Deeper Commentary
CHAPTER 2
2:1 To the angel of the church in Ephesus
write: These things says he that holds the seven stars in his right hand,
he that walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks- The Lord
is in the midst of the churches in the sense that He "walks" amongst or
"with" the churches / believers. This is an idea John uses several times
in his Gospel; that the Lord walked amongst or in the midst of men (Jn.
6:66; 7:1; 11:54; 12:35). It is also John who records the wonderful
promise of the Comforter; that the Lord's physical absence would be
compensated for by the gift of the Spirit in the hearts of believers, so
that it would be as if He were present with them still. The Jesus who
walked the streets and lanes of Galilee with His followers still walks
amongst us today.
If Timothy was the elder of the church at
Ephesus, it would appear that the Lord's rebuke of the 'angel' or elder of
that church in Rev. 2:1 may well have been directed at Timothy or his
successor (assuming an AD66 date for the book of Revelation). This could
imply that Timothy failed to follow Paul's charge to him of 2 Tim. 4, and
that his initial devotion waned in some ways. And yet on the other hand, a
study of 1 Timothy shows that the situation in Ephesus was desperate at
that time; doctrinal apostasy and return to the surrounding idol cults or
Judaism seemed inevitable as the weaknesses seemed so deep. And so Paul's
advice to Timothy was followed and only in the power of the Spirit did
Timothy turn things around in Ephesus. But it was at the cost of losing
agape love (:4). All the same, there is encouragement here that
apparently awful and almost hopeless spiritual situations can be turned
around by wise leadership and in the power of the Spirit.
2:2 I know your works and your toil and patience, and that you cannot
tolerate evil men, and did test them that call themselves apostles, and
yet are not, and found them false- This intolerance of false apostles
and teachers would have been in obedience to the commands to Timothy
regarding these types at Ephesus in 1 Timothy. The situation there seemed
hopelessly weak, and the false teachers entrenched. And yet empowered by
the Spirit and with timid Timothy rising up the challenge of dealing with
the situation, the problem with the false teachers had been turned around.
And yet, at the cost of losing agape love (:4), making all this
but a pyrrhic victory.
There is a marked warning throughout the
letters that there will be a spirit of self-deception and hypocrisy
amongst the latter-day ecclesias. Jezebel "calls herself a
prophetess" (2:20), some "say they are Jews and are not" (2:9),
others "say they are apostles, and are not" (2:2), Sardis had "a
name that thou livest" but was dead (3:1). This must be seen in the
context of other NT warnings that deceivers would enter the ecclesia,
appearing to have the Apostolic gifts of the Spirit. As noted on 1 Jn.
4:1, John's own communities of converts had faced this problem. There was
a conscious program of infiltration of the ecclesias by "false brethren
unawares brought in" (Gal. 2:4), originating from the 'satan', the great
adversary of early Christianity- Judaism. As noted on 1 Jn. 4, John
himself had given various tests as to how false and true apostles could be
identified. It seems Ephesus had put these into practice. These false
apostles were part of a whole system of fake Christianity, called the
antiChrist, the fake Christ. In the immediate context, as demonstrated
throughout our commentary on 1 John, this referred to the Judaist
opposition to Christianity and the program of conscious infiltration of
the early churches.
2:3 - see on Acts 20:34.
I know you are enduring patiently and
bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary-
Patient, long term 'bearing' alludes to the longer term workers of the
parable, who complained that they had borne the heat and burden of the
day, but struggled to accept that their weaker brethren could receive the
same gift of salvation as them (Mt. 20:12). As :4 puts it, they had left
their first agape. They were motivated by the Lord's Name,
enduring persecution for His sake; but the lack of true love was seen as
threatening their salvation (:4,5).
2:4 But I have this against you, that you left your first love-
That we should love as the Lord loved us is the utterly essential basis of
the Gospel; it was the "beginning" of what the Lord preached and it was
likewise the first thing John included in His message when preaching the
Gospel (see on 2 Jn. 5,6). To leave or put away agape from this
core place was to fall far indeed and required repentance (:5). The
attributes of zeal and doctrinal soundness listed in :2 and :3 are seen by
many as all that is required to be fairly sure of salvation. But actually
they are irrelevant compared to the supreme aspect of agape love.
"Left" can carry the idea of 'dismissed'. They had come to the mentality
that such love could be dismissed as of fundamental importance. The more
'religious' issues of zeal and preserving purity of teaching had assumed
such importance in their minds that they had dismissed agape, the
love of others as the Lord loved us, from its primary place.
The Lord Jesus had "somewhat against" six of
these seven ecclesias in the Lycus valley. He had "somewhat against" one
ecclesia because they allowed prostitution to go on within the ecclesia.
But exactly the same rubric is used here in the letter to Ephesus; the
Lord had "somewhat against" them because they had left their first
agape, they no longer had a spirit of true love within the ecclesia
as they once did- even though they were full of zeal in other ways. The
similarity of the rubric is surely intended to teach us that lack of true
love is just as obnoxious to the Lord Jesus as those other sins which
appear so much bigger in human eyes. Indeed, sin is serious, in all its
guises. See on 1 Cor. 11:18.
2:5- see on 3 Jn. 10; Rev. 1:20.
