Revelation Revealed – Chapters 2 & 3

LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES

Introduction

In chapter 1 John saw the vision of Jesus Christ in the midst of seven golden lamp stands which are the seven churches (Revelation 1:12, 13, 20). Chapters 2 and 3 are the instructions of Jesus to John telling him to write diverse messages to the seven churches. This fits into the 2^nd category of ‘THINGS WHICH ARE’ (Refer notes 1:18), which means that these churches in Asia Minor (Now Turkey) should have existed when John saw this vision. These “churches” refers to the community or local congregations of Christians living in these cities, like the worship congregations mentioned in the New Testament at Troas (Acts 20:5-12), Colosse (Colossians 1:2), and Hierapolis (Colossians 4:13). These were not merely the buildings in which they assembled for. In this lesson we are going to do a comparative study of i) The Revelation of Jesus ii) Admiration iii) Regrets iv) Instructions and Warnings and v) Promise of Awards to the Victors of the seven churches.

The Revelation of Jesus to the Seven Churches

In chapter 1:10-16 we saw Jesus Christ revealing His glorious encounter to John in full. Now to the seven churches, He does not give His comprehensive vision as He gave to John but a sketchy segment of His vision to each church. Every born again child of Christ is the temple of God and we ought to know that Jesus makes known Himself to each of us in unique ways. Please refer to the notes in chapter 1:10-16 for the explanations of the vision of Jesus Christ.

CHURCH	REFERENCE	REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST
Ephesus	2:1	i) Holds the seven stars in His right hand ii) Walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands
Smyrna	2:8	i) The First and the Last ii) Who was dead, and came to life
Pergamos	2:12	Has the sharp two-edged sword
Thyatira	2:18	i) Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire ii) His feet like fine brass
Sardis	3:1	i) He who has the seven Spirits of God ii) He who has the seven stars
Philadelphia	3:7	i) He who is holy ii) He who is true iii) He who has the key of David iv) He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens
Laodicea	3:14	i) Amen ii) The Faithful and True Witness iii) The Beginning of the creation of God

Admiration and Honorable mentions

We serve such a thankful God, who counts every single, even insignificant effort that we take for Him (Hebrews 6:10; Matthew 10:42). Here we see Jesus Christ admiring and making honorable mentions of the works of the seven churches.

CHURCH	REFERENCE	HONORABLE MENTIONS
Ephesus	2:2, 3, 6	i) I know your works ii) I know your labor iii) I know your patience iv) I know that you cannot bear those who are evil iv) Discerned false preachers (We are to test every preacher or prophet and know if they are from God – 1 John 4:1) v) Persevered and have patience vi) Labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary vii) You hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. (Nicolaus was a heretic at Ephesus, whose teachings were totally irrelevant to the Scriptures, yet his followers sheltered themselves under Christianity – They say that we can be holy in our soul and spirit but not in our body. They say adultery is not sin, meats offered to idols can be eaten, etc.)
Smyrna	2:9	i) I know your works ii) I know your tribulation iii) I know your poverty (but you are rich) (sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. 2 Corinthians 6:10)
Pergamos	2:13	i) I know your works ii) I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is (Probably a city filled with idolatry and Christian persecution). iii) You hold fast to My name iv) You did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you.
Thyatira	2:19	i) I know your works ii) I know your love iii) I know your service iv) I know your faith v) I know your patience vi) Your works that are growing than ever before
Sardis	3:4	i) You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments
Philadelphia	3:8, 10	i) I know your works ii) You have a little strength yet have kept My word ii) You have not denied My name
Laodicea		Nothing to appreciate

Disappointments

Our God is too holy and pure that He can never approve any evil or tolerate any iniquity (Habakkuk 1:13). So He is disappointed over certain activities of the seven churches.

