The Rise of the Man of Lawlessness
Dani’el 7:3-8 and 24b, Revelation 13:1-2,
and Second Thessalonians 2:1-3

The rise of the man of lawlessness DIG: Who do you think restrains this man of lawlessness? Why? When will he be revealed? Why did Yeshua warn believers of a counterfeit Messiah? What is God’s ultimate purpose in allowing him to deceive many people? What signs mark his coming?

REFLECT: God’s love and grace are the basis for eternal encouragement in the face of any temporary distress in our lives. The Lord gives us hope for the future, and that hope is good, meaning beneficial, for it assures believers of the return of our victorious Jesus Christ. In light of the coming of this beast, what do you have to be encouraged about today in the midst of your set backs in your life?

In the chaotic times of confusion, uncertainty and unrest that will take place during the Great Tribulation, the world will long for a leader. People will be desperately hoping for someone powerful and influential to unite a divided world; someone to bring hope in the midst of helplessness; someone to provide a sense of security in an unsettled time of apprehension and fear. They will be franticly seeking a strong, charismatic leader to pull the world back from the brink of disaster.

A man called the antichrist will fulfill those longings and he will be preparing to rise to power in the years before the Rapture. The Spirit of God now acts as the Restrainer who holds back lawlessness, and will continue to do so until He is taken out of the way (Second Thessalonians 2:6-8). How does He do it? Through believers, whom He indwells and through whom He works in the world to restrain, or hold back, the swelling tide of lawless living. When the Church is taken out of this world, empowered by Satan, the antichrist will be ready to make his move and unify the world under his rule. At first, he will appear to be the perfect choice. And for a brief time he will bring peace and prosperity. But he will turn out to be far more than anyone bargained for. He will be a dictator more cruel and powerful than any other leader the world has ever known. This man, called the beast, will be the culmination of a long line of pseudo world conquerors. What men like Nimrod, Alexander the Great, the Roman emperors, Hitler or Stalin only dreamed of doing, the antichrist will actually do. He will rule the world and receive its worship.

Jesus warned of a counterfeit Messiah in the last days. He said: At that time if anyone says to you, “Look, here is the Christ!” or “Look, there he is,” do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect – if that were possible. So be on your guard. I have told you everything ahead of time (Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22). For example, in 1798 Napoleon called for the formation of the nation of Isra’el. The rabbis were saying that Isra’el must be in the last days and that Napoleon, a Gentile from Europe, was the Messiah.

We are first introduced to the man of lawlessness through the book of Dani’el. He pictures him as a little horn, arising out of the ten horns of the fourth beast in Dani’el’s vision. While Dani’el was thinking about the horns, there before him was another horn, a little horn, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully (Dani’el 7:3-8). Following the division of the world into ten kingdoms, the antichrist will begin his rise to power. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones, he will subdue three kings (Dan 7:24b).

Then Paul makes it clear that his identity will not be revealed before the signing of a seven-year covenant with Isra’el (to see link click Bz – The Signing of the Seven Year Covenant with the Antichrist). Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the Day of ADONAI has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness, the man doomed to destruction is revealed (Second Thessalonians 2:1-3). In this passage two things are said to happen before the Great Tribulation. First, the rebellion, or the one world government, occurs. Secondly, the man of lawlessness, the man doomed to destruction, will sign a seven-year covenant with Isra’el. At that time he will be revealed. The revelation of the identity of the antichrist will only come after the world has been divided into ten kingdoms.

It will be the fourth birth pain.

Later in Dani’el, he saw that horn make war with the holy ones and was winning until the Ancient One came, judgment was given in favor of the holy ones of the Most High, and the time came for the holy ones to take over the kingdom (Dani’el 7:21-22 CJB). Since the antichrist will especially oppose the Jews during the second half of the Great Tribulation (Dani’el 9:26-27; Revelation 12:1-6), they will be his primary target, but because of the kind of person he will be, all believers will clearly experience this opposition to some degree. While he rules, life will not be easy for those who love Jesus.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for being such a loving father! Thank You that You take what the enemy tries to use to hurt us and You turn it around, using it for our eternal joy. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). In the holy name of Your Son and His power of resurrection. Amen

While banished to the island of Patmos, John confirmed what Dani’el saw: a beast, or the antichrist, standing on the shore of the sea (or the Gentile nations). The fact that he comes out of the Gentile nations tells us that he will be a Gentile. He will have ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns and on each head a blasphemous name (Revelation 13:1). While all unbelievers are children of Satan (John 8:44), no one in all of human history will be more controlled by the devil than the antichrist. You could say, especially in this instance, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

The beast (the antichrist) John saw resembled the three preceding world empires – Greece (a leopard in Dani’el 7:6), Medo-Persia (a bear in Dani’el 7:5) and Babylon (a lion in Dani’el 7:4). The dragon (Satan) gave the beast (the antichrist) his power and his throne and great authority (Revelation 13:2). Because Satan is the source of the antichrist’s power, no human being will be able to go against him. The dragon will influence the beast and cause him to make war against God. He will be the picture of satanic evil.

We do not know exactly how the antichrist will be identified. Maybe it will be determined by the numerical value of his name (see Dp – The Mark is the Name of the Beast or the Number of His Name) or some other way. But he will be made known. The antichrist’s rise to power before the Great Tribulation is a biblical necessity. Since the Tribulation begins with the signing of the seven-year covenant between Isra’el and the antichrist, it will be necessary for him to be in sufficient political power to sign such a contract.¹⁴²

And may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and by his grace given us eternal comfort and a good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen you in every good word and deed (Second Thessalonians 2:16-17 CJB).

The Ten Horns are Ten Kings
Who Will Come from this Kingdom
Dani’el 7: 24a

The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this Kingdom. DIG: How long does this stage continue? Why will it end?

This is the first of five events that will occur in the first half of the Great Tribulation. So the governmental system of the ten kings will start before the Tribulation begins and will continue on through the first half.

The one world government will eventually split up into ten kingdoms. The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. In recent years there has been much speculation that the European Union (EU) will become these ten kingdoms. They would supposedly revive the old Roman Empire made up of ten European countries. But the Bible does not talk about the ten kingdoms in this way. It says that after the world falls under the control of the One World Government, then, and only then, does it split up into ten kingdoms. However, these ten kingdoms cover the entire world, not just Europe alone. At best the European Union might become one of the ten, but it could hardly become all of them. Beginning before the Great Tribulation, this Ten Kingdom Stage will continue until the middle of the Tribulation, and it will be the third birth pang. This is a review, to see link click Av – The Fourth Beast: The Ten Kingdoms Stage. See it for more details.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise Your power and wisdom. Nothing takes You by surprise. You have won the final battle of the ages (Revelation 19:11-21) and You will reign eternally! We love and worship You! In the holy name of Your Son and His power of resurrection. Amen

It Will Devour the Whole Earth,
Trampling It Down and Crushing It
Dani’el 7: 23

It will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it DIG: Why is this not the revised Roman Empire? What form will it take?

The next three events leading up to the Tribulation are a review from the Times of the Gentiles. The fourth beast is the fourth kingdom that will appear on the earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. The second birth pain leading up to the Great Tribulation is the development of a one world government. The Fourth Gentile Empire continues until it devours the entire world. The Roman Empire cannot fulfill this prophecy. One cannot even say that Rome conquered the whole known world, for even that is not true. See and click to see the link Au – The Fourth Beast: The One World Government Stage, for a review of this dramatic stage. The exact nature of this government is unknown. It will be in the form of imperialism, of course, but whether it will be the United Nations or specific world leaders we do not know. But what we do know is this, a one world government will develop and will devour the whole earth.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise Your power and wisdom. Nothing takes You by surprise. You have won the final battle of the ages (Revelation 19:11-21) and You will reign eternally! We love and worship You! In the holy name of Your Son and His power of resurrection. Amen

For Seven Months the house of Isra’el Will Bury Them
in Order to Cleanse the Land
Ezeki’el 39: 11-16

For seven months the house of Isra’el will bury them in order to cleanse the Land DIG: Why do you think it will take so long to bury the dead? Could the Jews be fleeing for their very lives and still have time to bury that many dead? When does this battle take place?

Ezeki’el first brought out how great the enemy forces were by showing how long it took to burn their weapons. Now he underscores the same truth by emphasizing the length of time needed to bury their dead. Through this process, the LORD will be glorified because it will be very clear to the people of Isra’el, that the victory was God’s doing and His alone.

On the day of Gog’s and his allies’ destruction, God will give Gog a burial place in Isra’el. The country that they want to turn into a graveyard will actually become their own graveyard. The location of this graveyard for the armies of Gog will be in the valley of those who travel east toward the Dead Sea, or more specifically, the Jordan Valley just northeast of the Dead Sea. The valley will be so clogged with the corpses of Gog’s army that it will block the way of travelers. Instead of finding all the loot that they had wanted, they found their graves instead.

This mass cemetery will be given a new name, remembering God’s victory over Isra’el’s adversaries. It will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog. The first word, Hamon, is a Hebrew word meaning multitudes. For seven months the house of Isra’el will be burying them in order to cleanse the Land. This is in keeping with Numbers 35:33-34. All the people of the Land will bury them, and the day I am glorified will be a memorable day for them, declares ADONAI ELOHIM (Ezeki’el 39:11-13). Therefore, the destruction of the invaders will result in a new Jewish holy day. In addition to the holy days given by Moses, the Jews have always had a tendency to add holy days to commemorate great events. Because of the deliverance of Esther, there is now the feast of Purim (see my commentary on Esther, to see link click Bn – The Feast of Purim). In commemoration of the deliverance by the Maccabees, the Jews celebrate Hanukkah or the Feast of Lights (see my commentary on The Life of Christ Hj – Then Came Hanukkah at Jerusalem and It Was Winter). Isra’el’s independence day is now celebrated. So when this great army is wiped out by supernatural means, it will become a new Jewish holy day.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise Your mighty power! Your children (John 1:12; First John 3:1) can always run to You for protection. No weapon formed against you will prosper and you will condemn every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of Adonai’s servants – their vindication is from Me. It is a declaration of ADONAI (Isaiah 54:17). In the holy name of Your Son and His power of resurrection. Amen

Death came so suddenly to so many that it will take seven months to bury them all. All the facts emphasize the vast proportions of the catastrophe. There will be a need to cleanse the Land because bloodshed defiles it (Numbers 35:33-34).¹³⁹ To cleanse the Land, scouts will be regularly employed to find hidden corpses. Some will go throughout the Land and, in addition to them; others will bury the bodies that will be found. At the end of the seven months they will begin their search for additional bodies. Every single corpse must be buried. Not one can be left to defile the Land. Many of these corpses will fall into various crevasses and places where they would not be easily seen. But all the bodies missing in action will eventually be found. As the scouts go through the Land and one of them sees a human bone, he will set up a marker beside it until the gravediggers have it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. Also a new Jewish town called Hamonah, or the multitude, to honor the multitude of the armies that were destroyed there, will be in the Valley of Hamon Gog. And so they will cleanse the Land (Ezekiel 39:14-16). The seven months of burial is new information, not mentioned in Chapter 38.

The most controversial question is when will this invasion take place? There were specific scriptural clues given in the text (Eze 38:8, 11-12, and 14). There were six specific clues. First, the invasion occurs when Isra’el is once again a state. Second, it happens when Isra’el is re-gathered out of many nations. Third, the Jews will live in areas that had long been desolate. Fourth, the Israeli’s will be living in unwalled villages. Fifth, Isra’el will be living in safety. Not once in these chapters has it said that Isra’el is living in peace, rather, it is living confidently and in security. Sixth, all of the descriptions of Isra’el in the text are true of present day Isra’el.

The seven months of burying and seven years of burning are crucial in determining when the invasion will occur. For any view to be correct, it must satisfy the requirements of these seven months and seven years.¹⁴⁰ There are five different views. Arnold Fruchtenbaum lays them out in Footsteps of the Messiah.

First is the Mid-tribulation view. It holds that this event will take place in the middle of the Great Tribulation. Those who hold this view say that Isra’el will be living in a time of safety right up to the time when the antichrist reveals himself and his persecution of the Jews begins. They believe that this invasion is the same as the invasion of the king of the north in Daniel 11:40. But to live in safety does not require living in peace. Why would God intervene to save Isra’el at this point, and then immediately allow the massive persecution of the Jews in the second half of the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:15-28; Revelation 12:6-17)? While the invasion of Daniel 11:40 does happen in the middle of the Tribulation one can only conclude that it is not the same as this invasion. The simple reason is that in Daniel 11:40 the king of the north is always Syria. But more importantly there is the problem of the seven months of burial. If this event happened in the middle of the Tribulation the seven months of burial would extend into the second half of the Tribulation, the period of time when the Jews are fleeing Isra’el without having any time to bury their own dead, let alone time to bury enemy dead, or time to build a new Jewish town called Hamonah. In addition, this view has a problem with the seven years of burning. If the Russian invasion occurs in the middle of the Tribulation, the seven years of burning would have to include the second three and a half years of the Tribulation and three and a half years of the Messianic Kingdom. Therefore, the Mid-tribulation view has a problem with both the seven months of burial and the seven years of burning.

Second is the Post-tribulation view. It holds that the invasion will take place at the end of the Great Tribulation. Those who hold this view say that this invasion is the same as the campaign of Armageddon. But there are too many differences between the two invasions. For example, in Ezeki’el only some nations were aligned against Isra’el, and other nations opposed the invasion. But in the campaign of Armageddon all nations, without exception, come against the Jews (Zechariah 12:1-4 and 14:1-2).

Secondly, the attack in Ezeki’el is only from the north. But in the campaign of Armageddon it comes from the entire world, from every direction.

Thirdly, there is a difference in purpose. In Ezeki’el, the purpose of this invasion is to take the plunder and capture the loot. However, the purpose of the campaign of Armageddon will be to destroy all the Jews once and for all.

The fourth difference is the matter of opposition. In Ezeki’el 38:13 we learned that there will be other nations protesting the invasion. But in the campaign of Armageddon there is no protesting because all the nations on the earth come against the Jews.