Therefore remember from where you have
fallen and repent, and do the first works. Or else, unless you repent, I
will come to you and move your candlestick out of its place-
As noted on :4, the supreme place of agape love is such that
without it, the Spirit would not burn within them. John in his letters has
connected such love with the indwelling of the Spirit, the oil within the
candlestick. The lack of such love reflected a lack of the spirit or mind
of the Lord Jesus; and without that, we are "none of His". So the
candlestick was no longer burning; which is why the Lord spoke of removing
it, because it had gone out and was just useless clutter. Thus is pointed
up an utterly fundamental point: that doctrinal purity and religious zeal,
including exclusion of false teaching, is not the same thing as being in
fellowship with the Lord. Without love, the spirit of Christ, we are just
religious clutter, a candlestick with no oil lamp burning in it. The huge
"fall" spoken of here uses the same word as in Gal. 5:4, where the
Galatians 'fell' from grace because of Judaist influence. And we suggest
the same influence was at work here in Ephesus.
Rev. 2:5 does not tell the sound members of
the ecclesias to disfellowship those who had not done "the first works".
The "first works" of Ephesus were her "first love" (agape). The
Lord is using "works" here (as often in the New Testament) to refer to
attitudes- Ephesus were doing all the right actions, but the “work" of a
loving mind was missing. Note a selection of passages where "works" refers
to abstract spiritual fruits like faith, rather than to physical actions:
Jn. 6:29; 8:39; Prov. 12:22 LXX; Rom. 2:15; Col. 1:10,11; 2 Jn. 11,7; Rev.
2:6 cp. 15. And that loving mind would naturally be manifest in
"works".
Notice the end-time language found throughout
the letters to the seven Ecclesias:
Ephesus: repent, and do the first works; or
else I will come unto thee quickly. (2:5)
Pergamos: Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly,
and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. (2:16)
Thyatira: Behold, I will cast her [Jezebel] into a bed,
and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they
repent of their deeds. But that which ye have already hold fast till I
come. (2:22, 25)
Sardis: If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on
thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
(3:3)
Philadelphia: Because thou hast kept the word of My
patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall
come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I
come quickly. (3:10-11)
Laodicea: Behold, I stand at the door, and knock. (3:20)
This is initially speaking of the state of the ecclesias before AD 70. But
it is also a prophecy of the end time condition of the ecclesia churches.
We can therefore conclude that the various problems and states of
spirituality described in these letters looks forward to that of the last
days. Between the seven churches here mentioned, we have a picture of the
wider state of affairs in the body of believers at the time of the Lord's
return.
2:6 But this you have: you hate the works
of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate- 'Nicolas' means literally
'victory of the people', and that is roughly the meaning of 'Balaam', who
is elsewhere used in the letters as representative of the Judaist false
teachers. Although the Lord effectively tells them that their lack of love
will lead to their condemnation unless they repent, He still notes their
positive points. And we see a huge measure of Him as a person in that. To
even note the positive in those who had left His love, their first love.
But perhaps the Lord is listing all their apparently good points to
highlight and point up their major inadequacy- for lack of love meant that
all these apparently positive points had no final meaning.
2:7 He that has an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit says to the churches- The Lord is "the Lord the Spirit" (2
Cor. 3:18). The comforter, the gift of the Spirit, was effectively the
Lord personally. His physical absence was made good by the presence of the
Spirit. The Comforter was to teach them (see on Jn. 14:18). So the idea
behind "He that has an ear, let him hear... the Spirit" may be an appeal
to those who had received the Comforter to actually listen to what it was
teaching them. The primary speaker of the letters to the churches was the
Angel representing the Lord- the Angel Gabriel? But they were actually
from the Lord Jesus Christ, "The Lord the Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:17 RV). The
one special Angel in the midst of the Cherubim in the Old Testament
visions of Ezekiel 1 would then represent the Son of Man ("The Lord the
Spirit") in the midst of the lightstands (Rev. 1:13) and the lamb on the
throne surrounded by Angels in the four living creatures of Rev. 4 and 5.
The Lord Jesus didn’t personally pre-exist, but the idea of Him was
perhaps represented in Old Testament times by an Angel.
To him that overcomes, I will permit him
to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God-
We see here how the Lord Jesus functions as His Father, without being God
in a Trinitarian sense. For now He has the authority to permit
man back into the garden. There is much language of both judgment and
blessing used in the letters; and nearly all of it can have a present as
well as a future application. For in John, the Lord so often insisted that
eternal life was given by Him now, in the sense of the gift of the Spirit
of His life into the hearts of believers; and thereby they could live now
the life which they shall eternally live. And in John 6 He predicated that
eternal life upon eating Him. "The tree" is the same word used of His
cross. And it can be argued that He was effectively crucified in a garden,
for again it is John who notes that He was buried in a garden "in the
place where he was crucified" (Jn. 19:41). The association of that garden
with the "Paradise" of Eden restored was clearly in the Lord's mind on the
cross, when He assured the repentant thief that he would indeed be with
Him "in paradise" (Lk. 23:43). He saw that miserable crucifixion field as
part of the future "paradise"; He was effectively assuring the thief 'You
and I will be here in this very place again- in My Kingdom, when Eden is
restored, and this garden where we are dying is part of the Kingdom
restored on earth'. So the Lord saw in that thief the representative of
all who shall "overcome"; overcome their doubt about the Lord's grace and
fear that their sins are too great a barrier between Him and themselves.
2:8 And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write these things: The
first and the last, who was dead and lived again, says- Again, the
Lord is presented as Lord of time. His death was the beginning ["first"]
and not an end; His living again is "the last", in that sense, the end of
'time' as we know it, for He lives for ever. For the significance of
"write", see on 1:19.
