I begin with a question: to whom is the Lord speaking? Christ begins his message for the readers by speaking to the seven churches of Asia Minor, modern Turkey, received and conveyed by John. In this chapter we read the first four – one to each of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, and Thyatira.
Each message is to inform the believers of God’s continued care and attention, to provide them guidance that they may better understand and navigate their circumstances. There are warnings to be heeded, problems to be addressed. No settling of disputes over what belongs to each or to all. No affirming of any particular, individual frustrations that were causing division or conflict. I hear and feel the words, ‘To you all, this is what is good, what is bad.’ All believers are to pursue maturity in Christ.
A parent of one or more small children has the opportunity to understand what is at stake when evaluating earnestly. Articulate the good as best as you can, with the joy of hopes fulfilled. Share what stands out that is empowering, enabling, fulfilling. Thereafter tackle the things which need correction. Explain what is in need of addressing to prevent (further) misunderstanding, mishap, even misdirection. Express the zeal of relationship by sharing something mutually appreciated. ‘I know your … condition.’ I speak to you because your condition is vital to me. Your attention thus grasped as “His voice was like the roar of many waters.”
1 To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write
These are the words of Him who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.
2 I know your deeds, your labor, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and you have tested and exposed as liars those who falsely claim to be apostles. 3 Without growing weary, you have persevered and endured many things for the sake of My name.
4 But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love. 5 Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
6 But you have this to your credit: You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.
I read the following, if I may. I have watched, experienced your lives and time spent making inquiries, decisions – the exertion and commitment required. Continue with the resolve you have shown to escape those who wish to confound you, whose word has been deceitful. But do not allow the passion of belonging to the eternal, supreme love of Almighty God to grow cold. Do not allow your hearts to embrace, become attached to idleness, to slumber – to permit these to rob you of a finished, fine, completed work for the kingdom of Christ. Specifically, it is good that you do fully reject the teachings of the Nicolaitans, of those who reject the covenant of fidelity within marriage. Everyone who remains true to the calling of God in Christ Jesus will continue in the life of the saints, abide eternally in the blessing of God.
8 To the angel of the church in Smyrna, write
These are the words of the First and the Last, who died and returned to life.
9 I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.
10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.
Again, I read the following. Your struggles, your frustrations arising from the adversary’s schemes and from your own limitations – I fully understand them because I experience it all with you. In my care you have insurmountable wealth! I am the target of the lies told against you by those who misappropriate the Divine promise. Such are the agents, the earthly fellowship of the adversary. Be brave, be bold, be confident in Christ. Unrelentingly embrace your love for Christ, nomatter the earthly cost, for the reward is beyond earthly understanding. No, those who are committed to him will not falter, they will not perish.
12 To the angel of the church in Pergamum, write
These are the words of the One who holds the sharp, double-edged sword.
13 I know where you live, where the throne of Satan sits. Yet you have held fast to My name and have not denied your faith in Me, even in the day when My faithful witness Antipas was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
14 But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. 15 In the same way, some of you also hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent! Otherwise I will come to you shortly and wage war against them with the sword of My mouth.
17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.
I would like, again, to proceed with a paraphrase of the message. Where you reside is also the dwelling place of those who seek to effect the adversary’s plans. Even there, you have remained faithful. In that place, after the murder of one of you – one of Christ’s servants, you continue to resist the adversary. Bravery, however, does not erase iniquity on its own, and there are some among you who diminish the message of grace by retaining the practice of immoral, fleshly desires. In unison, straighten your commitment to continue sharing the victory of Christ, for Christ will admonish his bride, the church as it may become necessary. Those who remain in him will receive the bread of life and a name before God.
18 To the angel of the church in Thyatira, write
These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a blazing fire and whose feet are like polished bronze.
19 I know your deeds—your love, your faith, your service, your perseverance—and your latter deeds are greater than your first.
20 But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.
22 Behold, I will cast her onto a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer great tribulation unless they repent of her deeds. 23 Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
24 But I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned the so-called deep things of Satan: I will place no further burden upon you. 25 Nevertheless, hold fast to what you have until I come. 26 And to the one who overcomes and continues in My work until the end, I will give authority over the nations. 27 He will rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like pottery —just as I have received authority from My Father. 28 And I will give him the morning star.
Christ is that unique son, come from heaven – He is the Son of God, who relates to his people directly. The believers of Thyatira have grown in their call while growing neither weary nor complacent in their faith and practice in meeting the obligation of love. Nonetheless, love is not ambivalent toward wrongdoing – recall ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Injuries to any member of the body harm the whole. Don’t subject your reason, your growing faith to treachery or to guile. Don’t allow flawed, ill-founded designs or intentions to imperil your efforts or to render them void. Secure the premise of the purpose in what you do, for all who embrace, commit to Christ will be granted the means to accomplish it.
We have covered four of the seven churches addressed in the text of this chapter, and will complete the set before expanding our horizon that we may encompass and explore profound warnings, distresses, and divine promises surrounding the works of humanity, the culmination of Adamic history. For Christians, the message of Revelation envelops the call upon each of us not to delay in embracing God’s plan – rather to behold, to perceive what is happening, and continue through the completion of our work.
My hope is that you can, beyond the plethora of urgencies everyone is confronted with on their daily walk, identify with and relate to those particular conflicts and turmoils which confronted the early believers.
End Times Prophecy 