|
About Jesus Steve Sweetman This Section - Chapters 2 Introduction
To The Seven Churches First
of all, within Evangelical circles the most common understanding of these
seven letters is that they are directed to seven specific churches in
John's day. Besides that, many
Prophetic Futurists believe that these seven churches represent seven
stages in church history since the Day of Pentecost right up to the last
day of this age. Although I
understand how this secondary interpretation is derived, I've never fully
adopted it, mainly because the text itself does not specifically state
this interpretation, and also, because these letters sound more Old
Testament Jewish in nature than New Testament Christian in nature. There
is another less taught view of these seven letters that I am beginning,
with some reluctance, to support. This
view teaches that these seven letters, although addressed to seven
specific assemblies in cities in John's day, are prophetically directed to
Jewish communities at the end of the age.
They say this because of the total Jewish Old Testament style they
are written in. Those holding
to this view suggest that if you study these assemblies carefully they
parallel one of seven periods in Old Testament Jewish history. The
problem here is the same as the view that these letters are seven periods
in church history. There is no
textual support for this.
In
my following commentary I will attempt to point out some main points to
each of the above views. Beyond
these two views, there are some real lessons to be learned, whether you
are a Jew or a Christian. There
is much we can learn from what Jesus said in these letters, both as
individual Christians and the church.
These
letters are directed to angels as most English texts state.
The word "angel" is translated from the Greek word "aggelos"
which simply means a "messenger."
So, if we should understand angel as a heavenly being, we must
understand those to whom these letters were written had angels over them
or associated with them. If we
are to understand this Greek word to be messenger, as some do, then we are
talking about a human, possibly a pastor, as some believe who hold to the
view that Jesus is speaking to churches.
Those who believe that Jesus is speaking to Jewish communities say
that the angels are spokesmen for the priests, since priest had a person
speaking on his behalf in Old Testament times. The
Greek word "ekklesia" is translated as "church" in
most English translations of the New Testament.
I see church as being a poor word in this case, especially in light
of the fact that the modern church resembles the first or second
generation church in very few ways. Ekklesia
simply means an assembly or community of people set apart for a specific
purpose, and in this case, the ekklesia is the community of the people of
God or Jesus. As
I've pointed out, the most common view among Prophetic Futurists
concerning these seven letters is that they were written to seven specific
churches that existed when John penned this book.
Beyond this, many, not all, Prophetic Futurists, believe that these
seven churches represent seven different and distinct eras in church
history. One reason for this
thinking is because of the word "church" in our English Bibles.
Because "ekklesia" is translated as "church" we
think the church is what is being talked about here.
The problem is that "ekklesia" doesn't have to be
translated as "church." It
could be translated as "assembly," or as I prefer,
"community." Understanding
"ekklesia" as assembly or community puts a whole different slant
on one's interpretation of these letters.
You may not think in terms of the New Testament church.
Three
problems that I see in thinking that these seven churches represent seven
eras of church history are as follows.
One problem is that the text does not say this.
This is pure interpretation, as I've said.
The second problem as I see it is that for the most part, those
holding to this view only speak of the western church in their
interpretation, as if the eastern church has never existed.
That's not the case. The
third problem as I see it is that all that is said in these letters is
purely Jewish Old Testament in nature and because of that, it is difficult
to apply what is said to the church.
The
other less known view that I've pointed out is that the assemblies, or,
the community of God's people spoken of in these letters are Jewish
communities that exist at the end of this age.
This could easily be understood if you don't translate
"ekklesia" as church, but as assembly or community of God's
people.
The
bottom line for me at the present time is that I prefer not to translate
"ekklesia" as church in Revelation 2 and 3.
As a matter of fact, I prefer to translate "ekklesia" as
"community of God's people" throughout the New Testament, even
when it is in reference to what we traditionally call church.
I say this because our modern concept of church is not what the New
Testament teaches.
Another
thing to note concerns the people of God in Thyatira.
Some early Christian writers of the second century say that at the
time John wrote Revelation there was no church at Thyatira.
If this is so, and this might be debatable, then those holding to
the view that these seven letters were directed to seven specific churches
in John's day might be mistaken.
The
view that these seven letters are written to and about the church is well
written about. The view that
these letters might be written to and about the Jewish community is less
written about. For this
reason, I suggest you read E. W. Bullinger's commentary of Revelation
entitled "The Apocalypse." It
was published in 1909. He is a
scholar when it comes to theology, history, and the original languages of
the Bible. What
I will attempt to do in my commentary is to briefly state some main points
of each view as I suggest lessons to be learned for both the
individual Christian and the church today. In
order to get an understanding of the following letters you must read the
whole section concerning each letter.
I don't necessarily comment on one verse at a time. The
Church In Ephesus
(ch. 2:1-7) Before
I comment on this section of Revelation I insert an article I wrote on
verse one. Revelation
2:1 reads: "To
the angel of the church in Our
English word "church" seen in the above verse and throughout the
New Testament is translated from the Greek word "ekklesia."
In the first-century Greco-Roman world an ekklesia was a group of
people taken from the general population for a specific purpose.
A fishing guild, a governing senate, or a ladies knitting group,
are all examples of an ekklesia. In
terms, then, of the culture in which the New Testament was written, church
is the group of people Jesus takes out of the general population to
fulfill His specific purpose. In
Biblical terms, the concept of ekklesia or church originates in the Hebrew
Old Testament where the Jews were considered an ekklesia or a church, or
in their language, a "synago."
