The Church at Thyatira, Part 3

Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets, I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.

To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations - that one will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery - just as I have received authority from my Father.

I will also give that one the morning star. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (Rev. 2:24-29)

What are "Satans so-called deep secrets"? What could the Lord be talking about here?

I suspect that He is referring to the "depths" of depravity.  I suspect that He is talking about "knowledge" such as was gained by Adam and Eve from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that was in the Garden of Eden.  I suspect that those who had not "learned" this knowledge, had managed to keep their innocence; remaining ignorant of the deep things of Satan. 

Thus, there was a remnant in this church who had remained faithful to the Lord, overcoming every temptation that was put before them; and there must have been many temptations, especially that coming from within the church itself thru the "Jezebel."

And so, Jesus says to that remnant that He "will not impose any other burden" on them; other than the burdens they currently carried.  What burdens did they carry?

Possibly those who had not conformed to the trade guilds were able only to scrape up meager work here and there, that which was not worthy of the guilds, or the cast-off of the guilds. Perhaps they were unable to work at all because they did not belong to the "union" that the guilds were during that time.

I have family in Sicily whose craft is in marble and tile.  They are unable to work unless they "pay" their dues to the Mafioso there.  The Mafia is not talked about openly, especially to tourists who visit Sicily, but it is still the established "system" in Sicily, one that gained a foothold a couple of centuries ago when the peasants of Sicily were in dire poverty with no one to help them...until the overlords, the Mafia, stepped in and rescued them.

I suspect the trade guilds in Thyatira were of the same mentality...work was given to those who paid the "dues."  Except that in this case, the dues included worship of false gods and participation in sexually immoral acts at the temples of these false gods; the "rescuers" of the people.  The "dues" had eternal consequences that the Thyatirans were blind to; blindness that the church in Thyatira was to bring light to so that they could see.  But instead, except for a few, the church joined themselves to the darkness and deception. Those that once saw became blind themselves.

The other burden that the faithful remnant had to endure was the very presence of these brethren who were not faithful.  How greatly did the sin of their brethren, afflict the hearts of those who understood the need for "separateness" from the world?  Jesus tells us that when we first repent and come to trust in Him, He takes up residence in our hearts in the form of the Holy Spirit. How greatly were these transformed hearts grieved by what they saw happening in their midst? Only as much as a Holy God would be grieved by sin: infinitely and sorrowfully grieved.

To those who endured, but managed to hang on to their utter and complete faith in God and in His goodness, Jesus promises the reward of ruling with Him, having "authority over the nations."  Those to whom He gives this authority, just as the Father gave Jesus authority, will rule with "an iron scepter" and will use that iron rod to break into many pieces "like pottery" rebellion of the nations.  This is a reference to Daniel 2:44:

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

The God of heaven will set up a kingdom FROM heaven: the millenial kingdom. This kingdom from heaven [the millenial kingdom] will break down and humble governments and nations int he way that only Jesus can do. But others, He says, will share in His ability, His authority, to humble those who are given to rebellion.  This refers to a just and fair government. Those who will be humbled, or justly governed, are the "nations." This especially is a reference to the millenial kingdom, the thousand-year reign of Christ here on earth.  Where else would there be "nations" which refers to an earthly system, except here on earth? Why else would that kingdom be the ultimate final kingdom to follow those of gold, silver, brass, iron and iron and clay mixed as Daniel 2 speaks of?  It must be the milennial kingdom.

The authority that Jesus is speaking of is not the authority which every believer has in Him.  He says that this authority will come at the "end" of their endurance: "does my will to the end."

This speaks of the rewards that every believer has the potential to receive, if he will.  He also has the potential to lose, or not receive, the promise.  This is separate from the salvation (justification) that only the cross of Christ can deliver.  God called a people to belong to Him:  the Israelites.  Jesus called people to follow Him: disciples.  God promised a "land" to those whom He called; but few were able to enter into that promise,  So is it with those whom Jesus has called to Himself: many are called but few are chosen; few enter in.

The unfaithful believers in Thyatira took their eyes off of the eternal and focused on the temporal.  Unless they repented, they would lose the "promise" - the rewards - to come.  This is a subject we will dig deeper into when we get into the remaining churches of Revelation.

To these faithful few in Thyatira, Jesus promises to give them the "morning star."  Who or what is the morning star that He refers to?

I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. (Rev. 22:1)

The morning star is Jesus Himself.  Don't these believers already have Jesus in their hearts?  Of course, but Jesus is again referring to the millenial kingdom, when they will be in His very presence, the most cherished position of all: the reward that we will lose if we are not faithful servants.

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Are you listening?

The Church at Thyatira, Part 2

Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel....I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.

So, I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways.  I will strike her children dead.  Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. (Rev. 2:20-23)

The Bible sometimes uses women symbolically, rather than literally. For example, on a positive note, believers in Jesus Christ are identified as the "bride of Christ."  But then there is the whore (in the KJV) spoken of in the Book of Revelation who represents a false idol, one who draws men away from the Lord:

And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. (Rev. 7:1-2)

 

It is not impossible that the woman in the passage we are studying is actually named Jezebel, but it is more likely that the Lord is calling her by the name of that infamous Jezebel who was married to King Ahab, King of Northern Israel, because of the comparisons between the two concerning the usurping of authority that did not rightly belong to either one of them.

