The Seven Messages

Revelation 2 and 3 are of exceptional interest. Therefore I would like to make some introductory remarks before we deal with the text itself. In these two chapters seven churches are addressed with regard to their actual spiritual condition. It is however clear that the meaning goes beyond what happened then.

It is also clear that you can draw spiritual lessons from their spiritual condition for our time. But these two chapters show in the seven churches also seven sequential stages in church history, from the beginning of the church until its rapture. They contain a prophetic outline of the history of professing Christianity, for the whole book is after all prophecy (Rev 1:3), thus including both these chapters.

You read here the history of the church as it has behaved and developed on earth through the ages. It is all about its responsibility. On other places in the Bible you read about the church as how it has been formed and seen by God. In that case we speak about the church in accordance to the counsel God, wherein everything is perfect. That is not the side from which the church is presented in this book.

In this book of judgment the house of God, professing Christianity, is judges first (1Pet 4:17). This judgment takes place in accordance to the way it has fulfilled its duty to be a testimony (a ‘lampstand’) in the world. After the judgment on professing Christianity, from chapter 4 the judgment on Israel and on the world follow.

Briefly said you can see in the sequential letters the following periods in church history:

1. Ephesus (means: lovely) is the time that followed right after the death of the apostles when outwardly a lot of things were in order, but the first love had been abandoned.

2. The time of Smyrna (means: bitterness) corresponds with the time of the Christian persecution by the Romans. Of all these persecutions there were ten that took place under ten Roman emperors. It could be that the tribulation of ‘ten days’ refers to that (Rev 2:10). That period comprises the end of the second century and the third century.

3. The time of Pergamum (means: fortress) runs from the fourth to the seventh century. It begins with the acceptance of Christendom by emperor Constantine. Christendom became the state religion. It became advantageous to be a Christian.

4. The time of Thyatira (means: incense or sacrifice) covers the period from the seventh to the sixteenth century. In that period the roman-catholic church dominates in the person of the pope over the world, the reverse of Pergamum, where the church sought protection from the world. As a ruling church the roman-catholic church has (for now) come to an end, but as an institution it still exists and it will exist until the coming of the Lord.

5. In the time of Sardis (means: remnant) protestantism originates from and next to the roman-catholic church in the sixteenth century. Also the protestant churches will exist until the coming of the Lord.

6. During the period of protestantism, the period of Philadelphia (means brotherly love) emerged in the nineteenth century. God’s grace causes in dead protestantism a faithful biblical revival movement that separated itself from it. Like roman-catholicism and protestantism, Philadelphia remains until the coming of the Lord.

7. The final stage of church history is characterized by Laodicea (means: people’s government) which also finds its origin in the nineteenth century. The characteristic of Laodicea is lukewarmness. There is the high confession of Philadelphia, but the Lord is outside. We find that spiritual condition in all kinds of churches and denominations that emerged from the revivals of Philadelphia, but which are today often worse off spiritually than Sardis. Also Laodicea remains until the coming of the Lord.

To conclude these introductory remarks on Revelation 2 and 3, let me point out the structure of the letters. It is roughly the same in all the letters:
1. The command: “write”.
2. A characteristic of Christ from chapter 1 followed by: “says this”.
3. The assessment: “I know”.
4. The judgment (except for Smyrna and Philadelphia): “but I have against you”.
5. The exhortation: “repent”.
6. The appeal: “he who has an ear”.
7. The promise: “to him who overcomes”.

It is also remarkable that in the last four messages the promise is first given and then the appeal follows.

Rev 2:1. The first message is addressed to the church in Ephesus. This church has played a major and typical role in the early church history:
1. Paul has worked there during his third missionary journey for a period of three years (Acts 20:31);
2. he has spoken out his important farewell speech to the elders of Ephesus with a warning for the oncoming decay (Acts 20:17-35);
3. he wrote to them his letter with the highest Christian truths (the letter to the Ephesians);
4. after Paul also Timothy worked there (1Tim 1:3); to him Paul wrote his farewell letter about the decay in the last days and about the path of the believer in that time, the second letter to Timothy;
5. and now the Lord addresses Himself to the church in Ephesus as the first of the seven churches.

John does not receive the command to write to the church in Ephesus, but to the angel of the church. As I already remarked earlier, angel means ‘messenger’ or ‘representative’. To think of a literal angel gives more troubles than solutions. As a matter of fact, there is nowhere an example that an angel fails in his duty and even less that an angel is called to repent. The angel represents people who are responsible for the condition in the church.