In those days the Jews were a people who God took from the general
population for a specific purpose, that was, to be a community of people
living in right relationship with Himself and with each other so He could
accomplish His will through their community.
Community was central to the individual Jew.
It was where the spiritual and material needs of the individual
were to be met. We thus add
the concept of community to ekklesia or church.
In terms of the church's Hebrew roots, church is the community of
people Jesus takes from the general population who live in right
relationship with Himself and with each other.
Within community all of the spiritual and material needs of the
individual believer are to be met as the community accomplishes Jesus'
will. In
addition to the above, we add another dimension to church.
In Acts 2 we note that the Holy Spirit entered the individual
believer and by so doing He also entered the corporate community of
believers, the later being something that is often missed when reading
Acts 2. The idea that the Holy
Spirit exists within Jesus' corporate community as well as the individual
believer is seen in the word "lampstand" in Revelation 2:1.
According to Revelation 1:20, the lampstand refers to the church.
It is thus obvious that the Holy Spirit's residency within the
lampstand, the corporate community of church, is the light that lights the
lampstand community. With this
in mind, and according to Revelation 2:5, if a lampstand community of
believers forsakes its love for Jesus, and all of which that entails, the
Holy Spirit will leave the community.
The lampstand community will no longer be a legitimate church,
which is the case with many groups calling themselves church today.
When
understanding the Biblical meaning of church, we cannot view church in
terms of today's western-world, often impersonal and non-relational
church. That is not how Jesus
understood church when He asked John to pen the letters we read in
Revelation, chapters 2 and 3. Church
is the community of people Jesus takes from the general population to live
in right relationship with Himself and with each other.
It is where all of the spiritual and material needs of the believer
are to be met as the resident Holy Spirit assists in accomplishing the
will of Jesus among His community, the church.
Those
who hold to the thinking that the prophetic significance of this letter
corresponds to a specific historic era of church history see the dating of
this era beginning in Acts 2 and ending in or around 100 A D.
They call it the " Note
in verse 1 the words: "to the angel of the church at …"
You will note that each subsequent letter begins this way.
Our English Bibles give us the impression that Jesus was talking to
certain angels who were over these seven churches, or as I would say,
seven communities of God's people. The
question should be asked: "Does the word "angel" mean angel
as we know it?" It's
important to note that both the Greek and Hebrew word translated as angel
in the Bible simply means a messenger.
Therefore, it is possible that these angels were human messengers,
were human leaders sent and appointed by God to the people of God.
At the moment I'm not really sure if these messengers are men or
angels. I've traditionally
understood them to be angels but I now have doubts about that.
Ephesus
was a thriving sea port metropolis.
The goddess Diana or Artemis was the goddess these people
worshiped. There was a huge
temple built for her which was one of the wonders of the world at that
time. It was said that Diana fell from the sky and thus was also known as
the "moon god." She
was the god that protected animals and the various statues made of her
often had a deer besides her, symbolizing this. She
was also known as the "mother god" that symbolized fertility. Statues
of her ranged from being young with a short tunic or dress to more mature
wearing no top to cover her multiple breasts, symbolizing her nurturing
aspect. The constant
reminder and worship of Diana might have been part of the reason why
The
community of believers at Ephesus was established by Paul as seen in Acts
20, and the Christians there came to love him, yet when the Book of
Revelation was written to these seven communities, Paul was long gone.
The next generation of believers was now the ones to whom this
prophetic letter was sent. Christian
tradition states that the Apostle John was the leader of the church at A
disciple of John named Papias, who wrote five books that we don't have,
says that there were actually two Johns in and around
Jesus
introduces Himself as "the One who holds the seven stars in His hands
and walks among the seven lampstands."
Whether the stars are real angels or some other kind of messenger,
Jesus holds them. He protects,
cares for, and has authority over them.
Jesus
also walks among the lampstands, or churches as Revelation 1:20 defines
the word "lampstand." Jesus
walked among these seven churches, or, community of God's people. My
thinking is that if He walked among these particular communities, I'm sure
He walked among other communities of believers as well, and that might
well include your church. As
I've stated earlier, the use of the word "lampstand" is Old
Testament Hebrew orientated. Nowhere
in the New Testament is the church described as being lampstands, other
than here.
Jesus
said that He knows certain things about this community of believers which
He speaks well of. He said
that He knows their deeds, hard work and perseverance. Jesus acknowledged
that these Christians are a very hard working group of people that don’t
give up. They sound like they
are very intentional and persistent, but such character qualities are not
sufficient for Jesus.
Jesus
also acknowledged the fact that "these people do not tolerate wicked
men." He also knew that
"they have tested those who claim to be apostles and are not, and
have found them to be false." These
people not only do good works but they have an emphases on truth and right
teaching. Doctrinally
speaking, it looks like these people were in good shape.
This would make sense if John the apostle was their leader. Note
the word "apostles" in verse 2.
This word is a New Testament church word.
The use of the word "apostle" would be a point to
consider that this letter was written to a church in John's day which
might well, then, be prophetically significant for a future Christian
church. This is one reason why
many believe that this church is prophetic of the first century church.
Note
that Jesus Himself calls false teachers wicked men.
