Lesson 2 Revelation

                                                         

                                                              Revelation Chapter 2

John had been commanded to write on the scroll all that he had seen (Rev.1:11). Jesus Himself divided into three categories the things of which John was to write. First John was to write of the things which he had seen in the appearance of the Lord to him. After John wrote concerning the vision of Jesus, and before John wrote of the things to be hereafter, he was given to write letters to the seven church assemblies. The letters were dictated to John by the Lord Jesus Himself.

After John had written the things which he had seen of Jesus as the Judge, he wrote of the things which are; that is, the things as they were in John’s day, the things concerning the seven assemblies in Asia Minor. Jesus had John write to the assemblies concerning His knowledge of their works. Jesus sent the saints words of reproof, and words of counsel, and He made promises to the overcomers in each assembly. In the way in which Jesus addresses Himself to the assembly and in His exhortations and warnings is seen the spiritual condition of each assembly. We are also given a prophetic insight in the things introduced into the Body of Christ and the effect that will continue to the end of the Church Age.

The first message was to be addressed to the assembly in Ephesus. Ephesus was the capital city of Asia Minor, the largest city, a great seaport in what is modern day southwest Turkey. Ephesus means “full-purposed.” It has also been given the meaning, “desired.”  As the largest and strongest assembly, it well represented God’s purpose for the Body of Christ.

Jesus said, “Unto the angel [messenger] of the assembly at Ephesus write, These things says He that holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden Light-bearers. I know your works, and your labor, and your patience, and how you cannot bear those who are evil; and you have tried those who say they are apostles, and are not, and have found them liars. And have borne, and have patience, and for My name’s sake have labored, and have not fainted” (Rev.2:1-3).

Jesus had already explained the mystery of the Light-bearers and the stars. The Light-bearers are the assemblies, and the stars their messengers, the elder or pastor of the assembly. Walking in the midst, by His Presence, Jesus would be the Light, each assembly deriving her light and power from Him. Each one dependent upon Him for light and power. It must be Christ who is preached, and Him crucified; Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor.1:23-25). On the other hand, each assembly is held by the power of Christ. Jesus holds them in the hand of His power. They are His possession and under His divine control and protection. Jesus addresses the letter to the pastor as the one responsible to Him. The pastor is the one representing Christ to the members of the assembly.

“I know your works,” Jesus said to them, “and your labor and your endurance.”  Jesus was intimately acquainted with the state of things in the assembly at Ephesus. He is all-knowing. In the early assemblies in the Body of Christ, the “work” was to turn to God from idols (1 Thess.1:5-10; 1 Jn.5:20-21). These were predominately Gentile.

The members of the Ephesian assembly had been pagan Gentiles. Their labor was one of love, their faithful serving of the living and true God to whom they had turned. And their patience or endurance was one of hope in the Son of God, who would be coming to receive them unto Himself (1 Thess.1:10).

Also, the assembly in Ephesus could not bear those who were evil. This assembly was commended for her recognition of false teachers. They had tried such, and found their teachings to be lies, and exposed them as liars. But not without cost. They had borne affliction. There was trouble and suffering involved - but they had endured.

And for the name of Jesus Christ they had kept laboring faithfully, serving the living and true God, and His Christ, that others might know Him. And they had not fainted. When one faints, one loses touch with reality. Those of the assembly in Ephesus had not lost touch with the reality of the things promised by God and therefore hoped for, though as yet unseen (Rom.8:14-25).

The Ephesians could bear troubles and trials. They could endure, stay under the load of suffering, and for His name’s sake, they could continue to labor and not faint - but they would not endure false teachers. “Nevertheless,” Jesus said, “I have against you, because you have left your first love. Remember, therefore, from where you are fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come unto you quickly, and will remove your Light-bearer out of its place, except you repent” (Rev.2:4-5).

Jesus had one other commendation for the assembly in Ephesus. “But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate” (Rev.2:6). Nicolaitan comes from two words: nikao, which means “to overcome,” and laos, which means “people.”  Therefore, Nicolaitan means “those who conquer the people or who rule over the people.”

With the Anointing Spirit given to them to recognize false teachers with their lies (1 Jn.4:6), the assembly at Ephesus was well able to recognize these false teachers who would divide the people into clergy and laity. Dividing people into clergy and laity, setting some in the assembly above others, is doing that which Jesus hates. The assembly in Ephesus would have no part of a system of clerical hierarchy. They were a kingdom of priests unto God; to Him belonged the glory. They would not be robbed of their freedom in Christ. And the One walking in their midst commended them for hating what He Himself hates.

However, Jesus speaks of the assembly of leaving their First Love. “First Love” is the love of betrothal. It was to the Ephesian assembly that Paul wrote of Christ loving the Church and giving Himself to her as a husband. He is her Savior. He gave Himself to her, “that He might sanctify and cleanse [her] with the washing of water by the Word; that He might present [her] to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that [she] should be holy and without blemish” (Eph.5:25b-27).

The Church of Jesus Christ has the high honor of being His Bride, and they have left loving Him first. They had not “lost” their First Love. They “left it.” Love seeks love that will respond and love responds to love. The Lord had sent His apostles and prophets to seek a loving Bride, who would love Him, because He first loved them (1 Jn.4:7-19). He found such lovers in Ephesus.

What characterizes first love of betrothal is the full satisfaction of the Object of the love. Here is what Christ must be and continue to be to each soul who knows Him. Christ is all to the soul, the fullness and the satisfaction of the heart.

Jesus knows their “works.” Those of the assembly in Ephesus are very busy laboring for Him and taking care of things concerning the assembly. Faith works. Faith works through love. But when faith has set to work for works’ sake, the forsaking of First Love goes unnoticed.

When Christ has ceased to be all to the soul, there is a gradual separation, widening further and further. Leaving of First Love affects everything. Then the first works, the response to love and the labor of love, have gone with it. The evil had not yet appeared outwardly. The Lord Himself, with His all-seeing eyes, walking among the Light-holders could detect it and give warning. Jesus’ eyes searching the heart can see that He is no longer first in the heart of the assembly. He makes known what He sees and what He has against them and how it can be remedied by remembering and by repenting.

Remember, look back, think how it was when I first wooed you to Myself. Remember the ardor and the zeal and the preciousness and the intimacy when I was everything to you. “Remember, therefore, from where you are fallen.” Remember how “God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love, with which He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has made us alive together with Christ ... and has raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus; that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Eph.2:4-7). That is a very high calling.

“Repent, and do the first works.” Repentance is a changed state of the soul. It is a judgment of God that we have passed upon ourselves. It is the goodness of God that leads to repentance. To repent is a change of place or a change of condition. The assembly in Ephesus was warned to remember the place of eminence from where they had fallen and advised to return to the place for which they had been chosen.

They must repent and change their thinking and go back to doing the foremost works of love, the good works foreordained of God, the superlative work of the ministry of reconciliation (see 2 Cor.5:11-21). They must walk worthy of their calling and walk in love (Eph.4:1-6).

Those in the assembly are the household of God. They are a building of God, fitly framed together and growing with living stones unto a holy temple in the Lord, a dwelling place of God through the Spirit (Eph.2:19-23; 1 Pet.2:3-5). Their witness was to give light, the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (see 2 Cor.4:1-6).