 

Let's look at that Jezebel of old for a moment, and the King of Israel whom she married:

 

In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him.  He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him. (1 Kings 17:29-33)

 

The first thing against Jezebel is that she was a Baal worshipper and caused her husband, King Ahab, to turn against the God of Israel and to worship Baal instead. Not that she had to twist his arm to do so, as he was already committing "the sins of Jeroboam: (I Kings 12) in worshipping golden calves. He further added to God's anger by raising up an Asherah pole; a wooden pole carved into the image of what they thought the goddess Asherah (Caananite goddess of fertility) looked like.  These poles were often placed right next to the sacred altar of the Lord.  Ahab was evil enough on his own, but scripture reveals Ahab to also be a wimpy sort of king (So Ahab went home sullen and angry...he lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat. 1 Kings 21:4); a condition that Jezebel was more than happy to take advantage of.

 

She wrote letters in Ahab's name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles (1 Kings 21:8) falsely accusing an innocent man who was faithful to the Lord, and causing him to be stoned to death. Besides this, she is even more well-known biblically as the tormentor of Elijah, the prophet of God, in an incident involving 450 false prophets over whom she had full control. God took care of the prophets, and also Jezebel in a separate event, in ways that left no doubt as to who the true God was.

 

So how does all of this relate to the woman in the church at Thyatira?

The Thyatiran Jezebel considered herself to be a prophet able to teach men; Ahab's Jezebel raised up 450 men to be false prophets. The Thyatiran Jezebel assumed authority she had not been given by the head of the church (Jesus); Ahab's Jezebel took authority on the sly using her indisposed husband's name and seal. The Thyatiran Jezebel taught believers it was ok to compromise their faith with acts that were specifically and clearly against God (sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols); Ahab's Jezebel did the same as wife of the leader of God's people (Israel) when she brought Baal worship with her by her marriage to Ahab, introducing pagan practices into the nation.

Even so, the Lord was faithful to the message that can be found in every book of the bible, both Old Testament and New: He gave the Tyatiran Jezebel much time to repent, wanting to see none perish. But the one who had deceived so many was still deceived herself, and would not repent.  The Lord sent this letter to the church, then, to warn them of impending judgment on this false prophetess and on all her "children" and chastisement upon His own disobedient children.

There is a distinction made between those who are seduced by Jezebel and those who are considered to be her "children."  It appears that these false teachings and practices had been going on in this church long enough for her to have "birthed" some who had never believed in the Lord at all, but had come into the church through this woman and had always only followed her teachings; versus the ones who had begun in the church with faith in Jesus, and yet been lured away into these abominable practices by this woman's deceptive teachings.  As always with the Lord, the harsher judgment falls to those who lead others astray, who cause His children to "stumble."

But He is warning those who are following her to separate themselves from her evil ways and repent before that judgment comes or they will face "intense suffering" (chastisement from the Lord) as well.  How patient and how merciful is our Lord to give us sinners time and time again to repent!

Yet, just as with the Jezebel of old, once His judgment hits this church and those in it who are deserving of either judgment or chastisement, the world around that church will know Who He is, and that He is the one true God who is able to "search hearts and minds" and repay evil with appropriate judgment.

How appropriate, for example, that the Lord declares that He has a "bed" prepared for this Jezebel, the one who leads other into "beds" of sexual immorality.

But as was mentioned in the last posting, the "thing" that the Lord has against this church is that they "tolerated" such a thing to happen in what was to be a holy community and separate from the world.

We will get into the other characteristics of this church in the next posting.

The Church at Thyatira, Part 1

To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:

These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.

Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet.  By teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of foods sacrificed to idols.  I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.

So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways  I will strike her children dead.  Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets, I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.

To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations - that one will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery - jus as I have received authority from my Father.

I will also give that one the morning star.  Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit has to say to the churches. (Rev. 2:18-29)

This is the longest letter to any of the seven churches.  There is much here for us to ponder and reflect upon, in our quest for the hidden riches that this passage holds for us modern-day believers.

We will start with the manner in which Jesus describes Himself to this church:

-Son of God
-eyes like blazing fire
-feet like burnished bronze.

He presents Himself first and foremost in the fierceness of His power and authority to a church who has not purged itself of sin and false teaching.  He is establishing His authority as God to a church in which a woman has improperly assumed authority to teach, and to teach things that are false; it is clear that neither her teaching nor her authority comes from the Lord or else He would not rebuke her and her followers. Thus He comes as one who is ready to purge the church Himself if necessary.

His eyes of blazing fire, as though having x-ray vision, have located the problems in the church and are prepared to consume them in that fire if repentance does not come quickly.