You could think of persons who have a special responsibility in a church, like elders. But that doesn’t alter the fact that also the rest of the people have a responsibility. Each member of the church is responsible to ensure that the church is faithful to God’s Word and that there is faithfulness in testifying to the truth. You can compare this with the people of Israel and the king who ruled over them. God held the king responsible for the condition of the people, but He did not thereby diminish the guilt of the people.

The Lord Jesus presents Himself here as “the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand”. All stars are in His hand. He “holds” them in His right hand (cf. Rev 1:16; 20). That indicates power and authority, protection and support to keep it from total ruin, but also to exert control over her. This authority He exerts in all local churches and He checks up on it whether His authority is taken into consideration in the right way. Therefore He walks “in the middle of the seven golden lampstands”. He, as it were, goes around to see whether the lampstands are burning clearly, whether they spread the light which He has kindled.

Now read Revelation 2:1 again.

Reflection: Learn the order of the seven messages by heart and try to relate them to the sequential periods in church history.

Message for Ephesus

Rev 2:2. The Lord Jesus starts by saying “I know”. That He can say because He is the all-knowing God. It is a great privilege that He knows everything about you (Heb 4:12; Amos 4:13). It means that He totally knows you. He is involved with everything you go through, He knows what you think and feel, He knows all your plans (Psa 139:1-4). If that knowledge makes you restless, there may be something in your life that you do not want Him involved with. Then tell it to Him.

In the church in Ephesus there are many good things. They are mentioned by the Lord first. He always first seeks the good. When Paul writes his letters to the churches he also often mentions things first which are praise worthy before he deals with things that are not good. The Lord says that He knows the “deeds”, the “toil” and the “perseverance” of the church in Ephesus. He sees that they are engaged in good works, that they give their best efforts for it – you can say ‘labor’ is hard work – and that they persevere in it. That is a beautiful appreciation.

But something is missing. You see that if you read what Paul could say of the Thessalonians. With them he could speak of “your work of faith and your labor of love and your steadfastness of hope” (1Thes 1:3). It is striking that here in Ephesus their deeds do not stem from the true Christian characteristics of faith, hope and love. The heart is not involved (anymore).

Nevertheless the Lord continues to mention the good things e sees with them. They also “cannot tolerate evil men”. Here you see an important characteristic of a church. The evil may reveal itself, but it must not remain. It will be obvious to each sincere Christian that the holiness of the Lord is incompatible with the welcoming evil people as if they are Christians. Evil people are people who refuse to break with sin, either in practice or in doctrine. Such people have always been there and they still are. If strangers present themselves, they will have to be put to the test.

In the beginning false apostles have tried to ruin the church with lies. But the Ephesians did not accept everyone who presented themselves as apostles. As watchful as they were, they tested the spirits of those they did not know (1Jn 4:1). They applied the test of the Scripture. This is also the touchstone to be applied to every confession today.

Rev 2:3. The Lord has more reasons to praise them. The church has not only started well, but it also shows “perseverance”. Perseverance is important if you want to grow in your faith. You have to deal with opposition. You have to learn to endure that. It goes without saying that it is about opposition for the sake of the Name of the Lord Jesus. As soon as you openly come out for His Name’s sake you will notice that.

The Ephesians also “have not grown weary”, which means that they did not think of giving up being a Christian because they began to find it more and more burdensome to fight against the evil or to face resistance for the sake of His Name.

Rev 2:4. If this is where the description had stopped, you could say that the church in Ephesus, except for one minor issue, was a perfect church. Which church today could compare itself to this? But the ‘minor issue’ that is missing in Rev 2:2, shows that something essential is missing and that is what the Lord is pointing at when He has to say: “But I have [this] against you.”

What He has against them is “that you have left your first love”. After all the positive mentions, yet this word of exhortation must follow. Amongst all outwardly perceivable and also valuable activities there was something inwardly missing. That is what the Lord has against them. It is ‘only’ one thing, but it determines the real value of all outward activities. The contrast with what is previously said, is therefore great.

Leaving the first love is the origin of all evil in the church, as the following churches show. A lot of various activities may be done in the church, but if the heart is not involved, it misses its real value. A wife may act out of obligation toward a husband and a husband toward a wife and do it in such a way that everything seems to be okay. However, when it is no more than an obligation, while the love of the heart is missing, which was there first, the other will notice that. He or she will then not be satisfied anymore with everything that is done for her or his sake. The Lord always remembers the first love and also reminds His own of it (Jer 2:2).