Christ must have His place. Not just any place, but His place, first place, the place of pre-eminence. If not, there will not be a true Light in Ephesus. Christ, supplemented by something else, is Christ dishonored. It is a terrible thing when, in those who are really His, love has waned in its power over them. If there is no love, there is no true witness. If there is no true witness to the glory of God as seen in the face of Jesus Christ, there is no outshining of the glory of God - no light in the Light-holder.

Repentance begins in individuals of the assembly. There is no true repentance for a soul until it has returned to its true place in the household of God, a member of the Body of Christ, and to his true condition of Christ being the Object of his love and work of faith, and to the true purpose of the new called-out assembly as the Betrothed of God’s Son, Christ Jesus.

To each of the assemblies Jesus wrote, “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the assemblies” [plural]. The Spirit of God is speaking through these messages, and it is very important to hear what He is saying. He speaks the truth in Christ. Each person has two ears for the purpose of hearing. When words are clearly spoken and clearly received, there is understanding. When one truly hears what the Spirit is clearly speaking, he has understanding of God’s thinking (see 1 Cor.2:5-16).  He is therefore responsible to know the truth and be free. If you know the Son, you will be free indeed (Jn.8:36).

Also, to each of the assemblies Jesus, the Christ, made promises to the overcomers. In every assembly there were true believers, born from above, true members of the Body of Christ, and there were some who were there to see if they agreed with this new thinking. Some of these believed intellectually - but not with the heart (see Rom.10:9-10). Yet some would consider themselves to be Christians.

What must be overcome is the sin, the lawlessness of the heart of man and the death that passed upon all who sinned (Rom.5:12). It is not possible to overcome the sin or death in one’s own strength. God must overcome the sin, the lawlessness of the heart, and the death of the physical body for man. And He did so in His Son, Jesus Christ.

God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, sin apart, and for sin (Rom.8:3). Jesus came to put sin away once for all (Rom.4:25-5:11, 6:10; Heb.1:1-3; 7:27; 9:22-28; 1 Pet.3:18). Jesus offered Himself in sacrifice. He, “who knew no sin, became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor.5:21). He “bore our sins in His own body on the Tree [Cross], that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes [we] were healed” (1 Pet.2:24). By the might of His strength God worked it in Christ when He raised Him out from the dead and seated Him at His own right hand in the heavenlies (Eph.1:19-20). Jesus “was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification” (Rom.4:25). He rose out of the dead Victor over death, showing that sin had been put away once for all.

It was all planned before the foundation of the world, and carried out in time. Through the gospel of Christ, mankind is called to become sons of God. Those He called, and the ones who respond in faith believing Him, are the called, saints. Those [the called] God justified and who He justified, He also glorified with a body like unto Jesus’ body of glory (see Rom.8:28-30; Phil.3:20-21).

United to Jesus in His death, and burial, and resurrection, one is an overcomer in the might of God’s strength to raise up from the dead a body of glory. The one united to Jesus is an overcomer in Him. The overcomer overcomes through faith in Christ Jesus. He conquers sin and death by believing into Jesus Christ. And he is more than a conqueror through Him who loved him (Rom.8:37). He is now a son of God and a joint-heir with Christ (Rom.8:14-17, 23).

The first promise given to the first assembly to be addressed is, “To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God” (Rev.2:7b). The promises given to overcomers in the letters to the assemblies are for all overcomers in Christ Jesus throughout the Church Age. Each and every member of the Body of Christ is an overcomer. Having all the promises on one scroll, the overcomers are reminded of how great is the prize for the high calling in Christ Jesus

In the beginning, the Tree of Life was in the Garden of Eden (Gen.2:8-9). It was a real tree, but it was also symbolic, representing what its name proclaims - “Life.” When Judah was taken into captivity by the Babylonians and saw the beautiful hanging gardens, the people began to think of Eden and Paradise restored. The place where the soul/spirit had gone to be after departing the body was supposed to be a place of bliss, like Eden, and was, therefore, referred to as Paradise. Formerly Paradise had been called Abraham’s Bosom, and still was by the Jews (see Lk.16:19-31).

In Jesus’ day, Paradise was in the center of the earth. Jesus had said that the one sign He would give the wicked and adulterous Jews, who had asked for a sign, was the sign of Jonah. He would be three days in the belly of the earth and then He would again be on the earth (Mt.12:38-41).

As foretold by their prophet Isaiah, Jesus was the sign given to the House of David (Is.7:14). Here was the virgin-born Son called by the name Jesus. When He had been raised from the dead on the third day, seen and verified by many witnesses, having fulfilled the sign, there was the proof that Jesus had been sent from God, that He was the Son of God, their Messiah, the Holy One of Israel (see 1 Cor.15:3-6; Lk.24:1-27, 44-48).

Jesus said to the thief hanging on the cross beside Him, “Truly, I say unto you, Today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (Lk.23:43). After Jesus’ resurrection Paradise was removed to heaven. When Paul was “caught up to the third heaven,” he called that place Paradise (2 Cor.12:2-4).

Jesus promised the overcomers that they would eat of the Tree of Life in the Paradise of God. In Revelation 22:2, the Tree of Life is in the New Jerusalem, the home of the Wife of the Lamb. The first promise to the overcomers is that they will be home.

During His last night with them, Jesus left a promise with His disciples. “In My Father’s estate [possessions] is many dwelling places” ... and “I go to prepare a place for you” (Jn.14:2). Jesus went back to the Father to prepare a home for His Bride, the members of His Body. Jesus promised, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, you may be also” (v3). All overcomers will be taken home together when Jesus comes to take us to be with Him. So shall we ever be with our Lord (1 Thess.4:13-17). Each one will be dwelling in his new body raised up out from the dead.

John was told to next write to the assembly of Smyrna, “These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and is alive. I know your works, and tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich): and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan” (Rev.2:8-9).

One of the principal commercial products of the city of Smyrna was myrrh. The word “myrrh” comes from the Hebrew root “bitter.”  Myrrh is a gum and, when mixed with aloes, is used for the embalming of the dead. “Smyrna” has the meaning “myrrh” or “bitter.” Those in the assembly of Smyrna suffered bitter persecution. Paul had warned, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12).

Jesus knew of the works of the assembly in Smyrna. They had turned to God from idols. And Jesus knew of the tribulation and the abject poverty that those in Smyrna suffered. Many times believers were imprisoned, and dispossessed of all of their belongings (Heb.10:32-34). But Jesus said they were rich. They were blessed with all spiritual blessings which were theirs in Christ (Eph.1:3).

Man’s life does not consist in the abundance of things which he possesses. One can have nothing in this world, yet possess “all things” in their Savior. It was the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that through His poverty we might be rich (2 Cor.8:9). If we are sons of God, then we are heirs, joint-heirs with Christ to the all things of Christ and His Father (Rom.8:17).

