December
11th Revelation 2 B. PRESENT – Christ & the Seven Synagogues Ephesus
1: Unto the angel of the church of
Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right
hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; 2: I know thy
works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which
are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not,
and hast found them liars: 3: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my
name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. 4: Nevertheless I have
somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5: Remember
therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or
else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his
place, except thou repent. 6: But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of
the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7: He that hath an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat
of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Smyrna
8: And unto the angel of the church
in Smyrna
write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;
9: I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I
know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the
synagogue of Satan. 10: Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer:
behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and
ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will
give thee a crown of life. 11: He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the
second death.
Pergamos
12: And to the angel of the church
in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two
edges; 13: I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat
is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those
days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where
Satan dwelleth. 14: But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast
there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a
stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed
unto idols, and to commit fornication. 15: So hast thou also them that hold the
doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16: Repent; or else I will
come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17: He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;
To him that overcometh 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 knoweth
saving he that receiveth it.
Thyatira
18: And unto the angel of the church
in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like
unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass; 19: I know thy works,
and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the
last to be more than the first. 20: Notwithstanding I have a few things against
thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a
prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to
eat things sacrificed unto idols. 21: And I gave her space to repent of her
fornication; and she repented not. 22: Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and
them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent
of their deeds. 23: And I will kill her children with death; and all the
churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I
will give unto every one of you according to your works. 24: But unto you I
say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and
which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you
none other burden. 25: But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
26: And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I
give power over the nations: 27: 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. 28: And I will give him the morning star. 29: He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Right at the beginning we have a
clue as to who John is addressing his letters. He says ‘unto the angel of the
Church’. The word angel means ‘the messenger’. Now NT churches do not have a
single minister, let alone ‘an angel’. However in the Time of the Day of the
LORD there will be Jewish congregations that will have a Rabbi who led each
service and is the secretary of the assembly. He was one of a group of
overseers of the Jewish believers, v9. It is to this leader that the letters
are addressed. He is representative of the elders and the whole congregation. John’s
ministry is focused on the Jewish congregations of Asia.
John writes these letters as the
Prophet of God to these Jews. (The Jews had what is called 'The leadership
complex'. What this means is that when God has something to say he says it to
the Religious leaders (and political if there are any) and they are expected to
respond appropriately on behalf of the people that they lead. We see this in
the ministry of John Christ and the Apostles and we see it here. Often when
Jews are asked about why they reject Christ they will say if Jesus was the
Messiah then why did the Elders reject him in his day. They trust their leaders
and always assume that they do right. John addresses himself to the Leaders of
each Jewish/Christian congregation. He addresses issues such as their righteous
works, Their relation to the synagogue of Satan and the issue of false Jews who
say they are Jews but are not. And the call is consistently in the context of
The Gospel of the Kingdom i.e. Repentance and a return to the God of their
fathers)
In these letters we have an address
to Israel
as a nation.
The Nation in the wilderness
A. The Nation’s Espousals Ephesus
B. The Nation’s Testing Smyrna
A. The Nation’s Failure Pergamos
The Nation in the Land
A. Israel’s Kings Thyatira
B. Israel’s Kings Sardis
A. Judah’s Kings Philadelphia
B. Judah’s removal Laodicea
His first letter is to the
congregation of Ephesus.
This is the day of their Espousals. As soon as entering into covenant they
leave their first love and go after an adulterous relationship with idols.
Christ commends them for their works, labour and patience and for their hatred
of the Nicolaitians. However they have left their first love (himself) and
therefore he calls on them to repent and return unto the Lord and ‘do the
works’ in other words keep the Mosaic law because they are Jews after all. If
they do not repent then the Lord will remove the candlestick. This is the token
of his presence. The promise Christ gives is ‘The Tree of life’ in the Paradise
of God – In the Kingdom.
To the Smyrna congregation Christ says, I know your
works, tribulation and poverty (Yet they are rich towards God) He says l know
the Blaspheme of those who claim to be Jews but are the synagogue of Satan! He
gives specific encouragement in tribulation to those who will be imprisoned for
their faith in Christ. And he promises eternal life in the Kingdom. This was a
reference to a specific time of trial while Israel were in their wilderness
wanderings.
To the Pergamos congregation he
writes that he knows their works and the evil of the place they inhabit. He
even calls it Satan’s seat. However there are a few things he holds against
them. They allow those who follow Balaam who caused Israel to Sin. And how that they
encourage abominations causing the judgment of God to come. He commends them
for their hatred of the Nicolaitians. However he tells them to repent of
judgment will come. None of these terms could ever be spoken to a NT Church.
This is referring to Israel’s
failure and the references to Balaam etc are unmistakable.
To the Thyatira Jewish congregation
he writes I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy
patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. These he
commends, but he warns them of allowing a prophetess Jezebel to teach and draw
men into the gross sins of fornication and Idolatry. Christ himself has warned
her and yet she has not repented so He will act in severe judgment and destroy
her and her offspring. Those who overcome will share with Christ his rule over
the Nations in the Kingdom.
All these messages were strongly
Jewish in flavour and addressed to the Jewish synagogues/churches of Asia Minor
(Turkey).
This letter takes Israel
back to that time in their history when they came under the rule of Ahab and
the spell of Jezabel.
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