The Ephesians did not lose the first love, but they had left it. It is an activity. The Lord Jesus cannot stand it that a distance arises between Him and His own. Love can only be satisfied by love. He longs for your love, for your ‘first love’. The first love is the best or highest love. It indicates the quality of this love. It is a love that only seeks the Person of the Beloved and it submits everything else to it. Works are good, they are even necessary, but they are only valuable if they are done out of love for Him.

Rev 2:5. In His grace the Lord appeals to repent. That starts with a reminder of the beginning of the deviation, how it was before that time (cf. Lk 15:17). In case you have deviated from the Lord you are to return to the moment where the deviation started and you are to confess that. The Ephesians had fallen from the high position which they had learned to know and enjoy by the means of the letter Paul wrote to them.

They can show the proof of their conversion by doing “the deeds” they “did at first”. ‘First deeds’ are deeds that are motivated by the first love. Without the first love there is no mention of first deeds. Only if a church starts to love Christ again, it can be a real testimony, a real light bearer.

If a church does not give Christ that place, He has to come as a Judge and intervene. He will then take away the lampstand of its place, which means that a church ceases to be a bearer of the light it once had, but now has lost. Just as now the darkness of the islam surrounds the places where once the seven churches were located, we observe that removal and darkness in the churches of the West. If they do not continue in the kindness of God they will also be cut off (Rom 11:22).

Rev 2:6. The Lord always praises what is worthy of praising, also even after threatening to be taking away the lampstand. By doing it this way He puts emphasis on it. It concerns the hatred of a special kind of evil, hateful both to the Lord and to the church. Not the people, but the works are hated. Nicolaitans means ‘overcomers of the people or of the laymen’ which probably indicates that here clericalism, that is, the exercise of power through the clergy, is found.

You find this doctrine when people are appointed by people to do spiritual work, for which they get payment and power is being given to them to command (cf. Acts 20:28; 1Tim 6:5; 1Pet 5:3), because otherwise the church should not be able to function and disorder would enter. It is a denial of the fact that the church has only one Head and that all believers are ‘brethren’ (Mt 23:8). The Lord hates this doctrine and practice, because it makes ‘laymen’, ‘accursed ones who do not know the law’ (Jn 7:49) of those who were bought with a high price. They are kept ignorant, dependent on the clergy that dictates how the Bible must be read.

Rev 2:7. The Lord speaks to the whole, but in the whole He addresses the individual. The point is that you hear personally what the Spirit says to the churches (plural). Also, what is said to the other churches, is to be taken to heart by you. Notice that it is about what the Spirit says, not about what the church teaches, to which the demand is attached that each member submits himself to the decisions of the church. Each member of the church is called to acknowledge what is of the Spirit.

The Lord concludes with a promise for “him who overcomes”. In each church overcoming has got to do with overcoming the evil that is found in that particular church. Here overcoming is holding on or returning to the first love, right against all abandonment of the first love. The reward is that the Lord Himself will give you to eat of Himself, He is the tree of life. This blessing is indeed for each believer, but here it is promised as a special consolation to everyone who on earth has kept his first love or has returned to it. Such a person has overcome.

If you want to persevere in the first love, it will be a precious promise for you that once you will enjoy Him always and undisturbed. That will happen “in the Paradise of God” (cf. Lk 23:43; 2Cor 12:4). A paradise is a pleasure garden, a beautiful garden with fruit trees (Ecc 2:5; Song 4:13). The “Paradise of God” is a paradise of which the delights and the splendor can never again be forfeited by the unfaithfulness of man. The overcomer will then find himself in the glory of the resurrection and he will perfectly enjoy what he chose for on earth. Is that your goal too?

Now read Revelation 2:2-7 again.

Reflection: How about your first love for the Lord Jesus?

Message for Smyrna

Rev 2:8. John receives the order to write a second letter. He must address that “to the angel of the church in Smyrna”. In this letter we find no blame. This we also will see in the letter to Philadelphia. It is a letter full of comfort. This comfort is important because the church in Smyrna has to face tribulation, poverty and blasphemy. Each of those tests separately means a great suffering already. Now they have to face three trials. In such a case comfort is very desirable.

The comfort comes from the Lord Jesus, Who presents Himself to this tested church as “the first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life”. So you see that the Lord presents Himself in accordance to the condition of the church. What He says of Himself here is also connected with the characteristics that you have seen of Him in the previous chapter (Rev 1:8; 17-18). He shows Himself as the One Who rules over time and eternity, Who has everything in control, even death. Death has no power over Him. He has conquered death, for He has risen from the dead. He is sovereign in the greatest tribulation. This is a great comfort for those who run the risk to be killed.