Fifthly, there is a difference in the manner of destruction. In Ezeki’el the destruction of the invading army comes by natural and supernatural means: an earthquake, mountains will be overturned, cliffs will crumble, city walls will fall to the ground, torrents of rain, hailstorms and pandemonium among the invading troops. But in the campaign of Armageddon the Second Coming itself destroys the enemies of Isra’el.

Sixthly, the place of destruction is also different. In Ezeki’el the destruction of the invaders takes place on the mountains of Isra’el. However, in the campaign of Armageddon the destruction of the armies of the world is in a long stretch of territory from Bozrah, or Petra, south of the Dead Sea in present day southern Jordan, all the way back to just outside the city of Jerusalem in the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

The seventh point of difference involves the timing of the invasion. The Ezeki’el invasion takes place when Isra’el is living in safety in the Land. But the Campaign of Armageddon occurs while Isra’el is in flight and hiding outside the Land. Furthermore, this interpretation has a problem with both the seven months of burial and the seven years of burning. If this invasion occurs at the end of the Great Tribulation, in conjunction with the Campaign of Armageddon it would mean that they would be burying the dead seven months into the Messianic Kingdom. That is inconsistent with what we know about Yeshua’s messianic rule. In addition, the seven years of burning would also continue into the Messianic Kingdom and that also is inconsistent with the renovation of the earth as described in Isaiah 65:17. Therefore, the Post-tribulation view also has a problem with both the seven months of burial and the seven years of burning.

Third is the Interlude view. It holds that the attack will take place in the interlude between the Great Tribulation and the Messianic Kingdom. The basis of this position is the assumption that that there will be a period of time, or an interlude, after the end of the Great Tribulation (and the Second Coming), and before the Messianic Kingdom is set up. But there are also objections to this view. While it is clear from Dani’el 12:12 that there is indeed an interlude between the end of the Great Tribulation and the start of the Messianic Kingdom, it is only seventy-five days long. Seven months of burial would be a total of 210 days and that would mean that the burial would have to continue for at least 135 days into the Messianic Kingdom. That again is inconsistent with the renovation of the earth for the Kingdom. Of course the seven years of burning would continue well into the Kingdom, which would be contrary with the renovation of the earth. As a result, the Interlude view also has a problem with both the seven months of burial and the seven years of burning.

Fourth is the end of the Messianic Kingdom view. It believes that the invasion in Ezeki’el is the same as the Gog and Magog mentioned in Revelation 20:7-9. Indeed there is an invasion of Isra’el after the thousand years of the Messianic Kingdom by Gog and Magog. But there are two key objections. First, the Ezeki’el invasion comes from the north, whereas the Revelation invasion comes from all over the world. Secondly, this view also fails to answer the seven months of burial and the seven years of burning. There would be burials taking place seven months into the Eternal State (see Fq – The Eternal State). Yet we read that soon after this invasion, the earth will be destroyed. John tells us: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away (Revelation 21:1a). So there would be no time (or place) for seven months of burial or seven years of burning. We also learn that just after this invasion that all of the unsaved are to be resurrected from the dead to stand at the great white throne judgment (Revelation 20:11-15). Why bother spending seven months burying these dead when they are going to be resurrected anyway? Thus, the end of the Messianic Kingdom view also has a problem with both the seven months of burial and the seven years of burning. In fact, all of the first four views have the same problem. But the fifth view deals adequately with both of these issues.

Fifth is the Pre-tribulation view. It believes that the invasion by Gog and Magog happens before the Great Tribulation starts. From the text of Ezeki’el 38:1 to 39:16, this view arrives at specific conclusions. First, Isra’el is established in the Land before the Great Tribulation in security. Second, the Russian alliance invades Isra’el during this time of security before the Tribulation. Third, the alliance is destroyed in Isra’el sometime before the Great Tribulation. There are three areas of support for this position.

First, the description of Isra’el found in chapters 38 and 39 fits Isra’el as she now exists before the Great Tribulation. Isra’el is a nation that has recovered from war, a people who were gathered from many nations, the mountains of Isra’el, which had long been desolate, are now inhabited, and they are living in safety (Ezeki’el 38:8-12 and 14). Unfortunately, many people have interpreted the word safety to mean peace. But in chapters 38 and 39 the Hebrew word for peace, shalom, is not used one single time. They are living in safety, but not necessarily because of a state of peace, but living in a state of confidence in her own strength. This is very characteristic of Isra’el today. To that end, the Israelites are living in unwalled villages (Ezeki’el 38:11). The kibbutzim in Isra’el today fit this description quite well. Therefore, the description of Isra’el found in these two chapters fits the nation as she now exists before the Great Tribulation.

Secondly, Russia today, in spite of the fall of communism, is still a major world power before the Tribulation. Her rise to power coincided with the reestablishment of Isra’el following World War II. Today Russia has the military capability to launch a military invasion of the type described by Ezeki’el.

Thirdly, this view best answers the problem of the seven months of burial and the seven years of burning. There is time for the burials and the burning to happen without extending into the second half of the Tribulation, the Interlude, or the Eternal State. According to this view, the invasion must take place at least three and a half years before the Great Tribulation starts. Therefore, the pretribulational view is the only one that has no problems with either the seven months of burial or the seven years of burning. These are the three areas of support for this view; however, there are three objections.

First, the most common objection is that living in safety always refers to the thousand-year Messianic Kingdom. They say that Isra’el will live in peace and security at that time, and the Messianic Kingdom is something that Isra’el will not experience until the Great Tribulation is over with. However, this is an overstatement. While it is true that the phrase living in safety is used of life in the Messianic Kingdom, this is true only in a few cases. Most of the time it is not true (Leviticus 25:18-19, 26:5; Deuteronomy 12:10; First Samuel 12:11; First Kings 4:25; Psalm 4:8, 16:9; Proverbs 1:33, 3:23 and 29; Isaiah 47:8; Jeremiah 49:31 and Zephaniah 2:15). The Jeremiah reference is very important because it uses the same phrases that are found in Ezeki’el 38:11. This proves that the phrase is used more when not talking about the Messianic Kingdom, than when talking about it.

The second objection states that this view contradicts the doctrine of imminency, or that the Lord’s return could happen at any time. However, stating that something must precede the Tribulation is not the same as stating that it must precede the Rapture unless you maintain that the Rapture begins the Tribulation. The act that starts the Tribulation is not the Rapture, but the signing of the seven-year covenant between Isra’el and the antichrist. Nothing else. This view states that invasion will occur before the signing of the seven-year covenant. This does not destroy any argument of imminency, because the Rapture may still come even before the invasion of Isra’el by Russia. Therefore, this view does not state that this invasion will occur before the Rapture; it only asserts that the invasion by Gog and his allies will occur before the Great Tribulation.

The third objection asks the question, “How could the Jews apostatize and sign a seven year covenant with the antichrist so soon after they had seen revival?” But the real question should be, “Why would that be so shocking?” This was often true in history of the TaNaKh. There was rapid apostasy following the various miracles of the exodus and their travels in the Sinai Desert. There was speedy apostasy after the revivals of Hezekiah and Josiah. There was swift apostasy at Nineveh after the city repented under the preaching of Jonah. Consequently, because this has happened before, it should not be a big shock that it would happen again.¹⁴¹

As previously stated, we do not know exactly when this invasion will occur. But when it does, it will be considered the first birth pain, whether it happens first or not.

For Seven Years They Will Use Them for Fuel,
They Will Plunder Those Who Plundered Them
Ezeki’el 39: 9-10

For seven years they will use them for fuel, they will plunder those who plundered them DIG: What will Isra’el do with Gog’s weapons? Do you think that the Jews would be burning weapons during the second half of the Great Tribulation when they are fleeing for their lives? During the Messianic Kingdom?

Then those who live in the towns of Isra’el will go out and use the weapons of the invaders for fuel and burn them up – the small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war clubs and spears. In view of the fact that Ezeki’el did not have Hebrew words for modern military equipment, he had to use the only words he understood. These weapons will be left behind as God destroys them. The seven years of burning is new information, not mentioned in Chapter 38. For seven years they will use them for fuel. The number seven expresses completeness, but it also points to the fact the numbers of the invading forces will be immeasurable.¹³⁷

Because of the burning of the weapons, they will not need to gather wood from the fields or cut it from the forests, because they will use the weapons for fuel. The quantity of the weapons will be so great, that they will supply the Israelites will all the fuel they need for seven years.¹³⁸ And they will plunder those who plundered them and loot those who looted them, declares ADONAI ELOHIM. The word play is similar to that in Ezeki’el 38:12. It literally reads, they will plunder the plunderer and loot the looter.

The LORD promises that He will be Isra’el’s protection. This promise looks forward to His personal presence through the messianic Kingdom on earth. God will send Christ who will judge the nations that plundered Isra’el and will display His glory. This will be fulfilled in the judgment of the Gentiles at the Lord’s Second Coming (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Jy – The Sheep and the Goats). ADONAI, the God of heaven’s armies, told His prophet: Whoever touches the apple of My eye, I will surely raise My hand against them (Zech 2:8-9). Earlier, in His covenant with Abraham, He had said: I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse (Gen 12:3a). Thus, the tables will be turned on the enemy. The plunders will be plundered and the looters will be looted for they had dared to touch the apple of His eye.

Dear Heavenly Father, How wonderful and powerful You are! Enemies make boasts and claim to have great weapons for destruction; but Your power and love are the best weapon.  No weapon formed against you will prosper and you will condemn every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of ADONAI’s servants –  their vindication is from Me.” It is a declaration of ADONAI (Isaiah 54:17). In these days of pandemic and national threats, Your children (John 1:12; First John 3:1, 3) can run to You and be sheltered. He who dwells in the shelter of Elyon, will abide in the shadow of Shaddai. I will say of ADONAI, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. For He will rescue you from the hunter’s trap and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is body armor and shield. You will not fear the terror by night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the plague that stalks in darkness, nor the scourge that lays waste at noon (Psalm 91:1-6). You are so wonderful, our strong tower of defense and our rock of safety. We love You our Almighty Father! In the holy name of Your Son and the power of His resurrection. Amen

I Will Make Known My Holy Name
Among My People Isra’el
Ezeki’el 39: 7-8

I will make known My Holy Name among my people Isra’el DIG: What will God accomplish through this battle? In what way will the people of Isra’el know God? What will the Gentile nations know about Him?

As a result of the coming invasion, the LORD will make known His holy name among His people Isra’el. He is not just saying that they will know that He is ADONAI, it would be more than that. This is stronger language than was used before. Before it was merely head knowledge, here it is salvation knowledge. The destruction of the invaders will cause a revival among the people of Isra’el. The emphatic statement here is My people Isra’el because at that time they become God’s people in spirit as well as position. But the other side of the same coin is that YHVH will no longer allow His holy name to be profaned. This has been a common problem in the past for Isra’el. Indeed Isra’el is a secular society today, and does not seek Him as a nation.

The Gentile nations will also know that He is ADONAI, the Holy One in Isra’el. It is coming! In other words, the time for the prophecy to arrive will eventually come. Although from a human point of view, it is taking a long time (Second Peter 3:9). But God’s promises will be kept to the very letter of that promise. It will surely take place, declares the ADONAI ELOHIM. This is the day I have spoken of. Therefore, in Ezeki’el 39:1-9 we have been given a summary of the invasion and destruction of the alliance. While some of the information was old and part of it was new, there is more new information to come.

Dear Heavenly Father, How wise and wonderful You are! Praise You for making Yourself known through winning Isra’el’s battles for them (Exodus 12:12, Ezeki’el 38:16). As we see how You won Isra’el’s battles for them even when the enemy was numerous and technologically advanced (Joshua 11:6), yet the enemy had no change to win against Your mighty power.  You have also made Yourself known through creation, because what can be known about God is plain to them – for God has shown it to them.  His invisible attributes – His eternal power and His divine nature – have been clearly seen ever since the creation of the world, being understood through the things that have been made. So, people are without excuse (Romans 1:19-20). How amazing that on the fifth day You spoke and made:  soaring eagles in the sky and tiny hummingbirds that can fly backwards, huge whales in the seas and  small hopping frogs, fish that live in the deep and go fishing and oxpecker birds that trim the wounds of its host and help it by eating the parasites. On the sixth day You spoke and created out of nothing enormously huge dinosaurs, tall-necked giraffes and long-nosed elephants, swift cheetahs and hopping little bunnies. You also created man with amazing and intricate organs and internal systems. Your creation shows you are an amazing and wise Creator! We love to worship and serve You! In the name of Your Son and the power of His resurrection. Amen

I Will Bring You from the Far North
and Send You Against the Mountains of Isra’el
Ezeki’el 39: 1-6

I will bring you from the far North and send you against the mountains of Isra’el DIG: How is this a summary of the previous chapter? What new information is given? What will be the ultimate purpose of all this destruction?

The battle continues from the previous chapter. We can be confident of this interpretation because of the Law of Recurrence. This law describes the fact that in some passage of Scripture there exists the recording of an event followed by a second recording of the same event giving more details to the first. Hence, it often involves two blocks of Scripture. The first block presents a description of an event as it happens in chronological sequence. This is followed by a second block of Scripture dealing with the same event and the same period of time, but giving further details. Ezeki’el 38:1-23 gave us a complete overview of the invasion of Isra’el from the north and the subsequent destruction of the invading army. This is now followed by a second block of Scripture, Ezeki’el 39:1-16, which repeats some of the account given in the first block, but gives some added details regarding the destruction of the invading army. Therefore, Ezeki’el 39:1-8 is a summary of the invasion and destruction of Gog and the alliance.

God wanted Ezeki’el, the son of man, to prophesy against Gog. Once again, the statement the son of man begins a new section. This is what ADONAI ELOHIM says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal (Ezeki’el 39:1). This is a summary of the invasion from the previous chapter.

