The Book of Revelation 

The Letters 

The first church written to was Ephesus.  Ephesus was the place famous for its worship of the goddess Diana.  It was here that Paul caused such a great uproar concerning the worship of this goddess.  (Acts 19:13-41).  Note the introduction in verse 1:  “…These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks…” 

Note Revelation 2:2.  For you who like to hold to the “don’t judge me” attitude.  How do you suppose the church at Ephesus “tried” those who claimed to be apostles then branded them liars when it was determine they were not?  Jesus praised them for doing this!  Today’s church wants to scold and condemn someone for point out a false or deceitful worker!  My how far we’ve come from real, true, Christianity! 

The Warnings of Jesus are very powerful and should wake us all up.  Jesus told them they had left their first love (Revelation 2:4) and warned them to repent or have their candlestick removed.  He exhorted them to do their first works over!  Pay particular attention to the phrase “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent…”  (Revelation 2:5)  Jesus considered them to be in a fallen state and gave them a means by which they could be restored:  “repent”. 

The promise to “him that overcometh” at Ephesus was the tree of life. 

To the church at Smyrna, Jesus identifies himself as the “first and the last, which was dead, and is alive”.  When we examine the church at Smyrna, we quickly discover it was a poor church that was in the midst of persecution.  Jesus told them (allow me to paraphrase)  “Yes, it’s bad, but it’s going to get worse”.  Jesus told them to be faithful unto death and they would inherit a crown of life.   

This is such a far cry from the teaching of today’s church that to hear some of today’s teachers is sickening.  The church today is being taught that if someone is poor, if someone is being persecuted, then they certainly aren’t “blessed” of God nor are they in the “will” of God.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  What would you do if Jesus appeared to your church and said, “Hey, I know things are bad, but they’re going to get much, much worse”?  How would you react?  What if he continued to tell you that you’re going to be dirt poor, have everything you own taken from you and then be tortured to death?  Why, most of the church today would throw him out and label him a false prophet, wouldn’t they?  Of course they would! 

The tragedy of this situation is that the church of Laodecia was less than 120 miles from Smyrna, yet the church of Smyrna was in poverty.  I wonder if there are any examples of that today? 

When we read of the church in Pergamos, we find Jesus identifying himself as a not only conqueror to them but also as The Word:  “These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges”.   

Jesus declared that this church dwelt “where Satan’s seat is”.  We don’t have a good picture of the events of the day or of the culture here, but we do know from the rebukes of the Lord that they had in their midst, those who taught and practiced false doctrines:  specifically the doctrines of Balaam and of the Nicolaitans.  There is not a lot of information available to determine just what the doctrine of the Nicolaitans is, but since it is associated somewhat with Balaam, we understand it to be either near or part of that doctrine.  If you will recall Balaam (in the Book of Numbers chapters 22-25), you’ll remember that Balaam was hired by King Balak to curse Israel.  Balaam knew he could not curse Israel because God had already blessed Israel, so he did something that turned out far more sinister.  Balaam introduced Moabite women into the fold of Israel.  In other words, he encouraged Israel to mingle with and marry women that God had already told them not to marry.  In doing this, he effectively corrupted Israel with fornication and idolatry.  The tragic part of it all was that Israel was so very close to crossing over into the Promised Land!  Numbers 25:1-3  states: 

“And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.  And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.  And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.”  (Numbers 25:1-3) 

This is something we should be very careful with today.  Many are being yoked together with unbelievers against God’s command (2 Corinthians 6:14) all in the name of “love”.  I’ve watched as the consequences of such things were reaped and I’ve listened as women told their tales of ungodly, abusive husbands (and vice versa).  The story always starts the same:  “Before we got married”, they would say, “He (She) always went to church with me”… You need to be careful about fellowship with unbelievers, about marrying unbelievers and especially about learning the ways (lifestyles, customs, practices) of unbelievers.  There is imminent danger to your soul in neglecting this area of life! 

The Lord tells the church at Pergamos,  as in the church of Ephesus, to repent.  The promise to Pergamos is wonderfully fitting.  The church was very poor and food for them was scarce.  Look at the promise:  “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna…”  Jesus gave them something they could relate to! 

Let’s continue on the next page with the church at Thyatira. 

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