2:9 I know your tribulation and your
poverty (but you are rich!) and the blasphemy of those that say they are
Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan- As noted on 1
Jn. 4:1 and elsewhere, the main enemy of the early churches were the
Judaist infiltrators who came in under the guise of being Christian
brethren (Gal. 2:4). There was an entire system, the Satan / adversary,
consciously seeking to destroy the Christian movement. Exclusion from the
synagogue system was the punishment for confessing the Lord Jesus (Jn.
9:22), and this meant economic exclusion, unable to buy or sell. Hence
their poverty, and tribulation orchestrated by these Jewish infiltrators.
They typically operated by making false accusation against the Christian
[in this sense acting as a devil, which means 'false accuser'], and then
getting local Gentile civil powers to punish the Christians, just as they
did with the Lord.
“Satan” often refers to the Jewish and Roman
adversaries of the church in the first century. There is no indication
here that there was a super–human being working through those Roman and
Jewish systems. If it is argued that those systems received power and
direction from the Devil in the sense of a super–human being to persecute
the church, it must be remembered that the Lord Jesus told the Roman
governor: “You could have no power at all against me, except it were given
you from above”, i.e. from God (Jn. 19:11). Thus it is God, not the Devil,
who gives power to human governments to persecute His people, as He gave
them power to do so to His Son. “The most high rules in the kingdom of
men, and gives it to whomsoever he will” (Dan. 4:32). Thus God was
ultimately the power behind the Roman Satan, or system, that was
persecuting the Christians in the first century.
2:10 Do not fear the things which you
are about to suffer. Behold, the Devil is about to throw some of you into
prison, you may have tribulation ten days- The Devil that gave the
ecclesia at Smyrna “tribulation ten days” was clearly the Romans. It was
only they who could cast them into prison. The casting into prison (place
of punishment), tribulation and afterwards being honoured (physical
reward), recalls the experiences of Joseph and Daniel who were persecuted
by the civil powers of Egypt and Babylon, as those at Smyrna were by the
civil powers of the Roman “Devil”. It has been shown that there were
several ten–year periods of special persecutions of Christians in the
Smyrna area: under Domitian, A.D. 81–91; under Trajan, 107–117 and under
Diocletian, 303–313. The Septuagint in places uses the term diabolos,
false accuser, to translate the Hebrew ‘Satan’. ‘Satan’ therefore carried
the sense of both an adversary and also a false accuser. “The synagogue of
Satan” in Smyrna may well refer to not only Jewish adversarial opposition
to the Christians, but also that they falsely accused them to the Roman
authorities. There could also be the suggestion that the Jewish synagogue
in Smyrna was in fact working with the ‘Satan’, the Roman empire, against
the Christians. Kraybill considers that the phrase “synagogue of Satan” is
“a way of highlighting commercial or political relationships some Jews had
with Rome”. He also gives evidence that Jews in the provinces of the
empire cooperated with the Roman government in order to ensure that they
continued benefiting from the Roman legislation that exempted Jews from
doing military service and paying taxes to the imperial cult (J. Nelson
Kraybill, The Imperial Cult and Commerce in John’s Apocalypse
(Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996) pp. 170, 186). In Domitian’s
time, a tax was levied to support the emperor and the imperial cult. Jews
were exempted from this, and Christians refused to pay it. The “synagogue
of Satan” in Smyrna loudly “say they are Jews” (Rev. 2:9), in order to
avoid this tax and get benefits from the Roman empire at the time; but
probably denounced the Christians to the Roman ‘Satan’ because of their
refusal to pay that tax. So “synagogue of Satan... who say they are Jews
but are not” was an appropriate description of them (Mark Bredin, ‘The
Synagogue of Satan Accusation in Revelation 2:9’, Biblical Theology
Bulletin Vol. 28 No. 4 (Winter 1999) pp. 160–164).
The Devil and Satan in the New Testament
often refer to the political and social power of the Jewish or Roman
systems. Thus we read of the Devil throwing believers into prison (Rev.
2:10), referring to the Roman authorities imprisoning believers. In this
same context we read of the church in Pergamos being situated where
Satan’s throne, was – i.e. the place of governorship for a Roman colony in
Pergamos, where there was also a group of believers. We cannot say that
Satan himself, if he exists, personally had a throne in Pergamos. The
Bible repeatedly stresses that human political authority, civil
authorities etc. are God given, deriving their power from Him (Rom.
13:1–7; 1 Pet. 2:13–17); never are they said to derive their authority
from ‘Satan’. Yet they can be called ‘Satan’ in that they are adversarial
at times to His people.
The allusion is to Luke 21:12 concerning the
latter-day tribulation. "Some of you" may correspond to "some of you shall
they cause to be put to death" (Luke 21:16), seeing that they are exhorted
to be "faithful unto death". The prison tribulation would be for "ten
days... and I will give unto you a crown". This points back to Daniel's
'trial' of ten days (Dan. 1:12), and his later going into prison and
emerging to receive a crown. Daniel's 'devil' was Babylon, and the
'devil' of Rev. 2:10 refers to a like power in the last days. The idea of
ten days of affliction suggests the 10 days of self-examination and
affliction of souls before the day of Atonement- as if the purpose of the
final tribulation is to evoke self-examination and repentance in
preparation for the High Priest's appearing on the Day of Atonement.
There is the possibility that some may be
preserved from the tribulation: "You may have tribulation ten
days". This will be "because you have kept the word of my patience" (Rev.
