Revelation 2:7: Edit history

Context

Chapters 2–3 of Revelation contain letters sent to seven churches in Asia Minor. This verse is the last verse of the first letter, addressed to the church in Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7). The letter is presented as the words of the risen Christ to the church through John. Christ commends the Ephesian church for its labor and patience and for exposing false apostles. He nevertheless rebukes it because it has "left thy first love," and he calls it to repent (Revelation 2:4-5).

The phrase "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches" recurs in all seven letters. Because "churches" is plural, interpreters broadly agree that a letter addressed to one church becomes a word to all the churches. Each of the seven letters ends with a promise "to him that overcometh," and this verse contains the first of those promises. "Paradise" originally meant a garden, and the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) used the word for the Garden of Eden. The tree of life appears in Genesis 2–3 as the tree to which humanity lost access after the Fall, and it appears again in Revelation 22.

Interpretation

• Restoration of Eden: Most interpreters understand the promise as the recovery of the life lost through the Fall, that is, as a promise of eternal life.
• Historical background: Some scholars read the verse against the background of tree veneration associated with the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.
• Dispensationalist reading: Dispensationalist interpretation sometimes treats the seven churches as seven periods of church history, identifying the church in Ephesus with the church of the apostolic age.

Debates and Issues

Interpreters hold several views on who is meant by "him that overcometh."

• Calvinist tradition: Because all true believers persevere in faith to the end, the one who overcomes is understood to be every true believer (perseverance of the saints).
• Arminian and Wesleyan traditions: These traditions tend to read the promise as a conditional warning reminding believers that they may fail to keep the faith.

In South Korea, the movement Shincheonji interprets "him that overcometh" in the seven letters as a reference to a specific individual, namely its founder and leader. Korean denominations that have declared Shincheonji heretical, along with heresy counseling ministries, criticize this interpretation, arguing that it assigns to a single person a promise given to the whole church.

In Korean translation, the older Korean Revised Version uses the word gwasil, meaning "fruit."

In Korean Churches

In Korean Protestant churches, the letter to the church in Ephesus is frequently used as a sermon text on the theme of "recovering one's first love." The verse is also cited in instruction on guarding against heresy when the interpretation of "him that overcometh" is discussed.

Related Passages

• Genesis 2:9
• Genesis 3:22-24
• Revelation 22:2
• 2 Corinthians 12:4
• 1 John 5:4-5