CHURCH	REFERENCE	DISAPPOINTMENTS
Ephesus	2:4	I have this against you, that you have left your first love
Smyrna	2:9	Some say that they are Jews but they actually belong to the congregation of Satan (Blasphemy)
Pergamos	2:14, 15	i) Balaam’s doctrines (Putting a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. When Balaam was not permitted by God to curse the Israelites, he devised a plan together with the Moabite king Balak and invited the Israelites for the feast of the Moabite god Baal-Peor, wherein the Israelite men indulged in sexual immorality with Moabite women and started following their gods, which kindled the wrath of God, who sent a plague that killed many Israelites – Numbers 24 & 25) ii) Doctrine of the Nicolaitans (Refer notes on 2:6)
Thyatira	2:20, 21	i) You allow Jezebel (This symbolizes the spirit of Jezebel – she led Israel into Baal worship (1 Kings 16:31; ), she assassinated the prophets of God (1 Kings 18:4, 13), she made wicked plots and false accusations to possess another man’s property (1 Kings 21), seduces servants of God to sexual immorality and eat things offered to God (Revelation 2:20) ii) No repentance even after giving time to repent from sexual immorality
Sardis	3:1, 2	i) You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead (Having a form of godliness but denying it’s power – 2 Timothy 3:5, Drawing near God with mouth, honoring Him with lips, but heart far away – Isaiah 29:13) ii) I have not found your works perfect before God
Philadelphia	–	No regrets
Laodicea	3:15-17	i) Neither hot nor cold but lukewarm ii) You say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ —and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked (Boasters of having everything but actually having nothing [Proverbs 13:7], Pretending to be righteous but factually unrighteous [Luke 18:11-14])

Instructions and Warnings

CHURCH	REFERENCE	INSTRUCTIONS AND WARNINGS
Ephesus	2:5	i) Remember from where you fell (As the younger son recalled his wrongdoing and got reconciled with his father – Luke 15:20) ii) Repent iii) Do the works you were doing at first iv) I will come quickly and remove the lampstand from its place unless you repent (The ‘Lampstand’ in 1:20; 2:1 and 2:5 are the same in Greek transliterated as ‘luchnia’ and it refers to the ‘church’. So here God warns that He will remove the church itself if they don’t repent.)
Smyrna	2:10	i) Do not fear things which you are about to suffer. (We don’t need to fear those who can only kill our body and not the soul [Matthew 10:28]. May God be our fear and our dread [Isaiah 8:13]) ii) The devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested (We need to pass certain tests in life through hard work, self-control and discipline in order to win perishable crowns. How much more to gain the imperishable! [1 Corinthians 9:25] iii) You will have tribulation ten days. (There is always a ‘small season’ while we will be going through various trials – Genesis 24:55; Daniel 1:12) iv) Be faithful until death (The Bible often calls us to endure till the end, for which we should be willing even to die – Matthew 10:22; 24:13; Revelation 12:11)
Pergamos	2:16	Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. (God judges with the Word of God, which we will never be able to answer – Revelation 19:15; We cannot answer Him even one time out of a thousand question – Job 9:3)
Thyatira	2:22, 23	i) I will cast her into a sickbed (God repays for every deed – 2 Kings 9:26; Man plans shame for his own house and sins against his own soul when he does injustice – Habakkuk 2:8, 9) ii) I will cast those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. (Great tribulation is a future period of God’s pouring down of His judgments on earth. His actual plan is to rescue the church from getting into it but take the sinners into it. But if the church deliberately goes sinning even after knowing the Truth, the church also will be taken into the terrible judgment – 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 2:16; 5:9; Hebrews 10:26, 27) iii) I will kill her children with death iv) All the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. v) I will give to each one of you according to your works.
Sardis	3:2	i) Be watchful ii) Strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die (He does not break a bruised reed not quenches a dying flame but gives time to get right – Isaiah 42:3) iii) I have not found your works perfect before God (What a terrible example king Solomon has set before us as God says his heart was not perfect before the Lord as his father’s heart was – 1 Kings 11:4; 15:3) iv) Remember how you have received and heard (Our God who raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor, wants us to remember from where and how we came. We see God reminding David that He took him from the pasture, from behind the sheepfold and made him king – 1 Samuel 2:8; 2 Samuel 7:8) v) Hold fast and repent vi) If you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. (This refers to the sudden, secret coming of Jesus Christ, which if the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. – Matthew 24:43)
Philadelphia	3:11	I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. (God warns us to be careful not to lose all that we have earned through hard work – 2 John 1:8)
Laodicea	3:18-20	i)Buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich (We ought to buy ‘Faith’, which is ‘Gold’ – 1 Peter 1:7 from God. God gives each person the faith according to His own measure – Romans 12:3. But it can be earned more through the Word of God – Romans 10:17) ii) Buy white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed (We ought to buy the ‘Righteous acts of the saints’ which is ‘White Garment’ from God – Revelation 19:8) iii) Anoint your eyes with eye salve that you may see. (May our eyes be enlightened through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God – Psalm 19:8; Ephesians 1:18) iv) As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. – (The Lord chastens whom He loves and scourges whom He receives as His son – Hebrews 12:6) v) Be zealous and repent. vi) I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (We are asked to always be readily dressed up and keep our lamps burning so that when our Master comes and knocks we would can open the door at once for Him, so that He does not go away unattended – Luke 12:35, 36; Songs 5:2-4)