3:10). Others will suffer, and even die, but are assured of salvation if
they respond to the trials properly. There may be a similar meaning behind
Is. 26:20: "Come, my people, enter into your chambers, and shut your doors
about you (i.e. pray intensely- 2 Kings 4:33): hide yourself as it were
for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast". However, this
primarily refers to the deliverance of Israel from Assyria in Hezekiah's
time; and the hiding in chambers in Jerusalem while surrounded by the
terrifying Assyrian army was hardly the quiet get out we might imagine
this verse offers. However, it seems from the Olivet prophecy that the
household will go through this time of trouble. The fact it is in
some sense not required if we are spiritual enough indicates that the
household will be weak in the last days- and therefore we will need it.
There are all manner of possible futures
envisaged within God's plans, because He so respects human freewill. This
explains the conditional element in prophecies, and in this case the
possibility of persecution for some at some points in time. The horn of
Dan. 7:21 "prevailed against" the saints. "Prevailed" here can mean 'could
prevail' implying that this persecution could be avoided (cp. "You may
have tribulation"). Likewise the Hebrew for "make war" can mean
'approached to make war'. Thus it may be possible for the saints to avoid
the persecution in some way, e.g. by their "holy way of life" (2 Pet.3:8)
shortening the days of tribulation. The fact that the prophecies speak as
if there will be persecution may suggest that there will not be sufficient
effort in this direction for all the saints to be saved from this. See on
3:10.
Be faithful unto death, and I will give
you the crown of life- For all the
encouragement that the Father and Son are ultimately in control, death
under persecution was still a real possibility. But the reward would be
"the crown of life". This may refer to the stephanos given to the
victor in a race; but the word is also used about such wreaths given to
guests at a wedding, or to the bride herself. The imagery of marriage
suppers is far more common in Revelation than that of running an Olympic
race.
2:11 He that has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches. He that overcomes shall not be hurt
by the second death- For "he that has an ear, let him hear..." see on
2:7.
2:12 And to the angel of the church in
Pergamum write: These things says he that has the sharp two-edged sword-
As noted on 1:16, such language is appropriate to the Lord in the day of
His final judgment. But effectively, judgment is now; the Lord is not
passive toward human behaviour, and the opening of books at the last day
should not imply that He is not now our immediate and insistent judge. The
sword will be used in judgment of enemies; so it is as if the Lord is
standing in judgment over the churches right now, and was looking to
severely judge the church in question.
2:13- see on 1 Cor. 15:10.
I know where you live, where Satan's
throne is, yet you remained loyal to my name and did not deny my faith,
even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed
among you, where Satan dwells- The
Lord is fully aware of our situations. And whatever judgment He makes,
even of condemnation (see on :12), that judgment is made taking into full
account past evidence of spirituality and commitment, as well as with
total knowledge of all our surrounding environmental factors.
Pergamos being “where Satan’s seat (throne)
is”, shows that the Satan referred to is not a personal super–human being.
If it is, then his throne was literally at Pergamos, for all to see. It
has been shown that the Roman administration of the area was based here,
thus the Lord Jesus commends the ecclesia for holding to the Truth,
despite being in close proximity to the source of persecution. Thus
“Satan” again refers to the Roman authorities. It is also significant that
a huge throne dedicated to the Greek gods has been discovered there.
Pergamon was the first city in Asia to have a
temple devoted to emperor worship (I.T. Beckwith, The Apocalypse of
John (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1967) p. 456). However it must also be
noted that Pergamon was a centre for snake worship associated with the
shrine of Asclepius (J.A.T. Robinson, Redating the New Testament
(London: S.C.M., 1976) p. 228). Revelation speaks of ‘Satan’, the
adversary, as being characterized by the serpent (Rev. 12:9; 20:2).
“Satan’s throne” may also be a reference to the altar of Zeus in Pergamon.
or the special throne–seat of Dionysus in the theatre there. “The city
featured various Pagan sites of worship, including a monumental altar to
Zeus, and a temple dedicated to Augustus and Rome, which served as the
centre of the cult of the Roman Emperor in Asia Minor. Pergamum was in
fact the capital of the Roman Province of Asia” (H.A. Kelly, Satan: A
Biography (Cambridge: C.U.P., 2006) p. 144).
However, we must bear in mind that the
'satan' described in the New Testament and Revelation is often Jewish and
not pagan. It was Jewish opposition to the Christians which led to the
local Roman authorities acting against them, as happened with the Lord and
Paul. It may be also that there was in Pergamos some centre of Jewish
opposition.
The faithful group who existed "even where
satan's seat is" may point forward to the existence of an ecclesia at the
very headquarters of the final satan/beast. For the situation in the seven
churches represents how things will be in the last time. Our suggestion
elsewhere that some faithful natural Jews would be taken to such a place,
e.g. a rebuilt 'Babylon', would make this possible.
2:14 But I have a few things against you,
because you have there some that hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught
Balak to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat
things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication- Balaam was an
apostate Jew, who sought to collaborate with the surrounding Gentile
powers in order to bring Israel down. He did so by getting Israel to sin
sexually by sleeping with cult prostitutes as a sign of their devotion to
Gentile idols, knowing this would trigger God's displeasure with Israel,
hoping it would mean the withdrawal of His blessing and protection of
them. Twice it is emphasized that the false teachers will lead spiritual
Israel into the worship of idols, after the pattern of Balaam and Jezebel
(:14,20). Both of these advocated the use of the idols of the surrounding
nations for political purposes, whilst apparently supporting the true
worship of Yahweh at the same time. The false teaching in the early
churches was very similar. As noted on 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy 2, the
use of cult prostitutes entered the Christian churches. The idol worship
and prostitution were therefore part of the same scene and not two
separate issues. The mix of paganism and Christianity was therefore
similar to the mix of Yahweh worship with paganism advocated by Balaam.
