Revelation Chapter 2

Revelation 2:1-2

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:'The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. "'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. (ESV)

Each of the messages to the churches begin the same way, addressing the angel of the specific church followed with a reiteration of He who is giving the instruction. The One who has been watching the lampstands, knows their works and in fact states specifically to five of the seven that he knows their works. A constant theme throughout Revelation is one of endurance. I think we wrongly believe that a haphazard, sloppy, one time belief in Jesus is enough to inherit the glory of His kingdom. Over and over again He will be telling us to endure to the end and those are words we should heed to; to stick with it and obey until the end.

The rest of the message speaks of testing those who claim to be followers, leaders, apostles, or spirits in Christ. We are not to bear with false prophets and the like. If they are rebuked and continue, you bring them before the congregation and if no repentance has taken place; you expel them out of the church, handing them over to satan that they may learn not to blaspheme and that they might be saved on the day of the Lord. We are to do this because a little leaven ruins the whole batch. If you let such people exist among you its just a matter of time before the congregation is tainted and start believing in all sorts of destructive heresies. If it was relevant to do back then, how much more relevant should it become the closer we move toward the coming of the Righteous One? Paul had warned us to make sure we are not to put new converts in charge over things, (especially in matters related to teaching) or else this type of thing would result. Testing someone is something churches should be doing but too many refuse to because it feels like you are not loving them, or are judging them, or are scared their numbers/tithe amounts may go down but that is exactly what we are commanded to do by Him who walks among the golden lampstands.

ref: 1 John 4:1; 2 Corinthians 11:13 ; Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Timothy 1:18-20; 1 Timothy 3:6

Revelation 2:3-4

I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. (ESV)

So the church of Ephesus is doing really good. They are enduring patiently and bearing up for His name’s sake. For His name’s sake, “I acted...that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt”. For His name’s sake, “all these things they will do to you...because they do not know him who sent me”. For His name’s sake, “you will be hated by all...But the one who endures to the end will be saved”. For His name’s sake, “I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off”. For His name’s sake, “Yet he saved them...that he might make known his mighty power.” They bear such things as these for His name’s sake and yet have not grown weary. Hallelujah!! Being made free from slavery, persecuted, hated by all, not cut off, and be saved for His name’s sake, (which is the name above every name), that He would make known His mighty power. Praise Jesus!!

Ephesians, YOU have done all this and have not grown tired from doing it...but I have this against you. We have turned a corner. Make no mistake Christian; because you are not God, every one of your good deeds by which you are able to be praised can immediately be brought to a halt by something righteous that you fail to do. You have abandoned the love you had at first. What was the love the church had at first? Was it Jesus Himself? Was it the love of a broken and contrite heart? Was it a humbleness they once had but might’ve become haughty in their successes of testing false apostles? Whatever it might be, no matter how great or small it might seem; it will have substantial ramifications on this body of believers. It will very soon become important to remember that all the churches addressed in these letters are indeed self-professing believers and saved members of His church.

ref: Isaiah 48:9; John 15:21; Ezekiel 20:9; Matthew 10:22; Psalm 106:8

Revelation 2:5

Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. (ESV)

Remember what it felt like when you first came to the Lord? Full of zeal as you excitedly began what is hopefully a lifelong journey. Everything was beautiful when you couldn’t wait to get started serving. Sunday school filled your brain with knowledge, the music touched you, the message pierced your heart, and you loved everyone at your particular church. Consider how far you have fallen. Have you grown partially hard in heart? Your pastor has to basically beg you to be involved, Sunday school is a perfect time to balance your bank account, the praise team thinks they are holier than thou because somebody gave them a mic. The last time you got convicted by the word Bush was still in office and those “Christians” you worship with suddenly seem more like fallen angels than sinners saved by grace. Everything is everyone else's fault, or is it? Consider how far you have fallen; repent, and do the things you did at first.