His feet of steel (burnished bronze) are ready to trample upon that which is not reflecting His holiness in this churcht:

He treads the winepress of the fierceness and the wrath of Almighty God. (Rev. 19:15)

John MacArthur, in his sermon titled Thyatira, the Church that Tolerates Sin, describes the church at Thyatira in this manner:

Here is a church that has been infiltrated by error and sin, a church that has done nothing about it. It takes us back to a very basic understanding that we have to have in regard to the church and that is that the Lord wants His church holy.  He wants His church in every sense intolerant of sin.  The Lord wants His church pure; the Lord is the bridegroom, the church is the bride, and He expects not an adulterous bride, but a chaste virgin, neither adulterous in the sense of engaging in idolatry, not adulterous in the sense of engaging in sexual sin.

We are reminded of two issues Paul had with the church at Corinth; the first issue was about sexual immorality, the second was about eating food sacrificed to idols....the same two issues this church at Thyatira was allowing in their midst without any rebuke or censure.

Regarding sexual immorality, Paul had this to say to the Corinthians:

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ Himself?  Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!  Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body?  For it is said, The two shall become one flesh.  But whoever is united with the Lord is one with Him in spirit.  Flee from sexual immorality.  All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.  Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:15-20)

You will recall in Acts 15:20 that the Gentiles were forbidden four things, two of which included sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols, yet here Paul is so quickly having to remind them of things they have been commanded not to do:

Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?  No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.  You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons, too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons.  Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than He? (1 Corinthians 10:19-22)

If Paul is appalled at the acts of these Corinthians, how much more so is Jesus toward the church at Thyatira?

Thyatira was a city located in what is now modern-day Turkey whose main industry at the time of this letter was textiles and the production of the color indigo which also produced purple. 

A certain woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God was listening and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. (Acts 16:14).

Because the main thrust of the city was textiles, (and it was a booming business!) trade guilds were popular there, with traits similar to our modern-day unions.  But these were pagan trade guilds, each having their own god to sacrifice to.  Surely, the Christians in Thyatira who were involved in the textile industry felt forced to compromise their faith in order to be a standing member of these guilds, which in all likelihood had the power to grant or deny work to individuals who were not willing to conform to their guild's rituals, including eating food sacrificing to idols, and often sexually immoral practices in the temples of these gods.

They might have withstood, however, and not compromised, even facing poverty as a result, until a certain strongly religious woman entered the church and somehow convinced all of them that compromise "in this particular situation" was justified.

We will get into details about this "Jezebel" in the next posting.

The Church at Pergamos, Part 3

Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. (Rev. 2:17)

The church at Pergamos had some within it who held to the doctrine of Balaam, teaching believers it was ok to eat things sacrificed unto idols and even to commit fornication.

The church also had some that held with the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, a thing that the Lord declared He hates.

The first theory of who the Nicolaitans were has been discussed in an earlier posting regarding the church at Ephesus.  But the second theory is best described by Zola Levitt in his small booklet titled The Seven Churches, published in 1980:

...comes from a literal translation of the word Nicolaitane, which means 'to conquer the people'.  This may refer to the establishing of a hierarchy or a priestly order in the early church, dividing the believers into superior and inferior ranks.  In reality the brotherhood of Christians is an equal one (Matthew 23:8) and we are all level at the cross.  There are no important Christians.  The Church is entirely a group of convicted sinners.  In reality the leadership of a proper church are servants of the people; pastor means shepherd, and the pastor is commissioned to 'feed the flock'; elders and deacons were to serve the people in spiritual and administrative roles respectively.  There is no man after the cross who is spiritually superior to any other man.  Those churches who establish an order of ranks and levels of importance among their clergy are guilty of this very heresy. It is perfectly correct, of course, for those in the church with spiritual gifts to exercise those and to lead the brethren in those areas.  Teachers teach, administrators administrate, and givers give.  Because of the way the gifts have been distributed by the Holy Spirit certain brethren will predominate in certain areas.  The idea, however, of an Christian bowing down to any other Christian is abhorrent to the true Gospel.  Peter displayed a fitting Christian humility on the occasion of the salvation of the first Gentile:

And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him.  But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man (Acts 10-25-26).

Jesus tells the church that these false doctrines need to be removed from the church, and quickly, or he will fight against them [the unrepentant sinners] with the sword of His mouth.

And He had in HIs right hand seven stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in His strength. (Rev. 1:16)

And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. (Rev. 19:15) 

And the remnant [of the unrepentant ones] were slain with the sword  of Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. (Rev. 19:21)

If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. (Deut. 32:41) 

The Church at Pergamos, Part 2

But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. (Rev. 2:14)

A prophet of God identified as Balaam, son of Beor, was summoned by Balak, son of Zippor, who was King of Moab at the time of the incident that Jesus is speaking of in Rev. 2:14. The details of their meeting can be found in Numbers 22 and 23. But the basics of it is that Balak wanted Balaam to put a curse on the camp of Israel, and was willing to pay handsomely for the curse.