We should do the same. Jesus
is extremely interested in the fact that His people hold to good teaching,
or right doctrine.
In
verse 3 we see that these people had endured much hardship and had not
given up or "grown weary." This
is such a very good quality to have. During
the time of this writing by John there was a major persecution of
Christians, especially in this part of the
You
would think that Jesus would be very happy with these people but He
wasn’t totally happy. After
building these people up and acknowledging some of their good points, He
then said this in verse 4. "Yet,
I hold this against you." This
must have been a little bit of a shock to these people.
After hearing the good words they might have been feeling pretty
good about themselves. Now
that Jesus said that He holds something against them, their feelings
probably abruptly changed.
The
NIV uses the word "yet." Some
other translations use the word "nevertheless."
Either word pretty well balances all of the good things that Jesus
just said about these people with the bad things He is about to say.
What
Jesus had against these believers was the fact "they forsook their
first love." These people
didn’t lose their first love unintentionally. They
left it, meaning they walked away from it.
They probably left it on an individual basis and a collective basis
as well. Remember, Jesus is
talking to the whole assembly of God's people here.
He's saying that the community as a whole has lost or forsaken its
collective love and affection that it once had for Him.
The fact of the matter is that a whole community cannot lose its
first love without the individuals first losing their first love first.
Yes,
doctrinally speaking, these people were doing well.
They were working hard, but their love for Jesus had long since
disappeared. This is often the
case. The Christian life for
both the individual and the church becomes routine as we go about the
business of church. This is
one of our main problems today. We’re
about the business of church and we’ve lost the love and affection that
we had at the beginning, much like husbands and wives cool down in their
relationship after a few years of marriage.
In
verse 5 Jesus said: "Remember the height from which you have
fallen." This fall
evidently wasn’t just a little drop.
It sounds like a major fall from a high cliff.
Jesus wants these believers to think about what He is saying by
using the word "remember." These
people needed to be made aware that they have fallen out of love to a
major degree.
The
immediate recipient of this letter was directed to a church in the first
century. By the time these
words would have been spoken to these people it would have been the second
generation of Christians. Many,
if not most, of the first Christians would have died off by this time.
One of the hardest things for the church to do it seems is to
maintain its fervor for Jesus from one generation to the next.
So
what was Jesus’ advice to these people?
What was His command? He
first told them to remember. They
were to remember how it used to be. Once
remembering, Jesus told them to repent, that is, to change their ways.
Then He told them to "do the things you did at first."
There
are three things Jesus said here. They
are; remember, repent, and do the things they once did, but how could they
do that? This is Jesus’
advice concerning renewing the relational spark that has been lost.
Once they remember how it used to be and turn back towards that
direction, and then start doing the things they once did, then the
relational spark will return.
The
same can be said of the husband and wife relationship.
As time goes on, things cool down, and the spark in their hearts is
lost. Jesus would tell
this couple to remember how things used to be and turn their attention to
returning to those days. Then,
once remembering what once was, do some of the things you once did.
The doing of these things will create an affectionate spark in the
heart once again. By
doing the things you did when you first became a Christian, the relational
spark can return as well. Maybe
it was reading your Bible. Maybe
it was witnessing. Maybe it
was praying. There are all
sorts of things we once did. Start
doing them again and see the spark return. This is Jesus’ advice to
apathy and routine.
The
last part of verse 5 sounds devastating to me.
Jesus said that if those at
Many
churches today exist in name only. They
are self propitiating. They
can exist on their own effort, but Jesus has long since left them.
This was what Jesus was warning these people about.
The
very crux and intent of the New Testament is for God to live among His
people through His Spirit. These
people were losing God’s intent for their existence.
If they were going to continue on this path, then God Himself would
remove Himself from their midst.
Verse
5 is a devastating thought so Jesus had to pick these people up a bit and
so He told them that they had one thing in their favour and that was they
hated the practice of the Nicolaitans as He did too.
Some
believe that history knows little to nothing about the Nicolaitans.
Others say that they were a heretical group with their false
apostles and teachers. They
were quite immoral and engaged in sexual orgies.
This group of people adopted the Greco/Roman thinking that separate
soul from body. They believed
the soul was holy and the body was so evil that it was beyond repair.
Therefore, since the body could not be fixed, they gave into its
sinfulness as seen in sexual sins. Adopting a worldly philosophy like this
has hindered the church throughout the ages, right up to this very day.
Note
that Jesus hates the practice of these heretic people.
He doesn’t say that He hates the people.
So we see that Jesus does hate the sin but not the sinner. This
does not suggest that the sinner will be saved in the long run.
Another thing to note is that Jesus does hate. He
still has the capacity to hate. Such
hatred is clearly a righteous hatred. In
verse 7 we read: "He that has an ear let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches." We
see a couple of things here. One
thing we see is that the Holy Spirit is speaking, but you might think that
it was Jesus who was speaking. It
is the Spirit of Christ speaking.
Another
thing to note is that "he that has an ear let him hear."
Who might the word "he" be in reference?
"He" refers to the Christians at
Jesus
closed by saying that "he that overcomes" will be able to eat
from the tree of life in the paradise of God."
This suggests that there is an overcoming process in the life of
both the Christian and the church. We
just don’t slide through the Christian life.
The church does not just slide along.
It’s not all over as soon as we get saved.