That this letter directly follows after that one to the church in Ephesus, implies an important lesson. In the letter to the church in Ephesus you have seen that the Lord has to blame them for leaving their first love. In the message to Smyrna you read about several tests. Therein you can see the love of the Lord Who, through the means of tests, wants to work that His people return to Him with their heart. He would like to have their first love again. He again wants to be the only One for them to Whom their affection goes.

The same can happen in your personal life. If you deviate from the Lord, if He does not mean everything anymore to you, He will not let you go. He will through certain, sometimes unpleasant, events make sure that you will ask for Him again. You actually are only happy if you live in fellowship with Him and your whole life is for Him. He has the right to your life, but it is also a privilege to live for Him, to which also the greatest possible happiness is connected.

Rev 2:9. If there is “tribulation”, “poverty” and “blasphemy” in the life of a church, He knows about it. He is involved. It is not that He allows it and is passively watching, but it affects Him. In a certain respect, He even directs it so. You can see that with Job. There satan comes to God and God draws satan’s attention to Job. Then satan challenges God, as it were, by suggesting to Him to test Job. And God permits satan to strike Job. However, God stands behind and beyond the tests that come on Job. That is how Job also sees it when he says: “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away” (Job 1:21). So Job does not blame satan, but accepts everything from the hand of the Lord (Job 2:10).

After all his vain attempts to tempt Job to sin, satan had nothing more to say. But God had not achieved His purpose with Job yet. God used the corruptness of satan to bring Job to the point where He could bless him. Job needed to become aware of the evil in his heart. That awareness starts to grow in the conversations that are held from Job 3 and onward between Job and his friends.

Until Job finally, after God has spoken to him, cries out: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). Then he comes to the point where God wanted him to be and He showers Job with greater blessings than he had before. Therefore God’s actions are always blessed, even though it seems hard.

The awareness that what happens to you, happens from the hand of your Father Who loves you, gives strength to bear it. Faith knows and holds on to: “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it” (1Cor 10:13).

Except that the Lord Jesus knows of all trials and that God has His way and loving purposes with them, the Lord Jesus Himself has experienced them all. He Who says this, speaks from experience. Also that is a great comfort to those who have to face suffering and have a lack of everything. It is a special honor to them to be that close to Him and to be so like Him. It may be the same for you when you suffer for His Name’s sake (Lk 6:22-23; Acts 5:41; Phil 3:10-11).

With tribulation also comes poverty. They suffer from a shortage of foodstuff. The Lord knows it. He comforts them by pointing at their spiritual riches. You can gain the whole world, but what profit is it if you lose or forfeit yourself (Lk 9:25)? However, in the midst of the greatest poverty you can have the greatest peace and joy in your soul, if you consider that you have Christ and everything that is in Him. What you have in Christ is yours forever and ever. Those treasures are in heaven and are untouchable for people who can rob you from everything on earth or withhold food from you.

An additional painful test is the blasphemy of people who profess to be “Jews”, that is, people who claim to be the people of God. Just like in the church in Ephesus (Rev 2:2) there are also people here who pretend to have the true knowledge and claim to be superior to others. They moderate themselves to be the true people of God with the exclusion of others.

This moderation is present during the whole history of professing Christianity. You also deal with it today. Especially the so-called Christians make it very difficult for the true Christians to remain faithful to the Word of God. Whether it is about being a church or about forms of cohabitation, as soon as you let God’s Word speak, you bring the blasphemy of nominal Christians upon yourself. Such people refuse to obey God’s Word, but are a mouthpiece of satan. Do not let yourself be intimidated by them, but remain faithful to the Bible.

Rev 2:10. With the words “do not fear what you are about to suffer” the believers are – and you are – encouraged to face the future without fear, even though that future surely includes suffering. They are prepared for the suffering in a comforting way. Tribulation, poverty and blasphemy are awful enough, but worse things will happen. There is not only persecution, but also being captured. Freedom has disappeared; satan gets the power to determine what happens to the believer. It may imply death.