Balaam was greedy enough to try to please Balak by seeking the Lord several times, hoping each time that perhaps the Lord had changed His mind about blessing Israel and was ready to curse them instead. God told Balaam not to do anything without specific instructions from Him; but greedy Balaam went ahead on his own. God showed His intense displeasure at Balaak's disobedience brought on by lust for money by sending the Angel of the Lord (pre-incarnate Jesus) to meet Balaam on the way to meet Balak. 

This prophet of God was unable to see the Angel of the Lord, but Balaam's donkey saw Him with sword drawn ready to strike Balaam.  The faithful little donkey maneuvered away from the drawn sword and was beaten three times for it, before the Lord allowed Balaam to see what the donkey saw; at which time Balaam fell on his face before the Angel of the Lord and said he would be glad to turn back if that was what was wanted. (He was very willing to be obedient now that his own life was at risk!)

Three times Balaam sought God with burnt offerings hoping for a different answer, and three times Balaam prophesied the words of God which were all blessing to Israel. A very disappointed Balak went away without his curse being placed upon Israel. 

And you would think that would be the end of the story.  Yet we know it is not because Jesus says to his church at Pergamos that Balaam taught Balak to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.  Yet without searching scripture and finding references to this act in many different places, both Old Testament and New Testament, you would not know the entire story.  Thus, the importance of searching all through scripture, and finding all that relates to any one subject or idea.

In 2 Peter 2:14-16 we find:

With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed - an accursed brood! They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness.  But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey - an animal without speech - who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

Thus, we learn that greed and seduction of the unstable were part of Balaam's sin.  Who did he seduce? We will see that he seduced the Israelites, and he used the Midianites and Moabites to do so; all for his own gain.

In Numbers 31:1, the Lord commands Moses to take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites.

Numbers 31:7-8 says that:

They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every man. Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba - the five kings of Midian.  They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

So, we see Balaam killed by the sword of the Lord. This is a judgment against him for his actions against the Israelites...for the Lord said to take vengeance for the Israelites, implying that the Israelites had suffered something at the hands of the Midianites.

The words of Moses in Numbers 31:9-16 clarifies further for us:

The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder.  They burned all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps.  They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and the animals, and brought the captives, spoils and plunder to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the Israelite assembly at their camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.

Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp.  Moses was angry with the officers of the army - the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds - who returned from the battle.

"Have you allowed all the women to live?" he asked them.  "They were the ones who followed Balaam's advice and enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord in the Peor incident, so that a plague struck the Lord's people."

Here we are told something that we are not told at the time of the incident which is located in Numbers 25 and that is that Balaam, obviously due to his desires for riches that Peter speaks of, advised the Midianite women to entice the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord.  Most likely, he went to Balak, after having to refuse him the curse he wanted, and said something to the effect of: "I can't curse them for you because the Lord won't allow it, but here's what you can do.  Just send some of the best looking women into their camps to seduce them, and they will bring their own curse upon their heads."

In fact, the Lord's blessing of protection was so strong over Israel, that no army and not even seducing women, could bring harm to Israel....unless the Israelites brought trouble upon themselves by their own lusts and sin.  I think that applies to us who belong to the Lord as well.

So, while the Balaam and Balak meetings happen in Numbers 22 through 24; it is in Numbers 25:1-9 that we get the rest of the story:

While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women [note: the Midianites, who were nomadic, aligned themselves with the Moabites against Israel so that Midian and Moab are often seen working together] who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods.  So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord's anger burned against them.

The Lord said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that the Lord's fierce anger may turn away from Israel." So Moses said to Israel's judges, "Each of you must put to death those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor."

Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting.  When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand and followed the Israelite into the tent.  He drove the spear into both of them right thought the Israelite man and into the woman's stomach.  Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.

One other interesting detail can be found in Numbers 31:15:

And the name of the Midianite woman who was pu to death was Kozbi daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.

We have seen that when Balaam was killed by the sword of the Lord, he was in the company of this same Zur, Midianite tribal chief.   It was his daughter who Eleazar the priest killed. Why would a prophet of God be living with self-proclaimed enemies of Israel?  Because his greed led him there! He was well paid for inciting the actions that brought a plague to Israel that killed 24,000 of their number!  He was, perhaps, the honored guest of the Midianites!

The Lord said to Moses, "Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them. They treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the Peor incident involving their sister Kozbi, the daughter of the Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of that incident. (Numbers 31:16-18)

Now, back to the church at Pergamos.  Knowing what we know now about Balaam and Balak, what do we know about those in the church at Pergamos that the Lord is against?

We know from Numbers 31 that they are enemies of the believers in the church.  We know from 2 Peter that they are false teachers, bringing a false doctrine into the church of Jesus; and that there is some gain to be had by them for leading believers astray.  We know that as a result of this false teaching, some of the believers have committed two terrible sins: eating food sacrificed to idols, and indulging in sexual fornication.  Since we are aware that Pergamos was where Satan's seat was (center of pagan god worship and all the evil attached to it), we can be assured that these sins occurred when the believers participated in worshiping those false gods.