Much of the persecution of the early assemblies came from the unbelieving Jews. The Jews continued to go to the synagogue and kept the Law, and claimed God as their Father. They called themselves Jews, but they were not truly Jews. The word “Jew” comes from “Judah,” which means “praise.”  These were not to the praise of the glory of God. Satan, the spirit of this world, was behind the thinking in their synagogue. Judaism is a religion, a perversion of the gospel of the Christ of the Law of God Almighty. The Jews kept the letter of the Law and missed the spirit of the Law. They believed and taught that the Life everlasting was in the Law itself and in the searching of it and keeping of it, and they taught what they believed to be true, but were really lies.

Jesus had had run-ins with these Jews. In John chapter 8, Jesus had told them plainly, “If God were your Father, you would love Me; for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech?  Because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the Devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it” (Jn.8:42-44; see also Jn.15:20-21). Satan himself was a created being (see Ezek.28:12b-15).

These Jews who had been persecutors and enemies of Christ were yet persecutors and enemies of the Body of Christ on earth. To this assembly, so persecuted by the Jews, Jesus addressed Himself as the Eternal, the First and Last. The Eternal was an Old Testament name for the God of the Jews (Is.41:4; 44:6; 48:12). Jesus is claiming to have become dead and is now alive, In claiming the name of God, Jesus is making Himself equal with the Father God, the One the Jews claimed but did not know (see Phil.2:5-8; Jn.14:7-9). To the Jews it was blasphemy for a man to claim to be equal with God (see Jn.10:31-33).

Jesus could not promise to spare the assembly in Smyrna further sufferings. He told them of more suffering to come, and of the manner in which it would come. “Fear none of those things which you shall suffer. Behold, the Devil shall cast some of you in prison, that you may be tried, and you shall have tribulation ten days; be faithful unto death, and I will give you a Crown of Life” (Rev.2:10).

“Ten days” covers a period of time. Ten days does not necessarily mean ten consecutive days in a row. In the Old Testament, ten days was a period of testing (Num.14:20-23; Jer.42:7; Dan.1:12, 14,15, 20). Satan was doing all in his power to stamp out the testimony of Jesus Christ, but those at Smyrna must not be afraid of what men could do to them (see Phil.1:9-23; Col.1:2-23; Mt.10:28). They must not be afraid to die for the cause of Jesus Christ - they must be faithful, faithful even to the laying down of their lives. Should it come to the laying down of their life, the saint would have to be willing. To be willing, one would need to be absolutely convinced of the faithfulness of their Lord and Savior.

Subjected to the testing of suffering, there would be seen in the saint a genuine demonstration of the power of Christ in one of His own, a demonstration to the world of the heavenly origin and power of this new Body of believers upon earth. For faithfulness unto death there was promised a Crown of Life. The saint need never fear death. Death puts an end to all of our hopes here, but death cannot separate us from the Love of Christ (Rom.8:35-39). To die is gain (Phil.1:21).

That physical body laid to rest will be raised up in the resurrection a body fashioned like unto Jesus’ body of glory, a body in which the Holy Spirit is the very Life Breath. Thus each faithful saint receives the Crown of Life - a body of glory (Phil.3:20-21; Col.3:1-3).

The saints at Smyrna were also warned to use their ears to hear what the Spirit was saying to the churches. In the message to Smyrna, and to the overcomers was promised that they would not be hurt by the Second Death (Rev.2:11). At the end of the book of Revelation, in chapter 20 we see that the Second Death is the Lake of Fire. After the Great White Throne Judgment, Death and Hades will be cast into the Lake of Fire. We see also that the Second Death has no power over those who take part in the first resurrection - those who have believed into Jesus to receive His Life (Rev.20:6). With the hope in the promise of a Crown of Life, no saint in Smyrna need fear the Second Death.

The next assembly to whom Jesus sent a message through John was in Pergamos, or the more modern name Pergamum. Jesus addressed the assembly in Pergamum as ”The One who has the sharp sword with two edges.” The sharp two-edged sword proceeds out of His mouth (Rev.1:16).

Whereas the assembly in Smyrna had been facing the implication of a literal sword to kill the body, here Jesus is speaking of a different sword. He is speaking of the Word of God, which comes out of His mouth. Perhaps what might have come to John’s mind is what the writer to the Hebrews had to say concerning this sword: “The Word of God is living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb.4:12).

The Word of God is “living.” The Life of the Holy Spirit, who inspired it, lives in it (2 Pet.1:19-21). Peter spoke of the Word of God living and abiding forever. The Word of the Lord endures forever, the Word by which the gospel is preached that men might be saved (1 Pet.1:23-25).

The psalmist wrote, “Forever, O Lord, Your Word is settled in heaven” (Ps.119:89). The words that Jesus speaks are Spirit and Life (Jn.6:63). This is how believers, who feed on the living Word of God, grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord.

The Greek is a picture language. Jesus has the sharp sword with two edges to penetrate deep and to cut out what God does not approve. The Romans cast two-edged swords in bronze. The two-edged sword made a formidable weapon in close combat. The Word of God is a formidable weapon for close combat with the soul.

The Word of God is not only living, it is powerful, it is active, it is at work. And it is sharper than any two-edged sword shaped by man. It is piercing, and it works to the dividing apart of soul and spirit; that is, the Word of God divides the soul from the very being of the person. The person is a soul. The person has a mind, and he has emotions, and he has a will in his very person, where he has being.

The Word of God divides apart the joints and the marrow of the body in which the soul lives. The body was framed, and the joints were knit together. This is the skeletal form on which the flesh is hung, but there is no life in the joints knit together. They are mere dust of the ground, a mere frame which will return to dust (Gen.3:19; Job 34:15). The life of the body is in the marrow, where the red corpuscles are manufactured and increased. Into that frame which He formed, the Lord breathed breath for the life in the marrow.

Every person who has ever lived has being through that first body formed by God into which He breathed the breath of life (see Gen.2:7; Job 33:4). Every soul came into being the same way, through the corruptible seed of the first man (see Gen.5:3; Rom.5:12; 1 Cor.15:22, 42-50). Who would tell you that but the Word of God? Who knows how we came into being except the One who formed the first body and breathed the breath of life into the nostrils?

These are the words of Him with whom we all have to do, as He is our Creator-Redeemer (Heb.4:13). When one hears the gospel of Christ, and hearkens to the witness of the Spirit of God, one comes to see that he is not his own. He owes his very being to the Almighty God. That one is then free to disown himself and take up his cross and follow Christ Jesus to become a son of God (Mt.16:24-28).

For that very purpose, to become a son of God, the soul has being. The Word, Jesus, the Seed-Grain for a forever living body (Jn.12:23-24), is planted in the heart of the mortal, earthly body (Lk.8:15). With the forever living body raised out of the dead, one has being forever. Without the forever living body, the soul has mere existence. There will be no body to be and do. No body to be raised up. The Seed did not germinate to bring forth the fruit of Life, a forever living body. The Word of God was not believed and received.

The Word of God is living and active to the piercing to divide between soul, the person, and the spirit, the being, and it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, the soul, the inner man, who lives in the tent body. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Prov.23:7a).The inner man has been given the freedom to choose what he will think. The Word of God is a discerner, a critic of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Through the Word of God the heart is shown that which is good. and that which God does not approve. What God does not approve God cannot accept. (see Prov.19:21; Job 38:36). That which is of God is good. Apart from God there is none that does good (see Jn.15:5; Ps.14:1-3; Rom.3:10-12)

To those in Pergamum Jesus said, “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and have not denied My faith, even in those days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells” (Rev.2:13).