I will turn you around from a planned attack elsewhere and drag you along. I will bring you from the far north, or Russia, and send you against the mountains of Isra’el (Ezeki’el 39:2). The invaders will break through the coastal plain and enter the central mountain ranges of Isra’el. Little did they realize that Jerusalem would be their Waterloo. Before the six-day war, virtually all the mountains of Isra’el were not located in Isra’el, but actually in Jordan. The only part of the mountains controlled by Isra’el at that time was a small passage called the Yerushalayim corridor. It came in from the coastal plain, cut Tziyon in half and went out again to the coastal plain. It has only been since the six-day war that the mountains of Isra’el have been in Isra’el. Therefore, this prophecy could not have been fulfilled before 1967. The emphasis here is what the LORD causes to be done.

Then we have the destruction of the invading army. I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows drop from your right hand (Ezeki’el 39:3). They will be heavily armed, but their weapons will do them no good because the nature of the destruction will be a combination of natural and supernatural means (Ezeki’el 38:17-22). On the mountains of Isra’el you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you (Ezeki’el 39:4a). Ezekiel was very specific about the place of the destruction of the invaders; it will be on the mountains of Isra’el. Both Joel 3 and Zechariah 14 describe the second coming of Christ. In 38:13 we were told that the reason Gog invaded the Land was to obtain plunder, but now we are told that he and his allies become the spoil.

Because of the amount of carnage, burial will not be the order of the day. God will send ravenous birds and beasts to devour the carcasses of the dead invaders. This once mighty army will become food to all kinds of carrion birds and wild animals (Ezeki’el 39:4b). The looters will become the loot. You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares ADONAI ELOHIM (Ezeki’el 39:5). The absence of a proper burial is especially despised in the Near East. Thus, in verses 3 through 5, the LORD describes the destruction of the invading armies and has summarized Chapter 38:17-22. But then in verse 6 we begin to receive some new information.

Now the Holy Spirit reveals something new. Not only will Gog and his armies be destroyed in Isra’el, but also the land of Magog itself will suffer massive destruction. God declares that He will send fire on Magog (Ezeki’el 39:6). This same method of destruction will be seen again when Gog and Magog rebel after the thousand-year reign of Christ’s messianic Kingdom (Revelation 20:9). Even as the armies and allies of Magog are being destroyed in the Land of Isra’el, the land of Magog itself will suffer significantly. This fire will be like the sulfur rained down on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (see my commentary on Genesis, to see link click Fa – The LORD Rained Down Burning Sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah).

The fire will also descend on those who live in safety in the coastlands. This refers to the islands off of the coastland of the invading forces. They will also suffer a destructive judgment, and those who try to escape by trying to make it out to the islands off the coast will find themselves unable to do so. Though the judgment on the armies of the invaders will occur in Isra’el, the catastrophe will extend to their homelands.

And the ultimate result will be that they will know that ADONAI is sovereign over all the earth (Ezeki’el 39:6). Once more He will relate His purpose for Isra’el to the whole world. It is the concept of concentric circles. Jerusalem is set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her (Ezeki’el 5:5), and reaches out irresistibly to the farthest confines of the circumference. God is exalted over all the nations, His glory above the heavens (Psalm 113:4). ADONAI’s true character will appear in its proper light as both righteous and mighty. There is no more important concept in the entire universe.

Dear Heavenly Father, How wonderful is your love for Isra’el. You had to discipline Your firstborn, Isra’el (Exodus 4:22), and send them into exile (2 Kings 17:7) as you promised You would do if they did not obey and follow You (Deuteronomy 27-28). You also made a wonderful and gracious promise to them that when (they) you return to ADONAI your God and listen to His voice according to all that I am commanding you today – you and your children – with all your heart and with all your soul, then ADONAI your God will bring you back from captivity and have compassion on you, and He will return and gather you from all the peoples where ADONAI your God has scattered you.  Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the heavens, from there ADONAI your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. ADONAI your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, and you will possess it; and He will do you good and multiply you more than your fathers.  Also, ADONAI your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants – to love ADONAI your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live (Deuteronomy 30:2-6, see also Jeremiah 12:15, Amos 9:14-15). We notice the importance of their turning back to God “with all your heart and with all your soul.” Praise You, God, that though You are loving, You are holy and Your character is both righteous and mighty. We love You! In Your holy Son’s name and the power of His resurrection. Amen

You Will Advance Against My People Isra’el
Like a Cloud that Covers the Earth
Ezeki’el 38: 14-16

You will advance against My people Isra’el like a cloud that covers the earth DIG: Is Isra’el really living in safety? Who is really behind the attack? What is the ultimate goal of Adonai ELOHIM? How does His goal differ from Gog’s goal?

Here the invasion is seen as having already begun and further answers the question as to why, but this time it is seen from God’s point of view.

The initial invasion against Isra’el begins and the alliance covers the land like a cloud. As a result, Russia will initially be successful. But without knowing it, ADONAI will put hooks in the jaws of the invading force and reel them in to destruction (Ezeki’el 38:4) so that He might be glorified in the eyes of the nations. This is not a set-up, however. He does not force innocent people into rebellion. He allows them to be destroyed by their own sin.

Nowhere in the Bible can it be found that the LORD places in the heart of mankind any evil purpose. He is the Promoter of good and never evil. The TaNaKh always presents Him as ruler of all. Thus it is stated the He will bring the alliance against His own Land. They will be destroyed because of the wickedness that already existed in their own hearts. ADONAI will merely use it for His own glory. It is like the heart of Thutmose III, Pharaoh at the time of the exodus (see the commentary on Exodus, to see link click Bp – Moses Tossed Soot in the Air and Festering Boils Broke Out All Over Egypt). God did not implant pride and stubbornness into the heart of the Egyptian king, but He used the wickedness of Pharaoh’s own heart to glorify Himself and redeem His people. Just as circumstances lay bare the evil of mankind, so the same conditions reveal the holiness of the LORD.

God Himself speaks to Gog, the leader of the alliance. Therefore, son of man, or Ezekiel, prophesy to Gog and say to him: This is what ADONAI ELOHIM says. The phrase son of man introduces a new section. It is important to remember the emphatic repetition of the fact that Isra’el will be living in imagined security. In that day, when My people Isra’el are living in safety, will you not take notice of it (Ezeki’el 38:14)? Also, do not fail to notice the phrase My people, here and in verse 16, and the phrase My Land in verse 16. The godless alliance will have little understanding how involved the King of kings is in all that concerns His people and His Land. The godless have been, are, and always will be unaware of it. But they will be made very aware of it when the LORD finally decides to intervene decisively into world affairs to save His people Isra’el.¹³⁴

Once again, Ezekiel is unfamiliar with modern warfare and describes the invading force with the only words he knows how to use. You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army (Ezeki’el 38:15).

You will advance against My people Isra’el like a cloud that covers the land. That is the purpose of the massive invasion. In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against My Land, so that the Gentile nations may know Me when I show Myself holy through you before their eyes (Ezeki’el 38:16). ADONAI ELOHIM will be shown to be holy, or set apart, by His actions against Gog and the alliance. Therefore, while Gog will have his purpose, to plunder and loot, God will have His purpose, to show Himself holy among the Gentile nations.

Dear Heavenly Father, How wonderful that Your purposes will stand, no matter what. You are our strong and wise Father who can turn something that the enemy means to harm Your child, into something that blesses Your child. You turned around the mean and hateful act of Joseph’s brothers, into something which blessed the world, especially the Jewish nation. Yes, you yourselves planned evil against me. God planned it for good, in order to bring about what it is this day – to preserve the lives of many people. (Genesis 20:50). Now we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28). You are a wise and wonderful Father! We love You! We are full of joy and delight in pleasing You. In Your holy Son’s name and power of the resurrection. Amen

I Will Invade a Land of Unwalled Villages,
I Will Attack an Unsuspecting People
Ezeki’el 38: 10-13

I will invade a land of unwalled villages, I will attack an unsuspecting people DIG: What does Gog stand to gain from the invasion? What nations protest? Why? Do they ever get beyond the protest stage?

Next, Ezeki’el answers the question as to why Russia invades Isra’el.

As stated earlier, Gog will be diverted away from his original plan. He will plan an attack in one direction, perhaps toward the north. But ADONAI ELOHIM says: I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws (Ezeki’el 38:4a). God is pictured as being so much in control that Gog can do nothing else. As a wild beast is turned around from his natural desire for prey, so Gog will be seduced from his initial purpose. On that day thoughts will come into his mind and he will devise an evil scheme (Ezeki’el 38:10).

Throughout the centuries Isra’el has time and again been the plunder of one nation after another. Yet in every case God’s wrath against that nation has been unmistakable. But it seems that the nations have not fully learned their lesson as far as hatred of Isra’el is concerned and will try once more. Satan will unwittingly urge them on again to their doom because of his hate of the Jewish people. All will see that the LORD curses those who curse Abraham’s seed (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Dt – I Will Bless Those Who Bless You and Whoever Curses You I Will Curse). Let us seek their good and their blessing.

Once Gog is turned around, his goal will be to commit atrocities against the defenseless that will be attacked where they least expect it. Isra’el will become very secure in her ability to defend herself. Gog will say to himself: I will invade a land of unwalled villages. I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people – all of them living without walls and without gates and bars (Ezeki’el 38:11). These unwalled villages are a good description of many of the kibbutzim in Isra’el today.

Gog will say to himself: I will plunder and loot. There is a play on words here in the Hebrew text. Literally it reads, I will plunder the plunder and loot the loot. He will turn his hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods. The phrase rich in livestock and goods, refers to animals in general and to material wealth in general. There has been much speculation about the content of the plunder and loot. But in reality, we have no idea what it is. YHVH withholds no good thing from us. Therefore, we can be confident in the fact that if He wanted us to know what it was, He would have told us. We will learn soon enough.

An interesting phrase is used to define the place where ADONAI’s people will be living. It is called the center of the Land (Ezeki’el 38:12). This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her (Ezeki’el 5:5). The Land of Isra’el is in the center of the earth as far as the LORD’s purposes for the world are concerned (Deuteronomy 32:8). The rabbis teach that just as the navel is set in the center of the human body, so is the Land of Isra’el the navel of the nations. It is situated in the center of the nations, and Jerusalem is the center of Isra’el, and the Sanctuary is in the center of Jerusalem, and the Holy Place is in the center of the Sanctuary, and the ark of the covenant is in the center of the holy place, and the foundation stone (or the Torah) is in the center of the ark because from it the world was founded.¹³³

Another group of nations are in view here. Whereas the nations in Ezeki’el 38:1-6 are the nations of the alliance against Isra’el, these nations protest against the invasion. The first nation mentioned is Sheba. He was the grandson of Abraham through Keturah according to Genesis 25:3, and his descendants are located in Saudi Arabia today. The second country mentioned is Dedan. He was also a grandson of Abraham through Keturah according to Genesis 25:3, and his descendants have also settled in Saudi Arabia. So Sheba and Dedan will protest. Their protests will not be out of love for Isra’el, but because they will be uncomfortable with having this invading force nearby.

The third group that protests the invasion of Isra’el will be the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages. The phrase and all her villages is a Hebrew idiom for the nations that came out of Tarshish and was the name given to colonies of the Phoenicians around the Mediterranean Sea. There were three such colonies, one on the east coast of Africa, one in England and one in Spain. They will say to Gog, “Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder” (Ezeki’el 38:13)? These protesting nations will recognize the real purpose of the invasion, the political and economic interests of Russia. However, these nations will never get past the protest stage. Gog and his alliance will succeed in invading Isra’el, and the invading forces will be destroyed with no help from the protestors.

But like the Master chess Player, Ha’Shem has maneuvered Gog into checkmate. And similar to a black belt in karate, ADONAI will use the chief prince of Meshech’s own aggression against him to reveal His ultimate purpose next.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise Your mighty power! Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot, who is like You, mighty ADONAI, with Your faithfulness all around You (Psalms 89:9)? How wonderful You are-mighty and faithful! We love You and delight in pleasing You! In Your Holy Son’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

In Future Years You Will Invade the Land,
Advancing Like a Storm
Ezeki’el 38: 7-9

In future years you will invade the Land, advancing like a storm DIG:  Who will be the guardian of the invading force? Where will the invasion of Gog occur? What has to happen before it could take place?

Next Ezeki’el answers the question as to where the invasion takes place.

With perfect irony, Ezeki’el urges Gog, saying: Prepare yourself and be ready, you, even you, and all your companies that are gathered about you. In the Hebrew text there is a play upon words in this verse. The Hebrew word companies is cha-ha-lim, and the word for gathered is ha-nit-ha-lim. The root chahal is the same for both gathering and companies. So there is a play on words in the Hebrew text. In addition, the Holy Spirit orders Gog to be a guard for them (Ezeki’el 38:7 NKJ). The Hebrew here is mishmar, which means a guard, a protector or security. It means to take command. Gog is told to be a protector, to take the responsibility for the whole invading force, and for the well-being of his soldiers.

After many days you will be called to arms. These many days are equivalent to the after many days in Ezeki’el 38:8. No student of prophecy can overlook this phrase because it has reference to Messianic times, that is, the era in which Isra’el’s natural history will find it’s fulfillment and climax.¹³² In future years Gog will invade the land of Isra’el that has recovered from war, whose people were regathered from many nations to the mountains of Isra’el, which had long been desolate. The point here is that this invasion had to come some time after the first world wide regathering in unbelief, in preparation for the Great Tribulation. Since there was no Jewish state before 1948, this prophecy could not have been fulfilled before then. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety, without fear of invasion or deportation (Ezeki’el 38:8).

You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up. Because Jerusalem sits on a high plane within the mountains of Isra’el, it doesn’t matter what direction you are coming from, you have to go up to get there. Thus the Bible constantly makes reference to going up to Jerusalem, or going down from Jerusalem. The invaders will suddenly swoop in like an unexpected storm. Gog’s invading forces will cover the land, just like a cloud blankets the ground below (Ezeki’el 38:9).

This prophecy assumes that Isra’el has been re-gathered back in the Land in a state of unbelief. Ezeki’el 36:24-27 and 37:1-14 provides the background for what is happening in Ezeki’el 38:1 to 39:16. This restoration in unbelief is described in four specific ways. First, this Land had recovered from war. It means the Jews had to fight a war to regain it. This would not be true of the second world wide gathering before the Second Coming because Christ will turn the Land over to Isra’el at that time. Secondly, it will be a Land that is re-gathered from many nations. When the Jews returned to Isra’el in 1948 they came from ninety different countries. Thirdly, it will be a Land with mountains that had long been desolate. This has been the case for two thousand years. And lastly, now all of them live safely. Today the desolate places have been rebuilt and restored and the people live safely from invasion. All of these statements are true of present day Isra’el.