The warning to the church is this:

Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. (Rev. 2:16)

"Them" refers to those who are holding this doctrine of Balaam, teaching it to the church.  For "them" the sword of the Lord will come soon!

The believers themselves must repent as well, or great trouble will come on them (we will see this in the next church letter); yet, Jesus, the shepherd of this flock in Pergamos, focuses first and foremost on those who are attempting to kill his flock. He will protect his flock with his sword. It is better for one who is a stumblingblock to God's little children, to have a millstone tied around his neck and to be cast into the depths of the sea (Matthew 18:6), rather than to bear the wrath of God that lies in store for that one.

The Lord will always take His vengeance on unrepentant false teachers, deceivers of the flock; before then doing whatever is necessary to bring the stray lambs back into the fold.

The Church at Pergamos

And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;

 

I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

 

But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.

 

So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

 

Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

 

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. (Rev. 2:12-17)

 

This has been the most difficult church to study for me.  I feel as though I am stalking evil, seeing evil's horrific carnage strewn along the way.  I have had to stop for awhile, because it is more than I could bear to read or "hear"about.

 

Unbelievably, my research has even led me to Sicily, the place of my family's heritage, to a time of rulers capable of such evil that I feel that it makes me want to renounce any evil residue that might have found its way into my family's spiritual makeup; much like I would want to do if I found out I was related by ancestry to Hitler!

 

Jesus says that the church at Pergamos (located then in what is now modern-day Turkey) was "the seat of Satan." I am sure that I see only a part of it, and yet what I see is abominable even to me. How abominable was it for our holy God? How intense was the struggle against such evil for the believers at this church?

 

The bishop of Pergamos, just prior to the time that John was given this vision, was named Antipas and Jesus calls him "my faithful martyr."  He died a horrific death and while we have no eyewitness to tell us that Jesus was with him, I know that He was, and that in some way, the suffering of Antipas was eased because of it.

 

The manner of his death, and its tie to the god Molech, is the atrocity that has caused me such grief in my research.  He was roasted to death inside the belly of a bronze bull. The atrocity lies not only in the manner of death by this device of torture, but also in the "enhancements" that are given to the screams of the one suffering inside of it, causing it to sound as if the bull is "bellowing."

 

What madness, what evil, conceived of such a thing?  Satan himself, of course; who caused the Ammonites first to worship their false god Molech with a similar device, shaped into a bull (but having a roaring fire in its belly) into which their infant children were cast in exchange for a promise of atonement for their sins. What Satanic mockery of God's holy animal sacrifices!

Thus, this device of torture that was used to kill "faithful Antipas" began as the thing used to offer human sacrifices to the god Molech, but with demonically-inspired enhancements designed by a Greek metal-worker by the name of Perillos of Athens who proposed the device to the tyrant of Akragas in Sicily whose name was Phalaris.  The reign of this tyrant over what is now known as Agrigento lasted from 570-554 BC.  Tourists often travel to Agrigento, Sicily, in order to see the ruins of the many Grecian temples built there centuries before to honor Zeus and other Greek gods.

The town of Agrigento is not far from the birthplace of my own grandparents. Hence, my dismay to learn that such a device as killed Antipas was first  embellished for a ruler of Sicily, who used it first on Perillos the designer himself; God's justice at work perhaps? Then God saw to it that Phalaris became its victim as well some time later when he was overthrown.

Antipas was killed in 92 AD; the last reported use of the bronze bull was during the reign of Roman Emperor Diocletian in 287 A.D. How many victims did it see during all those years?

I took a quick road trip this past weekend during which I listened to an audio bible version playing in my car.  I "read" all of Genesis, Exodus and part of Leviticus in this short overnight trip. And I recognized something that I hadn't quite ever latched onto before: that the laws that God instructed His own people to be obedient to were the exact same laws (divine laws that are never to be broken by anyone?) that were being broken by the inhabitants of the land that God was conquering through Israel.

In other words, God forbade Israel to let their own children "pass through the fires of Molech" even as He was leading them to destroy all of those nations who had allowed their children to "pass through the fires of Molech."  He had Israel overthrow these nations, and inhabit their lands themselves; all with the purpose of now being the light of God's glory in what was a previously dark land.

But it wasn't just infant sacrifices that these former inhabitants of the land were doing that was so abominable to God...there was more. And because of all of the things they were doing, they were destroyed by a holy God. I can only imagine how many of these things were actually happening in Pegamos at the time that Jesus called it "the seat of Satan."

The thing that struck me the most, however, from the audio bible reading this weekend, was found in the 18th chapter of Leviticus which is the set of laws forbidding every form of sexual immorality.  In the midst of the laws that describe in detail what sexual immorality is, is also found the law that says:

"Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God.  I am the Lord." (v. 21).

Now this particular "do not" seems a little out of place in the midst of laws about having sexual relations with one another. Unless....

Unless the immorally wrong sexual relations were producing "unwanted" babies who were being "disposed of" through the bronze bull of Molek (in an actual fire burning in the belly of the bull). Why else would God have injected this law amongst all the laws against unholy sexual relations?