We have got things to overcome.
We
see this tree of life in the Garden of Eden and we also see it in the New
Jerusalem at the end of the Book of Revelation.
That which was not permitted for Adam to eat will be permitted for
those who overcome. John, in
his first letter (1 John 5:4) tells us who the one who overcomes is.
He is one who is truly born of God.
Therefore, I believe I can safely say that if you see one giving
himself to the world, he is not a real Christian.
He is not one who has been born of God, as in, being born again, as
John also says in John 3:1 to 6.
Besides
the fact that the wording in this passage is very Jewish, those holding to
the view that this letter is written to Jewish communities at the end of
this age point to the fact that Jesus', or, Yahweh's, intention for the
Jews was to walk among them. They
were to be His lampstand, an Old Testament tabernacle word.
That was the very purpose of the tabernacle of Moses and later the
temple. The
emphases on works and not grace here is another thing to note.
Jews in Old Testament times were all about works.
It is an interesting project to compare Paul's letter to the
Ephesians with this letter. The
content of each letter almost seems to be written to two different groups.
Either those in Paul,
in his letter to the Ephesian believers emphasized grace.
Here, Jesus seems to be emphasizing works, something Jews knew all
about from the Law of Moses. That
being said, Jesus was telling these people to return to their first love,
when, they first encountered the grace of God, from which valid Christian
works are derived. Again,
for many, the very mention of lampstands is a reference to the lampstand
in the tabernacle, or, later on in the temple. This
again shows us the Jewish nature of this letter and is one reason why this
letter might well be written to Jews living at the end of this age.
Verse 1 speaks of Jesus walking among the seven lampstands.
In Deuteronomy 23:14 we see God walking among His people. The
idea that idolatry is mentioned here is something to consider when it
comes to the Jewish nature of this letter.
Idolatry has been a constant problem with the Jews throughout
history. This was not so much
the case in the church when John penned Revelation, although the roots of
such idolatry were beginning to sprout.
These
people had lost their first love and so did For
more specific and technical understanding of this Jewish view I refer you
again to E. W. Bullinger's book entitled "The Apocalypse."
There
are number of things that both individual Christians and the church can
learn from this letter. I've
already talked about losing our first love, so I will leave that one.
Another point to be made here is how Jesus hates false doctrine and
false teaching, both of which are becoming more evident in our modern
church. If Jesus hates it, so
should we. Sad to say, the
predominant thinking of much of modern Christianity has little regard for
good doctrine. Jesus
commended these people for their good works.
Evangelicals emphasize good works, especially in light of Ephesians
2:8 through 10 which states that we are not saved by works but by grace.
There is no doubt about that. That
being said, the same passage states that we as Christians are called to do
good works. Evangelicals must
never forget this fact. Genuine
faith in God's grace will produce genuine works for Jesus. This
section ends with the admonition to overcome.
Much of Christianity throughout the world today is suffering
for the sake of Christ. The
western world Christian has not experienced as much suffering as other
Christians in the past or in other parts of the world today, but, because
the West is forsaking its Judeo/Christian influenced past, we can expect
severe persecution in the days ahead.
It's already beginning to happen.
This admonition to overcome speaks to us today.
We can't overlook it.
To
The Church At Smyrna
(ch. 2:8-11) Those
who believe that the seven churches addressed in Revelation 2 and 3
represent seven different church ages in church history call this church
the Persecuted church. It
existed from about 100 A D to about 312 A D.
They call this age the Persecuted church because during this time
period the whole church had been persecuted more than any other whole
church in history. It's not
that parts of the church haven't experienced such persecution in other
eras of history because parts have. We're
talking about the whole church here. Every
part of the church experienced persecution and poverty during this time
period. It has been said
that there might have been at least five million Christians killed during
this time period. From about
50 A D until 312 A D there were ten major periods of government sponsored
persecution, and when John penned this book one of these times of
persecution was well under way.
Those
who believe these letters are written to Jewish communities at the end of
this age parallel this community of Jews to Israel's wandering in the
desert because what is stated seems to portray Israel's wandering in the
wilderness. For
my comment on the word "angel" and the word "church"
in this section I refer you back to my introduction to Revelation 2 and 3.
Like
Polycarp,
one of the more important leaders in the church was the lead elder in
Jesus
addressed this community of believers by saying He is the First and Last,
one who was dead but now lives. Like
the city of
The
acknowledgements that Jesus made to these people are that He knows their
affliction and their poverty. Their
poverty most likely resulted from their affliction, meaning, the
persecution they received for their faith in Jesus. This
tells us that just because one is a Christian does not mean he will be
materially wealthy.
"Yet
you are rich," Jesus said. It
is clear that the richness that Jesus was referring to here is rich in the
Spirit, rich in faith, rich in grace, and rich in all things that pertain
to Jesus. It was the abundant
life that Jesus spoke of that is found in John 10:10. Even
though these people were materially poor, Jesus saw them as being wealthy.
This tells you something about Jesus’ view of richness.
This should also tell you about the false teaching of the
Prosperity Gospel that is being taught these days.
It's simply false doctrine. Nowhere
in the New Testament does it even suggest that because you are a Christian
you will be materially or financially wealthy.
Verse
9 is both interesting and controversial.