Gog and his many nations will have enough power to carry out their satanic scheme. But so far the goal of the invading horde has not been revealed. That is what we discover next.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for You are Awesome!  ADONAI is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in Him I take refuge, my shield, my horn of salvation, my stronghold. (Psalms 18:1). He alone is my rock and my salvation, my strong tower – I will not be moved. (Psalms 62:7). Praise You that You are so mighty and powerful. Your children can always run to you and know that You are there to protect them, like running to a high rock that the enemy cannot reach. In Your Holy Son’s name and power of resurrection. Amen

Set Your Face Against Gog, of the land of Magog,
the Chief Prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal
Ezeki’el 38: 1-6

Set your face against God, of the land of Magog, the Chief Prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal DIG:  What is the fate of Meshech and Tubal in Ezeki’el 32:26? What country are Rosh, Meshech and Tubal in today? What other nations are a part of the alliance? Where do all these other nations come from? What does this infer?

Concerning the question, who, here Ezeki’el named those involved in the invasion.

The word of God came to Ezeki’el to introduce a new prophecy. Son of man, set your face, or prophesy, against Gog (Ezeki’el 38:1-2). Gog is not a proper name, but the title of the king of the land of Magog, just like pharaoh is not a proper name, but the title for the king of Egypt. Gog is a shortened form of Magog. In Genesis 10:2 we learn that Magog was the second son of Japheth. He and his descendants lived between the Black and Caspian Seas in what is today southern European Russia. The rabbis had a name for this leader. They called him Armilus, who is the offspring of Satan and a virgin. They teach that Armilus is the anti-Messiah who will deceive the whole world into believing he is God and will reign over the entire world in the last days.

Besides being the king of Magog, Gog was also the chief prince of three other territories, Rosh, Meshech and Tubal.

First, he is the chief prince of Rosh. Some versions of the Bible do not translate this word to mean Rosh, but rather head prince or chief prince. The problem with that is that Rosh is a place, not a person. The rabbis generally understood these prophecies to refer to Russia. Rosh was in the northern part of European Russia. In fact our modern word Russia, stems from the root word Rosh.

Secondly, Gog will be the chief prince of Meshech. In Genesis 10:2 we also learn that Meshech was another son of Japheth. His descendents are mentioned in Ezeki’el 27:13 and Ezeki’el 32:26. Meshech eventually became known as Moscow. The consonants are similar in both names: Meshech, M . . . sk sound and Moscow, M . . . sk sound. Meshech was also in the northern part of European Russia.

Thirdly, he will also be the chief prince of Tubal. Again, we learn from Genesis 10:2 that Tubal was a third son of Japheth. He is also mentioned along with his brother Meshech in Ezeki’el 27:13 and Ezeki’el 32:26. Tubal is today the modern Russian city of Tobolsk, the capital city of Siberia, which is the Asian part of Russia. It is also the city where the communists assassinated Czar Nicholas and his family. Therefore, Gog was not only the king of Magog, but also the chief prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. Therefore, all these areas are in modern Russia.

According to the rabbis, Armilus will lead a hostile army against Isra’el before the coming of the Messiah, the Son of David. It is also the war in which the Messiah, the Son of Joseph will be killed. Their theology is rooted in the difficulty they had in interpreting some prophecies that refer to a suffering and dying Messiah on the one hand, and conquering and reigning Messiah. Believers understand that Christ will have two comings. But because Judaism rejects the concept of two separate comings, the Rabbis invented a concept of two separate Messiah’s. The first Messiah would be called Messiah the Son of Joseph. They believed He would come to make war against Armilus only to be killed. In their view, when Messiah son of Joseph died He will have fulfilled the suffering passages. Then Armilus would bring much distress upon Isra’el. However, the rabbis teach that later the second Messiah would come. They say He will be called Messiah Son of David who will fulfill the reigning passages. They teach that He will kill Armilus, the anti-Messiah, along with his alliance then set up the Messianic Kingdom. At that point the rabbis believe that the second Messiah, Messiah son of David, will bring the first Messiah, Messiah son of Joseph, back to life.

In the next two verses we see divine opposition. This is what ADONAI Elohim says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. Gog will be diverted away from a planned attack. He will plan an attack in one direction, perhaps toward the north. But God declares: I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws. The LORD is pictured as being so much in control that Gog can do nothing else. As a wild beast is turned around from his natural desire for prey, so Gog will be seduced from his initial purpose. ADONAI Elohim will bring this invasion about, saying: I will bring you out with your whole army – your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords (Ezeki’el 38:3-4). The mention of horses and horsemen is not to mean that the army would consist primarily of cavalry. But how else could an ancient writer have described modern warfare? He knew nothing of planes and guns.¹³¹

There will be other nations allied with Gog in this invasion. Ezeki’el mentions Persia, who was also a son of Japheth. Today this is modern Iran, which is north of Isra’el. The prophet also mentions Cush, who was the son of Ham (Genesis 10:6). Cush is Ethiopia today. Then the Holy Spirit mentions that Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets (Ezeki’el 38:5). Put is the son of Ham (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Di – The Line of Ham), and is known as Somalia today. Put and Cush are south of Isra’el. All three nations, Persia, Cush and Put will join the invaders from the north and will be prepared for war.

Finally, the list of invaders is completed with the reference to Gomer and Beth Togarmah with all their troops. Gomer is the son of Japheth (Genesis 10:2). His descendants were found along the Danube and Rhine, later forming the German people. Beth Togarmah became the Armenians from the far north (Ezeki’el 38:6). Togarmah was the son of Gomer and the grandson of Japheth (Genesis 10:3). Looking at any map, if you go directly north from Yerushalayim, you will find Moscow.

Consequently, the alliance will consist of Russians, Germans, Armenians, Ethiopians, Iranians and Somalians. These many nations will be numerous indeed. They will all be summoned by Gog, or as the rabbis teach, Armilus and gathered together for an attack upon God’s people. The chief prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal will ignore the ominous warning from ADONAI, commander of heavens armies (Joshua 5:14a): Whoever touches Zion touches the apple of My eye (Zechariah 2:8). If ever an invasion could succeed because of superior numbers, this would be it. But there is more to the story.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise your Almighty power, wisdom and your love for Your firstborn Isra’el (Exodus 4:22). Praise You that You know the future and have already planned how You will rescue Isra’el when Russia and the other nations come against it. In that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel” – it is a declaration of ADONAI – “My fury will rise up in My nostrils. In My jealousy and the fire of My wrath I have spoken! Surely in that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Isra’el. . . I will punish him with pestilence and blood. I will pour out rain on him, on his troops and on the many peoples with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone. So, I will magnify and sanctify Myself. I will make Myself known in the eyes of many nations, and they will know that I am ADONAI” (Ezekiel 38:18-19, 22-23). What a comfort to trust You at all times – even in times of war. You are Mighty and our loving Father! We love You and delight in pleasing You. In Your holy Son’s name and power of the resurrection. Amen

The Northern Alliance and the Invasion of Isra’el
Ezeki’el 38:1 to 39:16

These chapters tell of a coming northern alliance of nations around the Black and Caspian seas, along with Persia and North Africa, who will invade Isra’el. The invaders will be destroyed once they approach Jerusalem. There are seven reasons why this battle should not be confused with the campaign of Armageddon at the end of the Great Tribulation or the return of Satan at the end of the Millennial Kingdom.

First, in Ezeki’el there are definite allies mentioned and they are limited in number. In the Campaign of Armageddon all the nations of the world are united together against Jerusalem without exception.

Secondly, the Ezeki’el invasion comes from the north, but the Armageddon invasion comes from the whole earth.

Thirdly, the purpose of the Russian (38:2) invasion is to loot the Jews; but the purpose of the Armageddon Campaign is to destroy all the Jews.

Fourthly, in the Ezeki’el invasion there is a protest against the invasion; in the Armageddon Campaign there is no protest since all the nations are involved.

Fifthly, the Ezeki’el invasion is destroyed through natural and supernatural disasters, while the personal Second Coming of Yeshua Messiah destroys the Armageddon invasion.

Sixthly, the Ezeki’el invasion is destroyed in the mountains of Isra’el, while the Armageddon Campaign is destroyed in the area between Petra and Jerusalem.

Seventh, the Russian invasion takes place while Isra’el is living securely in the Land, but the Armageddon Campaign takes place while Isra’el is in flight and in hiding.¹³⁰

It will first be necessary to deal with the details of the invasion before we can determine when the invasion will take place. These verses will be studied by looking into the questions of who, where, why, what, how and when? This invasion of Isra’el will be the first of ten birth pains.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise your Almighty power, wisdom and your love for Your firstborn Isra’el (Exodus 4:22). Praise You that You know the future and have already planned how You will rescue Isra’el when Russia and the other nations come against it. In that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel” – it is a declaration of ADONAI – “My fury will rise up in My nostrils. In My jealousy and the fire of My wrath I have spoken! Surely in that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Isra’el. . . I will punish him with pestilence and blood. I will pour out rain on him, on his troops and on the many peoples with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone. So, I will magnify and sanctify Myself. I will make Myself known in the eyes of many nations, and they will know that I am ADONAI” (Ezekiel 38:18-19, 22-23). What a comfort to trust You at all times – even in times of war. You are Mighty and our loving Father! We love You and delight in pleasing You. In Your holy Son’s name and power of the resurrection. Amen

The Sequence of Pretribulational Events

The Great Tribulation is not imminent. The world stage has to be set in a certain way before the Tribulation can actually begin. A number of events are clearly stated to precede the Tribulation period. Some of these pretribulational events have already happened and most are yet to take place. From where we sit in history today, there are several events that will lead up to the Great Tribulation. It will not begin until all these events are completely worked out.

Jesus had told His talmidim that Herod’s Temple would be destroyed. Later on the Mount of Olives, His apostles came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age” (Mattityahu 24:2-3) He answered them saying: Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains (Matthew 24:7-8).

The birth pains of two world wars and the establishment of the State of Isra’el have already taken place. Most historians agree the World War II was really a continuation of World War I. Both had a decisive impact on Jewish history. The events of World War I provided the impetus for the growth of the Zionist Movement, while the Second World War set the stage for the establishment of the state of Isra’el.

Today, in large part, Isra’el is a secular society and the Bible clearly points to their regathering in the Land in unbelief in preparation for judgment (see my commentary on Jeremiah, to see link click Ex – Rebellious Isra’el Renewed). In addition, Zephaniah 2:1-2 pinpoints this regathering as occurring before the Great Tribulation period. Thus, two world wars, the increase in famines and earthquakes, and the establishment of the state of Isra’el in unbelief have already taken place.

So when does the Rapture begin? The Scriptures clearly teach that it will occur before the Great Tribulation (Luke 21:36; First Thessalonians 5:4-10 and Revelation 3:10). First, outside of the book of Revelation, there is no passage that discusses the Great Tribulation where the Church is mentioned. But some people like to point to the fact that because believers are found during the Great Tribulation, that the Church will go through it. However, the reality that the believers are found during the Great Tribulation (Revelation 6:9) does not prove that the Church will go through it, any more than the existence of the righteous of the TaNaKh proves that the Church was there. These passages state that the Church will be removed from the earth before the Great Tribulation begins.

But when before the Great Tribulation does the Rapture take place? The Scriptures teach that the coming of Messiah is imminent, that is, He can come at any time (Romans 13:11-12; James 5:7-9 and Revelation 22:20). While the earlier passages teach that the Rapture will precede the Great Tribulation, these last three teach that the Lord could come at any moment.

Dear Heavenly Father, We love and worship You! Though we do not know the exact date of the Rapture, world events say that it is soon. Please give us boldness and courage to share with our friends and family about your great love and also your holiness. Eternity is forever. Nothing takes You by surprise. Praise Your Almighty power and total wisdom. You have already won the final battle of the ages (Revelation 19:11-21) and you will reign eternally! We love and worship You! In the Holy name of Your Son and His power of resurrection. Amen

So then, concerning when the Rapture occurs, two things should be noted. First, the Rapture comes before the Great Tribulation. Since it begins with the signing of the seven-year covenant, the very latest point at which the Rapture can occur would be at the time of the signing of the seven-year covenant. The Rapture will not occur beyond that point.

Second, the Rapture is imminent. It can come at any moment, and it need not wait until the signing of the seven-year covenant. It is important to understand that imminency does not mean soon. It only means that nothing else must precede it and that it could come at any point in time.

Combining this information, the conclusion is that the Rapture will come some time between this very moment and the signing of the seven-year covenant. Therefore, the Church may see several more pretribulational events take place just as it has already seen two world wars and the establishment of the state of Isra’el. But it may not see any more, depending on exactly at what point the Rapture comes.

The relationship between the Rapture and the Great Tribulation must be clearly understood. The Rapture comes before the Great Tribulation, but it does not begin the Great Tribulation. The seven-year covenant, not the Rapture, begins the Great Tribulation. The Rapture will come at some point before this signing and may very well precede the Great Tribulation by a good number of years. Therefore, the other pretribulation events, the invasion of Isra’el, the ten kingdoms, the rise of the antichrist, the period of peace and safety, the first blackout, the return of Elijah and possibly the building of the third temple, all may occur sometime between now and the signing of the seven-year covenant.¹²⁹

The Church at Laodicea
3: 14-22

The church at Laodicea DIG: What does the faithful and true witness see when He looks at the Laodicean church? How does the church view itself? Why the contrast? What does Jesus tell them to do in 3:18? Why? What does this say about true wealth? Why does Christ say: I wish you were one or the other? What door is Messiah speaking about in 3:20? How would you describe the Lord, based on what you have read so far in this book? How does this broaden the picture in the gospels?