Jesus said that He knew where they dwelt; that is, where they lived. They dwelt where Satan’s throne is, where Satan dwells. There is no reproof for living where Satan’s throne dwells. There is no blame. It is a statement of fact. Those in the assembly had been born in Pergamum and lived in Pergamum. They are commended for their works. They held fast Jesus’ name there where Satan’s throne was located. They have not denied His faith, even in the days of Antipas, the faithful servant of Jesus.

All we know of Antipas is that he was martyred for being faithful to Christ. Antipas was a “typical” martyr for the cause of Christ. It was the name of Christ that subjected the early believers to reproach and persecution. The assembly in Pergamum was holding fast to the name of Christ Jesus and remaining true to the faith, even in that city where Satan had his throne.

In Smyrna, there was a place of worship, a synagogue, who said they were Jews, but were not. Jesus called them the synagogue of Satan. In the beginning of the witness of the Body of Christ to Jesus of Nazareth being the Way, the Truth and the Life, the Jews were the enemies.

In Smyrna was the blasphemy of the enemy. The word “blasphemy” can be rendered “slander.” The foes of those of the Way were tearing apart the reputation of the leaders and teachers to discredit the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth being the Anointed Son of God (see Ac.9:1-2).

In Pergamum was the very base of Satan’s operations. This was different than a synagogue of Jews mentored by the evil one. In John’s day, the then called Pergamos was the capital city of Mysia, a Roman province. Pergamos was an illustrious religious city. Unlike Ephesus and Smyrna, Pergamos was not a city of commerce. It was known chiefly for its religion. It was also a city remarkable for its learning, its culture, refinement and science, especially medicine.

Back in the days of the kingdom of Judah, when Jerusalem was owned by God [Jehovah] as His, and He dwelt in the temple built for Him there, Satan’s great opposing city was Babylon on the Euphrates River. This city was built by Nimrod on the plain of Shinar (Gen.10:8-10; 11:1-9). In this city, with its Tower, was the beginning of the religious system of the worship of the host of heaven. This is the earliest record that we have of idolatry (Gen.11:1-9; see Deut.4:19; 17:3; Josh.24:2). Satan had his great city of Babel, built long before the Lord had King David take the city of Jerusalem. Satan had his religious system well established before the Lord God had His nation through the sons of Israel.

In Babylon was found the Babylonian cult of the Magians. The high priest of this cult carried the title, Chief Bridge Builder, which has the meaning, “the one who spans the gap between mortals and Satan and his hosts.” In Latin, this title is Pontifex Maximus.

This Babylonian cult of the Magians survived from the days of Nimrod and the Tower of Babel until it was driven out of Babylon after the overthrow of Babylon by the Medes and Persians in 539 b.c. The Magians then found a haven in Pergamum, and the college was moved to Pergamum.  Attalus the III, the last king of Pergamum, assumed the title of Chief Bridge Builder. In 133 b.c., Attalus willed his kingdom and his title into the hands of the Romans. In the days of the early church, Rome was in power and the seat of the Babylonian Mysteries of the Ages was in Pergamum.

In His letters to the assemblies, Jesus was also looking forward to the future state of the church, and pointing out things that were being tolerated by the early assemblies that would eventually have disastrous effects.

In the beginning, Satan thought to kill off the righteous seed for the coming Christ. He had Cain kill his brother Abel, thus, beginning the battle between the wicked and the righteous seed (Gen.4:8; 1 Jn.3:12). The Lord God raised up another seed for the coming Christ (Gen.4:25). He gave Adam and Eve another son, Seth. Seth has the meaning, “appointed.”

Satan then changed tactics and brought mixture into the human race to destroy the righteous seed needed for the birth of the coming Christ. This time Satan used the angelic host who had chosen to follow him and he used the powers of darkness (Gen.6:1-7). The Lord God destroyed that whole civilization with a Flood of water, and saved a righteous seed through Noah and his son, Shem (Gen.9:26-27).

Satan could not stop Jesus from being born in the likeness of man. He could not stop the redemption accomplished through the death of Jesus. Could he then stop Jesus from returning to earth to claim His Kingdom? To stop the preaching of the gospel of Christ, Satan began persecuting and putting to death those who dared to follow the Way of Jesus Christ (see Ac.8:1). However, Satan found that making martyrs became the seed of the new Body of Christ. So in time, he once again resorted to mixture.

Mixing the Babylonian Mysteries with the truth of the coming Christ, which is typed in the figures of the True, and presented in the Gospel in the heavens, had worked in the Gentile nations to bring forth many harlots from the mother, Mystery Babylon the Great (see Rev.17:5). And mixing the Babylonian Mysteries with the truth of Christ prefigured in the Law that was given to God’s nation, Israel, had worked to pervert the glory of God declared in the heavens into the religion of Judaism. So Satan need only continue his same tactics in the new Body of Christ. He would keep men blinded to the glory of the gospel of Christ. He would continue to mix the lies of the mysteries with the teaching of Christ crucified and risen from the dead (see 1 Cor.1:18-31).

By mixing error with truth, it would not only serve to keep men in the dark concerning the living and true God and His Christ, but it would eventually lead to God Himself having to judge and destroy His church  (see Ezek.8:5-18; 10:1-11:10; Mt.13:31-32; 15:1-9; Mk.4:30-32; 7:1-13; Rev.2:20-23). In the third century, the Babylonian system became well established in the city of Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire. It was under the Emperor Constantine that the pagan practices entered the church which are still observed and celebrated today.

Afer his father’s death, though Constantine was acclaimed sole emperor of Rome by the army, it would take two decades of sporadic civil war before Constantine actually succeeded in his quest to become master of the Roman Empire. While Constantine was preparing for a crucial battle in 312 at Milvian Bridge near Rome, he saw in a dream a cross illuminated against the sun, accompanied by the words, “in this sign you will conquer.” This dream and the explanation of the phenomenon appeared several more times to Constantine. Believing it to be a message from Christ Himself, Constantine had the cross emblazoned on his soldiers’ shields and now fought all his battles under this sign.

Satan saw that it would be to his advantage to bring the Christians under Constantine’s power rather than to destroy them. Seated on the throne as the Emperor of Rome in 313 a.d., Constantine issued an edict and ordered that all persecution of Christians should cease and that the pagan temples should be converted into churches. The plan was to marry the “church” to the “state.” The mixing of church and state did not take place immediately. The change was gradual over the next decade. But once in place, its full purpose was realized.

In 325 a.d., Constantine assumed the title of the high priest of the Magians, Pontifex Maximus, Chief Bridge Builder, because it contributed at once to exalt the imperial and the episcopal dignity. This served to justify the interference of the emperor in the ecclesiastical counsels and in the nomination of bishops, bringing church and state together.

With the mixture of this church-state union, the deluded leaders of the church concluded Constantine’s kingdom to be the promised kingdom for which they had been looking. They ceased to look for the coming of Jesus Christ for His Body, the Church, and settled for a spiritual kingdom on earth rather than wait for the literal, physical, earthly Kingdom promised. Bishops became rulers, and princes of the state became princes of the church, producing an unholy union between professing Christians and the state. In this union was a mixture of some of the thinking of God and much of the thinking of man, which is sourced in the spirit of this world. All of the heresy and the cults, which have come out of that thinking, are simply the old Babylonian Mysteries with its fornication of idolatry which had its beginning back at the Tower of Babel.

