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The “angel” or messenger is the Shaliach Tzibbur, of the Synagogue, or Jewish prayer leader. This title was understood by Jewish readers, but quite foreign to Gentile ears. And it has nothing to do with the Body of Christ.

Even a cursory comparison of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, to what is written here to the “angel” at Ephesus, should give anyone pause. Either Paul was contradicting Jesus, or Revelation is for a different audience and/or dispensation.

The difference between Ephesians, and all of Paul’s later letters, to the letter to Ephesus (and Revelation in general) is profound. Its night and day, judgment versus Grace, and wrath instead of Love.

Revelation 2:1-7 (AMP)
1 TO THE angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Ephesus write: These are the words of Him Who holds the seven stars [which are the messengers of the seven churches] in His right hand, Who goes about among the seven golden lampstands [which are the seven churches]:
2 I know your industry and activities, laborious toil and trouble, and your patient endurance, and how you cannot tolerate wicked [men] and have tested and critically appraised those who call [themselves] apostles (special messengers of Christ) and yet are not, and have found them to be impostors and liars.
3 I know you are enduring patiently and are bearing up for My name’s sake, and you have not fainted or become exhausted or grown weary.
4 But I have this [one charge to make] against you: that you have left (abandoned) the love that you had at first [you have deserted Me, your first love].
5 Remember then from what heights you have fallen. Repent (change the inner man to meet God’s will) and do the works you did previously [when first you knew the Lord], or else I will visit you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you change your mind and repent.
6 Yet you have this [in your favor and to your credit]: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans [what they are doing as corrupters of the people], which I Myself also detest.
7 He who is able to hear, let him listen to and give heed to what the Spirit says to the assemblies (churches). To him who overcomes (is victorious), I will grant to eat [of the fruit] of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Now compare THAT to Paul’s Revelation to the Body of Christ.

Ephesians 2:4-10 (AMP)
4 But Godâ€”so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us,
5 Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation).
6 And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
7 He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in [His] kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;
9 Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]
10 For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].

To further confirm this point, consider OT references in Revelation. Matthew and Hebrews represent two of the most “Jewish” books in the NT. There you find 92 and 102 references to the OT respectively. In Revelation, there are 285. Even though written in Greek, the Hebrew nature of Revelation, the imagery and expressions, cannot be denied. This connects the book back to the OT, and Israel. Revelation is FOR the Body of Christ, but not written TO or ABOUT us. Proceed with great caution attempting to apply what John writes in Revelation, to the Body of Christ as described by Paul.

The very 1st chapter spells out to whom the book is written - servants, a name which peculiarly belongs to Israel. You will not find that name applied to the Body of Christ. In fact, you will note specific verses confirming this change, reaching its glorious conclusion in Paul’s prison letters.

John 15:15 (AMP)
15 I do not call you servants (slaves) any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing (working out). But I have called you My friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father. [I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from Him.]

2 Corinthians 6:17-18 (AMP)
17 So, come out from among [unbelievers], and separate (sever) yourselves from them, says the Lord, and touch not [any] unclean thing; then I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor,
18 And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

Galatians 4:7 (AMP)
7 Therefore, you are no longer a slave (bond servant) but a son; and if a son, then [it follows that you are] an heir by the aid of God, through Christ.

Romans 8:14-16 (AMP)
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
15 For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father!
16 The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God.

Ephesians 1:5-6 (AMP)
5 For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent]â€”
6 [So that we might be] to the praise and the commendation of His glorious grace (favor and mercy), which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

Not sure how anyone could read Ephesians, Philippians, or Colossians, three of the books written specifically to, about, AND for the Body of Christ, and think it necessary to suffer or work their way to righteousness, in this life, or the next. We are HIS workmanship, made alive and COMPLETE in Christ, seated in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Its a glorious Truth that should be celebrated, not debated and reasoned away, looking for ways to prove that God’s Grace is insufficient. That somehow, the work of Jesus was incomplete. What could a mere mortal do, in this life or the next, that would surpass what Jesus has already done? Believe God’s Word, plant it in your heart. Let it mature in you so His Truth will manifest inside. Then you can truly enjoy all that God HAS DONE for you.