Jesus speaking to the church in Ephesus says something that seems pretty odd here. Whatever it was that they had done at first was obviously pleasing to his sight, but can not doing those things be considered a sin? Its not like they suddenly began killing prophets, or sleeping with each other’s wives, or stealing from the offering plate. They only neglected doing what it was that had brought them into the favor of God and apparently that is something that is cause for repentance; however it plays out in your life, but the scary part is yet to come. If they do not repent from that thing, Jesus Himself, will come and remove their lampstand. Once saved, always saved is blown completely out of the water with one statement from Him. Their church has a place among Jesus and the other lampstands and if they fail to repent it will not continue to abide there. Now a bible student knows that there is only one unforgivable sin; that being blasphemy of the Holy Spirit by a Christian, but this is not what the Ephesians are being accused of. We know this because that sin “will not be forgiven in this life or the next”. The Ephesians have an opportunity to repent, which is something we should all be actively doing upon consideration of ourselves and how far we have fallen from our first love. But even more of a grave matter is that though they have not blasphemed the Holy Spirit, they still have an opportunity to have their lampstand removed. A lack of repentance is apparently enough to make this happen; that a church, filled with Christians, could be removed from the midst of Jesus. Their acts, that are able to be forgiven, will not be forgiven because of a lack of repentance. If then their lampstand is removed and the light within them is darkness, how great is that darkness!

ref: Matthew 12:31-32; Hebrews 6:4-6; Matthew 6:22-23

Revelation 2:6-7

Yet this you have:you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. ' (ESV)

Now we have just come off of a serious threat from Jesus. I say serious because He doesn’t make idle threats like you and I; if He says that if repentance doesn’t happen He will take away their lampstand, that is exactly what will happen. Its important to know that this is a possibility even though He appreciates the fact that they hate the practices of the Nicolaitans; which He also hates. There are lots of theories on who they were and what they were doing but we don’t really know for sure so I won’t say a lot about it.

Then we come to a verse we will hear over and again; He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. You’ll notice that these messages are for single churches, this one being to the church in Ephesus; but He wants all the churches, as well as you and I, to listen to all the messages of all the churches. In order to do that we have to have an ear to hear. Often we have a pre-conceived idea about what God says and does, so when He gives us praise or warnings, blessings or curses; we don’t always accept them for what they are because we haven’t fostered an attitude of preparing our ears to hear what it is God’s Word is saying. When Jesus says things like, “if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will refuse to forgive you”. I wonder if He meant that? How can a Christian listen to a line like that and not ALWAYS be seeking out opportunities to forgive? Its because we don’t keep ears to hear.

He goes on to say the one who conquers will get to eat of the tree of life. If these saved Christians don’t repent and conquer until the end, they won’t be able to receive this promise. Let him who has an ear, hear. This tree of life in the paradise of God is a beautiful picture to us. We finally get to enter into the garden that we were ejected from in the beginning. We ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and if we conquer to the end we will finally get to partake in the tree that Adam should’ve chosen to eat from. One last note, notice where the tree is; it lies in the paradise of God. That’s a curious description I think that ought to make people wonder, “why didn’t He say ‘the tree of life which is in heaven?’” I mean that’s where we are headed isn’t it? Please remember as we move forward that the goal of Christianity is not to get to heaven, but we should want to be where Christ and our Father are.

ref: Matthew 6:15

Revelation 2:8-9

"And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: 'The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life. "'I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. (ESV)

The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life. The beginning and the end of everything resides within Jesus, who died and came to life. I once heard a scholar jokingly ask what it could be that could scare Lazarus after Jesus had called him back to life. You couldn’t really frighten him with anything; but I would say that there would be a healthy fear of the one who called him. The one who died and came to life. Jesus Himself said that this is the reason that His Father loves him; because He has the power to die and the power to raise Himself up again.

This Jesus knows the church’s tribulation and poverty and those very things that make us rich. We are to store up treasures where moth and rust cannot destroy, and those treasures cannot be bought with anything this world can provide. They are purchased as we are refined for the glory of the Lord. In the days when this was written it was the jews who were actively persecuting this sect called Christians because they were raining on the parade that the Roman empire had allowed Judaism to be, a legal religion, and the church (who were comprised of believers of the same God as Judaism) were threatening this. But as it turns out these people weren’t Jews but were actually a synagogue of Satan. So by this time the temple had already been destroyed and don’t think for a second that God had regretted the movement into the destruction of it, for it was no longer a place that He would dwell but had become Satan’s. I say that statement trembling and in awe because I know that God has said that; "'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,

or what is the place of my rest?” The kind of house that they had built was the synagogue of Satan which is backed up with Jesus saying that they make a proselyte twice as much a child of hell than they are. These very people are the ones that are slandering them and causing them to be persecuted and this does not go unnoticed by the Lamb.

