Day 08 - Ephesus, Ephesus Museum

How is it the last day!?! This trip has been so incredible and has helped us to have a greater understanding of the Bible and deeper walk with God, which ultimately was the goal for this trip.

Pastor Ralph joked we had more falls than any other group! It was true, but thankfully we made it through the trip without any major injuries.

As we boarded the bus this morning, Melinda led us in a devotion from Ephesians since we were on our way to Ephesus! She read Paul’s prayer to the Ephesians, which she prayed over all of us today.

Then Gokhan taught us our last few Turkish phrases:

Iyi güneş - have a good day

Memnun oldum - nice to meet you

Before Ephesus, our first stop was shopping. We went to the Ege Lokum herbal and spice world. There was a demonstration of their specialities, including a menthol crystal that you put in hot water to breathe in when you are sick, okra oil for back pain, and desserts like Turkish delight. They had pomegranate and saffron tea, olive oil, honey, and there were samples of everything to try.

The group shopped in record time because we were eager to reach Ephesus, which was just a few minutes from the store.

There was no rain as we arrived but we were warned that the marble would be really slick still from the wetness. Given our track record for falling, we were on our guard and looking out for each other. However, as we were walking down the marble path towards the library, Caleb was going down the slick marble in the center because, “sliding is more fun!”

At the entrance, Gokhan taught us the history of the location from 1900 B.C. to 700 A.D. At its height, nearly a quarter of a million people resided here in Ephesus.

At the time there was an entry to Ephesus from the sea but now the port is 6 miles away. The city was on the major trade routes. It had the 3rd largest library in the world and the greatest theater of the Roman Empire that held 25,000 people. Clearly, money was not an issue here.

Austrians from the university of Vienna are in charge the dig and excavation of this site. 10% of the site is currently on the surface level and 90% is still to be excavated.

We were spoiled the rest of the trip to have many of the locations we visited completely to ourselves. At Ephesus there were many tour groups from all over the world, including 700 people from a Viking cruise. However, we remained pretty well spaced and never felt rushed. On a few occasions we had to wait for people to move to get a picture. But we did get to speak to a group of Americans, meet another GTI tour guide, and see another tour guide we had met on the first day in Antalya!

There were also many cats and dogs at this location. The most famous cat here is Garfield of Ephesus, which is his name on Instagram where he has over 7,000 followers! He is the orange cat on the ruins in the pictures.

Ephesus was built between two mountains but made good use of the mountainside to make terrace homes. They have only found 7 homes but there may be 40-60,000 more beneath the surface.

These terrace homes had central heating systems and channels of water in the wall that would have been like air conditioning.

They were in amazing condition and we saw a dining room and office with the original frescoes.

The first home was 12,000 square feet and was right at the entrance of the street, whereas the other houses would require a walk up the hill. Jeff commented, “Just a typical home in Windermere!” Gokhan said it may have been the home of the richest man in Asia.

A cool thing they found in the house was a carved shopping list with different items and their costs. It was 1 denarius for good fortune, which possibly meant the cost to buy the incense to burn at the temple.

As we walked down the marble roadway, we saw original mosaic floors and different colored pillars where the elite shops would have been, like today’s Hermes and Chanel. The mosaic was inspired by the design of  the traditional Turkish rugs.

We went into the ancient restrooms, which were only for the men. Gokhan explained that a slave would use warm water to keep the marble toilet seat from being cold and  would wait with bowl of vinegar with hyssop sticks with sponge on the end to take with your left hand and use as toilet paper. This was very disturbing to learn because this is exactly what was offered to Jesus when he was on the cross and said he was thirsty. What a disgusting insult to Him! Another example of how knowing the culture of the time deepens our understanding of Scripture.

Outside the library in the agora, or marketplace, we found a quiet spot on the edge of the ruins to hear Steve speak. He welcomed us to the Mall at Millenia of the day. He explained that just as we saw the crowds today, that was what life was like back then in the crossroads of the region.

Steve read from Acts 18 and gave us some background on Paul’s interactions with Aquila and Priscilla. Paul met them in Corinth where they were tent makers like Paul and sharing the gospel. They came to Ephesus with Paul and Priscilla and Aquila stayed here and planted a church. When Paul left they continued the church and Paul would reach out and check on them. They funded and led the church here and discipled others. Discipleship is important to make sure the truth is being told.

Steve also spoke to us about how Paul was healing people in the name of Jesus and others tried to do what Paul was doing and an evil spirit answered, “I know Jesus, I recognize Paul,  but who are you?’ Even the demons know Jesus, and they came out and attacked the false prophets. Fear fell upon the people of Ephesus and they believed in Jesus and began burning their books of magic and witchcraft to the value of 50,000 pieces of silver.