The verse speaks of these people being slandered by those who claim
to be Jews but are not Jews. Those
who believe that this passage is directed towards the
Those
who believe Jesus is speaking to a New Testament church here in chapter 2
will remind us what Jesus said about the Jews while on earth.
He said that the father of the Jews was really the devil and not
God. See John 8:44.
The point to be made here is that the synagogue was really the
synagogue of Satan as stated by Jesus here in Revelation 2.
Those
holding to the view that these seven letters are written to Jewish
communities at the end of this age point out that it makes no sense,
especially in John's day, that Christians would want to portray themselves
as Jews. If this letter is
written to Jews during the tribulation, then the Jews of the synagogue of
Satan are of the same apostate Jewish stream that Jesus said belonged to
Satan in John 8.
Jesus
told these people not to fear what they will soon experience in the way of
persecution. They will be put
into prison and some may even die, yet, all this will be "a
test." If they pass the
test, even though they die, they will receive a crown of life.
Jesus will reward them in Heaven.
The
NIV says that these people will suffer persecution for ten days.
Some scholars say that these words can also be interpreted
"within ten days," meaning, "within ten days"
persecution will begin. Whether
these people experienced persecution for ten days, or it will come in ten
days, Jesus wants them to remain faithful, and even more than that.
The Greek verb tense suggest that they actually become more
faithful in these times of tribulation, not merely keeping the faith they
had.
Some
try to make something out of these ten days. The
ten days are either ten literal days or a short period of time.
Some Greek scholars say that this is actually a first century Greek
idiom, meaning, a short period of time.
Some suggest that during this particular church age that there was
ten distinct periods of tribulation. Others
suggest that the ten are ten years just prior to 312 A D which was the
worst era of persecution in this time period.
Still others feel that these ten days represent ten distinct and
historic times within this time period when persecution of Christians were
at its worst. This
passage reminds me of Matthew 10:22 where Jesus told his Jewish followers
that they will be hated by all men for His name sake, but they must endure
unto the very end. Note
that Jesus said that the devil will put these people in prison.
The text states that this is a test.
Jesus then said to remain faithful.
God allows the devil to imprison these people in order to test
their faith, their trust in Him. Whether
Christians or Jews, tests are always meant to be a test of our trust in
Jesus. Sometime
we rebuke the devil under times of testing.
We attempt to send him away but here we see that the devil is
actually a tool in the hand of God. Attempting
to send the devil away in this situation would be futile.
Jesus
told these people to be faithful to the point of death.
If they are faithful they will receive a crown of life.
Whether you believe these words were directed to Christians in the
first century or Jewish believers in the tribulation, both will receive a
crown of life. Christians were
imprisoned and killed in the first three centuries.
The same is true for believers during the tribulation period at the
end of this age. The crown of
life speaks of the resurrected life we have in Jesus and all that goes
along with it. It is for this
reason that the word "crown" must be understood in metamorphic
terms. Jesus is not talking
about a literal crown we will ware on our heads.
Once
again the admonition is given to those who hear what is said.
He that has an ear to hear let him hear.
We all have ears. We
need to first hear the Word of the Lord and then we need to take it to
heart in order to understand it so it will sink into our souls where it
becomes wisdom by which we live.
For
those who overcome the tribulation, they will not experience the second
death. The second death is the
We
should note that Jesus had nothing bad to say about these people.
They were faithful to Him despite all of the persecution they went
through and all the poverty they had to endure.
This tells us something about persecution.
It tells us that persecution is part of being Christian.
It is a tool in the hand of the Lord to strengthen His people.
The simple fact is that if Christians are living godly lives in an
ungodly world, they will suffer persecution to one extent or another.
The
western church hasn't suffered such persecution all that much because of
its Christian influence in our western nations, but, as this influence
disappears, which it is now doing, we can expect persecution.
It's beginning to happen at this very moment.
This also tells us something about poverty.
Poverty doesn't mean one is out of the will of God.
It often means just the opposite.
The Prosperity Gospel that is popular in today's church is a false
and damaging doctrine. Poverty
pushes people into Jesus, or at least it should.
If poverty is a sign that one is out of God's will then the Apostle
Paul was never in God's will, and I don't believe that to be true.
Those
who believe that this letter was written to Jewish communities living at
the end of this age point out in verse 8 that Jesus tells these people
that He died and rose from the dead. This
is the admonition that Jesus would have to tell these Jewish people at the
end of this age. The one that
they have claimed not to be their Messiah for so long is their Messiah.
This is the very message that the 144,000 Jewish evangelists of
Revelation 7 will preach. For
those who hold to the thinking that this letter also represents the Jews
wandering in the wilderness point out the poverty and slanders mentioned
in verse 9. The Jews in the
wilderness were poor and looked down upon as they headed for Lessons
for us to learn from this church are many.
As I've said earlier, poverty does not mean you are out of God's
will. Poverty doesn't mean you
are not blessed by God. If
this were so, much of the first generation church would be out of God's
will and that would include the Apostle Paul, who clearly was not out of
God's will. Overcoming
persecution is a theme in most all of these seven letters.
There is much for Christians to overcome in ordinary daily life but
as we approach the end of this age all Christians everywhere will suffer
for the sake of Christ. Even
those of us in the western world who have not suffered so will suffer.
We must overcome.