But the Lord has His own goal with it. The test serves to purify the faith and cleanse the life (1Pet 1:6-7) and not to bring the believer down. In addition, He also determines the limit of the tribulation, that is, He determines its duration (cf. Dan 1:12). The tribulation will last for “ten days” and not one day longer. Likewise, God has set the number of days of the great tribulation in the end time and that is twelve hundred and sixty days, that is three and a half years, a period that will not be exceeded (Mt 24:21-22; Rev 11:2-3).

Prophetically, there is something remarkable connected with the period of ten days. That has to do with the period of church history that bears the character of Smyrna, that is the second and third century of our era. In that period ten great persecutions took place. The prophetic application is therefore that the tribulation of ten days refers to ten separate periods in which the believers were oppressed by Roman rulers.

The Lord encourages His tested church in Smyrna to be faithful until death. Hasn’t He been faithful? As an encouragement He also promises them in advance that they will be rewarded with “the crown of life” which He Himself will give to them. The enemy cannot go further than death (Mt 10:28). Up to that moment the believer is encouraged to remain faithful. What follows after that is the resurrection, the world of the Risen One. That is where his eye is focused.

Rev 2:11. Although the whole is addressed, the individual responsibility is fully maintained. The point is whether you have an ear for it to “hear what the Spirit says to the churches”. If you have understood the message addressed to the angel in Smyrna and want to heed it, you are an overcomer. You don’t let trials knock you out, but through all opposition you remain faithful to Him, Who bought you with His blood.

The reward for that faithfulness to the extreme is that you “will not be hurt by the second death”. “Will not” is a strong expression with the power of ‘in no thinkable way’. Also this promise is the portion of each believer, but also here it is for the believers who are in oppression and are facing death a great encouragement. The enemy has the power, that is, he is allowed, to make them die the first death (Mt 10:28). But they may know that the second death, that is hell, Rev 20:14) has been conquered for them and has no power over them whatsoever.

Now read Revelation 2:8-11 again.

Reflection: In what way do you have to deal with tribulation, poverty and blasphemy?

Message for Pergamum

Rev 2:12. A new period begins in church history. This period is presented in the church in Pergamum. In Smyrna you have seen the period of the Christian persecutions of the Christians. After that period, a period of rest begins, which starts in the year 313. In that year, the emperor Constantine the Great outwardly converts to Christendom and therefore Christendom becomes state religion. It becomes profitable to be a Christian, for that delivers a job, money and status.

Satan changes his strategy from here. In Smyrna he incited pagan rulers to persecution. There he manifested himself “like a roaring lion” (1Pet 5:8). However, his attempts to eradicate Christendom had no effect. In Pergamum he becomes a protector of Christendom and “disguises himself as an angel of light” (2Cor 11:14). He makes sure that the church feels at home in the world so that it goes on focusing on a comfortable residence in the world.

But there is Someone Who sees through this deception. That is “the One who has the sharp two-edged sword”, that is the Word of God (Heb 4:12). Only through the Word of God you will become aware of the deceptions of satan. If satan does not succeed to defeat you through adversity and trials, he will try to make you become unfaithful to your calling as a Christian through luxury and prosperity. He will make his best efforts to cause you to forget that you are connected with Christ in heaven, Who was rejected on earth. But by reading God’s Word and the desire to live up to it, you will remain faithful to your heavenly calling.

Rev 2:13. The Lord begins by saying that He knows that the church dwells “where Satan’s throne is”. To find yourself where satan’s throne is, is not to be blamed; it is inescapable. But it is indeed to be blamed if you dwell there. ‘To dwell’ has the meaning of feeling at home somewhere, not only reside somewhere, but it includes having all your interests there and being bound to that.

But how can the church feel at home on the territory where satan’s throne is, where he rules? Satan is “the ruler of the world” (Jn 14:30). He rules the world and puts it to his will. The church has been rescued from the world (Gal 1:4), to be one with the glorified Head in heaven (Eph 4:15-16). It is not God’s purpose that Christians get established in the world and feel themselves at home in it. However, because of the deception of satan the church did not hold on to the Head, but has become earthly focused (Phil 3:19).

But still the Lord notices that the church in Pergamum holds on to the basic elements of being a Christian. They have held on to the Name of Christ and have not sworn by the name of Caesar. They also have not given up the faith in Him, the Son of God and the Son of Man, and His redemption work. They have not succumbed under the enmity from the world, which they certainly experienced, in spite of their connection to it. In what has happened to Antipas they could see that the world has not really changed in its nature, regarding its tolerance for a worldly Christianity.