And again, the source of the problem was Judaist infiltration.
Israel were on the very borders of entering
the land when they succumbed to Balaam's false teaching, and the new
Israel of the last days, on the brink of the Kingdom, will face and may
fail a like temptation. As Balaam well understood, the way to break the
strength of a fundamentalist religious movement is to morally corrupt
them. The spirit of sexual permissiveness which is in this Sodom-like
world of the last days, is evidently affecting the brotherhood of our age.
It may be that the Islamic powers will impose
the worship of Islam upon natural Israel and perhaps upon the Western
world, and may use their oil stranglehold to make the rest of the world
persecute any pro-Jewish religions who will not offer a nominal acceptance
of Islam. This would pressurize Christian churches to make similar
compromises with their surrounding non-Christian world.
2:15 So have you also some that hold to
the teaching of the Nicolaitans- "Nicolas" has a similar meaning to
'Balaam', 'victory of the people'. However precisely this group were, they
would have been advocating the same mix of Christianity with paganism as
noted on :14. Niko, to overcome, is a word often used in these
letters to characterize the faithful as 'overcomers'. The Nicolaitans were
therefore framing themselves in spiritual terms when in fact they were the
very opposite. And we will meet this kind of idea later in Revelation,
where e.g. the whore is described with terminology appropriate to the
priestly cult, and Babylon appears as Jerusalem.
2:16- see on Rev. 1:20.
Therefore repent, or else I will come to
you quickly, and I will make war against those with the sword of my mouth-
As noted on :12, the language of latter day judgment is applied to
situations now. The Lord judges now; His coming quickly or suddenly can
refer to His coming in judgment, rather than His second coming. Even the
final word of Revelation 22:12 that the Lord is coming quickly can be read
as a connection back to this statement here. For the first recipients of
Revelation, the Lord's coming was going to be sudden in that like a thief
in the night, He would come in judgment in ways they did not expect. The
reference may be to the events of AD70, although these would not have
unduly affected Jewish Christian groups in places like Pergamos. Perhaps
rather the reference may be to Nero's sudden announcement of persecution
against Christians. Or to some unrecorded intervention of the Lord in
judging them.
Again we must emphasize that the language of
making war (19:11) with the sword of His mouth is all appropriate to His
second coming. But the essence of that judgment is now. There are clear
connections between the rod of final judgment and the word / mouth of God.
Ez. 21:9,10 equates the sword with the rod of the Lord Jesus Christ: "A
sword is sharpened... it is the rod of My Son" (AVmg.). The sword is a
clear symbol of the word of God's judgment (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12; Rev.
19:21). Is. 11:4 confirms this link between the judgment word of the Lord
Jesus and His rod: "He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth,
and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked". Ps. 2:9 shows
the power of this word / rod: "You shall break them with a rod of iron;
you shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel". Ps. 110:2 describes
the rod of Christ's strength being sent out of Zion to enable Him to rule
the world; Is. 2:3 envisages the judgment word of the Lord Jesus going out
from Zion. However, in all these cases the rod does not just mean spoken
words and mental understanding, but also refers to the physical
punishments to be seen in the last days. Thus Micah pleads with Israel to
see that God's Hand was behind their present distresses, which were
effectively God's word spoken to them: "The Lord's voice cries unto the
city... hear the rod, and who has appointed it" (Mic. 6:9). And
so here the Lord warned Pergamos that unless they repented- i.e. obeyed
His word- He would come and fight against them.
There is a significant amount of language
used in the letters of Rev. 2 and 3 which has unmistakable reference to
the final 'coming' of the Lord. This must have some application to
the second coming, and/or A.D. 70. This means that the letters must also
be indicative of the state of the latter-day ecclesias. No less than
a significant seven times in the letters do we read of Christ 'coming' to
the believers (Rev. 2:5,16,25; 3:3, 10,11,20). “I will come unto you
quickly... I will give unto every one of you according to your works"
(2:5,23) is language found in Mt. 16:27 and Rev. 22:12, also concerning
the second coming: "I come quickly... to give every man according as
his work shall be”. The Lord's coming "unto you quickly" has particular
aptness when this is understood as being addressed to believers living on
the brink of the second coming.
2:17- see on Jn. 1:14; 1 Tim. 6:19.
He that has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches- see on
2:7.
To him that overcomes, to him will I give
of the hidden manna- Here we have
another example of allusion to Jewish legend. It suggests that the
churches addressed were known to John whose Gospel was clearly aimed at
Jews; they probably included his converts. Hence the allusions to Jewish
terminology that would have been inappropriate if largely Gentile converts
were being addressed. The Lord Jesus speaks of giving His people “of the
hidden manna” – referring to the myth that Jeremiah had hidden a golden
jar of manna in the Holy of Holies at the destruction of the temple in 586
BC, which then ascended to Heaven and is to return with Messiah. The Lord
doesn’t correct that myth, as He doesn't correct misunderstandings about
demons– He as it were runs with it and uses it as a symbol to describe the
reward He will bring. He adds no footnote to the effect ‘Now do
understand, this is myth, that jar never really ascended to Heaven nor
will it come floating back through the skies one day’. Perhaps this is why
the New Testament often quotes the Septuagint text, even where it
incorrectly renders the Hebrew original – because God is not so paranoid
as to feel bound to only deal in the language of strictly literal truths.