To
The Church At
Pergamum
(ch. 2:12-17) For
those who see these churches as various periods of time throughout church
history, this church is often called "the Indulged Church" that
existed between 312 to 606 A
D. This period of time began
when Those
who hold to the view that these letters are addressed to Jewish
communities at the end of this age parallel this community of Jews to the
last part of Israel's wandering in the wilderness.
Jesus
introduced Himself as the "one who has the sharp double-edged
sword." If you remember
in the description of Jesus in chapter 1, He had such a sword coming out
of His mouth. The sword
represents His Word, and the power of His Word.
In
verse 13 Jesus said: "I know where you live – where Satan has his
throne." The symbol for
the god Asklepois was a snake, just like Satan’s symbol seen in Genesis,
chapter 3. There was lots of
ungodly worship here. Satan
seemed to live here in a special way.
The
Greek word for the English word "throne" simply means "a
seat," usually associated with the seat, or chair, of the head of the
house. This suggests that
Satan was in fact the head of this city.
It is understood by many, if not by most Bible teachers, that the
reference to "satan's throne" is in reference to the temple
dedicated to Zeus.
Jesus
spoke of a man named Antipas, who was killed for his faith in Jesus.
Jesus acknowledged that the church did not give up on its faith
even when Antipas was killed. Many
might forsake their faith if a friend gets killed for his faith, but not
these people. The name Antipas
means "against all." No
one really knows who this man was.
If
this letter was specifically directed to the church in Pergamaum in John's
day, which I believe it was, then Antipas would probably have been
executed at the
It
is interesting to note that during the last half of the 19th
century much of the Those
who believe this letter is written to a Jewish community prior to the
return of Christ will tell you that Antipas will be a real man in history.
The Bible does prophesy about specific men prior to them being
alive. King Cyrus of
Verse
14 says: "Nevertheless, I have a few things against you…"
Jesus said that within the church there are people like Balaam in
the Old Testament. Balaam
tried to walk both sides of the fence, that is, try to follow God and the
Gentile king Balak. That was impossible and in the long run Balaam led
In
the During
the tribulation, the anti-Christ will do exactly as Balaam did.
He will unite the religions of the world, fuse it with sensuality
and sexuality, as was the case back the both the Greek and Roman culture.
This could well be an allusion to the anti-Christ's religion.
We will talk more about this in later chapters.
Jesus
also told these people that some followed the Nicolatian cult, as we saw
the
In
verse 16 Jesus told these people to repent or else He would soon come and
"fight against them with the sword of His mouth."
These are strong words. Jesus
Himself in one sense of the word would become the enemy of these people.
Jesus would fight these people.
Jesus would fight against His apostate people, whether the church
or Note
in verse 16 that Jesus said that He would come to those people.
Then He said that He would "fight against them."
The word "them" must be in reference to those holding to
the false doctrine, which appears to be the majority of the church.
You might say this false doctrine was the adopted and recognized
teaching of this local church. Again,
we see that Jesus detests false doctrine.
Right teaching is important to Him.
Note
that Jesus would fight those who held to this false doctrine with the
sword of His mouth. Balaam was
actually killed by the sword as seen in Numbers 31:8.
Verse
17 gives the admonition to those who can hear as He does in the other
letters. Again, if you have
ears, you must listen, take note, and understand what Jesus is saying.
For
those who can overcome these things, including all of the false teaching,
Jesus said that He would give them hidden manna and a white stone with a
new name written on it. Both
of these signify better things to come in the next life.
There
are a number of possibilities of what the white stones might be.
In Roman courts, those who were acquitted were given a white stone,
and those who were condemned were given a black stone.
Jesus has acquitted us. White
stones were also often used as an invitation card to a special event. Manna
is in reference to the manna that Israelis ate while escaping from As
I will say in all of these letters, those holding to the view that these
letters are directed to Jewish communities point out the Jewish nature of
this letter to back their thinking. Balaam
is seen in Although
there is no specific reference in the first five books of the Old
Testament that Satan was behind Note
that those who overcome will receive a new name on their stone.
We see in Isaiah 65:15 that the remnant of Besides
what I've already mention, we can learn much from this letter.
As in most of these seven letters, the fight against false teaching
and false doctrine among Christians and the church is always something to
stand against. It seems to me
that in today's church, more than in recent times, we have false teaching
inflicting the church. The
most predominant one I see today is the push to unite Christianity with
all other world religions. We
see this in the movement known as Chrislam that attempts to unite
Christianity with Islam. This
is like mixing oil with water. It
can't work. These two
religions are so far removed from each other at the core that it makes
such union impossible. The
only way to unite these two religions is to change the core values and
teachings of both religions, and by doing that, you no longer have the
pure religion you started with, but this is what the anti-Christ will do
as he comes onto the world scene.
Then, half way through the seven year tribulation he will turn his
religion around. It will no
longer be a united religion, but a religion that worships him and Satan.
Another
major false doctrine that has infected the church in the West is what has
been called the Prosperity Gospel and the Hyper Faith Gospel.
Both of these two related gospels put an unbiblical emphasis on
material and physical wealth and health.