It is interesting that the etymology of the word Pergamum carries a twofold meaning of “a tower” and “a marriage.” The letter to Pergamum echoes Paul’s warning to the Ephesian elders, “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Ac.20:29-30).

In John’s day, the old serpent was slithering in, but Jesus commends the work of the assembly in Pergamum. They hold fast His name. Christ’s name represents His Divine Person. Those of the assembly held a firm conviction that Jesus is the virgin born Son of God and that He is both Lord and Christ. As Jesus, He is the Savior, the One who came as the Son of Man to be the One Mediator between God and Man (1 Tim.2:4-6). They believe Him to be the Lord or the Master of all creation and that He is Christ, the Anointed Son of God, anointed both Priest and King.

Jesus’ name suggests the honor due Him, as well as His glorious Essence, His holy character and His redeeming power. Jesus has the meaning, “Jehovah is salvation.” God Himself chose the name for Jesus (Mt.1:21, 23; Lk.1:31). His is the only Name whereby sinners may be saved (Ac.4:10-12). As many as receive Him, to them He gives “the authority to become children of God, to those that believe into His name; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (Jn.1:12-13).

In his Gospel account, John recorded seven specific signs that would authenticate who Jesus purported to be. And John concluded by saying, “And truly, many other signs Jesus did in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have Life through His name” (Jn.20:30-31; see 1 Jn.2:18-28; 3:23; 2 Jn.7-10).

God has “highly exalted [Jesus], and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and in earth, and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father” (Phil.2:9-11).

And Jesus also commended the assembly in Pergamum for not denying His faith, the faith of which Jesus is the Author and the Finisher. Those of the assembly were not ashamed to be known by the name Christian, indicating they were disciples of Christ Jesus. They chose to be known as those of faith in Christ Jesus, those of the Way, in spite of persecution.

But all was not well in this assembly. A few things must be addressed as against them. “Because you have there those that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication” (Rev.2:14).

There in the assembly in Pergamum were those who held the teaching of Balaam. In the book of Numbers, Moses left a record of what Balaam taught Balak, the king of Moab, some fifteen hundred years earlier (Num.22:1-25:3). The sons of Israel had come out of Egypt as a powerful force under the Lord God. The sons of Israel were marching to the land of Canaan and conquering the kingdoms in their path. Balak was very much afraid, and he did not want to fight them, so he hired Balaam to curse Israel.

Balaam was one of the trained priests in the  Babylonian arts of the occult. The Lord would not let Balaam curse Israel, though Balaam tried. When Balaam tried, much to his and Balak’s dismay, wonderful prophecies came instead. No one can curse Israel, whom God has blessed.

For Balak the issue was political expediency. As for Balaam, he was greedy for gain (Jude 11). Even when he knew the Lord’s anger was kindled against him, Balaam did not give up, and with each new effort to accommodate Balak, he further exposed himself and his true motive for meeting with the king of Moab (Num.22:22; 23:26-24:1). For Satan, the issue was the old ploy of idolatry introduced into the work of God.

Balaam finally got around the dilemma of not being able to curse Israel for Balak. He taught Balak what he could do to bring the same result of destroying the sons of Israel without Balak having to fight them. What was it that Balaam taught Balak? To set a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to entice them into idolatry, so that God Himself, of necessity, must destroy the mixture, the mixture of the idolatrous worship with the worship of Jehovah. Provide a stumbling block to draw them away from their separation unto God.

What would be the stumbling block? The Greek word is skandalon. The skandalon is the trigger of the trap on which the bait is placed. When the bait is touched, it causes the trigger to the action of closing the trap. The enticement causes the entrapment.

The word skandalon in its derivative belongs only to Biblical and ecclesiastical Greek. The Greek word for “trap” is pagis, and refers merely to the trap hidden in ambush, but not the results. Skandalon involves a reference to the conduct of the person entrapped, the enticement to a conduct that could ruin the person so entrapped.

For Balak the enticement to trigger the trap was for the daughters of Moab to entice the sons of Israel into their idolatrous worship by inviting the sons of Israel to the pagan religious festivals. What would be the harm of going to the festival? It was the bait. Too soon they would become entrapped, and too late, see the trap.

“And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor; and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel” (Num.25:1-3). Just as was the intention of Balak.

Though God Himself cursed Israel, He did not destroy them. He had Phinehas, the son of Eleazer, the high priest, put a stop to the enticement, making an example of a Simeonite uniting with a Moabite woman (Num.25:6-11). The sons of Israel were not consumed by the wrath of God, but there was a plague upon Israel and 24,000 who could have entered the land, had they kept their separation, were left in graves in the wilderness (Num.25:18; see also Ex.34:5-7). As for Balak and his enticement, all were destroyed. And Balaam also, the son of Beor, was slain with the sword (Num.31:8).

Besides the teaching of Balaam, He that has the sharp sword with the two edges has against the assembly at Pergamum that they “also have those that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate” (Rev.2:15). The assembly at Ephesus had been commended by Jesus for also hating this doctrine.

In His salutation, Jesus had said, “From Jesus Christ, the Faithful Witness, the First Begotten from the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us a kingdom of priests unto God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever” (Rev.1:5-6).

The priesthood of Christ is not for a certain class. It is for all members of the Body of Christ. Each and everyone born of the incorruptible Seed, the Word of God, is a priest. There is no class distinction (see Gal.3:26-28). If the priesthood becomes a certain class of people, rather than all are one priesthood, then the priesthood has lost its true character.

The very thought of laity implies a people of God, in a sense. But it also implies a class of people who have not been brought near to God, as have the clergy. Implied is that certain things are too holy to be handled by all. The laity then were considered not capable of taking up the things of God as would those brought near to God, the clergy. That is why Christ hates the teaching of clergy and laity and why He wanted those who held it out of His Church Body.

When Constantine made Christianity the state religion, pastors who had previously been persecuted were brought out of hiding and invested with gorgeous robes and made rulers over congregations. All under the supervision of Constantine, of course. Under the supervision of Constantine as Pontifex Maximus, various orders began to appear in the professing church. All of which led the way for the system described in the next letter to the assembly in Thyatira, where the results are being seen. The ultimate claim of the Nicolaitan teaching is infallibility.

Jesus has a strong warning for this assembly concerning “them” who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans: “Repent, or else I will come unto you quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth” (Rev.2:16).

“I will come unto you [the assembly] quickly.” Three times in the letters to the assemblies Jesus speaks of coming quickly (Rev.2:5, 2:16, 3:11). And three times at the end of the scroll, Jesus speaks of coming quickly to His own Body, the Church, over which He is the Head (Rev.22:7, 12, 20).

In Revelation 22:7, Jesus has a blessing for the ones keeping the words of the prophecy of this scroll when He comes quickly. When He comes quickly, His reward is with Him - to give every man according to his works. Jesus’ last testimony is, “Surely, I come quickly” (v20).