REFLECT: If Yeshua took your spiritual temperature today, what would He find? Are you hot? Cold? Or lukewarm? The Laodiceans had great wealth but were spiritually poor. Do you spend far more time and money on yourself rather than others (Matthew 6:19-21)? The Laodiceans were self-sufficient. Do you hide your needs from friends, family and church or messianic synagogue out of embarrassment (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)? The Laodiceans were blinded by their own spiritual sin. Do you compare your spiritual life and growth to that of others rather than to the perfect standard of Christ? The Laodiceans thought their lives were clothed in good deeds. Do you walk the walk or merely talk the talk? If you were put on trial for being a believer in Messiah Yeshua, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

Perhaps the most tragic theme of all time is the story of Isra’el’s continual rebellion against ADONAI. The Jewish people were the recipients of unprecedented spiritual privileges (Romans 9:4-5). God chose them from all the peoples of the earth, rescued them from Egypt, brought them to the Promised Land, loved them, cared for them and protected them (Deuteronomy 4:37, 7:7-8). Yet despite all of this, they have continually rebelled against Him, which brought grief to His heart (Isaiah 5:3; Psalm 78:40; Ezeki’el 6:9).

Sadly, the same thing can be seen in the universal Church. There are many people in churches, even entire congregations, who are lost. They may be sincere, zealous, and outwardly religious, but they reject the truth of the gospel. They have all the rich New Covenant teachings about Christ’s life, death and resurrection. But they neither believe it or obey it. As a result, they are doomed, just like unbelieving Jews. Paul described them as those having a form of godliness, but denying its power. He wisely counseled believers to have nothing to do with them (Second Timothy 3:5).

The church in Laodicea represents such apostate churches that have existed throughout history. It is the last and worst of all of the seven churches addressed by our Lord. The downhill spiral that began in Ephesus, and continued through Pergamum, Thyatira, and Sardis, reached the bottom at Laodicea. Even at Sardis there were a small group of true believers left. However, in the church at Laodicea very few were saved (3:14a). It has the grim distinction of being the only one of the seven for whom the Messiah has no positive word of commendation. Thus, due to the drastic nature of the situation there, this is the most threatening letter of the seven.¹¹⁷

1. The description of Christ: The Lord did not identify Himself with any of the phrases from the vision in 1:12-17. Instead, He described Himself using three divine names. First, Yeshua identifies Himself as the Amen (3:14b). This title is used only here in the Bible. It is a transliteration of the Hebrew word meaning truth. Isaiah 65:16 refers to the Lord as the God of Truth, literally the God of Amen, a Hebrew word acknowledging the truthfulness of something. Therefore, Amen is also used in Scripture to affirm the truthfulness of a statement (Numbers 5:22; Matthew 6:13; Mark 9:1; Luke 4:24; John 1:51, 3:11, 5:19; Romans 16:27; First Corinthians 16:24). The idea is that He is the true God in contrast to false gods, but that Messiah is the faithful One, who can be trusted to keep all of ADONAI’s promises.¹¹⁸

Secondly, whatever God says is true, therefore, He is the Faithful and True Witness (3:14c). He is completely trustworthy because He always speaks the truth. He is completely reliable. Jesus is the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6). In this way He affirmed to the unbelievers at Laodicea that His word could be accepted as absolute authority. Unlike the Laodiceans, Christ was no hypocrite.

Finally, Messiah referred to Himself as the beginning of God’s creation, capable of bringing judgment upon them if they did not repent (3:14d NKJ). In their attack on the deity of Christ, the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ have two basic arguments. First, Jesus cannot be God because He had a beginning. In other words, He was created. Secondly, they teach that Yeshua cannot be God because the Bible shows that He is inferior to ADONAI. In support of their two arguments, they have eight primary passages of scripture. Three of those verses are used to try to prove that Jesus was created, and the other five try to prove that He is inferior to God. Of those which are supposed to prove that Messiah had a beginning, one of the scriptures they misinterpret is in the TaNaKh, Proverbs 3:14, and the other two they misinterpret are in the New Covenant, Colossians 1:15 and Revelation 3:14.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ use their own New World Translation of the Bible. The NWT reads, “And to the angel of the congregation in Laodicea write: These are the things that the Amen says, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation by God . . .” Jehovah’s Witnesses will interpret this statement to mean that Jesus was the first thing that God created. This is a clear example of the Witnesses misunderstanding the meaning of biblical words. They look at the word beginning in that verse, and assume that it means the first part of something, or the start of something. For example, if I say to you, “I am going to San Diego at the beginning of the week,” you will automatically assume that I am going at the first part of the week. But the word beginning has another meaning as well. The Greek word arche, or beginning, does not mean that Messiah was the first person God created, but rather that Christ Himself is the source or origin of God’s creation. Through His power everything was created (John 1:3; Hebrews 1:2). So here, in Revelation 3:14, we learn that Yeshua is the source of God’s creation.¹¹⁹

The letter to the church in Laodicea had much in common with Rabbi Sha’ul’s letter to the Colossian church. Colosse was not far from Laodicea, so it is likely that the same heresy plagued both. Gnosticism taught that Messiah was created, and the Gnostics (from the Greek word gnosis, meaning knowledge), believed that they possessed a secret, spiritual knowledge above that of the Bible. To confront that heresy, Paul wrote: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:15-17). This Gnostic heresy was the reason the church in Laodicea was dead. False teaching about Christ, especially the denial of His deity, is the trademark of every cult in the world today.

2. The church: Because of its worldly success, the church in Laodicea had become indifferent to its spiritual need. The letter makes no mention of persecution from the Roman officials or trouble from the Gentiles. But doubting the Word of God, it had embraced the humanistic philosophy of Gnosticism. The neighboring church at Colosse, to whom Rabbi Sha’ul had written to thirty years earlier, had urgently been warned to resist all such humanistic philosophies. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world, rather than Messiah (Colossians 2:8). But the church in Laodicea had been completely taken captive by the basic principles of Gnosticism.

Like the other six churches, it was likely founded during the time Paul spent at Ephesus during his third missionary journey (Acts 19:10). There is no evidence, however, that Rabbi Sha’ul ever visited the church, but he did write them a letter (Colossians 4:16). Perhaps the fact that their letter is now lost demonstrates how little good it did them. Since Epaphras, Paul’s partner in ministry, founded the church in nearby Colosse (Colossians 1:6-7), he may have also founded the Laodicean church as well (3:14a). Here Yeshua found this church only worthy of blame and encouragement; He did not praise them for anything.

3. The city: Laodicea was located about forty miles southeast of Philadelphia. There was a cluster of three cities, Hieropolis, Colosse, and Laodicea, which was the main city of the Roman province named Phrygia. Also located at the junction of two important imperial trade routes and completed the circle of seven churches (3:14b). The first trade route led east a hundred miles to Ephesus and beyond, and the second from Pergamum to the Mediterranean. Five of the seven cities to which John wrote lay in order along this second trade route (Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea).¹²⁰ Located on a plateau several hundred feet high, it seemed to be invincible. But in reality, it was extremely vulnerable because it had to bring its water supply from several miles away through an underground aqueduct that could easily be blocked by attacking forces before the Roman peace. Because of this vulnerability, they had to learn the art of appeasement.

It was founded about the middle of the third century BC by Antiochus II and was named after his first wife Laodice. Since he divorced her in 253 BC, the city was probably founded before that date. Though its original settlers were largely from Syria, a significant number of Jews also settled there. They lived a life of luxury and ease in Laodicea.

Not unlike Wall Street, Laodicea was the major banking center of Asia Minor because of its favorable location. This meant it attracted people with means and became the wealthiest city in Phrygia. The Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero cashed his letters of credit there, indicating its importance as a banking center. The city had so much gold that it paid for its own reconstruction after the devastating earthquake in AD 60, rejecting offers of financial aide from Rome.¹²¹ They were very proud of that, and money continued to flow freely through its streets, reflected in its buildings, its businesses, and, yes, in its church.

Dear Heavenly Father, You are so wonderful and a relationship with You is worth far more than any earthly gold. Praise You that You are the foundation and the only way to heaven and when we build lovingly on You, You reward Your children. You see the heart to see if the good deed was done with love for You or out of a desire to please others. You consider serving You out of a heart of love and surrender to You, to be like building with gold. Let each consider carefully how he builds on it.  For no one can lay any other foundation than what is already laid – which is Yeshua the Messiah.  Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear. For the Day will show it, because it is to be revealed by fire; and the fire itself will test each one’s work – what sort it is.  If anyone’s work built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. (First Corinthians 3:10c-14). How wonderful to love You now and to look forward to living with You forever in Your perfect heaven. In Your holy Son’s name and power of resurrection. Amen

The fertile soil of the Lycus valley provided excellent grazing for unusual flocks of sheep. They were black, not white. By careful breeding, soft, glossy black wool was used to produce clothes to wear. It was in much demand and made the city famous. Laodicea also had a flourishing medical school that was especially noted for its “Phrygian powder.” They claimed when mixed with oil that was used as an eye salve and would cure Oriental eye diseases.¹²² All three industries, gold, wool and medicine, are used by the Lord to make His point to the church in Laodicea.

4. The commendation: The church of Laodicea has the dubious distinction of being the only one whose conduct was so unacceptable that even Jesus, who knew all about them, could not find one positive thing to say about them. The church was almost entirely lost. The few believers there were “closet Christians,” not wanting anyone to find out about their faith.

5. The concern: Because there was nothing for which to commend this spiritually dead church, the Lord went right into His concerns. Jesus said to them: I know your deeds. Deeds always reveal a person’s true spiritual condition. Yeshua declared: By their fruit you will recognize them (Matthew 7:16). Although salvation is by faith alone, deeds either prove or refute the presence of genuine salvation. James, the brother of Christ, asked this question: What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds (James 2:14)? The grammatical form of the question demands a negative response. No, it cannot save. Spiritual fruit is not the means to salvation, but spiritual fruit is the evidence of salvation, and there was very little evidence of spiritual fruit in the Laodicean church.

Jesus reprimanded them because they were neither cold not hot but lukewarm. He said: I wish you were either one or the other! This symbolic language comes from Laodicea’s own water supply. Since they had to bring it from several miles away through an underground aqueduct, the water came to them polluted, dirty and lukewarm. It was not hot and relaxing like the hot springs at Hierapolis. Nor was it cold and refreshing like the brooks of Colosse. So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I AM about to spit you out of My mouth (3:15-16). The distinction between hot, cold and lukewarm can be determined by the overall context. The hot are the truly saved believers. The cold are those who are not believers and do not claim to be believers. The lukewarm are those who claim to believe in Yeshua the Messiah, but there is dearth of any fruit.¹²³ Some churches make the Lord cry, others make Him angry, but this lukewarm church made Him sick.

Their limited amount of spiritual fruit was compounded by their self-deception. The church at Laodicea boasted that it was healthy and prosperous, saying: I am rich. I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. But Jesus contradicted them by saying: You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked (3:17). Characterized by richness in worldly things, and self-deception, they were spiritually poor, blind and naked. Not only did the church boast in their supposed spiritual well-being, they boasted that they had acquired their wealth by their own efforts. Spiritual complacency was accompanied by spiritual pride.¹²⁴ Their belief in Gnosticism led them to believe that they had a higher level of spiritual knowledge. They looked down on the unsophisticated who were satisfied with the teachings of the Bible and the Person of Messiah.

The church in Laodicea is also a very good description of the Apostate Church, Mystery Babylon, during the Great Tribulation. Only those few who secretly aided the Jews would become the sheep of the Great Tribulation and enter into the Messianic Kingdom (to see link click Fc – The Sheep and the Goats). Like the sheep Gentiles of the Great Tribulation, if anyone did accept Christ as their Lord and Savior they wanted to keep it a secret.

Apostasy can be defined as the departure from the truth that one professes to have. It does not mean that the apostate actually possesses the truth. Rather, it is a departure from the truth he profess to have because of an affiliation with a particular denomination. For example, a minister of a Baptist, Presbyterian or Methodist Church is professing, by virtue of his very position, to believe in the doctrines of the Baptist, Presbyterian or Methodist Church respectively. But actually the apostates deny these doctrines and have departed from the truth that they professes to have.

Rabbi Sha’ul clearly taught that there would be an apostasy of many outwardly religious people in the last days before the Second Coming. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way for [the Day of the Lord] will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed (Second Thessalonians 2:3). The Greek word for the rebellion is apostosia, which can be translated the apostasy. The man of lawlessness, the antichrist, will be revealed during the Great Tribulation. At that time, the Mystery Babylon will only have a form of godliness, having denied the power God (Second Timothy 3:5a).

6. The command: Of course, the Lord could have easily destroyed this apostate church. Instead, He graciously offered them salvation. But He used the three things that the Laodiceans were most proud of, their wealth, their wool industry and their eye salve. As an alternative, Yeshua offered them spiritual gold, spiritual clothes and spiritual sight. Of course, Christ did not teach that salvation could be bought by our good deeds. Because of our sin nature, we have nothing with which to buy our salvation (Isaiah 64:5-6). We can only repent, and offer our pitiful, lost condition in exchange for Messiah’s righteousness. He knew the Laodiceans were far too undisciplined to obey orders, so here He did not command them, but advised them to buy three things, all of which picture true salvation.

First, the Lord encouraged them to buy gold refined in the fire, so that they might become rich (3:18a). Although its banking industry had material wealth, the church lacked spiritual richness.¹²⁵ They needed gold that was free of impurities that could only be refined by true salvation. Peter wrote of a faith much greater than gold (First Peter 1:7). Therefore, Yeshua offered the Laodiceans a relationship with Him that was far greater than any wealth that they thought they possessed.

Secondly, the Lord advised them to buy the spiritually white clothes of righteousness, so that they could cover their shameful spiritual nakedness (3:18b). Those holy clothes can only be purchased by faith in the blood of Christ. Laodicea’s famous black woolen cloth symbolized the dirty, sinful clothes that those who have rejected the Messiah wear (Isaiah 64:6; Zechariah 3:3-4). They needed to exchange their filthy rags for the white clothes of salvation (3:4-5, 4:4, 6:11, 7:9-14, 19:14).

