Rev 2:1-7 | KingComments | STEP | Revelation 2 and 3 are of exceptional interest. Therefore I would like to make some introductory remarks before we deal with the text itself. In these two chapters seven churches are addressed with regard to their actual spiritual condition. It is however clear that the meaning goes beyond what happened then. It is also clear that you can draw spiritual lessons from their spiritual condition for our time. But these two chapters show in the seven churches also seven sequential stages in church history, from the beginning of the church until its rapture. They contain a prophetic outline of the history of professing Christianity, for the whole book is after all prophecy ( ), thus including both these chapters. You read here the history of the church as it has behaved and developed on earth through the ages. It is all about its responsibility. On other places in the Bible you read about the church as how it has been formed and seen by God. In that case we speak about the church in accordance to the counsel God , wherein everything is perfect. That is not the side from which the church is presented in this book. In this book of judgment the house of God, professing Christianity, is judges first ( ). This judgment takes place in accordance to the way it has fulfilled its duty to be a testimony (a ‘lampstand’) in the world. After the judgment on professing Christianity, from chapter 4 the judgment on Israel and on the world follow. Briefly said you can see in the sequential letters the following periods in church history: 1. Ephesus (means: lovely) is the time that followed right after the death of the apostles when outwardly a lot of things were in order, but the first love had been abandoned. 2. The time of Smyrna (means: bitterness) corresponds with the time of the Christian persecution by the Romans. Of all these persecutions there were ten that took place under ten Roman emperors. It could be that the tribulation of ‘ten days’ refers to that ( ). That period comprises the end of the second century and the third century. 3. The time of Pergamum (means: fortress) runs from the fourth to the seventh century. It begins with the acceptance of Christendom by emperor Constantine. Christendom became the state religion. It became advantageous to be a Christian. 4. The time of Thyatira (means: incense or sacrifice) covers the period from the seventh to the sixteenth century. In that period the roman-catholic church dominates in the person of the pope over the world, the reverse of Pergamum, where the church sought protection from the world. As a ruling church the roman-catholic church has (for now) come to an end, but as an institution it still exists and it will exist until the coming of the Lord. 5. In the time of Sardis (means: remnant) protestantism originates from and next to the roman-catholic church in the sixteenth century. Also the protestant churches will exist until the coming of the Lord. 6. During the period of protestantism, the period of Philadelphia (means brotherly love) emerged in the nineteenth century. God’s grace causes in dead protestantism a faithful biblical revival movement that separated itself from it. Like roman-catholicism and protestantism, Philadelphia remains until the coming of the Lord. 7. The final stage of church history is characterized by Laodicea (means: people’s government) which also finds its origin in the nineteenth century. The characteristic of Laodicea is lukewarmness. There is the high confession of Philadelphia, but the Lord is outside. We find that spiritual condition in all kinds of churches and denominations that emerged from the revivals of Philadelphia, but which are today often worse off spiritually than Sardis. Also Laodicea remains until the coming of the Lord. To conclude these introductory remarks on Revelation 2 and 3, let me point out the structure of the letters. It is roughly the same in all the letters: 1. The command: “write”. 2. A characteristic of Christ from chapter 1 followed by: “says this”. 3. The assessment: “I know”. 4. The judgment (except for Smyrna and Philadelphia): “but I have against you”. 5. The exhortation: “repent”. 6. The appeal: “he who has an ear”. 7. The promise: “to him who overcomes”. It is also remarkable that in the last four messages the promise is first given and then the appeal follows. . The first message is addressed to the church in Ephesus. This church has played a major and typical role in the early church history: 1. Paul has worked there during his third missionary journey for a period of three years ( ); 2. he has spoken out his important farewell speech to the elders of Ephesus with a warning for the oncoming decay ( ); 3. he wrote to them his letter with the highest Christian truths (the letter to the Ephesians); 4. after Paul also Timothy worked there ( ); to him Paul wrote his farewell letter about the decay in the last days and about the path of the believer in that time, the second letter to Timothy; 5. and now the Lord addresses Himself to the church in Ephesus as the first of the seven churches. John does not receive the command to write to the church in Ephesus, but to the angel of the church . As I already remarked earlier, angel means ‘messenger’ or ‘representative’. To think of a literal angel gives more troubles than solutions. As a matter of fact, there is nowhere an example that an angel fails in his duty and even less that an angel is called to repent. The angel represents people who are responsible for the condition in the church. You could think of persons who have a special responsibility in a church, like elders. But that doesn’t alter the fact that also the rest of the people have a responsibility. Each member of the church is responsible to ensure that the church is faithful to God’s Word and that there is faithfulness in testifying to the truth. You can compare this with the people of Israel and the king who ruled over them. God held the king responsible for the condition of the people, but He did not thereby diminish the guilt of the people. The Lord Jesus presents Himself here as “the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand”. All stars are in His hand. He “holds” them in His right hand (cf. ). That indicates power and authority, protection and support to keep it from total ruin, but also to exert control over her. This authority He exerts in all local churches and He checks up on it whether His authority is taken into consideration in the right way. Therefore He walks “in the middle of the seven golden lampstands”. He, as it were, goes around to see whether the lampstands are burning clearly, whether they spread the light which He has kindled. Now read Revelation 2:1 again. Reflection: Learn the order of the seven messages by heart and try to relate them to the sequential periods in church history.