If first century people were familiar with the Septuagint, even if is a
poor translation of the Hebrew original in places– well OK, God was
willing to run with that in order to engage with people in their
language.
And I will give him a white stone, and
upon the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he that receives
it- It has been suggested that this
refers to a custom of writing a name on a stone, breaking the stone in
half at random, and each friend keeping one half. The half stone would
only fit exactly with the other half stone, and when the friends met in
the future, they would fit the stones together as proof of their earlier
relationship. Relationships in the Kingdom of God will be in that sense
private and unenterable. Bible characters often have epithets in God’s
record of them- Judas who betrayed, Jeroboam who made Israel sin. We will
be given such a name / summation of our relationship with the Lord in the
Kingdom. Nobody else knows / understands / appreciates this name. This is
a clear statement that other believers cannot enter into the personal
relationship between a man and his God. Likewise, none of us can know the
name which was written on the Lord Jesus (Rev. 19:12). None of us will
ever quite be able to enter into the nature of the relationship between
Father and Son. If we could, He would not be our Lord. Paul possibly
expresses the same idea of an unenterable relationship in 1 Cor. 2:15: "He
that is spiritual discerneth all things (about God), yet he himself is
discerned of no man" (AVmg.). Our real spiritual being is a "hidden man"
(1 Pet. 3:4).
Eating the hidden manna is to be paralleled with being given the stone.
The context implies this will be done at the day of judgment. According to
a number of commentators, a white stone was laid down by the judge as a
sign of acquittal and acceptance. The Lord would therefore be implying
that after our encounter at the judgment, there will be an ongoing
relationship in the Kingdom of God between us, a locking together of
stones which no-one else possesses. The white stone is also parallel to
the white, stone-looking manna of the wilderness years (Ex. 16:14,23; Num.
11:7). The reward we will be given in the Kingdom will be our spiritual
food, to be eaten 'daily' throughout the Kingdom. Israel were to eat on
the seventh day (a type of the Kingdom) the manna which they had gathered
and prepared on the sixth day. The manna is a symbol of God's word as
expressed in Christ (Jn. 6). Biblically, a name refers to personality and
character. The new name which no one else knows thus refers to the reward
"prepared" for us individually, the new personality which we will be in
the Kingdom, the room in the Father's house prepared for each of us (Jn.
14:1). This latter idea alludes to the way that there were chambers around
the temple named after individuals (e.g. Ezra 10:6). We will each
have our own chamber, in this figure. This new personality will be written
on the manna / stone, it will be the result of our own very personal
distilling of the essence of God's word. The concept of a name written on
a stone sends the mind back to the way in which the names of the tribes of
Israel were written on the stones of the breastplate, each reflecting a
different aspect of the light of God's glory (Ex. 28:17). We will do this
through our personal understanding of and response to God's word. It is a
comforting yet sobering thought that the Lord sees us as 'names'; not just
as people. Biblically, the name speaks of the character. When He says He
will confess us before the Father (Mt. 10:32), He means He will confess
our name before God (Rev. 3:5); He knows us according to our names /
characters. He speaks of ecclesial members as "names" in Rev. 3:4; He
calls His own sheep by name, and they each know His voice, responding to
His word individually. The call to one sheep will only be
recognized by that sheep; the others won't respond (Jn. 10:3). He will
take individual note of each sheep, treating them accordingly, as the
shepherd leads more gently those that are with young (Is. 40:11). It seems
that even now, we each have our own individual name with the Father and
Son, encompassing their understanding of our essential character. It may
even be that in the record of Scripture, God inspired the writers to
record the names of individuals according to His judgment of them (or at
least, how the faithful viewed them at the time), rather than by the names
they actually went under. What mother would have named her child Nabal
(fool), or Ahira (brother of evil, Num. 1:15), or 'sickness' or 'wasting'
(Mahlon and Chilion)? These names were either given to them by others and
the use adopted by God, or simply God in the record assigned them such
names.
We will relate to each other in terms of our spiritual characteristics. We
will each have a name or character which is individual to us. We will
relate to each other not by names as pieces of language, but by reason of
the characteristics which they speak of. To relate to each other for ever
as we do now, in human terms, would be totally unfulfilling. There is an
urgent need for us to develop a spiritual aspect to our relationships now,
especially between husbands and wives, parents and children.
Compare the engraving on the stone "which no man knows" with the Urim and
Thummim stones; the engraving upon them would not have been known to
anyone except the High Priest, who perhaps saw them once per year in the
Most Holy. Rev. 2:17 also speaks of the "hidden manna", hidden in the Most
Holy. It would fit the context if the "white stone" refers to the Urim and
Thummim. Alternatively, the reference may be to the "white stone" of the
tables of the covenant. The new name written upon them would then connect
with the covenant which God writes on the believer's heart as part of the
new covenant: "I will put my law in their inward (cp. "hidden”) parts, and
write it on their hearts" (Jer. 31:33; 2 Cor. 3:3). Whilst the terms of
the covenant are the same for each believer, the personal promise of the
Kingdom is something which no other person can enter into. So we should
never be 'bored' with hearing about the basic Gospel, the promises which
comprise that covenant.