Faithfulness to the Name of the Lord will always arouse the hatred of the world. The Lord calls Antipas “My witness, My faithful one”. It is a great tribute to this witness. Antipas means ‘against all’. Even though the mass of people let themselves be tempted to a comfortable Christendom, he continued to go against the grain and testified to his Lord.

It is remarkable that the Greek word for witness is martus, which means ‘martyr’. The voice of Antipas could not be silenced except by death. This was also the fate of earlier witnesses, like John the baptist (Mk 6:16-18), the prophets (Mt 23:34) and above all the Lord Jesus (Rev 1:5). What Christ was to God, Antipas was to Christ.

Rev 2:14. After the praise, which the Lord still has for this church, He tells them what He has against them. He blames them for being tolerant toward the false teachers in their midst. Their false teaching is called “the teaching of Balaam”. The corruptness of this teaching is the deceptive way of mixing the truth with lie and the children of God with the world. Balaam tempted the Israelites “to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit [acts of] immorality” (Num 25:1-2; Num 31:16).

It is a major deception of satan, which is also very successful today. You see that everywhere where worldly principles get entry into the church. ‘The teaching of Balaam’ gets entry if you see the church as an organization or company. If you want to make a company prosperous, then structures are to be established, duties to be delegated and consultative group meetings need to be developed. The church has a product that has to be promoted and must be made attractive to ‘buy’. Name recognition of the group is important. Also political influence is of importance.

This development can be found throughout the history of the church since Pergamum. The followers and defenders of such development are called “adulteresses” by James (Jam 4:4). It is spiritual adultery when the church unites with the world. Also eating the sacrifices of idols can be found in a spiritual sense in professing Christianity. When I recently visited a church, it shocked me again when I saw people kissing images of saints and respectfully bowed themselves before these images. The adoration of Mary and the pope is inextinguishable. Countless people give in to and ‘eat’ sacrifices of idols. Mary and the pope are not consecrated by the church to Christ but to the devil. The reverence the people ascribe to them is accepted by demons.

Rev 2:15. In the footsteps of the teaching of Balaam is “the teaching of the Nicolaitans”. That teaching also got entry in Pergamum, for which the Lord also had to blame them. What in Ephesus only consisted of works and also was hated (Rev 2:6), here already had been elevated to a teaching. As it was already noted in Rev 2:6, Nicolaitans means ‘conquerors of the people or of the laymen’. These conquerors of the people consider themselves the clergy and see the church people as laymen. By speaking about ‘the teaching of the Nicolaitans’ the distinction between clergy and laity is elevated to the status of an institution.

You can hear this distinction already in the names that were accepted by the clergy since the third century in Christianity. In those days the Roman bishop, for example, was called ‘papa’ for the first time, from which the familiar word ‘pope’ has been derived. This evil has deeply established itself in professing Christianity, it is anchored in it.

Rev 2:16. After the blames, not the judgment follows, but the call to “repent”. You cannot see that other than as a proof of grace. The Lord gives an opportunity for repentance before judging. The church can heed that call by breaking the connections with the world and removing the corrupted teaching from among them. If that does not happen Christ will come and execute judgment on them through His Word.

Evil in the church must always be condemned on the basis of the Word. If the church does not do that, He Himself will do that. By the way, here you see the distinction between the angel and the faithful ones on the one side, “I am coming to you”, and the followers of the wrong teachings on the other side, “I will make war against them”. Here we see the two groups – designated “you” and “them” – present in that church.

Rev 2:17. Here the call to hear is still done before the overcomers are addressed. That means that the whole is addressed, while what is said, is personally to be practiced by each believer.

Each believer who obeys the call, is a conqueror. The victory is gained by each one who does not let himself be dragged by the dangers that threaten this church. Such a person is a true pilgrim who does not come under the influence of the ruler of this world.

In order to gain victory in a situation in which the church has started to feel at home in the world and has allowed the ideas of the world to enter among them, it is necessary that the believer lives in secret with God in the power of the Word. The “hidden manna” speaks of the Son of God, Who became Man to give us life and Who has humbled Himself and has entered into all of our circumstances. With this bread the angels fed the people of God in the wilderness (Psa 78:25).

The manna was within arm’s reach for God’s people each morning during the whole journey in the wilderness that lasted forty years. This is how Christ has to be our daily food. When the church in its heart turns to the world, it feeds itself with ‘the onions and the garlic of Egypt’ (Num 11:5). You can compare that with the television soap series and tabloids. It seems spicy, seasoned, but has no nutritional value and stinks.

