, these 2 definitions are going to match. Any time an angel shows up, it’s going to be a representative for the Lord in something on His behalf or it’s going to appear as something on God’s behalf.