Promise of Awards to the Victors

CHURCH	REFERENCE	PROMISE OF AWARDS TO THE VICTORS
Ephesus	2:7	Eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God (Takes us to His closest presence as in the garden of Eden – Genesis 2:9, gives eternal life – Genesis 3:22 and makes us feel that all our longings are fulfilled – Proverbs 13:12)
Smyrna	2:10, 11	i) I will give you the crown of life (It is God’s reward to those whom He loves and those that have endured trials – James 1:12) ii) Shall not be hurt by the second death (Second death refers to hell, the lake of fire – Revelation 20:14)
Pergamos	2:17	i) Hidden manna to eat (A true Christian life has many hidden agendas which others can never understand. A spiritual person discerns everything but he is not and cannot be understood fully even by ONE person on earth – 1 Corinthians 2:15 i) All treasures of wisdom and knowledge were hidden in Christ. He does not expose it to everyone but makes known to those who really seek after His wisdom and knowledge – Colossians 2:3, Proverbs 2:1-5. ii) Our life is hidden with Christ and this is known to us and God alone so that when Christ, our life appears we too will appear to meet Him in glory – Colossians 3:3, 4.) ii) White stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it (The white stone with a new name can also be compared to the Urim and Thummim, which were gemstones carried by the high priest of Israel on the ephod or their priestly garments. They were handled by the high priest to clarify the will of God only in extreme situations whether or not to go for a war, whether or not they would win the battle, etc. Probably the God would make the Urim and Thummim to light up in various patterns to make known His answer. Another probability is that the Urim and Thummim had engraved in them symbols for yes or no, thus revealing God’s will. It is also not known whether the Urim and Thummim were on, by, or in the high priest’s ephod. (Exodus 28:30; Leviticus 8:8; Numbers 27:21; Deuteronomy 33:8; Joshua 7:14-18; 1 Samuel 14:37-45; 2 Samuel 21:1) Thus by giving this stone to the victorious church, God is giving them a priestly esteem.
Thyatira	2:26-28	i) I will give power over the nations ii) He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’— as I also have received from My Father (These were the blessings of God’s supremacy over the nations that the Father promised for His Son, which He in turn promises to the church – Psalms 2; Isaiah 9:7) iii) I will give him the morning star. (This is the supreme and choicest of all blessings in heaven and in earth, He promises to give Himself, Jesus – the bright and morning Star to be forever and ever with us – Revelation 22:16)
Sardis	3:5	i) Shall be clothed in white garments (White refers to the extreme glory the church is going to acquire in its transfigured state – Matthew 17:2) ii) I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life (Sure inheritance of heaven – Revelation 21:27) iii) I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. (It is the acknowledgement of our Bridegroom that He knows us very well even while we were on earth – Matthew 10:32)
Philadelphia	3:8-10, 12	i) I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it ii) I will make them (those from the synagogue of Satan) come and worship before your feet (Today’s false preachers who are in disguise and those that have become God’s adversaries will come and serve us and know how much God loves us – 1 Corinthians 11:14, 15; Isaiah 49:23) iii) I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world (Guard us from the tribulation times that are yet to come – Revelation 2:22; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9) iv) I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more (Significant and vital members of heaven’s bureau – Galatians 2:9) v) I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem … and I will write on him My new name. (Totally becoming the property of the Father, the Son and the New Jerusalem – Isaiah 44:5; 62:4, 5)
Laodicea	3:21	I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. (Display of the surpassing riches of His grace – Ephesians 2:6, 7)

Conclusion

It is very important dear church of the last days to analyze every word of God given to the seven churches because every one of us is His Sanctuary. Let us become more holy day by day to meet the Most Holy God. To each of the seven churches it is said, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22) A hardened heart will not have eyes to see nor ears to hear (John 12:40).  We serve a very gentle God who teaches us His ways, insists us to do but never coerces us into anything. We have all rights to whether we are going to do it or not. Jesus concludes many of His parables with these words: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew 11:15; 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8; 14:35) Let us all totally submit and surrender to His earnest exhortation!