‏ Revelation of John 2:1-7

The Seven Messages

Revelation 2 and 3 are of exceptional interest. Therefore I would like to make some introductory remarks before we deal with the text itself. In these two chapters seven churches are addressed with regard to their actual spiritual condition. It is however clear that the meaning goes beyond what happened then.

It is also clear that you can draw spiritual lessons from their spiritual condition for our time. But these two chapters show in the seven churches also seven sequential stages in church history, from the beginning of the church until its rapture. They contain a prophetic outline of the history of professing Christianity, for the whole book is after all prophecy (Rev 1:3), thus including both these chapters.

You read here the history of the church as it has behaved and developed on earth through the ages. It is all about its responsibility. On other places in the Bible you read about the church as how it has been formed and seen by God. In that case we speak about the church in accordance to the counsel God, wherein everything is perfect. That is not the side from which the church is presented in this book.

In this book of judgment the house of God, professing Christianity, is judges first (1Pet 4:17). This judgment takes place in accordance to the way it has fulfilled its duty to be a testimony (a ‘lampstand’) in the world. After the judgment on professing Christianity, from chapter 4 the judgment on Israel and on the world follow.

Briefly said you can see in the sequential letters the following periods in church history:

1. Ephesus (means: lovely) is the time that followed right after the death of the apostles when outwardly a lot of things were in order, but the first love had been abandoned.

2. The time of Smyrna (means: bitterness) corresponds with the time of the Christian persecution by the Romans. Of all these persecutions there were ten that took place under ten Roman emperors. It could be that the tribulation of ‘ten days’ refers to that (Rev 2:10). That period comprises the end of the second century and the third century.

3. The time of Pergamum (means: fortress) runs from the fourth to the seventh century. It begins with the acceptance of Christendom by emperor Constantine. Christendom became the state religion. It became advantageous to be a Christian.

4. The time of Thyatira (means: incense or sacrifice) covers the period from the seventh to the sixteenth century. In that period the roman-catholic church dominates in the person of the pope over the world, the reverse of Pergamum, where the church sought protection from the world. As a ruling church the roman-catholic church has (for now) come to an end, but as an institution it still exists and it will exist until the coming of the Lord.

5. In the time of Sardis (means: remnant) protestantism originates from and next to the roman-catholic church in the sixteenth century. Also the protestant churches will exist until the coming of the Lord.

6. During the period of protestantism, the period of Philadelphia (means brotherly love) emerged in the nineteenth century. God’s grace causes in dead protestantism a faithful biblical revival movement that separated itself from it. Like roman-catholicism and protestantism, Philadelphia remains until the coming of the Lord.

7. The final stage of church history is characterized by Laodicea (means: people’s government) which also finds its origin in the nineteenth century. The characteristic of Laodicea is lukewarmness. There is the high confession of Philadelphia, but the Lord is outside. We find that spiritual condition in all kinds of churches and denominations that emerged from the revivals of Philadelphia, but which are today often worse off spiritually than Sardis. Also Laodicea remains until the coming of the Lord.

To conclude these introductory remarks on Revelation 2 and 3, let me point out the structure of the letters. It is roughly the same in all the letters:

1. The command: “write”.

2. A characteristic of Christ from chapter 1 followed by: “says this”.

3. The assessment: “I know”.

4. The judgment (except for Smyrna and Philadelphia): “but I have against you”.

5. The exhortation: “repent”.

6. The appeal: “he who has an ear”.

7. The promise: “to him who overcomes”.

It is also remarkable that in the last four messages the promise is first given and then the appeal follows.