Finally, the Messiah offered them salve to put on their spiritual eyes, so they could see their true spiritual condition (3:18c). Confident of their clear vision into spiritual matters, it seemed that the Laodiceans needed their own eye salve to restore their sight. Blindness represents lack of understanding and knowledge of spiritual truth (Matthew 23:16-17; Luke 6:39; John 9:40-41; Romans 2:19; Second Corinthians 4:4; First John 2:11). Like all lost people, the Laodiceans needed to open their eyes and turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they could receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith (Acts 26:18).

Some argue that the language of Christ’s direct appeal to the Laodiceans: Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline (3:19a NASB), indicates that this was a believing church. The context in verses 18 and 20, however, points to the fact that most were lost. The Messiah has a unique and special love for those who believe in Him. Yet such passages as Mark 10:21 and John 3:16 reveal that He also loves those who have rejected Him. To reprove means to expose and convict. It is a general term for God’s dealing with sinners (John 3:18-20, 16:8; First Corinthians 14:24; Titus 1:9; Jude 15). Discipline refers to punishment (Luke 23: 16 and 22) and is used of ADONAI’s convicting of unbelievers (Second Timothy 2:25). So the terminology of this verse does not demand that Christ be referring to believers. The Lord compassionately, tenderly called those in this lost church to come to saving faith. But in order for the Laodiceans to be saved they would need to be earnest and repent (3:19b). The message to them, as it is to all the unsaved, is to passionately pursue the repentance that leads to life (Acts 11:18 NASB).

Jesus said to these apostate Gnostics: Here I am! I stand at the door and knock (3:20a). Although this passage has been used in countless tracts and sermons to picture the Lord knocking on the door of the sinner’s heart, it is broader than that. The door on which Christ knocks is not the door of a single human heart, but to the whole Laodicean church.

Here I AM! I stand at the door and knock. The present tense indicates continual knocking. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me (3:20 NASB). The Greek phrase for I will come in to is eiseleusomai pros. Note the space between the prepositions. The idea of come into would be expressed with eij as the independent preposition and would suggest a penetration into the person. However, spatially pros means toward, not into. In all eight instances of eiserchomai pros in the New Covenant, the meaning is come in toward or enter a building, house, etc., never penetration into the person himself/herself. In some instances, such a view would not only be absurd, but inappropriate (Mark 6:25, 15:43; Luke 1:28; Acts 10:3, 11:3, 16:40, 17:2 and 28:8).

Messiah was outside, wanting to come into the apostate church to bring spiritual life. Something that could only happen if they would repent. But for virtually all of them, their pride, self-sufficiency and hypocrisy had kept Him at arm’s length. The picture of Jesus standing outside the Laodicean church wanting to come in points to the sad fact that there were merely a few undercover believers in that city.¹²⁶

God’s readiness to receive repentant sinners, well known from the TaNaKh (Zechariah 1:3) and restated in the B’rit Chadashah, is the basis for what Yeshua says in this verse: If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me (3:20b). Unlike most guests, here, the Lord provides the food, the spiritual nourishment that gives the strength needed to repent. The metaphor of meal-sharing (Luke 15:2; John 14:23; Acts 11:3) is appropriate to Jewish and most other cultures, where fellowship around a meal implies affection, intimacy and mutual confidence. In short, Jesus is promising to be intimately and truly present with anyone who genuinely asks Him, Jew or Gentile alike. But the Laodiceans, in their blind self-sufficiency, had, in effect, excommunicated Messiah from their church. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ (Romans 8:9b). But even though almost all of them were apostates, Jesus urged them to repent and have fellowship with Him before judgment came. Life has many choices. Eternity has only two. What’s yours?

7. The counsel: Yeshua presents Himself as the model for anyone who wants to win the victory over evil, temptation and apathy: To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne (3:21). This is an amazing demonstration of grace. The apostates who were about to be spit out of the Lord’s mouth were invited to sit with Him on His Father’s throne. To have a relationship with the Messiah for all eternity is blessing enough, but He offers more. He promises to sit believers on the same throne that He shares with the Father (Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:29-30). This symbolizes the truth that we will rule and reign with Him (2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 5:10, 20:6).

Notice again that all seven of the promises to overcomers are descriptions of His Second Coming and the Eternal State (see Fq – The Eternal State), where all will be fulfilled. So, the tree of life was promised to the Ephesians (22:2), deliverance from the second death to the believers at Smyrna (20:6), a new name was promised at Pergamum (22:4), the Morning Star to the Thyatirans (22:16), white clothing to the believers at Sardis (19:8), the New Jerusalem to believers at Philadelphia (21:2), and the ability to share His throne to the apostate Laodiceans if they would only trust in Him (20:4).

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches (3:22). The message to the apostate church is obvious: repent of your sin before it is too late and judgment falls. For believers, the message is clear. We must see the lost through our Father’s eyes and call them to repent and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior (Jude 23).

Yeshua, I confess that without Your generosity I too would be wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. But You have lavished Your gifts upon me. In gratitude and love, I want to give it all back to You. I want to be Your instrument in this world. Come, Lord, and use me for Your glory.¹²⁷ Amen.

The church at Laodicea is a picture of the Apostate Church Age that will last for seven years during the Great Tribulation. When the Lord comes back He will set up His Messianic Kingdom that will last a thousand years. Laodicea represents the final form of the worldly church, Mystery Babylon, which is rejected by the Lord and spit out of His mouth because of its profession of faith in the antichrist. The true Church ends with the Philadelphian Age, which is removed from the earth according to the promise of 3:10 before the Great Tribulation begins. The false church, from which the true will be separated by the Rapture (First Thessalonians 4:17), is left behind, rejected by the Lord and spit into the 70^th Week of Daniel (Dani’el 9:24-27).¹²⁸ Laodicea means, people ruling, in contrast to Jesus ruling His Church. In the Great Tribulation, it will be a counterfeit church entirely ruled by counterfeit men, for the Holy Spirit will no longer restrain it. This journey has been very interesting, but it was nothing compared to what will be coming next in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. We will be taking a trip to heaven (see Cd – And There Before Me was a Throne in Heaven).

The Church at Philadelphia
3: 7-13

The church at Philadelphia DIG: What was different about this church from all the others? What does the key of David open? Why does Christ say some claim to be Jews though they are not? Who were they? What did they do? How was this church able to persevere? Describe their enemies. How did their reward fit in with their faithfulness?

REFLECT: Yeshua has placed an open door to the kingdom of God before each and every person (John 3:16). What have you done with that open door? Have you walked through it to salvation? Or have you slammed it in the Lord’s face? Such insurmountable opportunities turn our attention away from ourselves and force us to trust completely in ADONAI. So, as you look beyond your own current “limitations” and the doors that Jesus has closed in your life, what other opportunities could you be overlooking?

There are those who say, “I wouldn’t step foot in that place. They are just a bunch of hypocrites. I know so and so, and she lives like the devil all week and goes there on the weekend.” The plain truth is that there are no perfect places of worship. In fact, local church is merely a bunch of sinners getting together. Believers are simply imperfect, sinning people. The body of Christ made up of Jewish and Gentile believers (Eph 2:14), is not a place for people with no weaknesses; it is a fellowship of those who are aware of their weaknesses and long for the strength and grace of God to fill their lives. It is a kind of hospital for the sick and the needy.

To the angel of the church in Philadelphia (3:7a). Like all churches, the one in Philadelphia was not perfect. Yet Jesus commended its members for their faithfulness and loyalty. They, and the congregation at Smyrna, were the only two of the seven that received no rebuke from Yeshua. In spite of their fleshly struggles, the believers in Philadelphia were faithful and obedient, serving and worshiping the Lord. They provide a good model of a loyal church.¹⁰²

Dear Heavenly Father, You are a wonderful Father and gracious Lord. Praise You for being so kind, loving and forgiving of your children when they repent (Psalms 103:12). Praise you also for Yeshua preparing a home in heaven (John 14:1-3) for all who love and follow Him as Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9-10), and for rewarding your loyal, loving children (First Corinthians 3:12-14). It is a joy to serve You with a grateful heart. We look forward to hearing You tell Your children who wisely and lovingly serve You, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful with a little, so I’ll put you in charge of much. Enter into your master’s joy (Matthew 25:14-30, Luke 19:11-27)! What a joy to serve such a gracious, merciful and loving Father! Soon our hard times on earth will be over and our home will be with You in heaven forever (Second Corinthians 5:1, Romans 8:18). In the name of Your holy Son and the power of His resurrection. Amen

1. The description of Christ: For the first time, His description does not refer back to the vision of the glorified Son of Man in 1:12-16. This suggests a distinctively new message to that particular church. First He emphasized His own unique attributes of holiness and truthfulness by saying: Here is the message of Ha’Kadosh, the True One (3:7b CJB). Ha’Kadosh means the Holy One, and is translated Sovereign Ruler, or God the Father in 6:10. Furthermore, in the Talmud, the Prayerbook and other Jewish writings, it is common to refer to God as Ha’Kadosh, barukh hu or the Holy One, blessed be He. But here, and First John 2:20, this title refers to Yeshua so there is no need for the blessed be He because here the Holy One is talking about Himself. Consequently, Messiah is to be identified with God, but He is not the Father. Jesus is the True One, the one who is faithful.

Furthermore, Christ describes Himself as the One who holds the key of David (3:7c). It is clear from 5:5 and 22:16 that David is a symbol of the messianic office. To hold the key is to have the authority because the one holding it had total supervision of the royal chamber. He was the one who would decide who could, and who could not see the king. There is a reference to the key of David that is particularly important. The Bible tells us that the LORD placed on the shoulders of Eliakim, the king’s chief steward, the key to the house of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts, no one can open (Isaiah 22:22). Oriental keys, being unusually large and heavy, were usually carried on the shoulders. This idea is expressed in Isaiah 9:6, where it is said of the Messiah, “For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders.”¹⁰³

Therefore, Eliakim was presented to the people in Hezekiah’s day as a visible foreshadowing of the coming Messiah, upon whose shoulders the LORD would place the kingdoms of the world. Like Eliakim, Jesus presents Himself as He who opens no one can shut, and what He shuts, no one can open (3:7d). This emphasizes His omnipotence. There is no one more powerful than He. During the days of Isaiah, ADONAI asked Isra’el: When I act, who can reverse it (Isaiah 43:13)? Obviously, no one. No one can shut the door to the Kingdom of God if He opens it, and no one can force the door to the Kingdom open if He shuts it.

Jesus gave His disciples the commission to go and make disciples of all nations on the basis of what He had said in Matthew 28:18: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. He alone controls the door of opportunity for the preaching of the gospel. No world leader can shut that door unless Messiah shuts it. This is not only true of the Great Missionary Movement, but it is also true of the individual. The late Dr. Henrietta Mears was a great leader of young people and she often used Revelation 3:7c in challenging those called of the Lord to obey His word without fear or reservation. This message is much needed by the Lord’s servants today.¹⁰⁴

2. The church: The message to this church is in some respects the most interesting of all the messages to the seven (3:7a). It was a small church, possessing only a little strength, but it remained faithful to the Lord. Some believers from Philadelphia were martyred with Polycarp at Smyrna. Its enemies came from outside, not inside the body of Christ for there is no mention of heresy or division. It had a good deal in common with that at Smyrna. Both received no blame, only praise. Both suffered from those who claimed to be Jews but were not, both were persecuted it would seem by the Romans, both were assured their opposition was satanic and both were promised a crown.¹⁰⁵ The church there lasted for centuries, unyielding even after the region was overrun by the Muslims, finally giving way in the mid-fourteenth century.

3. The city: Philadelphia was about twenty-eight miles southeast of Sardis (3:7b). From the Hermus River Valley, where Sardis and Smyrna were located, a smaller valley of the Cogamis River branches off to the southeast. A road through this valley provides the best means of ascending the 2,500 feet from the Hermus Valley to the vast central plateau.

It was the youngest of the seven cities of Asia Minor, founded sometime after 189 BC by either King Eumenes of Pergamum or his brother, Attalus II. In either case, Attalus was so loyal and devoted to his brother that he was given the nickname Philadelphus, which is similar to the Greek word Philadelphia, meaning brotherly love. (Romans 12:10; First Thessalonians 4:9; Hebrews 13:1; First Peter 1:22; Second Peter 1:7 twice; and here in Revelation 3:7). Brotherly love occurs seven times in the New Covenant, but only here is it used of the city itself.¹⁰⁶ Philadelphia was intended to serve as a “missionary city” to bring the Greek culture to the newly annexed area of Lydia and Phrygia. This succeeded so well that by AD 19 the Lydian language had been completely replaced by the Greek, which had become the official language of the Roman Empire.

It is known as the city of earthquakes and was destroyed several times. The devastating earthquake of AD 17 leveled twelve cities in Asia Minor over night. Although the initial damage was greater in Sardis, Philadelphia, being closer to the fault line, experienced after-shocks for years. Many of the people remained outside the city, living in huts. They lived in constant fear of another disaster and the habit of going out to the open country had probably not disappeared by the time the seven letters was written in AD 95 or 96.¹⁰⁷ The city was also located near the edge of a volcanic region whose fertile soil was ideal for vineyards. Because of this, the people there worshiped Dionysus, the god of wine. Philadelphia was prosperous partly from the grape industry that flourished in the area, but also because of its location. It was on the normal trade route, and had a strategic location that sat on the border of three ancient Roman provinces, Mysia, Lydia and Phrygia. If you wanted to go somewhere in Asia Minor, you had to go through Philadelphia. It became known as the “gateway to the East.”¹⁰⁸

4. The concern: Because of their faithfulness, this church, along with the one in Smyrna, received no rebuke in its letter from the Lord. The fact that Yeshua, the holy, true sovereign, omnipotent Lord of the Church, found nothing to condemn them for must have been extremely encouraging to them.

5. The commendation: Finding nothing in their deeds that He disapproved of, Jesus commended them on their faithfulness, saying: See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut (3:8a). Jesus holds the key to that door of salvation. In fact, His name means salvation. He had placed before them an open door to the kingdom of God and no one could shut it.