2:18 And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These things
says the Son of God, who has his eyes like a flame of fire and his feet
are like to burnished bronze- The cherubim visions of Ez. 1,9 and 10
are applied in the New Testament to the glorified Christ (Rev. 2:18; 1
Pet. 4:17; 2 Pet. 2:4-9). This surely implies that they were ultimately
fulfilled in the Messiah; and perhaps we are to understand that they could
have had fulfilment in a Messiah figure at the time of the restoration.
But the immediate point here is that the Lord who will stand in latter day
judgment stands in judgment on His church right now. Judgment in essence
is now.
2:19 I know your works and your love,
faith, ministry and patience; and that your last works are more than the
first- There was real spiritual progress here; and yet we see how
legitimate spirituality can sadly co-exist with serious unspirituality,
both within the church and within individuals. For the "nevertheless..."
of :20 is serious indeed.
2:20 But I have this against you: you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who
calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and seduces my servants to
commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols- "The woman
Jezebel" in some manuscripts and RVmg. reads "Your wife Jezebel", as if
perhaps the wife of the 'Angel', the pastor of the group, is in view. This
would be likening this element of the ecclesia to weak-willed Ahab. The
fornication / use of prostitutes and eating of idol food are not two
separate things; they are part of the same issue of importing elements of
the surrounding pagan cults into the Christian church, whereby at the
breaking of bread there was also eating of idol food and sleeping with
cult prostitutes. As noted on 1 Cor. 11 and 1 Tim. 2, this was far from
the only church which had these problems.
Jezebel teaching believers to commit fornication is the language later to
be used concerning Babylon: a prostitute encouraging fornication. This
connection suggests that the false teachers within the latter day church
will be connected with political 'Babylon' and the beast. The similarities
between the "man of sin" within the church and the beast / little horn
teach the same thing.
2:21 And I gave her time that she should
repent, and she does not want to repent of her fornication- Jezebel
in the first century, and her equivalent in the last days, will be given
"time to repent of... fornication", but they will not take up the offer.
This "space" is interpreted by John Thomas as the 1260-day period, which
would appear reasonable. I have elsewhere applied this to the tribulation
period. The inference is that the state of fornication exists within the
churches before the tribulation begins, and that the tribulation
of that period is designed to bring about repentance.
Thus they will be given a period to repent,
the beginning of which will be at the time when the saints first realize
that the Lord is about to return (cp. the virgins starting to go forth,
Mt. 25:1).
2:22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, into great tribulation, and
those that commit adultery with her-unless they repent of their works-
Perhaps a 'bed of sickness' is appropriate punishment for her behaviour in
'bed'. We see here how God's plans are open ended. If this element refuse
to repent, then they would have "great tribulation". If they repent, then
they will not need to pass through it. We noted the same on :10. Yet
Jezebel was given space to repent but didn’t, therefore judgment was
pronounced; but even then, if she repented, she wouldn’t be
punished. This is simply the eagerness of God for human repentance.
2:23 And I will strike her children dead-
John's letters use "children" to mean converts or those over whom a
person has pastoral authority. This lends support to the impression that
Jezebel was in the leadership of the church, see on :20. This could have
been a threat of literal death, just as Ananias and Saphira were smitten
with death. Or the reference could be to the second death at the last day,
the judgment for which was given by the Lord in this life when He
perceived their refusal to repent.
And all the churches will know that I am
he who searches mind and heart, and I will repay each of you as your works
deserve- "I am... and I
will..." alludes to the Lord's manifestation of the Yahweh Name, He
who is, was and will be. And He is now (Gk.) ordained as judge of
living and dead (Acts 10:42)- and we should preach Him as such. He is
now the judge of the dead in the sense that His very being and
victory is in itself the judgment of all men. Those who reject His message
right now are judging themselves. Note the parallel here between mind and
works; this was at the core of the Lord's doctrine of the Kingdom, that
the thought is seen by Him as the action. The Lord Jesus continually
searches our hearts or spirit, in His function as "the Lord the Spirit"
(Rom. 8:27; 1 Cor. 2:10; 2 Cor. 3:18). The extent to which this is true
will be manifested in the Lord's final judgment.
2:24 But to you I say, to the rest that
are in Thyatira, as many as do not have this teaching, who do not know the
so-called deep things of Satan: I will not impose any other burden-
The faithful element at Thyatira were told that they had "none other
burden" than to keep themselves separate from "the depths of satan" taught
by the false teachers among them. The absence of any command to
immediately withdraw fellowship from these people in the run up to AD70,
but rather to concentrate upon one's own continuing to hold true doctrine,
fits in with the parable of the tares. There is certainly no truth to the
idea of guilt by association or a closed table, or the Lord would have
taught the need for separation.
"The depths of satan" indicates that
the pressure on the faithful will be subtle; there will be a distinctly
academic and sophisticated edge to the wrong teachings that will circulate
within the ecclesia. “The depths of Satan as they speak”, refers to the
false teaching of the Judaizers, the Jewish Satan, who were pretending to
offer deeper spiritual understanding through their false doctrine. They
spoke evil about deep spiritual things which they did not understand (Jude
10), speaking words which seemed superficially impressive spiritually
(Jude 16). The Judaizers’ reasonings about keeping the law and worshipping
angels, “intruding into those things which he has not seen” (Col. 2:18;
i.e. “which they know not”, cp. Jude 10, had “a shew of (deep, spiritual)
wisdom” (Col. 2:23). There are many other such examples.