ref: John 10:17-18; Matthew 6:19-20; Acts 7:49; Matthew 23: 15

Revelation 2:10

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. (ESV)

Who is like Jesus? Only He, going through all He did, can hit us with such a line. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. How can we receive this line without trembling from the one person who would know what suffering is and then tell us not to fear? In this vision Christians are about to go through some stuff, and scary stuff at that; but we are called not to fear. Most Christians I encounter believe that if we are not in the end time already we are dangerously close to it, yet find themselves fearful of studying Revelation because it is scary to contemplate it. If it is frightening to think about, how much more to live it out. He goes on to explain a more specific incident that they are about to suffer; that the devil is going to throw some in prison for 10 days in order they be tested. Not only will they be thrown in prison, they will have tribulation beside being in prison. He was mostly silent to what that entailed but death was a probable effect of the tribulation they were to suffer.

Now for the kicker. Jesus in speaking here to the church of Smyrna, discussed no displeasure with them and is praising their actions. Some of them will be persecuted and killed by the devil and yet still must remain faithful to receive the crown of life. It is not enough to have had faith at one point in your life but you must be faithful unto death to receive this crown.

Revelation 2:11

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death. ' (ESV)

Jesus continues His train of thought. After he warns those that the devil will throw them in jail and they will be killed, which is their test; if any of them conquers and keeps the faith they will not be hurt by the second death. Take a moment to contemplate what the second death is and how it is to be avoided….

We all have a heritage we will receive and the second death is the portion some will receive in the lake of fire. It will consist of: the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, the murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars. Also it will hold death and hades, the dragon, the beast and the false prophet and anyone else who’s name is not written in the Lamb’s book of life.

So how do we not receive the second death? The easy answer is to have your name written in His book of life. This is accomplished by believing in the Lord Jesus. This is not simply believing that he existed (even Muslims believe that); but believing everything He was, said, and stood for. Once this happens the most important thing is to keep your name in the book and not have it blotted out, because once it is blotted out it will not be re-written. This is accomplished in a couple of ways. The easiest way seems that we could be a part of the first resurrection. These are those who are beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and the word of God. The second way is to be of those who during the tribulation had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. The second death has no power over those two groups. If we do not belong to those two groups we fall into the group of everyone else that will be resurrected after the 1000 year reign. At that point as long as we have remained faithful until the end we will remain in the book and be spared from the lake of fire.

ref: Revelation 21:7-8; Revelation 20:4-6; Acts16:30-31

Revelation 2:12-13

"And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: 'The words of him who has the sharp two- edged sword. "'I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. (ESV)

The sharp double edged sword, described elsewhere as the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. It is no accident that this sword is seen coming out of Jesus’ mouth since He is the word of God. So a much more literal reading of this line would be, the words of Him who is the word of God; in other words, what He says can be trusted as what God would say. In another verse we learn a little more about this sword. “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two- edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” This sword is the great divider, dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, man and father, daughter and mother, daughter-in-law and mother-in-law.

Pergamum was the home of at least 3 different altars of Greek gods, the most important of which was the altar of Zeus, where Antipas was martyred. History teaches that he was killed for casting out demons and for refusing to sacrifice to the emperor and referring to him as lord and god. This was the place where Satan had decided to dwell, a central hub of Asia-minor and a very important place politically speaking. This is the way of Satan, to strategically place himself among the kings of the earth. He, as always, wants to set himself up as king of kings, and in order to do that you must keep tabs and manipulate the kings of whom you wish to rule. Now the believers of Pergamum no doubt had suffered some amount of persecution and had held faithful to the name of Jesus. Imagine that Satan would have his throne in the very place you call home; where you live, work and worship. He begins to persecute fellow worshippers and the church of God would remain faithful to Him. That is exactly what the outcome of Revelation is all about; enduring to the end, holding fast to the name of Jesus in the midst of all the persecutions of the devil. But the devil only has so much power, and while he has a punishment coming to him; we as Jesus’ church have a cleansing that is due us from a God that has ALL power and All authority. We must have our robes washed clean and that washing requires a lot of scrubbing.

ref: Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12-14; Matthew 10:35-36

Revelation 2:14

But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. (ESV)

So the church has endured. They withstood persecution from Satan and had kept their faith in Jesus and you think that would be enough. As believers, without saying it we expect that Jesus will be pleased with the small amount of faith we have toward Him and will forgive the rest of our iniquities; especially having endured the ploys of Satan. I mean isn’t that enough, how much could He possibly expect from fallen man. From Jesus Himself, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Perfection is the goal, not excuses. We might think that if every man would be perfect then there would be no reason for God, but we are not necessary for His being, but He is for ours.