I want now to give you the section of Leviticus 18 that begins at verse 20 and goes to the end of that chapter so that you will understand God's reasons for destroying the nations that He calls detestable:

Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor's wife and defile yourself with her.
Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God.  I am the Lord.
Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman: that is detestable.
Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it.  A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.
Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled.  Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.
But you must keep my decrees and my laws.  The native-born and the foreigners residing among you must not do any of these detestable things, for all these things were done  by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.
Everyone who does any of these detestable things - such persons must be cut off from their people.  Keep my requirements and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. 
I am the Lord your God.

Are these things happening in nations today? The question must be asked, how long will the nations be allowed to thrive who continue to do or even to allow such things?  And what about the churches in the midst of such nations?

In the city of Pergamos was found many types of evil: sexual immorality, including Molek worship; the doctrine of Balaam which we will discuss in next posting; the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which has been discussed, but will be lightly touched on again.

Some of these things even found their way into the church at Pergamos.  Jesus tells  those who are practicing such things to repent or He will come to them and fight against them with His sword.  (Opportunity to repent is always given once, twice or even more times by our Lord; we just can never be sure when exactly He will cease to strive with us which is why "today is the day of salvation" - never tomorrow - for there is no guarantee that we will have a chance to repent tomorrow!)

Israel was the sword of the Lord against all the evil nations that God led Israel to conquer and destroy.  Yet, Israel itself was chastised in the wilderness with plagues and fire and other judgments of God when those same evils were found within its camp, for its camp carried with it the glory of the Lord; the same glory of the Lord that is claimed to be carried by the churches of Jesus today. Would not our churches suffer the same judgments of God if these things are found within its walls as well?  Is Jesus not speaking to us as the church today, in the same way He spoke to these seven churches found in Revelation?

The blessing that will come to those who read the Book of Revelation will come only if those readers "hear" the Word of the Lord concerning these churches, and "do" all that is necessary to personally repent of any similar sins found in them, or in their churches, being quick to remove all vestige of these evils from themselves or from their churches; things that the Lord calls "detestable" or "perversion" or "defiling."

These last days are no time for the churches to compromise in any way.  These last days are the time for the churches to begin declaring the Word of the Lord, especially speaking out against sin and declaring it to be what it is: detestable and a defilement.  No compromise is acceptable to a HOLY God.  In fact, compromise will be discussed in greater detail when we get to the last of the seven churches, that of Laodicea, where interestingly the same term "vomit" is used concerning this church as it is used in Leviticus chapter 18.

Our God never changes! 

The Church at Smyrna, Part 3

I found some additional information in a tiny booklet titled "Seven Churches" by Zola Levitt that I have had for ages (it was printed in 1980)  regarding the "ten days" mentioned by the Lord, concerning the church at Smyrna, and I thought it was worth sharing.

There were "ten days" exactly between the Lord's ascension into heaven and the Day of Pentecost on which the 120 disciples faithfully waiting in Jerusalem according to the Lord's instructions received the gift of the Holy Spirit complete with speaking in tongues.

Biblically, there are "ten days of affliction" between the end of the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement.  On these days the Lord instructs his people to "afflict your soul."  Jewish tradition calls these ten days, the "days of awe."  In afflicting one's soul, in other words, searching it for signs of sin, in fact, having sin revealed to us at any time, brings with it a sense of awe at the holiness of God as seen by us unfaithful, at times, sinners.

Perhaps the "ten days" for the Jewish believers gathered in Jerusalem over 2,000 years ago were days in which they keenly felt the absence of the Lord whom they had practically lived with for more than three years. Perhaps the "ten days" for the church in Smyrna were days during which the persecution caused them to examine themselves for any unrepented sin that might have brought this trouble upon them, only to hear the small still voice reassure them that they were privileged to share in Christ's sufferings.

Isn't that the first thing that most of us do, when faced with trials and tribulations: search to see if we have somehow brought this upon ourselves?  Sometimes we find that troubles are indeed merely "consequences" of our own sinful actions; but in the case of the Smyrnaens the Lord assures us in HIs Word that this little church was definitely suffering true persecution, unjustly and unwarranted, for no other reason other than that they served the one true God and would serve no other.

In either case, the ten days suggests a time of waiting, with steadfast hope, of promises soon to be fulfilled.

Having studied the Feast Days of the Lord in depth, it is clear to me that Jesus is the promise that each one hopes for, and many times He fulfills His promises exactly on His Feast Days so that there can be no doubt from whom the promise is sent. He has thus fulfilled all the spring feasts, while the fall feasts are waiting for His coming fulfillment.

We believers, and the earth itself as scripture tells us, are in a period of waiting as well, are we not: for the soon return of Jesus, our Savior and our Lord?