Rev 2:1. The first message is addressed to the church in Ephesus. This church has played a major and typical role in the early church history:

1. Paul has worked there during his third missionary journey for a period of three years (Acts 20:31);

2. he has spoken out his important farewell speech to the elders of Ephesus with a warning for the oncoming decay (Acts 20:17-35);

3. he wrote to them his letter with the highest Christian truths (the letter to the Ephesians);

4. after Paul also Timothy worked there (1Tim 1:3); to him Paul wrote his farewell letter about the decay in the last days and about the path of the believer in that time, the second letter to Timothy;

5. and now the Lord addresses Himself to the church in Ephesus as the first of the seven churches.

John does not receive the command to write to the church in Ephesus, but to the angel of the church. As I already remarked earlier, angel means ‘messenger’ or ‘representative’. To think of a literal angel gives more troubles than solutions. As a matter of fact, there is nowhere an example that an angel fails in his duty and even less that an angel is called to repent. The angel represents people who are responsible for the condition in the church.

You could think of persons who have a special responsibility in a church, like elders. But that doesn’t alter the fact that also the rest of the people have a responsibility. Each member of the church is responsible to ensure that the church is faithful to God’s Word and that there is faithfulness in testifying to the truth. You can compare this with the people of Israel and the king who ruled over them. God held the king responsible for the condition of the people, but He did not thereby diminish the guilt of the people.

The Lord Jesus presents Himself here as “the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand”. All stars are in His hand. He “holds” them in His right hand (cf. Rev 1:16 ; 20). That indicates power and authority, protection and support to keep it from total ruin, but also to exert control over her. This authority He exerts in all local churches and He checks up on it whether His authority is taken into consideration in the right way. Therefore He walks “in the middle of the seven golden lampstands”. He, as it were, goes around to see whether the lampstands are burning clearly, whether they spread the light which He has kindled.

Now read Revelation 2:1 again.

Reflection: Learn the order of the seven messages by heart and try to relate them to the sequential periods in church history.

Message for Ephesus

Rev 2:2. The Lord Jesus starts by saying “I know”. That He can say because He is the all-knowing God. It is a great privilege that He knows everything about you (Heb 4:12; Amos 4:13). It means that He totally knows you. He is involved with everything you go through, He knows what you think and feel, He knows all your plans (Psa 139:1-4). If that knowledge makes you restless, there may be something in your life that you do not want Him involved with. Then tell it to Him.

In the church in Ephesus there are many good things. They are mentioned by the Lord first. He always first seeks the good. When Paul writes his letters to the churches he also often mentions things first which are praise worthy before he deals with things that are not good. The Lord says that He knows the “deeds”, the “toil” and the “perseverance” of the church in Ephesus. He sees that they are engaged in good works, that they give their best efforts for it – you can say ‘labor’ is hard work – and that they persevere in it. That is a beautiful appreciation.

But something is missing. You see that if you read what Paul could say of the Thessalonians. With them he could speak of “your work of faith and your labor of love and your steadfastness of hope” (1Thes 1:3). It is striking that here in Ephesus their deeds do not stem from the true Christian characteristics of faith, hope and love. The heart is not involved (anymore).

Nevertheless the Lord continues to mention the good things e sees with them. They also “cannot tolerate evil men”. Here you see an important characteristic of a church. The evil may reveal itself, but it must not remain. It will be obvious to each sincere Christian that the holiness of the Lord is incompatible with the welcoming evil people as if they are Christians. Evil people are people who refuse to break with sin, either in practice or in doctrine. Such people have always been there and they still are. If strangers present themselves, they will have to be put to the test.

In the beginning false apostles have tried to ruin the church with lies. But the Ephesians did not accept everyone who presented themselves as apostles. As watchful as they were, they tested the spirits of those they did not know (1Jn 4:1). They applied the test of the Scripture. This is also the touchstone to be applied to every confession today.

Rev 2:3. The Lord has more reasons to praise them. The church has not only started well, but it also shows “perseverance”. Perseverance is important if you want to grow in your faith. You have to deal with opposition. You have to learn to endure that. It goes without saying that it is about opposition for the sake of the Name of the Lord Jesus. As soon as you openly come out for His Name’s sake you will notice that.

The Ephesians also “have not grown weary”, which means that they did not think of giving up being a Christian because they began to find it more and more burdensome to fight against the evil or to face resistance for the sake of His Name.

Rev 2:4. If this is where the description had stopped, you could say that the church in Ephesus, except for one minor issue, was a perfect church. Which church today could compare itself to this? But the ‘minor issue’ that is missing in Rev 2:2, shows that something essential is missing and that is what the Lord is pointing at when He has to say: “But I have [this] against you.”