Overcomers are they who like Christ have lived separated from the world. To them ‘the hidden manna’ is promised by Christ Himself. This can mean that He, Who in His life on earth was perfectly separated to God, will tell the overcomer about His wondrous way on earth.

The “white stone” speaks of approval and appreciation. In case law, it meant acquittal. At an election people made their preference for a person known by giving a white stone. The Lord Jesus will do that with the overcomer in Pergamum. It expresses the personal fellowship between the Lord Jesus and the overcomer.

The “new name” on the stone is the name of the believers by which he is registered in heaven (Isa 62:2; Isa 65:15; Lk 10:20; Heb 12:23). It is a name “which no one knows but he who receives it”. That indicates that we, although we enjoy together with others the things in heaven, also will have a personal bond with and joy in the Lord Jesus, in which another person will not share.

Now read Revelation 2:12-17 again.

Reflection: What about your separation from the world?

Message for Thyatira

Rev 2:18. Prophetically, this church shows the bleakest period of church history. In Pergamum, the church was under the protection of the world. In Thyatira, the church rules over the world. This is the period in which the roman-catholic church has conquered and exercised the world power. It is generally accepted that that period started in the year of 590 with the election of Gregory the Great as the first pope and has lasted to the reformation in the beginning of the sixteenth century. The pope has had such a great influence in that period that no king or prince could resist him. In this ruling church you see what the Lord Jesus calls in Rev 2:20 “the woman Jezebel”.

The Lord Jesus addresses Thyatira as the Son of God. As the Son of God He is the foundation of the church (Mt 16:16-18). That is totally in contrast to the roman-catholic church that claims that Peter is the rock and at the same time the first pope. Every next pope is considered to be the successor of Peter.

As the Son of God the Lord Jesus is also Son over His house (Heb 3:6). That is in contrast to ‘the woman Jezebel’ who acts as if the church is her house. In contrast to the evil of the roman-catholic church the Son of God presents Himself as the One Who “has eyes like a flame of fire”. That indicates His Divine insight with the capability to judge the evil. He will judge everything that is in contrast to His holiness and will do so by the way of perfectly clear righteousness, to which “His feet like burnished bronze” point. You have already seen His eyes and feet in chapter 1 (Rev 1:14-15).

Rev 2:19. Although the situation in the church in Thyatira is a low point in church history, the Lord still sees here things that are commendable. His praise is even more abundant than the praise that He has for other churches. The reason is that because in such dark times the faithfulness of the faithful ones shines clearer. In the dark Middle Ages there was a great power of faith and commitment with little light with those who wholeheartedly loved the Lord Jesus. Examples of such people are the Albigenses and Waldenses who opposed the gross errors of the powerful church of Rome.

The Lord speaks of “your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance”. He mentions each aspect of their effort and dedication separately. He pays attention to every detail of the expression of their faithfulness. He can even say to them “that your deeds of late are greater than at first”. Instead of them succumbing to the pressure, He observes increase with them.

Rev 2:20. Then He has to tell them what He has against them. They “tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess” that “she teaches and … leads astray”. She represents the strange element in the church that does not belong there, like the historical Jezebel did not belong to the people of God (1Kgs 16:31), but who got the leading role. In addition, she moderates to be ‘a prophetess’, that is, she claims to speak words of God. This is papacy all over. The Lord Jesus blames the angel for tolerating her. That is a great sin. It is tolerating what God hates.

Jezebel “teaches”. That is what the roman-catholic church does: she claims to have the authority of teaching. The church system, represented in a woman (cf. Zec 5:5-11), claims to have the true teaching and that she cannot make doctrinal mistakes. She decides the teaching and life of her professors. From the claimed infallible speaking – the so-called ex cathedra, which is the authoritative speaking from Rome by the pope – she tries to seduce the bond-servants of the Lord and makes them commit apostate deeds. You see here that the teaching of Balaam that some in Pergamum held (Rev 2:14), is taught by this woman, the church as a whole, and is brought as a deception. The leaven of Pergamum penetrates further in Thyatira.

Rev 2:21. The Lord has had patience with her for a long time. That long patience made the persistence of her malice all the more apparent. There is not only blindness and ignorance, but also a will that acts in rebellion against God. “She does not want to repent of her immorality.” She does not want to abandon the world. Exercising authority ‘feels’ too good.

Rev 2:22. Because she does not want to repent the judgment is spoken out to her and it will strike her inevitably. The “bed”, as a symbol of her sexual immorality and pleasure, will be turned into a symbol of sickness and pain by God. That God will “throw her on a bed [of sickness]” means in effect that He surrenders her to her corrupt ways.