In the old testament Balak tried several times to entice Balaam to curse the children of Israel. God gave a word to Balaam to give Balak concerning Israel but since neither were satisfied with the word he kept going back to receive a new word from the Lord. He loved that which he would’ve received from man more than the satisfaction of doing what is right by the Lord. We think that if we keep inquiring of God and moving from this place to that, that He will change His mind about what He has commanded us to do. He is unchanging but may do as He did to Balaam, not changing His mind but will give us the answer we seek since it is not truth that we actually seek. We seek unrighteous gain and desperately want to do what is forbidden by God. The Holy Spirit had given the early church only a few decrees that they must follow. “That you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.” So oddly enough the very things the Spirit had told the church not to do are the things that they put before the sons of Israel; causing them to stumble. I would like to say a lot has changed but we enjoy a lot of freedoms in the Lord. We realize that we serve a God that is full of mercy and we keep shoving Him against a wall, that we may do what we desire. We spew scriptures out of our mouth, thinking that by our words mingled with scripture we are able in some way to make God obligated to do certain things. He is who He is. There is no corner He can be backed into most especially by anything created. His ways are truly not our ways nor His thoughts our thoughts. The Spirit commands the church not to eat meat with the blood still in it and to abstain from being sexually immoral, yet we have the nerve to say, though I do it, He must forgive me. We keep going back again and again just as Balaam did, seeking a new answer from God; and though His answer may change as with Balaam, we might find out we have been handed over to iniquity. We hide behind phrases like “He’s not through with me yet”, and “He knows the intent of my heart” as if those sayings are beneficial to us. Jesus had said it earlier; “I have a few things against you”. That doesn’t sound like he’s been backed into a corner, but sounds more like a warning. He has given us an opportunity to repent in order that we may stay in the grace and mercy of Him.

ref: Matthew 5:48; Numbers 22-24; 2 Peter 2:15-16; Acts 15:28-29

Revelation 2:15-16

So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. (ESV)

Have you ever argued or debated with someone that was relentless and seemed to always have the last word? No matter what you present before them, they always have a comeback and you can’t ever seem to get any traction until the point you are frustrated out of your mind and are so angry because they just won’t budge on their beliefs at all. This church had overcome much and yet still Jesus requires righteousness. He cares not for excuses but for perfection. He is the Word of God and is a great God whose very words are described as a double edged sword. Can you imagine anything said by a human that would be considered “war”? He says that if repentance doesn’t take place He will war against those He has something against. We will end up studying about some scary scenes such as hordes of people dying and the lake of fire, but can anything actually be more frightening than having God war against you with words? It is so far beyond being told by a parent not to back talk because in this instance you would have absolutely no authority. Anything you might want to say would be silenced and He would never go off on a tangent. Whatever He said would be 100% on point and could go on for days and years about the iniquitous monster that is you and I. He has no other need of some type of physical weapon since His very voice is enough...now imagine that...His very words are enough. Have mercy, Lord.

Revelation 2:17

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it. ' (ESV)

We hear Jesus telling the church once again to conquer (to the end). To reiterate this is not referring to a works driven salvation; that is the free gift from God, but to a holding on to that salvation and not turning back.

The hidden manna is Jesus Himself. He said, “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." Jesus is telling us that the conqueror will get to sup on Him and will live forever. When Jesus had mentioned that His followers must eat His flesh, scripture says that most turned away. Staying true to His word He makes mention of that again here and no doubt many will continue to turn away from him.