The early Christians confronted false teaching and false idols. What they were doing is so relevant today. Are we out in the community talking about the false gods? We came here to see what the church was like but now we need to bring what we learned back home and put it into practice. Like the letter to the church in Ephesus says in Revelation, we need to not abandon the love we had at first, the fire and the passion for Christ.

We could not go in the theater, as they are renovating it, but we had an amazing view. Pastor Ralph spoke to us in the midst of the crowds, which was really incredible because he spoke with such boldness and passion that other groups heard what was being said and were impacted as well. In fact, one woman started recording him!

He reminded us of the three promises from the beginning of the trip, that we would never read the New Testament the same, that we would walk where the early church walked, and that we would never be the same. And all three of those things happened.

Pastor Ralph said that this was where the biblical tour ended but really our journeys are just beginning.

Paul’s life was dramatically changed by Jesus, as were the lives of others we have learned and spoken about during this time we have spent in Turkey. And they used their faith to change the world. Rome did not crush Christianity, Christianity crushed and finished Rome. All we see of the Roman world is ruins. 

But Pastor Ralph had a word of warning. Because Turkey is 97% Muslim now, so what happened?

Why did Islam take over the area where the church was born? They stopped preaching the gospel. Religion is a system but the power is in the gospel. The gospel changes lives. The fire went out and religion came in. And now there is not a single church here.

Nick spoke about Romans 1:1, where Paul says he is bondservant of Christ Jesus. A bondservant is a slave by choice due to the love they have for their master. We need to be bondservants to Jesus as well and then he adopts us  as sons and daughters.

Ralph spoke personally of his difficult childhood and past mistakes and how his golf career developed and the biggest dreams of his life came true but he was unfulfilled and unhappy and he searched for something to fill the hole he felt. He studied other faiths and even questioned Christianity but all the questions he asked led him to Jesus and Jesus transformed his life. We all have stories of how Jesus changed our lives and we need to share them with others. We need to tell people about Jesus!

After hearing that final message, we left Ephesus and headed to lunch. We went to the ‘Our House’ restaurant for a home-cooked buffet with lots of eggplant and bean dishes and some delicious cheesy potatoes!

After lunch we headed to the Archaeological Museum. There was a giant stork nest on top of the museum! Inside, we saw many items found in the terrace houses at Ephesus, including crosses, jewelry, pottery, and coins. There were also large statues that were found there and a model of the temple of Artemis, which was our next stop.

The remains of the temple were just a few minutes away by bus. There is only 1 column left of 127 columns that were part of the massive design.

(Some of us were distracted by the three little puppies laying on the rocks behind Gokhan as he spoke. By some of us, I mean me. I was distracted by the puppies:)

What started as a cloudy and rainy day ended with sun and a beautiful blue sky as we took pictures at this final site.

Even though the weather improved, we were not able to do the cruise of the Aegean. Some were able to walk along the shoreline and Pastor Ralph and a few others took a dip in the water when we got back to the hotel!

Pastor Ralph thanked Gokhan and Chagri for their amazing kindness and guidance this week. They are both just incredible people and we appreciate their wonderful service to make this trip so incredible.

After returning to the hotel we had some free time to pack and explore the area.

We met for our final dinner and had a wonderful surprise to meet a beautiful family that was originally from Orlando and the wife’s parents actually knew Ralph and Melinda! What a small world. They were just finishing a 100 day tour of Europe studying the Reformation and the footsteps of Paul and the churches of Revelation here in Turkey as we did. Their children were so well spoken and inspiring to our group with their faith and knowledge of Scripture.

Then we went upstairs to one of the ballrooms and sat in a circle and took turns sharing what this trip has meant to us and the kairos moments we experienced. It was beautiful and moving time of sharing, with lots of laughs thrown in as well. We really became a family this trip and that was on display during this special time of fellowship.

When we finished, we were able to share communion together. The plan had been to celebrate communion in the home church in Laodicea but we were not allowed to there, so we made our own home church in the ballroom of the Charisma Deluxe hotel. What a beautiful and meaningful way to end this amazing journey together.

Thank you for following along with us on this trip. If we seem changed when we get home, it is because we see things differently now. We experienced Paul’s passion to spread the Word, we lived Jesus’ letters to the churches of Revelation, and we have a new fire to share Christ with others and be a light in a dark world. So ask us about it, we would all be happy to share!