I know that you have little worldly strength, but much spiritual power, since you have kept My word and have not denied My name (3:8b). Evidently there had been persecution of some sort during the first century, but the believers there had stood firm. For such a little band of believers, they were very courageous. Along with Paul they could say: For Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, and in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong (Second Corinthians 12: 10). So despite their small size, there was an abundance of spiritual fruit.¹⁰⁹

Jesus then warned them about those who claimed to be the people of God but were not. He said: They are of the synagogue of Satan, the Adversary. Apparently the false apostles and other false teachers who plagued the other churches had been unable to get any hearing in either Philadelphia or Smyrna.¹¹⁰ Apparently they organized themselves into a pseudo-messianic synagogue. As it usually does, their false doctrine probably led to sinful and immoral behavior. Yeshua declared to the church in Philadelphia, “They claim to be Jews though they are not.” As in 2:9, nowhere in the New Covenant are unbelieving Jews called non-Jews, therefore, they were liars pretending to be practicing Jews. From Messiah’s point of view, because they were turning to a different gospel, which was really no gospel at all (Galatians 1:6b-7a), they were actually not from a true messianic synagogue of God, but from a counterfeit synagogue of Satan (3:9a).

But in the larger context of history, we must remember that it is still the period described by Hosea when Isra’el is on the sideline of God’s prophetic program and considered to be not His people (Hosea 1:8-9). But in the future they will again become His people (Hosea 1:10-2:1,2:23, 3:5). Here John looks forward to the Messianic Kingdom, when Yeshua will make unbelievers come and fall down at His feet and acknowledge that He has loved them (3:9b). It is interesting to note that during this time that Jewish missions came into its own. It first began in Germany, took root in England, and finally came to fruition in the United States. It continues to be a time when many of the branches are being regrafted into their own Olive Tree. So there will come a day when the kings and queens of the earth will bow down before messianic Jews in the Millennial Kingdom (Isaiah 49:23; 60:14).

Jesus promised that since they had kept His command to endure patiently, He would also keep them from, or out of, the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those unbelievers who live on the earth (6:10, 8:13, 11:10, 13:8, 13:12-14, 17:2 and 8). Because the believers at Philadelphia had passed so many trials, Yeshua promised to spare them from the ultimate trial (3:10). The sweeping nature of the promise extends far beyond the local Philadelphia congregation in the first century to encompass all the faithful Church throughout the history of the B’rit Chadashah. The hour of trial is Daniel’s 70^th Week (Daniel 9:25-27), the time of trouble for Jacob (Jeremiah 30:7), or the seven-year period known as the Great Tribulation.¹¹¹ Jesus Christ promises to keep His Body of believers from this hour of trial that will come upon unbelievers. However, if the lost repent during that time, they will be martyred and saved .

Christ promised the church in Philadelphia that it would remain strong and secure (3:11-12). He said: I am coming quickly (3:11a). The coming of the Lord to Ephesus (2:5), Pergamum (2:16), and Sardis (3:3) posed a threat to each church. At Ephesus the lampstand was to be removed unless they repented; at Pergamum Yeshua would war against them with the sword of His mouth; at Sardis He would come like a thief in the night (3:3). The coming to Philadelphia, however, would end their time of persecution and establish them as permanent citizens of the kingdom of God.¹¹² And because we are in the Philadelphia Church Age now, it will happen only after several specific things occur (to see link click Bg – The Sequence of Pretribulation Events). Nevertheless, every believer’s response should be: Amen, come Lord Jesus (22:20).

6. The command: Because of Messiah’s impending return for His Body, believers are commanded to hold on to what they had. The believers at the church in Philadelphia had been faithful to the Lord in the midst of persecution. They were to continue in their faithfulness. Those who hold on to their faith demonstrate the genuineness of their salvation (Matthew 10:22; 24:13). In writing to the Colossian church about Yeshua, the Paul said: He has now reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation – if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel (Colossians 1:22-23). The Bible teaches that those who abandon their faith were never really believers to begin with: They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us (First John 2:19). Our salvation is secure in Christ, but these believers in Philadelphia were commanded to hold on.

Christ’s promise to the one who faithfully persevered was that no one would take your crown (3:11b). The crown of life was also promised to the believers in Smyrna. God has promised this crown to all those who remain faithful to Him when under persecution. Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him (James 1:12). The crown was the wreath awarded to the winner of an athletic contest (First Corinthians 9:25; Second Timothy 4:8). The metaphor would have been especially appropriate to this church because the city of Philadelphia was well known for it games and festivals.¹¹³

7. The counsel: In light of the historical background of Philadelphia’s disastrous earthquake, it’s significant that Yeshua promised that they would be made pillars in the Temple of God, never to go out from it again. The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the Temple of My God (3:12a). An overcomer is one who overcomes the world (First John 2:15-16) by faith in the Messiah (John 16:33). A pillar represents stability, permanence, and immobility. Pillars can also represent honor. In pagan temples pillars were often carved to represent a specific deity. The marvelous promise Christ makes to believers is that they will have an eternal place of honor in the Temple of God.¹¹⁴ To people that were accustomed to fleeing their city because of earthquakes, the promise that they would never again have to leave their homes in the New Jerusalem (21:1-27), was understood by them as eternal security in the kingdom of God (see my commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer).

Then, to assure them that their citizenship was in heaven was guaranteed, Jesus Christ said: I will write on them the name of My God and the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from My God (3:12b). People identify with the name given to them, and He said: And I will also write on them My new name. In the TaNaKh, God put His name (YHVH) on the people of Isra’el by having the Levites recite Aaron’s blessing (Numbers 6:24-27). The faithful bear the name of God (22:4), and the name of the Messiah (14:1), including their own new name (2:17, 3:12b, 19:12). Therefore, as proof of ownership, believers will have three names written on them: the name of God, the New Jerusalem, and the new name of Yeshua the Messiah. Interestingly enough, the followers of the antichrist will have his name written on them also (see Dp – The Mark is the Name of the Beast or the Number of His Name).

The counsel: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, closes all seven letters (3:13). Believers must pay attention to the truths found in each letter because these churches describe seven different kinds of believers in body of Christ. This letter to the church in Philadelphia reveals how the Lord pours out His blessings on those who remain faithful to Him. That should motivate each one of us to follow their example.

Thank You, Lord, that You have opened the door of heaven to me. May many pass through that door to enjoy eternal life with You.¹¹⁵

The name Philadelphia literally means brotherly love. Our Lord selected that church to describe the kind of revival that started around 1730 and will continue until the Rapture. Just as Sardis came out of Thyatira, so the Philadelphia revival came out of Sardis. The congregations of the Reformation became dead as a state church. Philadelphia, however, was marked by vitality of life. In that age, ADONAI produced revivals in Europe and the British Isles, even spreading to America. Those revivals in turn, produced what is known today as the Great Missionary Movement.

It was this movement of God the Holy Spirit that caused an English shoe cobbler to become so burdened for the lost of India that in 1793 he became the first foreign missionary. Other young people whom the Spirit of God also touched followed William Carey, and the movement began. Our Lord placed before that generation an open door. And that open door found such men as Adoniram Judson, David Livingston, Jonathan Goforth, Hudson Taylor and literally thousands of other people going to Africa, China, Japan, Korea, India South America and the islands of the sea.

There were two factors that led to the Great Missionary Movement. The first was the printing of the Bible in the language of the people and the natural tendency of the common person to take the Word of God literally. Therefore, when a young man like William Carey read Christ’s command to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19), he was inclined to obey it. The second was the increased interest of the study of the doctrine of the Second Coming. Around 1800 the doctrine of the premillennial return of Messiah, which had been all but dead since the end of the third century, was revived. This teaching led to a holy and separated Church. In preparation for the return of Yeshua, His body of believers was willing to do whatever He commanded.¹¹⁶

This is the last mention of the true, universal Church until we get to the wedding supper of the Lamb in 19:7. The Church is absent during the Great Tribulation because, as the custom of the Jewish wedding ceremony, the groom, or Christ, takes His Bride, the Church, to His home in heaven.

When the Rapture comes, the Church, embodied by all the true believers in the Messiah, will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (First Thessalonians 4:17). As a result, only a shadow of the true universal Church will be left behind. In reality, it will merely have the appearance of being religious. Therefore, as we continue southward, as if completing a circle, we come to the last leg of our journey. Just down the dark, dusty road we come to the apostate Gnostics of Laodicea.

The Church at Sardis
3: 1-6

The church at Sardis DIG: What is the contrast between reputation and reality in Sardis? What dangers exist for believers who rely on an image, instead of nurturing a genuine spiritual life? What is the book of life? What is the only hope for the survival of the church in Sardis? Why?

REFLECT: If Christ addressed this wake up call to you, what would He want you to strengthen? Right now, would Jesus need a fire alarm to wake you up, or would He merely need to send you a text message? Why? Have you compromised anything in your life to the world (1 John 2:15-17)? What can you do about that?

The vast distances of interstellar space are unimaginably immense. The nearest stars to us are trillions of miles away. Those large distances have forced astronomers to come up with an appropriate measurement unit, the light-year. One light-year equals the distance that light, traveling at more than 186,000 miles per second, travels in one year – more than 6 trillion miles.

The enormous distance to even the nearest stars present an interesting possibility. If a star thirty light-years away from the earth exploded and died five years ago, we would not be able to tell by looking at it for another twenty-five years. Though no longer in existence, the light from that star would go on shinning as if nothing had changed.

This illustrates the situation in many churches and people. They still shine with the reflected light of the past. Looking at them from a distance, one might think nothing has changed. Yet the spiritual darkness of false teaching and sinful living has extinguished the light on the inside, though some of their reputation may still remain.

Such was the church in Sardis. It was reputed to be alive, but Jesus pronounced it to be dead. The downward spiral depicted by these churches, beginning with the Ephesian believers loss of their first love for Christ, and continuing with Pergamum’s worldliness and Thyatira’s toleration of sin, reached a new low in Sardis. Like the rest of the seven, it was an actual, existing church in John’s day. Nevertheless, it also symbolizes the dead churches that have existed throughout history, especially during the Reformation as it developed in its later stages, and sadly, continues to exist in our own day. Their appearance of light is merely an illusion.

1. The description of Christ: Because of the deadness of the body there, the Lord identified Himself as the One who holds the seven spirits of God (3:1c). This description of Yeshua is taken from 1:4, where the phrase seven spirits also appears. The seven spirits refer to seven attributes of the Holy Spirit, which are given in Isaiah 11:2. Those attributes were given because this was a church in dire need of the power of the Ruach ha-Kodesh, as well as the protection of its ministering angel. It is interesting that Jesus does not hint about what danger Sardis is in. He did not introduce Himself as the Judge as He did to church in Thyatira. The Son of Righteousness merely showed Himself as the One who worked, in His sovereignty, through the Holy Spirit.

2. The church: Although not recorded in the Bible, the church in Sardis (3:1a) was probably started as a missionary work of Rabbi Sha’ul’s ministry at Ephesus (Acts 19:10). The most prominent believer from the church in Sardis was a writer named Melito. He wrote in the defense of the faith, served as bishop of Sardis in the late second century. He also wrote the earliest known commentary on the book of Revelation. The letter does not speak of persecution, false doctrine, false teaching or sinful living. But, at some point, those things had to have existed because the church there was dead.

3. The city: Sardis was named after the fiery blood red stone found near it. Being the first stone in the breastpiece of the high priest (Exodus 28:17-20 and 39:10-13), and represented Isra’el’s first-born Reuben. Sardis was located about thirty miles southeast of Thyatira in a fertile valley and means those escaping (3:1b). A series of hills stuck out from the ridge of Mount Tmolus, south of the Hermus River. The city stood on one of those hills, some fifteen hundred feet above the valley below. Because of this, it was virtually impregnable. The hill on which Sardis was built was smooth, and had nearly perpendicular rock walls on three sides. It could only be attacked from the south, by means of a steep, difficult path. But its very location caused the people of Sardis to become overconfident.

ADONAI told Cyrus that He would give him victory over the nations before him, which included Croesus and the Lydian Empire (see my commentary on Isaiah, to see link click Ic – This is What the LORD Says to Cyrus His Anointed). Although the city was seemingly invincible, Cyrus succeeded in climbing to an unguarded point and took it.⁹² As reported by Herodotus, the thing Croesus was famous for was his wealth. In fact, the legend of the king with the golden touch actually comes from Croesus. Midis was another name for him, but Croesus was actually his Greek name. Croesus had his headquarters in the city of Sardis because he thought all his gold would be safe. There he hid it in underground tunnels. That is why the LORD said to Cyrus: I will give you treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places (Isaiah 45:3). Therefore, Cyrus was able to defeat Lydia with ease, and all the wealth of Croesus, in the billions of dollars by today standards, went into the pockets of Cyrus the Great. So God declared that Cyrus would conquer Babylon and Lydia. These were the two major empires that he conquered to establish the Medo-Persian Empire (see Ap – The Second Best of Daniel: A Bear with a Chest and Arms of Silver).

Later, Alexander the Great captured the city without resistance (see Aq – The Third Beast of Daniel: A Leopard with Thighs of Bronze). At that time it was dedicated to a local goddess Cybele, who was identified with the Great Artemis who was also worshiped by the Ephesians. The city seemed to be preoccupied with themes of death and resurrection. This patron deity was believed to possess the special power of restoring the dead to life. In addition, there was a hot spring not far from Sardis that was celebrated as a spot in which it was said that the gods demonstrated their supposed power to restore life. This was particularly ironic, because Yeshua told them in this letter that they were dead! What a shock – thinking you were alive, only to find out that you were actually on dead.

In John’s day Sardis was prosperous but decaying, its glory in the past. Her one claim to prominence was that she provided the meeting place of several major Roman roads, and was an important industrial center of woolen and dyed goods. The people of the city were well known for their luxurious, loose way of life. It is significant that nothing is said in the letter about Jewish hostility, about open persecution, or about heretical teaching. The main problem was spiritual apathy.⁹³ Both the church and the city had lost their vitality.