The reference to the white stone has many different interpretations to what it means and I would have to say that most of them are laughable. The bible is largely unclear about exactly what they are so I won’t comment a lot about it other than to say that the theories put forth that they are gifts like some of the cultures did in that day seem to be ludicrous. Jesus has never been one that had to borrow a symbol from another culture in a permanent way like this. If the Hebrews did something like this it most likely came from Him anyway, so He would not be a sort of copycat like some scholars have hinted at. The most plausible explanation would that it would be some sort of memorial stone like was used in the old testament. The consensus is out on this so it is still up for debate. To be sure, if you want to find out for certain what the meaning of them will be I would suggest to conquer and receive one of your own.

ref: John 6:48-50

Revelation 2:18

"And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write:'The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. (ESV)

Son of God; this is the problem the Jews had with Jesus. Had Jesus been a prophet as the Quran states he might’ve lived a full life and gone to His ancestors old and full of years. Their problem with Him is this very thing; that He blasphemed when He said He was God’s son, and in doing so making Himself equal with God. Normally they would’ve been right. They would’ve taken one of the many opportunities to stone Him, or ended up crucifying Him as they did and they would have been right, possibly even righteous for doing so...if He had been just a prophet. But as it turned out He is the exact representation of His being; and they crucified the Holy One of Israel.

Many times in the old testament, where you find references to Jesus there are often flames involved. Jesus referenced His own eyes we he commented: “"The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” Jesus’ eyes are healthy so His whole body is full of light and that light is so bright that there will be a time where we will not need the light of the sun, for he will be our light.

His feet are like burnished bronze. There are not a lot of references to burnished bronze in the old testament. In Ezekiel the living creatures had legs like this, as well as the angel that appeared to Daniel had arms and legs that were like their creator. A most interesting connection was that pots, shovels, basins and all the vessels in the house of the LORD that King Solomon made were made of burnished bronze as well. The “working” tools in the temple were made of bronze and the stationary “Holy” pieces were made of gold. Jesus has much work ahead of Him in revelation in relationship to his feet so they must be of a harder substance than refined gold. Having said that, this is the Son of the Most High so there is no doubt more to this representation but this was an interesting correlation and a good lesson that we are to put our feet to work for the work of His kingdom.

ref: Matthew 6:22-23

Revelation 2:19-20

“I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.”

Here we go again, another church that is patiently enduring but not doing all God requires. Jesus says here that their latter works exceed the first. This should be our personal goals as Christians; that we would not always be looking to the great things we used to accomplish but at the great thing we are constantly doing. I once had someone tell me that in their younger days they evangelized heavily and now that they were older it was time for them to relax a little bit. Mind you this man was not “old and full of years”, but middle-aged. Those former things done are considered as filthy rags and as servants of the Most High we should always be striving toward our latter works being greater than the former.

After the kingdom split into Israel and Judah the seventh king in Israel after that was Ahab. His description: “(he) did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him.” He married the princess Jezebel and erected altars and served Baal. This same Jezebel had called for the slaughter of all of the Lord’s prophets and also had the prophets of Baal and Asherah eat at her table. After Elijah had all these prophets killed, Jezebel sealed her own fate with her own words: "So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow." She gave herself 24 hours to make Elijah die by the sword which of course did not happen. Later when Jehu became king, Elijah prophesied that she would be eaten by dogs. When Jehu came to the city gates he asked who was with him and it was the eunuchs who threw her down and prophecy was then fulfilled. I do find it interesting that eunuchs were the one who threw Jezebel down and here we have Jesus mentioning the same woman and very soon we will be coming across even more virgins from Israel; 144,000 of them to be exact.

So we now find ourselves with the spirit of Jezebel living on, doing the exact same things she did before. She seduces the church and causes those that tolerate her to be sexually immoral and to eat at the same table where she entertained the prophets of Baal. It is important to note that her purpose is not a terribly difficult one to carry out. As humans it is no secret that sin is often found in our bellies or in our bedroom. Look around the church you attend and you will see it is not by accident that you will find over and over again the obese, homosexuality, fornicators, and of course divorce throughout the congregation and leadership. This is the work of Jezebel. In fact chances are high that you find one of those or at least a remnant in your own mirror. If you do not find your struggles there, then consider yourself blessed. Now for those of you who claim to be happily married but find yourselves not giving yourself to your spouse at THEIR whim, don’t be deceived; you find yourself in this group as well. As it is written: “Do not deprive one another”, lest your spouse might find themselves seduced by this “prophetess”. You see for it will not only be them who this verse is speaking of but you yourself “that tolerate that woman Jezebel.”