Zola Levitt gives more details of the coming fulfillment of the remaining feast days by Jesus:

"Finally, we can arrive at the period of ten days fitting prophetically into God's plans for the end of the age.  By consulting the feasts many scholars reasonably assume that Trumpets symbolizes the Rapture of the church, and Atonement the Second coming of the Lord. The Tribulation Period itself, seven years long would therefore end on a Day of Atonement (since the Lord puts a stop to the war of Armaggedon immediately when He returns) and so it had to start on a Day of Atonement.  It is also a reasonable assumption that in some upcoming year the Rapture will occur on Trumpets and then ten days later the Tribulation Period will get under way with the Antichrist's covenant with Israel.  Again, the world will wait ten awesome days.  The difference in this case, however, will be that the world, entirely unbelievers since we are speaking of the time immediately after the Rapture of the true church, will get not a triumphant event but the Antichrist instead.  In any case the time of waiting is again exactly ten days." [pp. 7-8]

The term "awesome" as Zola Levitt uses it to describe the ten days, does not mean fantastically wonderful; it means they are days filled with the works of our God who is gazed upon by us humans in deeply profound awe. Depending upon the rightness of the heart towards the Lord, some will look in amazingly grateful awe at His mercy; while others will experience the fearful bone-shaking awe of His wrath. He is not a God to be taken lightly.  He is the awesome God and Lord of the universe and all that is in it.  And because we will see Him soon, this is the time of searching our hearts in readiness for His soon coming.

The Church at Smyrna, Part 2

And I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not; but are the synagogue of Satan. (Rev. 2:9b)

It is time to discuss this part of the passage in a bit more detail.

An excerpt from a letter concerning the Martyrdom of Polycarp, seen in the previous posting, revealed to us the involvement of the Jews; particularly their help in building the fire with which Polycarp, the Christian bishop of the church at Smyrna, was to be burned alive at the stake for refusing to worship Caesar:

"The crowd collected wood and bundles of sticks from the shops and public baths.  The Jews, as usual, were keen to help."

What an indictment to be recorded for all history!  Helping to stoke a fire to burn a man alive just because he was a believer in Jesus Christ and would worship no one other than the one true God.  The same God that the Jews themselves proclaimed to worship, but obviously these particular Jews worshiped Caesar as well, another god, or they would not have been alive to help build Polycarp's fire.

When Jesus makes this declaration to John the Revelator and says that these Jews "say they are Jews, and are not" there is something that Jesus wants His followers, those who read the Book of Revelation, to understand.

These Jews at Smyrna did not do such an evil thing just because they were Jews.  In other words, evil wasn't done just because they were born into a Jewish family, and therefore a Jew.  And we are not ever instructed by Jesus to condemn the Jewish race for the death of Christ, anymore than it would be right to condemn all Jews for the death of Polycarp. The guilt lies only with those Jews whose hearts are not circumcised, no matter whether their body is physically circumcised or not.  That could be Jew or that could be Gentile.  In fact, it was both Jews and Gentiles, uncircumcised in heart, who killed Jesus and later all the martyrs that followed Jesus in death, including Polycarp. But there are many other Jews, and Gentiles, whose hearts have been circumcised and are living in righteousness by faith, obedient to the law written on their circumcised hearts.

Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law [as did the household of the Gentile centurion Cornelius], shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God....Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. (Romans 2:26-29; 3:30)

This is only an excerpt from the Letter to the Romans written by Paul, a Jew, to the believers in Christ, both Jew and Gentile, who made up the church in Rome.  The purpose of the letter was to help those believers understand that physical circumcision of the flesh was not necessary to be justified by God [seeing it is one God, which shall justify].  To become physically circumcised, as a Gentile, was to trust in the letter of the law to show oneself as righteous, rather than to trust in Jesus for justification with the Father and to then live in the Spirit of the law doing works of righteousness. 

Paul was not condemning the law, nor was he condemning anyone's obedience to the law.  He was, however, condemning anyone who trusts in the letter of the law for justification with God. It is faith alone that justifies a man in the eyes of God.  Faith of the circumcised, and faith of the uncircumcised, equally.  It is faith alone; because faith alone allows the grace of God to circumcise our hearts, making us obedient children of the one true God, our Father who is in heaven.

Thus, we Gentiles become Jews by heart circumcision (1), even as the Jews who had faith were true Jews because of circumcision of their hearts.  Paul does not say that Jews become Gentiles when they have faith in God.  He does say, however, that we Gentiles [in particular those he was writing to in the church at Rome] become Jews, "inward Jews" you might say rather than outward Jews, children of God, by our faith...faith that leads to acts of righteousness otherwise known as obedience to the law of God which now is written fully on our hearts by the Holy Spirit. 

When our hearts are circumcised, we are all Jews. And the law that is written on our hearts will line up with the Law of Moses, for it is from the same unchanging God and Father.

So, in this letter to the church at Smyrna, Jesus says they say they are Jews, and are not.  In other words, they are liars of the faith, rather than believers by faith.

He then calls them the synagogue of Satan; in other words, a false and deceptive congregation giving a distorted and abominable representation of the God they claim to be led by, or through whom they claim to be doing all of their perverse and evil acts. 