What He has against them is “that you have left your first love”. After all the positive mentions, yet this word of exhortation must follow. Amongst all outwardly perceivable and also valuable activities there was something inwardly missing. That is what the Lord has against them. It is ‘only’ one thing, but it determines the real value of all outward activities. The contrast with what is previously said, is therefore great.

Leaving the first love is the origin of all evil in the church, as the following churches show. A lot of various activities may be done in the church, but if the heart is not involved, it misses its real value. A wife may act out of obligation toward a husband and a husband toward a wife and do it in such a way that everything seems to be okay. However, when it is no more than an obligation, while the love of the heart is missing, which was there first, the other will notice that. He or she will then not be satisfied anymore with everything that is done for her or his sake. The Lord always remembers the first love and also reminds His own of it (Jer 2:2).

The Ephesians did not lose the first love, but they had left it. It is an activity. The Lord Jesus cannot stand it that a distance arises between Him and His own. Love can only be satisfied by love. He longs for your love, for your ‘first love’. The first love is the best or highest love. It indicates the quality of this love. It is a love that only seeks the Person of the Beloved and it submits everything else to it. Works are good, they are even necessary, but they are only valuable if they are done out of love for Him.

Rev 2:5. In His grace the Lord appeals to repent. That starts with a reminder of the beginning of the deviation, how it was before that time (cf. Lk 15:17). In case you have deviated from the Lord you are to return to the moment where the deviation started and you are to confess that. The Ephesians had fallen from the high position which they had learned to know and enjoy by the means of the letter Paul wrote to them.

They can show the proof of their conversion by doing “the deeds” they “did at first”. ‘First deeds’ are deeds that are motivated by the first love. Without the first love there is no mention of first deeds. Only if a church starts to love Christ again, it can be a real testimony, a real light bearer.

If a church does not give Christ that place, He has to come as a Judge and intervene. He will then take away the lampstand of its place, which means that a church ceases to be a bearer of the light it once had, but now has lost. Just as now the darkness of the islam surrounds the places where once the seven churches were located, we observe that removal and darkness in the churches of the West. If they do not continue in the kindness of God they will also be cut off (Rom 11:22).

Rev 2:6. The Lord always praises what is worthy of praising, also even after threatening to be taking away the lampstand. By doing it this way He puts emphasis on it. It concerns the hatred of a special kind of evil, hateful both to the Lord and to the church. Not the people, but the works are hated. Nicolaitans means ‘overcomers of the people or of the laymen’ which probably indicates that here clericalism, that is, the exercise of power through the clergy, is found.

You find this doctrine when people are appointed by people to do spiritual work, for which they get payment and power is being given to them to command (cf. Acts 20:28; 1Tim 6:5; 1Pet 5:3), because otherwise the church should not be able to function and disorder would enter. It is a denial of the fact that the church has only one Head and that all believers are ‘brethren’ (Mt 23:8). The Lord hates this doctrine and practice, because it makes ‘laymen’, ‘accursed ones who do not know the law’ (Jn 7:49) of those who were bought with a high price. They are kept ignorant, dependent on the clergy that dictates how the Bible must be read.

Rev 2:7. The Lord speaks to the whole, but in the whole He addresses the individual. The point is that you hear personally what the Spirit says to the churches (plural). Also, what is said to the other churches, is to be taken to heart by you. Notice that it is about what the Spirit says, not about what the church teaches, to which the demand is attached that each member submits himself to the decisions of the church. Each member of the church is called to acknowledge what is of the Spirit.

The Lord concludes with a promise for “him who overcomes”. In each church overcoming has got to do with overcoming the evil that is found in that particular church. Here overcoming is holding on or returning to the first love, right against all abandonment of the first love. The reward is that the Lord Himself will give you to eat of Himself, He is the tree of life. This blessing is indeed for each believer, but here it is promised as a special consolation to everyone who on earth has kept his first love or has returned to it. Such a person has overcome.

If you want to persevere in the first love, it will be a precious promise for you that once you will enjoy Him always and undisturbed. That will happen “in the Paradise of God” (cf. Lk 23:43; 2Cor 12:4). A paradise is a pleasure garden, a beautiful garden with fruit trees (Ecc 2:5; Song 4:13). The “Paradise of God” is a paradise of which the delights and the splendor can never again be forfeited by the unfaithfulness of man. The overcomer will then find himself in the glory of the resurrection and he will perfectly enjoy what he chose for on earth. Is that your goal too?

Now read Revelation 2:2-7 again.

Reflection: How about your first love for the Lord Jesus?