To
The Church In Thyatira (ch. 2:18-29) For
those who believe this church represents a church age in church history
believe this church would correspond to what would be called the
"Pagan Church" of the dark ages, from 606 A D to the end of this
age. Simply put, this is the
Catholic Church which is a product of the paganization that took place
after 312 A D and beyond. It
would also include the eastern churches which came about as a split from
the Roman church. For
those who believe these letters are written to and about Jewish assemblies
at the end of this age parallel this to the time of Thyatira
was the least important and smallest of the seven cities that are
addressed in these letters. One
important thing in Thyatira was the importance of trade unions, which was
important if you were in business. Each
one of these trade unions had a god in charge of it or associated wit it,
and union meetings incorporated the worship of this god.
Meat offered to idols was eaten in these meetings.
Sexual immorality was part of the meetings, because sexual
immorality was part of most all pagan god worship. Jesus
addresses Himself to these people as the one with the 'eyes of fire and
the feet of bronze." Jesus
saw through everything that was going on in this church and his feet that
have been tried in the fire will move swiftly in judgment. Eyes
of fire suggest judgment of ungodliness.
The feet of brass suggest strength and the refined by fire process
that bronze needs to go through to be strong.
Jesus went through this process, and thus, has the authority to
judge. Jesus
acknowledged the good He saw in these people.
In verse 19 He said, "I know your deeds, love and faith, and
your perseverance." Like
with these He addressed in the other letters, persecution was common
place. Many of the believers
endured hardship with great love and faith.
Jesus even said that their works are more in volume and
productivity than they were at the first when they became Christians.
These people were growing in good works despite all that was
happening to them. Concerning
the growth and maturity in good works it is interesting that Jesus pointed
this out. He must have thought
it is important for them, and us, to grow in doing good works, yet way to
often our good works become stagnant and unproductive.
Evangelicals stress that we aren't saved by good works as seen in
Ephesians 2:8 to 10, but sometimes they forget at time is that Ephesians
2:10 also states that we are called to good works.
Good works must imamate from faith, not from legalism.
If one has genuine faith, one will have genuine good works.
Some
scholars suggest that this Jezebel seen in verse 20 is a reminder of the
Jezebel of the Old Testament. She
was King Ahab's wife who led the nation away into idolatry.
This Jezebel here in Thyatira is doing the same.
See 1 Kings 16:30 and following, 1 Kings 19:2, and 1 Kings 21:25.
This
particular Jezebel in Thyatira most likely was encouraging the men to go
to the union meetings. There,
pagan gods were worshiped, ceremonial feasts were conducted, the eating of
meat offered to idols, and, sexual immorality was expressed.
Men would most likely justify their adherence to the union and
their meetings by saying it was part of their business, and if they
didn’t attend the meetings, they would suffer financial loss.
We
might note here that what Jesus was talking about is the spirit of Jezebel
and not Jezebel herself since she lived in Old Testament times.
That being said, there might well have been a woman promoting these
things and maybe she called herself, or others called her, Jezebel. Those
who hold to the thinking that this letter is directed to Jews in the
tribulation period at the end of this age will point out to you that Jesus
mentions Jezebel, a lady well known to Jews in their history.
They will also point out the emphasis on works, something Jews
would also be familiar with.
What
Jesus disliked about these people was that they "tolerated" this
woman and her teaching. This
tells you something about the word "tolerate" that is so often
used in society and the church today, and how Jesus feels about the
concept of toleration of false teaching.
Jesus does not tolerate any kind of sin or false teaching and
neither should we. In the name
of tolerance, love, and unity, we tolerate way too much these days, or so
I believe. I believe this is
what Jesus is getting at here. If
in your expression of love, and that would be sacrificial agape style
love, you tolerate sin without exposing it, you fail to really love.
I
need to note one thing about the eating of food offered to idols. Paul,
in 1 Corinthians 10 and 11 spoke to this issue.
He said that he has no problem eating food offered to idols,
especially if he doesn’t know it has been offered to an idol.
For that reason, he doesn’t ask any questions about the food he
eats. Paul would eat food
offered to idols, but he went on to say that he would not eat it in the
context of idol worship, or, if it hurt another believer's faith. So,
my thinking is that Jesus, when speaking of food offered to idols here in
Revelation, must be thinking in the same context as Paul.
This Jezebel woman was most likely mixing Christian thinking with
idol worship and allowing idol worship into Christian gatherings.
Jesus does not like such a mixture.
He didn’t then, and He doesn’t now. All
of the above being said, for those who believe Jesus is speaking to Jewish
communities at the end of this age, eating of food is not appropriate.
You might ask why this would be the case in New Testament times.
Those who believe that these letters are written to Jewish
communities at the end of this age will tell you that the church has
already been raptured. The age
of grace is over, Jews are the center of attention, and God will hold them
to their promise to obey the Law of Moses, which includes the dietary laws
that they promised to keep. The
point to be made here is that Jesus will hold the Jews to their promise to
keep the Law of Moses. The
reason for the time of Jacob's trouble that is seen in Revelation is due
to the fact that Jesus
said that Jezebel is "misleading His servants."
It is one thing for a person to participate in sin, but it is
another thing for him or her to mislead another person by encouraging the
sin. I think this is a very
strong warning to those false teachers today who are misleading God's
people, whether Christians or Jews. In
verses 21 and 22 Jesus told these people that He has given Jezebel time to
repent but she "is unwilling" to repent.
Jesus gave this sinful woman time to repent. That’s important.
He did not throw her out right away.