ref: 1 Kings 16:29-34; 1 Kings 18:4,19; 1 Kings 19:1-2; 2 Kings 9:30-35; 1 Corinthians 7:1-5

Revelation 2:21

I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. (ESV)

So how much time do we have to repent and receive Jesus? It is near impossible for any type of bible student to believe something as silly as “there was no grace or mercy in the old testament”. The promise to Abraham held that his descendants would be slaves in a country not their own because, “for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete." So to be certain God’s chosen people were put into slavery because the Amorites' sin was not yet complete, giving them time to repent from their ways or to go into full on rebellion and be destroyed. We hear a lot from agnostics/atheists about the Israelites being told to utterly destroy everyone in their path but not so much about God giving them several centuries in which to repent. This is one of the most pronounced examples but we find ourselves here today with another.

In yesterday’s post I referenced Jezebel from the old testament and her slaughter of the prophets and the eating of food with the prophets of Baal and Asherah. She was most certainly thrown down, died and was eaten by dogs. She is dead, dead, dead. So what is Jesus talking about when He says He gave her time to repent and she refuses (present tense) to repent. Now keep in mind; earlier He mentioned her as being actively tolerated, so what does this mean? We are left with only a few options. Was Jesus speaking figuratively about a type of Jezebel that may infiltrate the churches and it is more of a figure than an actual person? Was Jesus speaking about a new Jezebel that was only found in the church in Thyatira? Many scholars marry those two theories together saying Jesus is figuratively speaking about a type of Jezebel that was very much in the church but Jezebel was not her real name. I don’t know why He would not just say her name since He did already mention the name of Antipas. Was Jesus speaking about the Jezebel from the 1 & 2 Kings who in someway has made herself manifest in this church? Each of these theories presents its own theological ramifications about what happens when a person dies and the activity of that person in the afterlife. Whichever stance you might take most will agree that there is at least a loose connection to the real Jezebel. It would be difficult therefore to remove any of Jesus’ references toward this situation from the actual Jezebel. So when He says He has given her time to repent there would seem to be a reference to Him giving Jezebel, as dead as she seems, time to repent.

ref: Genesis 15:13-16

Revelation 2:22

Look! I will throw her into a sickbed and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her practices. (HCSB)

So we’ve heard that Jezebel had an opportunity to repent and might well have squandered it so Jesus will punish her, but not only her but those who have committed adultery with her. Again, whether this is actually adultery or a type of spiritual adultery it is not altogether clear. What is clear is how Jesus feels about it. There is no passing of the buck and blaming it on this woman but they will be held responsible for their actions. Make no mistake, Jesus is quick to forgive, as long as we are quick to repent. There is no beating around the bush about whether He is pleased with the actions or not. It seems a lot of times Christians are accused of using scare tactics to lure people into knowing Jesus but it is Jesus Himself that is pronouncing judgement unless you repent. We can dance around mercy and grace all we want but there will be a time when Jesus can/will say I will do this to you unless you repent.

Revelation 2:23

I will kill her children with the plague. Then all the churches will know that I am the One who examines minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your works. (HCSB)

So Jesus will cast Jezebel onto a sickbed but will kill her children. It is difficult to pin down who these children might be. Are they actual children of whoever it may be in the church who causes these problems? Probably not. They could be a sort of spiritual children that would consist of the people that have followed after her and committed adultery with her. Or they could be those who didn’t commit adultery but are merely the ones who are tolerating her. They are not birthed by her but she is holding some kind of authority over them since they fail to act against her. That being said, it seems that they are some sort of spiritual children since Jesus goes on to say that because of Him killing these, then the churches will know that he examines hearts and minds. For this reason it would seem these are not those who are actually guilty of the adultery with her but those that tolerate it and have been indoctrinated by her, though not necessarily partook in her filth. It is an interesting question to ponder and one I will leave you with.