When Jesus comes quickly, He will gather the members of His Body up to be with Him, before the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord (see 1 Thess.4:13-18; 5:9-10; Joel 2:1-11, 30-32; Rev.6:17). The ones in the churches who do not receive the love of the Truth, but who hold to false teachings will not be saved out of the trial when Jesus comes to destroy His enemies. He will fight against them with the sword of His mouth (see 2 Thess.2:1-12).

We need to keep remembering that though each letter with its commendations and its warnings is addressed to a particular assembly, Jesus is speaking to all of the assemblies in each letter. The assemblies are being asked to use the Word of God to judge their own hearts and put to death the works of the flesh, and not succumb to the enticements of the evil one. If one judges himself, he need not be judged (1 Cor.2:14-16; 11:31-32).

Those in the assembly in Pergamum must use their ears and hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to them in this message (Rev.2:17). They must hear to obey - or judgment will come. Then followed the promise to the overcomers. To the assembly in Pergamum the promise to the overcomers was: “To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knows except he that receives it” (Rev.2:17).

Manna was the food of the sons of Israel through their wilderness journey. The manna nourished and sustained them through the wilderness until they came to a land inhabited. As instructed by the Lord, Moses and Aaron laid up a golden pot of manna in the ark of the testimony before the Lord (see Ex.16:32-35; Heb.9:4). The pot of manna was a testimony to the future generations of Israel, a testimony to the Lord’s power to nourish and to sustain. In the ark, the manna was hidden from man’s eyes. Nevertheless, the testimony of the manna being sent to them each morning was the true testimony of Life sent from heaven. The word “manna” is a transliteration of two Hebrew words, meaning “What is it?”

The sons of Israel gathered the manna, which lay on the dew on the face of the wilderness each morning, but the testimony of the manna, “what is it,” will only be seen in obedience to the One who sent the manna from heaven and in gathering the manna as He has instructed. The manna was a figure of the True Bread to be sent from heaven. With the understanding, one can see in the figure a testimony to the One who sends the manna from heaven.

To the Jews in Jesus’ day, the testimony of the One who sends the manna came from Jesus Himself. From one lunch, five loaves and two fishes, the lunch of a young boy, Jesus had fed the multitude which had followed Him to a grassy spot on a mountain. The next day, the people having found Jesus in Capernaum, He said to them, “‘Truly, truly, I say unto you, You seek Me, not because you saw the miracles, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for that food which endures unto Life everlasting, which the Son of Man shall give unto you; for Him has God the Father sealed.’ Then they said unto Him, ‘What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?’ Jesus answered, and said unto them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe into Him whom He has sent.’” There was the True Bread before their very eyes, Jesus sent down from heaven by the Father, the fulfillment of the testimony of the manna in the wilderness.

“They said, therefore, unto Him, ‘What sign do You show then, that we may see, and believe You? What do You work? Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say unto you, Moses did not give you that bread from heaven; but My Father gives you the True Bread from heaven. For the Bread of God is He who comes down from heaven, and gives Life unto the world.’

“Then they said unto Him, ‘Lord, evermore give us this bread.’ And Jesus said unto them, ‘I am the Bread of Life. He that comes to Me shall never hunger, and he that believes into Me shall never thirst. But I said unto you that you also have seen Me; and do no believe. All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me; and him that comes to Me I will in no way cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me. And this is the Father’s will who has sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again in the last day. And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes into Him, may have Life everlasting; and I will raise him up at the last day’” (Jn.6:26-40).

Jesus came down from heaven that man’s flesh body be redeemed - not be lost - and man left naked and unclothed. The body raised up is not made with hands. The body raised up is from Seed-Grain of the earthly body of Jesus (see 2 Cor.5:1-9; Jn.12:23-33).

When Jesus had finished the work on earth which the Father had given Him to do, He went back to heaven, and the True Bread from heaven is now seated on His Father’s throne and He is hidden from men’s eyes (Rev.3:21). To the overcomers, all overcomers throughout the Church Age, Jesus promised to give to eat of the hidden manna.

Through the wilderness journey of this world, the overcomer gathers the True Bread as instructed by the God of heaven.  He has the testimony of the Word of God. He may freely gather the Word of God to hide in his heart. He is free to gather the Word day or night. One comes to know and love the One whom He has not yet seen. That one has the promise that he will one day be with Jesus face to face, that he might take in His very Person. He will then be with his Lord forever. Never will Jesus be hidden from him again.

To the overcomers in the assemblies, the same truths are expanded, and are not for that assembly alone, as is seen with the exhortation, “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the assemblies.”

With the manna is given a white stone, or more literally, “glistening stone.” With the True Bread sent from heaven each overcomer is given a body of glory like unto Jesus’ body of glory (Phil.3:21). Here is the body Jesus promised to raise up at the last day, that the earthly body born of corruptible seed of man not be lost, God’s will is that the body in the image of the heavenly should be raised up out of the earthly body. He will raise it up in the last day, the day of resurrection.

Jesus promised, Everyone who sees [with the understanding] the Son as God become flesh and believes into Him through hearing the word of His testimony, may have Life everlasting. Jesus will raise up the body in a changed, glorified form, pure, a body freed from the law of sin and death, a body glistening with the outshining glory of God, an immortal, incorruptible body, a forever living body. The Life of that body is the Breath of the Almighty, the Holy Spirit (Rom.8:11).

Scripture speaks of the living stones built into a temple of God (1 Pet.2:5). That body with Life is now hid with Christ in God (Col.3:1-4). It is laid up in heaven for us and will be given in the resurrection. Each overcomer will be with Christ at home in the New Jerusalem. Collectively they are the Wife of the Lamb. The new name written on that body of glory is His name. The true Church, married to the Lamb, is His Wife. Here is the intimacy of oneness which Jesus asked of His Father.

The night before His crucifixion Jesus spent with His disciples. In His last prayer with them, Jesus spoke directly to His Father. It was an intercessory prayer with requests for His own. Jesus did not pray only for the disciples, but for all who would learn of Him to be overcomers during the Church Age.

Jesus prayed, “Neither do I pray for these alone, but for those also who shall believe into Me through their word; that they may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that You have sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them, as You have loved Me. Father, I will that they also, whom You have given Me; be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory, which You have given Me; for You have loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world has not known You; but I have known You, and these have known that You have sent Me. And I have declared unto them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You have Loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (Jn.17:20-26).

At last, the Lamb and His Wife home in the New Jerusalem. Jesus, who is represented in the manna, will no longer be hidden from His beloved. There she will be face to face with the One she had loved before she ever saw Him. In her new glistening body and on her personage the new name, she will be partaking with Him in fullness of Life in the intimacy of oneness with Him, learning of Him in a new way of fellowship.

In the manna, we see the appreciation of Christ Jesus, the Beloved, by His Bride-wife. In the white stones collectively is seen the appreciation of His Wife by the One who loved her and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word; that He Himself might present her to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that she should be holy and without blemish (Eph.5:25b-27;see Jude 24-25). In a marriage, a new name written shows a new union, a new beginning. A new name, a tie between Christ and His Bride-wife, the Lover and the Loved, as it were, in a secret intimacy, to be enjoyed forever.