2:25 Apart from that which you have: To
hold fast until I come- It seems that it is God's especial wish that
a man conquer some specific human weakness in his life. If he succeeds in
this, God may make concessions to his other areas of human weakness. It
seems that the Thyatiran believers had none other burden put upon them
than to resist the teaching and practice of the "woman Jezebel" amongst
them- although it would seem there were other 'burdens' which the Lord
could have put on them.
2:26 And he that overcomes, and he that keeps my works to the end, to
him will I give authority over the nations- "Works" have featured
twice in this letter. They are commended for their "works" (:19), but must
repent of their bad works of allowing Jezebel to teach fornication (:21),
knowing the Lord will judge according to our works (:23). But the key is
to keep [perhaps, 'keep hold of' as in :25] the works of the Lord Jesus.
For salvation is not of our works, but of trust in Him and having His
righteousness imputed to us.
This has a specifically last days relevance:
"He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him
will I give power over the nations" – “the end" being the second coming.
Surely the Lord is referring back to his comment that in the final
tribulation period, he who endures to "the end" of the period will be
saved (Mt. 10:22)- as the one who comes to the end of the days in Dan. 12
is blessed. Enduring to the end therefore means keeping (guarding,
doctrinally) the works of Christ- holding on to the One Faith until the
end. This evidently won't be as simple as it sounds. The works are "His"
works, and may refer to obeying the great commission in taking the
knowledge of Him to all the world in the last days. This reference to the
great commission is confirmed by the comment that the reward will be to
receive power / authority over the nations- the very phrase used in Mt.
28:18 about how the Lord has received just this, and therefore we are to
go to all nations with the Gospel and baptize people. All that is true of
the Lord is to be true of us; if we keep His works rather than
our own works, then the gift of "all power" to Him over the nations is
also true for us.
2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron- The allusion is
to Psalm 2 which is clearly about the future Kingdom on earth. Yet the
Psalm is given a first century fulfilment in Acts 4:24-28. The same
prophecy has multiple fulfilments; and that is exactly what we find in the
book of Revelation. As the Lord will rule the world with a rod of iron
(Ps. 2:9) and brake the nations to powder at His return (Dan. 2:44), so
will each of those in Him. And notice how Ps. 2:1,2, a prophecy about
opposition to Jesus personally, is appropriated to those who preach Him,
because they are in Him (Acts 4:25,26).
The Lord Jesus will rule, or shepherd (Gk.)
His enemies with a rod of iron. He can somehow both shepherd and crush at
the same time. Our relationship with Him is a reflection of these two
aspects of His character. Perhaps the idea here is that His punishment of
sinners is even then an attempt to shepherd them to be His sheep.
As the vessels of the potter are broken
to pieces; as I also have received from my Father-
The unbelieving will be broken to shivers, "as the vessels of a potter".
But this is in fact quoting Jeremiah's words concerning the breaking of
the individual believer who is rejected at the last day (Jer. 18:4-6;
19:11). The point of the Lord's quotation is surely that those He rejects
will share the world's condemnation.
Dan. 2:44 describes how the kingdoms of this
world will be broken and scattered as the chaff before the wind, as a
potter’s vessel. Yet this is exactly the language of Jer. 13:24 concerning
Israel's latter destruction. The apostate amongst Israel will be "dashed"
(Jer. 13:14) as the nations of the world will be (Ps. 2:9). The faithful
will have some kind of part in the judgment of the systems which
persecuted them, be they Jewish or Gentile.
The structure of the book of Revelation
reflects this theme- the first series of visions are of judgments on God's
people Israel, whilst the second part of the book is judgments upon the
Gentile powers of Rome / Babylon [however we wish to interpret them].
Likewise the plagues upon Egypt recorded in Ex. 7-10 are frequently
alluded to in later Scripture concerning the judgments upon the apostate
people of God. Quite simply, God's rejected people suffer the judgments of
this world.
2:28 And I will give him the morning star-
The morning star is the Lord Jesus personally (22:16); as demonstrated in
the previous verses, all the Lord's titles, works and functions are ours
if we are in Him. The angels of the churches are likened to stars (1:20),
held tightly in the Lord's hand. The Lord is stressing His personal
identity with His people; they are stars, as He is. And He will give us
Himself, He will be all in all within us, as in essence He is now through
the Spirit. This is the reference of 2 Pet. 1:19, where the day star
arises in our hearts at His return. The Lord likened the manna to Himself,
which He gave us personally to eat, to absorb Him into ourselves (Jn.
6:31-33). So the idea of fully giving of Himself into us at the last day
should not be strange, at least to any reader of John's writings who had
already read John's gospel. For there we find frequently taught the idea
of taking the Lord Jesus personally into us, His very self into our very
selves, His spirit and life into ours.
The Lord's return in glory will be as the
arising of the sun (Mal. 4:2). The morning star, or Venus, arises whilst
it is still dark, and is the herald of the sunrise. Perhaps there is some
reference here to the idea that the faithful will have some portent of the
Lord's coming just before it happens; perhaps through persecution, or
because the day star arises in our hearts before His return (2
Pet. 1:19).
There was something radical in the
association of the Lord Jesus with Venus, and the promise of this title to
all His followers. For Julius Caesar, and other Caesars, had encourage the
cult of Venus worship on the basis that the Caesars were descended from
Venus and were the incarnations of Venus on earth. To apply their titles
to the Lord Jesus and His followers was a radical form of rebellion
against the norms and values of the society in which they lived; just as
we are to be likewise rebels.
2:29 He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches- see on 2:7.
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