We like to say that God knows my heart, and we say this boldly thinking this will vindicate us in some way. We think that if only God would judge our hearts/minds and not our actions that we will somehow be better off. I don’t know why we would deceive ourselves in this way. If I could catalog the extent of evil that naturally exists in my heart and mind, books could not hold it all. By no stretch of the imagination do I believe I accomplish enough for the kingdom of God, but at least I don’t act on every evil impulse that races through my mind. I would like to trick myself into believing that we have many more good thoughts than bad but God refuted that very notion by saying “My thoughts are not your thoughts”. If we were guilty of thinking good thoughts most of the time then this would not be an accurate statement. I would almost be better off if I was judged only by my actions instead of by One who could examine hearts and minds. At the end of the day the best we can do is to repent before the Lord and pray He continues to show mercy upon a sinner such as me.

Revelation 2:24-25

But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. Only hold fast what you have until I come. (ESV)

So finally we hear about the pious among the church in Thyatira. These are those who did not commit adultery with Jezebel nor tolerated her. It is a difficult thing to search for a church home. We tend to choose them for a variety of reasons that often have nothing to do with making disciples of men. Do they have a good praise team, a good children's program? Are the people there similiar to me in status and race? Would you flee from there if on your first day you met Jezebel in the flesh or if they had just read an actual letter from the Lord detailing what exactly Jesus has against this church? Most would run for the hills. If you are an infant Christian, I could almost understand that kind of thinking. If you are seasoned, why not be the pious among the wicked? If there are so many things wrong with the church that carries the name of our Lord, why not attempt to correct the problem? Are not those who are in darkness, that claim to know the Lord, worth your time and inconvenience? Had it not been for this group of people, Jesus would had nothing good to say to this church. Even with all they had going wrong with them, He is still walking among this golden lampstand.

Back in Genesis God Himself proclaimed to Cain, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." Many scholars agree that this was the problem found with those who decided to learn the deep things of Satan. What better way to learn how to rule over sin can there be than to partake in it? That if I can just commit adultery, then I can better learn how to not do it. We still do similar things in our churches today. If we have those in the congregation who have a drug problem, who better to minister to them than those who have come through such a problem; and sometimes this can work. I would caution however that this is in a no way a prerequisite. I wonder how much more effective a singles ministry would be if it weren't headed by the habitually single but by an actual happily married couple. Does it not seem silly to have a still slightly effeminate man to head up a ministry about recovering homosexuals? You would not put a deaf person over the music ministry. How ineffective would a women’s ministry be if we could get women in church to adhere to the word, be silent and ask their husbands like they are supposed to? Again sometimes it works but why would we automatically put a hindered person in charge of something so precious? To say such a thing is necessary negates what it was that Jesus was doing when He walked on the earth. He had not partook in anything sinful but ruled over it all, so does the fact He was never a heroin addict null Him from being able to speak with authority over heroin addicts? I would argue that the fact that He or anyone else who didn’t do those things, has authority in how to deal with situations because they followed the words of God and ruled over them.

Jesus leaves us again with these type of words, “Hold fast what you have until I come.”

ref: Genesis 4:7

Revelation 2:26-27

The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. (ESV)

Jesus will give authority over the nations to those who conquer and hold to Jesus until the end. Jesus once resurrected had received all authority from His Father. This promise appeared in the Psalms saying, “"You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Now being the great delegator Jesus promises that these will receive some of that same authority over the nations, to rule them with a rod of iron. What a glorious privilege this will be for those that are appointed to this position. It comes as a shock to some that Jesus will break and dash them in pieces; this a far cry from Him wiping every tear from our eyes. Those nations that He will rule over are dashed and broken before Him. Imagine that. That’s why later in the Psalm it says: “Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,

for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” So that being said, it would seem that these nations the church is to rule over are already broken when they receive the task of ruling over them.

ref: Matthew 28:18; Psalm 2:7-12

Revelation 2:28-29

And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ' (ESV)

“And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Peter tells us here a little more about this morning star. The morning star is brought on by the dawn of a new day and there is a new day coming. Later Jesus utters, “"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star." In that one statement Jesus called together the past, present and future; being the one who was, who is, and who is to come. He referred to Himself as the root of David, meaning the predecessor and nurturer of King David. Then the descendant of David being that he fleshly came through his line. And then at a later time coming as the morning star, the dawn of the new day, shining bright for all who would call upon the new day. Those that call out for the morning star are the Spirit, the Bride and the ones who hear (the church). I desperately want us to hear what the Spirit says. Come, Lord Jesus.

ref: 2 Peter 1:19-21; Revelation 22:19-17