Next John must send a message to the assembly at Thyatira. The city of Thyatira, though smaller and less significant than the first three, received the longest letter. Thyatira was situated southeast of Pergamum, about halfway between that city and Sardis. It was distinguished for its industrial activity and was therefore a prosperous city in trade and commerce. Thyatira was  well-known for trade guilds. Thyatira has the meaning, “odor of affliction,” possibly giving indication all is not well.

Unto the elder of the assembly in Thyatira John was to write, “These things says the Son of God who has His eyes like a flame of fire and His feet like fine bronze. I know your works, and love, and service, and faith, and your patience, and your works; and the last more than the first” (Rev.2:18-19).

Here is another assembly where the eyes of the Lord have searched out and found that which must be judged. The way in which Jesus addresses Himself to the assembly reveals the spiritual condition of the assembly. Nothing is hid from God. Everything is naked and opened before Him with whom we have to do (see Heb.4:12-13).

Thyatira is the fourth of seven churches to which Jesus pronounces a message. Each of these churches was an actually assembly, but each also represents a church period down through history, from the time of the early church until the end of the Church Age.

Ephesus was a functional, working church, symbolic of the early, or apostolic church, founded upon the apostles and the prophets (Eph.2:19-22). Over time, the early church as a whole moved away from their intimate, vital relationship with Jesus, bringing in elements of structure into the assemblies: ceremonies, creeds, rules, and religious works. More and more people began to comply with these religious forms without ever yielding their hearts to Jesus. This resulted in a gradual progression of the churches moving away from Jesus Himself; a deserting of Him. As Jesus had John write to the messenger of the assembly of Ephesus, they had left their First Love - Him.

Smyrna represented the persecuted church, when Christians were compelled to meet in secret, since the rulers in Rome were trying by every evil scheme imaginable to rid the earth of the followers of Christ. The Roman rulers received their inspiration to do this from the evil one. Satan found that he could not destroy the church by making martyrs, as doing so only increased loyalty to Christ. Instead, he tried a new tactic and introduced “the world” into the church; his world, with his religion.

This worked to take the church into the Dark Ages of history represented in the assemblies of Pergamum and Thyatira. Under the imperial favor of Rome, the church adopted the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, with bishops and archbishops and religious dignitaries domineering over the people and claiming it to be of God and their right. This precluded the personal relationship between Christ and His Church.

The union of church and state led into the darkness of religion. With the true Church, the Body of Christ, Jesus is the Head over His Body - the Sole Authority. As Satan introduced the world into the church, he moved it from the foundation of the apostles and prophets, to councils of learned men, to clergy, and finally, the pope. In Thyatira we see the depths of Satan have been reached.

Jesus wrote to them as the Son of God. His eyes were like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine bronze - two symbols of judgment. We are reminded of John’s description of Jesus as Judge at the beginning of the Revelation, when He saw Jesus standing before him in the midst of His churches: “His eyes were like a flame of fire; and His feet like fine bronze, as if they burned in a furnace” (Rev.1:14b-15a).

Here is the fire of holy jealousy, the jealousy of infinite Love for His Bride - for her - not for Himself, but for her purity and holiness. Jesus would judge and burn out the evil which His penetrating gaze searches out. “I know your works, and love, and service, and faith, and your patience, and your works; and the last more than the first” (Rev.2:19).

Jesus puts their love before their faith. The darker the picture the more ardent the faithful. The all-knowing, omniscient Son of God knows all. He knows that there are those in this assembly who faithfully love Him. He knows their service [ministry], their patience to wait for His coming quickly to gather them to Himself,  and their works; and the last more than the first.

“Nevertheless,” Jesus said, “I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she did not repent” (Rev.2:20-21).

In verse 20, “that woman Jezebel” is seen by some Bible scholars as a real woman in the assembly in Thyatira, a self-proclaimed prophetess. As Paul wrote to the Corinthian assembly, prophets were those who told forth the word of God as they believed the Holy Spirit had made known to them (1 Cor.14:29-33). Women were permitted to pray and to prophesy if they wore a head covering. The head covering symbolized being under the protection and authority of her own husband (1 Cor.11:5). The idea was that praying and prophesying in the church must be done in submission to Christ, to God’s order of the man being the head of the new body of the two of one flesh (see Eph.5:22-33).

The purpose of the doctrine of “that woman” which the assembly in Thyatira was allowing was to teach and seduce bond-slaves of Christ to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols. Here is the same old enticement. The name “Jezebel” has the meaning “the chaste.” Yet Jesus stamps this woman as a harlot.

When Jesus speaks of bond-slaves, He is speaking of the members of His Body who, through the gospel of Christ, have been betrothed to Him in their confession of faith. By grace they have been saved through faith (Eph.2:8-9). At least they profess to be saved.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul wrote, “Would to God, you could bear with me a little in my folly; and, indeed, bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy; for I have espoused you to one Husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his craftiness, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Cor.11:1-3).

The relationship between Christ Jesus and His Body, the Church, over which He is the Head and the Authority, is exemplified as a conjugal union (see also Eph.5:22-32). To follow any false teaching concerning Jesus is to forsake the one true God. Unfaithfulness toward God is equivalent to sexual unfaithfulness to one’s marriage partner. 

The assembly at Pergamum was practicing the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. To Pergamum Jesus spoke first of idolatry, and then of the teaching of the clergy and laity. To Thyatira Jesus spoke first of the false teaching, and then of the resulting seduction of following the false teaching.

As it is apparent that Jesus used Balaam as a type or symbol in the Revelation, it is more likely that, rather than there being an actual self-proclaimed prophetess in the assembly, Jesus meant Jezebel as a type also,. In both cases, the assemblies are warned against taking in their teaching, the doctrine of Balaam by Pergamum (Rev.2:14), and the doctrine of Jezebel by Thyatira (Rev.2:24). Both teachings lead to fornication.

The very name Jezebel is associated with the evil of false worship. When Jezebel married wicked King Ahab, she set up Baal worship in Israel. Jezebel took the lead in changing the doctrines of Israel’s worship, which had already been polluted. Jezebel’s teaching and impure practices served to further pollute Israel (see 1 Ki.16:28-33; 18:4; 19:2; 21:1-29; 2 Ki.9:30-37). Though it is not recorded that Jezebel called herself a prophetess, she retained hundreds of false prophets.

In church history we see the teaching of clergy and laity in the assembly in Pergamum. With His even stronger rebuke to the assembly of Thyatira, Jesus shows His great hatred for such doctrine which usurps His authority and replaces Him as the Head. In Thyatira, the condition was degenerating. Rather than removing false teachers, the system had become even more corrupt.

In the letter to Thyatira “a Jezebel,” keeps the significance of her name, not in her individual, historic position, but as representing a clerical system at its highest - the papal system of Rome. Jesus used the term “Jezebel” to express what the system with the Queen of Heaven is, a seductive, wicked influence, brought in among the followers of the Way of Christ. It is another daughter of Mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots (Rev.17:1-6).