Remember Jesus calling certain scribes and Pharisees children of Satan?

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)

The devil, Satan, was a murderer from the beginning; murdering faith and obedience in Eve and Adam, murdering Abel through his brother Cain, and so on.  The lusts (in other words, the blood lusts and all other kinds of lust) of Satan will be done by those who belong to Satan; and those who belong to him are identified as liars.  Liars of the faith, such as these Jews who call themselves Jews but are not.  Liars such as Gentile Christians who call themselves faithful believers, but do not trust God.  And all of these liars make up the synagogue of Satan.

Jesus closes the letter to the church at Smyrna with this encouragement:

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. (Rev. 2:11)

In searching the scriptures for understanding of the second death, I found three other uses of that specific terminology, besides this particular passage in Rev. 2:11:

Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (Rev. 20:6)

 

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (Rev. 20:14)

 

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Rev. 21:8)

 

Thus, the second death is identified as being that which happens to those who are fearful, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolators, and ALL liars: thy will be cast into the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.  And that is known as the second death.  These folks will have died a first physical death, and then will become part of the judgment called the second death.

 

But the second death has no power over those who:

 

-are not fearful because they trust God in ALL things, knowing that He is sovereign

-are believers who trust that ONLY through Jesus Christ are they justified before the Father and able to call themselves children of God

-are holy as God is holy, living in obedience to His law, rather than rebellious and performing abominable [the definition of abominable is: abhorrent, detestable, full of stench, polluted] actions contrary to the will of a holy God

-are not murderers, even in their imaginations

-are not given to sexual immorality; sexual immorality is any physical intimacy outside of the sanctity of the marriage covenant

-have no involvement in witchcraft, including fortune tellers, horoscopes, illegal drug use, etc.

-worship only the one true God and have no other gods before Him (including gods of materialism); just as Smyrna experienced, a test will come upon all believers in the end times as well, when the anti-Christ sets himself up to be worshiped as god [And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. (Rev. 16:2); And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. (Rev. 19:20)]

-and finally the second death has no power over those who are honest in their testimony of Jesus Christ, who are not liars and deceivers, of the faith. 

 

Believers in Christ whose lives reflect the qualities listed above are the ones whose hearts have been circumcised according to the law of God, rather than having their flesh circumcised, making them children of God, for it is God to whom their testimonies of righteous living bring glory. These are those who have overcome sin and become obedient to the law of God through the grace given to them by faith in Jesus Christ.

 

But don't believe that the law is done away with, because many believe that circumcision of the heart is a New Testament thing and the New Testament, being a "new covenant" has therefore done away with the law.  Circumcision of the heart is not just a New Testament thing and it has not done away with obedience to the law of God.  God was telling this to the Israelites long, long ago:

 

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. (Deut. 10:16)

 

And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. (Deut. 30:6)

 

Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. (Jer. 4:4)

 

And it was always spoken to encourage them to turn from evil and begin to do right.  Israel, spiritually speaking, is any who are "heart-circumcised."  In them, no abominations will be found.

 

If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.

And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory. (Jeremiah 4:1-2)

Footnote: (1) Physical circumcision in itself is not against the law, and is neither a sin, nor a sign of having a lack of faith.  It is only trusting in physical circumcision as a sign of justification with God the Father that becomes sin. The same pertains to any law of Moses, whereby we sin if we trust that by being obedient to any or all of the law we have earned justification with the Father.  Justification with God has been freely given to us by Jesus Christ alone.  All who trust in HIM are justified with the Father. If we reject this free gift, we reject God. Justification through Christ (by faith) is a spiritually legal declaration that we who trust in Christ have been made acceptable to the Father because the demands of the law have been met by His Son Jesus, in whom we trust.  We are now free to overcome sin; free to enter into the very throne room of God with our prayers and supplications, whereas before justification we had no right to do so. In justification by grace through faith, God accounts the faithful believer to be righteous according to the righteousness of Jesus, knowing that Jesus Himself has taken up residency in us through the Holy Spirit, and is now leading us into all "works" of righteousness, also known as obedience to the law, as we follow Jesus and His instructions to us through the Holy Spirit; this process is known as sanctification, allowing the believer to walk in holiness as God is holy.  Sanctification is distinct from justification, and can only come about after justification by faith in Jesus Christ. Sanctification is "the process of God's grace by which the believer is separated from sin and becomes dedicated to God's righteousness" according to p. 948 of Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary printed in 1986. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Much more then, being now justified by his blood [justification], we shall be saved [sanctification] from wrath through him. (Romans 5:1-9)

Because of our faith in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross [the blood], we are justified.  Now we have hope, where once there was  no hope, that by the power of the Holy Spirit [Christ in us] we will be saved from the wrath of God through His grace by the process of sanctification, being separated from all sin and made holy unto God.  And I believe that when that process is done, we get to go home!  Meanwhile, even as that process continues its work, we have peace with God...our hope of glory...who sees us as righteous according to the law, even as we are being made righteous by walking in the Spirit and not the flesh!