The judgment of God, however, doesn’t only come on the roman-catholic church. It also comes on “those who commit adultery with her”. This concerns all churches that pursue ecumenism with her. Also several protestant churches want to share in the influence of the politics of the world and are therefore seeking rapprochement with the roman-catholic church. This church will absorb them. The church system that will then arise is called ‘Babylon the great’ and will be judged by God (Rev 17:1-18; Rev 18:1-24). However, for those who have joined her, without being considered to belong to them, there still seems to be an opportunity to repent of her deeds.

Rev 2:23. The “children” of Jezebel are the unbelievers who participate in the system and who are also responsible for it. They are the kindred spirits, people of whom Jezebel is the spiritual mother. They will be killed by the Lord. Each life will be taken away by Him.

Through this judgment all other churches, that is the rest of professing Christianity, will know that it comes from God and that He acts with perfect knowledge. Possibly they may have been attracted to her teachings. Through the death the Lord brings there, they will see how depraved it was. The judgment of the Lord will be exercised by Him to the extent of the responsibility that each class had that belonged to Thyatira. That applies to the angel, to Jezebel, to her children and to those who have committed adultery with Jezebel.

Rev 2:24. Now the Lord addresses a remnant in Thyatira. As characteristics He mentions that they have not accepted the false teachings of the roman-catholic church and that they “have not known the deep things of Satan”, which refers to the occultism of that church.

The Lord will “place no other burden on” them. He does not yet say here that they have to leave that place. In Sardis He will give them that opportunity. In the end time, in which we live, the call sounds: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues” (Rev 18:4). It indicates that until the coming of the Lord there will be faithful ones in the roman-catholic church.

Rev 2:25. What the faithful ones have is not that much. Still, the Lord calls them to hold fast what they have until He comes. Thyatira, or roman-catholicism, will exist until the coming of the Lord, which is in contrast to the previous three churches that have had their time in the prophetical history and passed away. Thyatira will not be replaced by Sardis, but Sardis will emerge from it and develop alongside Thyatira. Sardis is protestantism that will continue to coexist with roman-catholicism.

Rev 2:26. Also in Thyatira the Lord has a promise for the overcomers. However, He not only speaks about overcomers, but also about keeping His deeds. His deeds are the deeds that were ordered by Him and are done in His power. Therefore there is mention of a twofold condition here. To those who meet that condition He promises that they will share in His government over the nations. Thyatira has ruled and they have not participated in it. Now they are allowed to rule with the Lord. Those who have refused to rule over the world during the absence of the Lord Jesus, will receive from Him the power to rule in the day of His glory (cf. 1Cor 4:8-9).

Rev 2:27. He who overcomes will reign “with a rod of iron”, which is a rod that cannot be broken. His reign consists of “rule”, that is guiding, keeping and protecting the nations that have entered the millennial kingdom of peace.

His kingdom will also consist of breaking the ungodly pagans to pieces. The execution of that judgment is ascribed to the Lord Jesus (Psa 2:9), but is also declared to be of application to those who have overcome in Thyatira. Each authorization of power granted by the Lord Jesus is the authorization of power that He Himself has received from His Father (cf. Mt 11:27; Mt 28:18; Jn 3:35; Jn 5:22; 27; Jn 13:3).

Rev 2:28. As an extra reward the conqueror receives out of the hands of the Lord Jesus “the morning star”. The morning star is the Lord Jesus Himself (Rev 22:16). It means that as an encouragement He presents Himself to them in a special way as the One Who comes for His church (2Pet 1:19). Before He rises as “the sun of righteousness” (Mal 4:2), He will rise as ‘the morning star’ to bring His church into heaven, including the faithful in Thyatira. They will not perish in the judgment on Babylon.

Rev 2:29. The message to Thyatira closes with a call to the individual who has an ear to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. In this case this has extra significance, for it is totally in contrast to what the roman-catholic church says: ‘Hear what the church says.’

Here this call appears for the first time after the promise to the one who overcomes. In the previous churches each church was called as a whole. Now this call is addressed only to those who overcome. They hear the voice of the Spirit to the churches. The whole of professing Christianity cannot repent anymore. The Spirit is still speaking to the churches, but only of a faithful remnant, not of the whole, is expected that they will hear.

Now read Revelation 2:18-29 again.

Reflection: Which characteristics of ‘that woman Jezebel’ do you recognize in professing Christianity?