The very teaching which claims the authority as the teaching of the Church is that which led men astray. What is claimed as having been the teaching of the early fathers is, in reality, the traditions of men. There is no voice of the Church. There is only the voice of the Spirit of God, who does not speak of Himself; that is, on His own authority, though He is God. The Spirit takes the things of Christ and glorifies Christ. The Spirit leads into the Truth, all of it (Jn.14:16-26; 15:26; 16:7-15). All power and authority has been given to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God raised up from the dead (Mt.28:18; Rom.1:3-4). That is the truth witnessed by the Spirit of God in the Word of God.

Jesus said, I have given her “time to repent of her fornication, and she did not repent. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and those that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death” (Rev.2:21-23a).

Jesus gave a space of time to repent, but it was all in vain - the seductress did not repent. Therefore, nothing but judgment shall await her. God has “appointed a day, in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He has ordained; concerning which He has given assurance to all, in that He has raised Him from the dead” (Ac.17:31). That day is the Day of God’s wrath.

In Revelation chapter 17, we see the harlot with her bedfellows, those who commit adultery with her. They are in Great Tribulation with her. She was given a long space of time, but she did not repent, nor did her lovers. There will be a just recompense. The harlot and her children will not be spared.

The harlot’s children, those mentored by the false teachers, all who refused to believe the truth when it was presented to them, and who have passed on the false doctrine down through the Church Age, will be killed by the Lord with the Second Death.

In the Great Tribulation all those connected with the harlot, the false religious system,  will lose their lives, and their souls will go to Hades. The judgment for their works will take place at the Great White Throne, at which time they will be cast into the Lake of Fire, which is the Second Death (Rev.20:11-15).

“Except they repent” - gives hope. There is still time to repent and Jesus urges them to do so. Individuals who have been seduced can yet change their mind. Those who do so will be counted with the overcomers and will receive that promised to the overcomers.

“And all of the assemblies will know that I am He that searches the kidneys [minds] and the hearts” (Rev.2:23). This shows that what was directed to a particular assembly was intended for all the seven assemblies in Asia and for all the assemblies down through the Church Age.

Jesus is the Heart-knower (see Ac.15:8-9; Rom.2:11-16). Those eyes like a flame of fire search out the innermost being, the secret soul. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Prov.23:7). Those in the assembly following false teachers will die in their sins. This must be made clear.

The Greek word for the “innermost being” is “kidneys,” translated “reins” in older King James versions, and “minds” in most new Bible translations. In the physical body, the kidneys are the innermost physical organ, deep and protected. The purpose of the kidneys is to discern and separate waste matter, and void it through the bladder.

With Greek being a picture language, the picture here is, as thoughts are taken into the inner being, there is to be discernment of that which is evil, and a separating and voiding of such thinking as unclean and unhealthy. There should be no allowing it to remain in the heart. We have the Word of God to discern for us. “For the Word of God is living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb.4:12).

One is to let the Word of Christ dwell in them richly, and think on “whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and any praise, think on these things” (Phil.4:8; see Col.3:16).

Jesus promised, “I will give to every one of you according to your works.”  In the Greek, the tense shows Jesus to mean He will emphatically do so in the future, but it is as if He is already doing so. One is not to serve with “eye service, as men pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with good will doing service as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing any man does, the same shall he receive of the Lord” (Eph.6:6-8).

“Let him that is taught in the Word share with him that teaches in all good things. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption [of the body]; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap Life everlasting [a forever living body]. And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we do not faint” (Gal.6:6-9).

Jesus continued,  “But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and who have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak, I will put upon you no other burden. But that which you have, hold fast till I come” (Rev.2:24-25).

Jesus wrote to both groups in the assembly: to those who hold the teaching of “that woman” Jezebel and to the “rest” who did not hold the false teaching. The godly, those faithful to Christ Jesus, would not have followed the corruption. They would have denounced such teaching as evil and unbiblical and ungodly.

“The depths of Satan.” Satan has secret, unrevealed purposes; deep things of the way he performs; of what he is. These are made known to the initiated through rituals and ceremonies and spirit guides. Deep mysterious arts. These are the so-called Mysteries of the Ages, which can be traced back to the rebellion of the families of Noah’s sons at the Tower of Babel (Gen.11:4). One may choose to be initiated into those deep things. All is done secretly; and to be kept secret, known only to the initiated.

The “rest” in Thyatira have the teachings of the apostles of Jesus. The apostles received their teaching from Jesus personally. Those who are faithful to Christ in the assembly are to hold this teaching fast. The deep things of God are freely given to all to believe - but they are spiritually discerned through the teaching of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor.2:9-16). The Holy Spirit was given to the Body of Christ, the true Church, to teach them and to guide them into the truth which must be held fast until Jesus comes (Jn.14:15-26; 15:26-27; 16:7-15).

Jesus would put no further burden, would not weigh them down with further details of the just retribution to come. Those holding the seductive teachings are admonished to repent, and the rest are charged to hold fast to what they have.

“And he that overcomes, and keeps My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received of My Father. And I will give him the Morning Star” (Rev.2:26-28). A wonderful promise to all overcomers. The morning star heralds a new day.

“Keep” here does not have the meaning of “obey,” but of “watching over carefully to preserve.” If one is watching over to preserve, he will obey the truth. Jesus had told His first disciples, “Truly, truly, I say unto you, He that believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater than these shall he do, because I go unto My Father” (Jn.14:12). The Father’s work would go on through the Body of Christ, who would beseech others to be reconciled unto God, and greater works, because, with many members, the works would be more widespread (2 Cor.5:14-21). The gospel would go even to the ends of the earth, the same work of Christ Jesus in a much farther reaching way.

Jesus spoke of the authority to be given Him by the Father after He has been given the nations for His inheritance. After He has subdued them in judgment, Jesus will rule with a rod of iron, with the ironclad rule of His absolute authority. The rod is the king’s scepter, to be held out that one might live. Those nations of peoples who are willing to come under the scepter of the Lord Jesus Christ will be invited into the Kingdom.

And the overcomers in Jesus Christ are to rule with Him. They will be given delegated authority over His nations, and will be given the Morning Star. Jesus Himself is the Morning Star (Rev.22:16). Jesus had been seen of John in all of His glory as the coming Judge, ready to put the inhabitants of the earth to the test. Only the members of the Body of Christ will see the Herald of the Day of the Lord. Jesus will come in the air to receive them unto Himself and keep them out of that Day.

There is a new day coming. After the night of sin and darkness, and after the Day of the Lord, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise on a new day, with healing in His wings (see Mal.4:1-2). “Wings” is a reference to the government of God.

A new day will dawn upon earth when the Lord Jesus Christ comes to rule and to reign in righteousness and peace forever. His Bride-wife will be given authority over those nations with her Lord. She will rule over the earth from her new home, the heavenly Jerusalem.

And, like the others, the assembly at Thyatira was warned, “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies” (Rev.2:29).

Starting with this assembly at Thyatira, we note a change of order in how the message ends. Previously the warning of “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit has to say to the assemblies” came before the promises to the overcomers. To the last four assemblies it comes after the promise is concluded. These last four assemblies look more toward the end of the Church Age. Thyatira is exhorted to “hold fast that which they have.”  The bond-slaves are being seduced, carried away by false teaching. They need to heed the warning to “hear what the Spirit says” - to them.”  They must listen - to obey.