As a result of her not repenting He will "cast her on a bed of
suffering." The bed is in
reference to the bed of immorality. Jezebel
will suffer for her actions. Jesus
always gives us time to repent, but once He declares judgment, I believe,
it then, is too late to repent. Judgment
will come. Jesus
didn’t stop there. For those
who follow this jezebel He will cause them "to suffer
intensely." This is
Jesus speaking here. This
should end any discussion concerning Jesus not being just, or not being
angry at any of us for the sin we commit.
This is a side of Jesus that you do not see as much in the gospel
accounts, but, on a few occasions you do. Jesus
then said that He "will strike her children dead."
I’m assuming this is literal children.
Some might suggest that it is her spiritual children.
If it were her physical children, you might wonder if they have
followed her teaching. If not,
why would Jesus kill them? This
does show you the degree to which Jesus will go in judgment and it seems
this judgment is not for the future but for the present day in which this
woman lived. In
verse 23 Jesus gave the results of His actions of judgment.
He said that all of God's people will then know that it is He that
searches the hearts and minds and will repay evil with His judgment.
The Greek literally says "heart and kidney."
In Greek culture, like many cultures back then and even today, the
heart was the place of intellect while the kidney was the place of
emotion. The NIV uses the
words "heart and mind" because it is an idiom that best fits our
cultural idiom. This is a
scary and awesome thought. Jesus
does not judge according to our outward works alone.
He judges on the basis of what we think in our minds and how we
feel in our hearts. Both heart
and mind must be given to Jesus. We
learn here that an outward sign of God's judgment tells those who see the
judgment that He is Lord over all. Judgment
plays a very important part in the plan of God for both the individual and
for His people, whether Christian or Jew.
It
is Jesus that will repay evil done in this world.
We don't have to worry about that.
We should not be making any attempts to do God's work in this
respect, but, throughout history we have certainly tried.
Whether we like that idea or not, Scripture clearly teaches that
God’s wrath will be poured out on the wicked. In
verses 24 and 25 Jesus told those who have not followed Jezebel in her
evil teaching would not put any other burden on them, except to encourage
them to keep up the good works they were doing. There does come a time
when God won't place more on us than what we can bear.
This is what we see here. Jesus
called Jezebel’s teaching "Satan’s so-called deep secrets."
Satan has no deep secrets or truth that should be taught.
He has been a liar from the beginning and he always will be.
This does tell us that Satan is behind all false teaching that
inflicts God's people. Jesus
closes this letter by saying that to him that overcomes and does His will
to the very end, He will give authority over nations.
We must overcome and we must continue in God’s will to the end.
Too many don’t make it to the end, but for those who do; Jesus
will give them authority over nations, which I suggest is seen in the
thousand year rule of earth and maybe even beyond on the new earth.
At
the end of this age there will be lots for people to overcome in the era
of the anti-Christ. The big
thing to overcome is their fear of death and the love of their own lives.
Many of God's people will be executed during the tribulation, but
some day they will rule with Jesus. That
"some day" will be during the thousand year rule of Jesus on
earth as seen later on in Revelation.
It may also be when this present earth flees and a new earth is
created. For
those who believe these letters are written to Jewish communities at the
end of this age, they make comment on the fact that the immoral people's
children will be put to death as seen in verse 23.
Zechariah 13:8 tells us that two thirds of Israelis will be killed
in judgment at the end of this age. Verse
23 might well be in reference to that.
Again,
this letter is full of Old Testament illusions and language that is quite
unfamiliar with the New Testament church. It is difficult to imagine that
Jesus is talking about New Testament Christians who are saved by grace and
not by works. Verse
27 states that Jesus will rule with a rod of iron. This is in
reference to the thousand year rule of Christ on earth. The very
fact that Jesus will have to rule with a rod of iron tells me that there
are some who survive the Great Tribulation who are not believers.
They live on into the thousand years and do have the opportunity to not
obey Jesus. I won't expand on this thought because I've done that
elsewhere. The point I make here is that the thousand year rule of
Christ looks more like this present age than the new earth age we see at
the end of Revelation. Yes, there will be peace on earth but it is
relative peace, not perfect peace. If you read the last chapter of
the book of Zechariah, you'll note that there is the possibility of
nations not responding to the rule of Christ in a positive way. I
should comment on the word "rule" here.
It is translated from the Greek word "poimano" which
means "to tend or care for, as a shepherd cares for his sheep."
This word is used in the New Testament to denote pastors or
shepherds of God's people. In
our western world we tend to view a ruler as a king, president, or a prime
minister. Jesus is all of
those and more, but, as King He cares for people as a father would care
for his children or as a shepherd would care for his flock.
His caring is balanced between loving support and discipline.
The rod spoken of here is used for both discipline and direction,
not discipline only.
There
is much to be learned here. One
thing is that God hates and despises false teaching, false teachers, and
those who lead His people astray. His
judgment is severe. I don't
believe our modern day church really understands this.
In many parts of the church today, and that includes the Holding
fast to our faith as seen in verse 25 is something else that isn't thought
much of today. It's my
thinking that Christians today don't think in terms of holding fast
because we are overly preoccupied with the joys of this present life.
I would suggest that in the process of enjoying this present age
more than we should, our faith is weakening.
We are not holding fast to our faith.
Instead, we are letting our faith slip.
For
those believers who live in and live through the Great Tribulation, there
will be great need to hold fast to their faith.
It will not be easy for them.
|