Little by little the church at Sardis had compromised with the pagan society in their midst so that eventually it couldn’t even be recognized. It was like there was really never even a church in Sardis. Each small compromise seemed insignificant, but the end result was deadly. In America, one is reminded of Harvard University. Founded as a Christian place for higher learning, it has become a stronghold of Satan. Over the years, a seemingly unimportant compromise here, a small compromise there has left it morally bankrupt. There are only two kinds of spiritual food. There’s angel’s food and there’s devil’s food and if you aren’t eating one, you’re eating the other. What kind of spiritual food are you eating these days?

4. The concern: Because the church at Sardis was spiritually useless, or dead, the Lord didn’t bother with His usual commendation and went straight to His concerns. I know your deeds. The spiritual illness in this body was not obvious to the outside observer. In fact, it was known for its good deeds. They had a reputation of being alive, but they were spiritually dead. The Greek word for dead, nekros, can also refer to the condemnation of one’s spiritual life symbolically (Matthew 8:22; Luke 15:24). Most ineffective churches (even dead ones) look alive from the outside. The church in Sardis was just going through the motions and all their deeds were completely inadequate in the sight of God (3:1d, 2b).

Dear Heavenly Father, You are Awesome! Would anyone want a dead relationship with someone in their family? Of course not, and neither do you want a dead relationship with anyone in Your earthly family. Praise Your holiness and that no one can pretend to love You, while really loving themselves. You look at each person’s heart and desire to bless those who do love You. For the eyes of Adonai range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are wholly His (Second Chronicles 16:9a).  You can see whose love is only words when it is convenient for them and who goes to their Messianic congregation or church not to worship You, but to see their friends. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, and drive out demons in Your name, and perform many miracles in Your name?’ Then I will declare to them: I never knew you. Get away from Me, you workers of lawlessness!”(Matthew 7:21-23). We bow in reverence of how wonderful You are and desire to tell you that we love by our actions of love: meditating on Your Word and how wonderful You are,  giving You our time, money and talents. You are more than worthy of all we could give! In the holy name of Your Son and the power of His resurrection. Amen

What are the danger signs that a church is dying? A body of believers is in danger when it is content to rest on its laurels, when it is more concerned with its ritual than its spiritual reality, when it concerns itself more with social ills than changing people’s lives through the preaching of the gospel, when it is more worried about what men think than what ADONAI said, or when it loses its conviction that the Bible is the Word of God Himself. No matter what its attendance, no matter how impressive its buildings, no matter what its reputation in the community, such a church, having denied its only source of spiritual life, is still dead.⁹⁴

We were never designed God to function independently of Him. ADONAI created Adam and Eve spiritually alive; their souls were in union with Him. Only in this way could they fulfill the purpose for which they were created. But man, because of his rebellion, has chosen to live his life independent of YHVH. Through sin, Adam has separated himself from the LORD (Romans 5:12). However, ADONAI’s plan is to present us again complete in Christ, for without Him, we are incomplete. For in Messiah, all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you are complete in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority (Col 2:9-10). God’s gracious by provision and offer to you, if you are a follower of Jesus, is that you have full assurance that you are complete in Christ right now.⁹⁵

5. The commendation: Scattered like a few flowers in the desert, there were a few people in Sardis who had remained loyal to Christ. There were not enough to change the direction of the church or Messiah’s evaluation of it. It was still dead. But the Lord never forgets those who have not soiled their clothes. Just like at Sodom, He was willing to save those who belonged to Him. The word soiled comes from the Greek word moluno, which means to stain, to smear or to pollute. The church at Sardis would understand what that meant because of the city’s wool dying industry. Their white clothes were a symbol of salvation (Isaiah 64:6; Jude 23). Christ specifically said: They will walk with Me, dressed in white, for they are worthy (3:4). Their names were still in the book of life (3:5), their robes had been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb (7:14). Their worthiness was not in their own good deeds, which had been pronounced incomplete before God (3:2), but in Yeshua, who alone is truly worthy (4:11, 5:9 and 12). They would be included in the wedding feast of the Lamb (19:9), where the true Bride of Christ (19:7, 21:9, 22:17) will be dressed in fine linen (19:8).⁹⁶ Once again, these words would be extremely encouraging to those first century believers in Sardis. They should also encourage us today as we struggle to maintain our purity and holiness in this wicked world.

6. The command: Christ is pictured here as an emergency room doctor rushing into the church in Sardis and finding people in different stages of death. But the Lord didn’t start carting out bodies or putting down the ones on their last legs. Instead, ADONAI sought to breathe new life into that comatose congregation. He wanted to revive and restore as many to health as would listen to His words. Like a physician in charge of a trauma unit, He began shouting five orders in rapid succession (3:2-3). These five are Messiah’s prescription for the church in Sardis.

First, Jesus called them to wake up! As if shaking somebody just before they lose consciousness, Messiah took the dying church into His arms and shouted, “Stay with Me!” The lack of watchfulness caused believers to doze off into the slumber of a dying culture, and rendered their deeds ineffective and useless. Apparently they were discouraged and about ready to give up. But it was no time for indifference. Their church was dying!

Secondly, they needed to strengthen what little spiritual life that remained, but was about to die. For many in Sardis, the glimmer of life was all that was left. It is likely that every dead church has at least a remnant of the living. Trying to find ADONAI in that environment week after week, however, takes its toll. Eventually, those few warm bodies began to cool to room temperature along with everyone else. However, Messiah sought to breathe new life into that comatose congregation. He wanted to revive and restore to health as many as would respond to His Word.

Thirdly, they needed to remember the truth of His Word, what they had received and heard. The present tense verb remember means they were to keep bringing to mind the salvation and the gifts of the Spirit they had received, and never forget the good news of the gospel they had heard. To this day, every true church’s worship has two constant reminders: the Scriptures and the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor 11:24-25).

Fourthly, Christ commanded the church in Sardis to obey the spiritual truth that they had received and heard. Jesus teaches us that He and the Father will not reveal themselves to those who are disobedient to His Word: Anyone who loves Me will obey My teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent Me (John 14:23-24). Obedience grows out of love for Yeshua and His Word (First John 2:3, 3:22-24, 5:3).

Finally, Messiah instructed the church in Sardis to repent. He prescribed the only possible cure – spiritual revival. Jesus calls for a decisive change of mind and attitude that would set them on the right course to recovery. He didn’t try to sugarcoat it, the Great Physician wrote them a clear prescription, “No more playing around with spiritual things. You’ve got the talking part done. It’s time for action. Now get going!”

A stern warning accompanied Christ’s strong commands. If they did not take His advice and wake up, Yeshua promised that He would come like a thief, and they would not know at what time He would come. This threat would have been especially significant for them because two times in their history, the defenses of that city, which appeared impenetrable, were breached. Similarly, if Sardis refused to repent, God would pierce the hypocritical façade that the church was presenting and expose them to His hand of discipline. This is a clear message to the church in Sardis, where Messiah, the Great Physician, conducted an autopsy. Yet as One who is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25), He turned an autopsy of death into an offer of life.⁹⁷

7. The counsel: The one who overcomes the world (First John 5:4-5) will be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before My Father and His angels (3:5). The book Jesus is referring to is the book of life, or the names of all those who were ever born (Psalm 69:28; Revelation 3:5, 13:8, 17:8, 20:12, 20:15, 21:27). If a person dies unsaved, his or her name is blotted out of the book of life. Those who are saved have their names retained in the book of life. In Exodus 32:32-33, Moses asked that if the Lord would not forgive the sins of the nation, would He blot Moses’ name out of the book of life, taking away his salvation rather than Isra’el’s. The Lamb’s book of life (21:27), on the other hand, contains all those who have been born again, and therefore, it is impossible to be blotted out in that book. This promise assures all believers in every age, of their eternal security (see my commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer).

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches (3:6). The spiritually dead, who were acting religious, needed to listen to Jesus’ warning of coming judgment. They needed to wake up before it was too late to save themselves and their church.

Jesus, I thank You for Your love and for making me aware that I am incomplete without You. I thank You that I am now complete in You. I choose to no longer seek my purpose in life in any way that is independent of You. I put no confidence in my flesh. I now declare my dependence upon You and seek to fulfill my purpose by asking You to fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I renounce every occasion when I have sought power of fulfillment from any source other than You. I choose to be strong in You, Lord, and in the strength of Your might.⁹⁸ In the name of Him who holds the seven spirits of God, amen.

The spiritually dead church at Sardis is a picture of some Protestant Churches who based their salvation on works during the Age of the Reformation from AD 1517 to 1730. Because the name Sardis means those escaping, this, as well as Messiah’s concern of the Church (3:1d and 2b), it provides a perfect description of the Age of the Reformation. The movement called the Reformation was the result of the continued emphasis by the Roman church on pagan doctrines, rather than following scriptural principles. Martin Luther’s watchword, taken from Scripture was: The righteous will live by faith (Romans 1:17). Those reformers were repulsed from trying to make salvation the result of works, and as a result they sparked a resurgence of interest in studying the Scriptures. Yet, despite this, these pagan practices continued to infiltrate most of the state churches as well.⁹⁹

Therefore, Sardis eventually became a dead church. What corrupted Pergamum also corrupted them. Because of the existence of state churches, children who were born in a certain city were simply baptized and became members of the state church. Personal faith had little or nothing to do with becoming a member. In a matter of time, the greater part of the state churches were composed of nonbelievers. Those churches all had good, solid creeds, so it appeared that they were living. But they were dead. There was no spiritual life because of the lack of personal faith.¹⁰⁰ They were the walking spiritually dead.

There were two tragedies of the Reformation churches. First, they became state churches. Martin Luther, for example, sought the approval of the political leaders, and eventually the Lutheran Church became the state church of Germany, as did others throughout Europe. The danger of this was that those state churches then included the entire country, thus eliminating the need to personally accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The end result was that the relationship with Messiah was lost.

Secondly, Reformation churches didn’t really change many of the customs or teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Infant baptism was continued, in spite of the fact that there was no scriptural verification for it. Sprinkling was also continued, and ritualism, including some elements of the sacraments, was perpetuated. Ritual and formality, characteristic of pagan forms of worship, are not conducive to genuine worship for they appeal to the sensuous nature of man. The Bible teaches that Yeshua must be worshiped in spirit and truth. Ritual that comes from paganism cannot be of the Holy Spirit and does not convey truth. The main purpose of Church is the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This should be done by worshiping the Lord and studying His Word. If people leave a church with the mysterious feeling of “worship” but have not been brought face to face with Messiah in a personal way, they have been worshiping in a dead church.¹⁰¹

But God’s plan for the ages would not be denied and just as Sardis came out of Thyatira, so the Philadelphia age came out of Sardis. Therefore, as we continue southward as if completing a circle, the next body of believers on our journey is the Missionary Movement, or church in Philadelphia.

The Church at Thyatira
2: 18-29

The church at Thyatira DIG: What are the strengths of this body of believers? How is it adulterous? What does the symbolic name Jezebel indicate about the woman in this church? How does Yeshua describe Himself? How do you interpret this description? What is He saying about Himself? Why is this appropriate for the body in Thyatira? How is the nature and source of the temptation in Thyatira like, and unlike, that in Pergamum? What do you think Jesus’ promises in 2:26-27 mean?

REFLECT: Which of the qualities in 2:19 apply to you this week? Why? Who or what has played a role similar to Jezebel in you life? How? How did Yeshua free you from that influence? What do you appreciate about the promise to overcomers in this section? Why?

Jesus Christ has called His Church to be holy and maintain purity by dealing with sin in its midst (Matthew 18:15-17). After the birth of the Church, initially made up of only Jewish believers on the Feast Shavu’ot, the Lord demonstrated His commitment to a pure church by executing Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11). Paul was also passionate about the purity of the church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 5:1-5; 2 Corinthians 11:2).

Despite the clear biblical teaching to the contrary, churches throughout history have tolerated sin following a pattern like the Thyatiran congregation, whose members were engaging in both spiritual and physical adultery. Through the insidious efforts of a false teacher, those sins had become pervasive in the body in Thyatira. This letter was a sobering and marked a new phase in the letters to seven churches. There is a general deterioration in the character, with the exception of the church in Philadelphia, as they became more and more worldly. That decline continued to spiral downward to the apostasy at Laodicea.

The phrase, Satan’s so-called deep secrets, indicates how far the believers in Thyatira had fallen in relation to those of Smyrna and Pergamum. The believers at Smyrna faced persecution from the synagogue of Satan, or unbelieving Gentiles (2:9). The Pergamum church existed where Satan had his throne (2:13), the greatest center of pagan and emperor worship in the world at that time. But the church in Thyatira had plunged headlong into the very depths of satanic deception.

This is the longest letter of the seven, even though addressed to the church in the smallest of the seven cities. It has an important message for us today. False doctrine and sin are not to be allowed into the local body – even under the banner of love, toleration, coexistence or unity. There may be much that is commendable in a body of believers. It may appear to have an effective ministry on the surface, and it may be growing numerically. Yet false doctrine and immorality, if not confronted, will bring judgment upon it.⁸²

Over the last several decades, tolerance has become one of the greatest “virtues” of our increasingly secular society. This is not the tolerance that our grandparents practiced. Their kind of tolerance meant that even though you disagreed and disapproved of someone’s beliefs, values and lifestyle, you stuck to your own point of view while accepting the views of others to believe and live as they chose. In other words, you didn’t relive the Dark Ages by grabbing your pitchfork and rioting against people with different opinions. As long as they operated with the law, their opinions were tolerated. But today, instead of tolerating beliefs or practices with which we strongly disagree, our secular society expects us to agree with everybody’s beliefs, values and lifestyles. Every deviant behavior wants to be affirmed as being “normal.” As a result, the belief in absolute truth becomes weaker and weaker. How can there be absolute truth if everybody’s beliefs are equal?

Dear Holy Heavenly Father, Praise you for your holiness and your love. Praise you that You are so pure and powerful that You never compromise. Thank You for defeating evil and not tolerating any sin. May our love for You and our desire to follow Your example of No tolerance for evil-be more important to us than our desire to be tolerant of others so they will like us. We fix our eyes on heaven, on pleasing You and on our home of eternal peace and great joy in heaven forever. Please give us the strength to fight the battle against the wrong idea that “All things are right if it is right to you.” Remind us that the final battle of the ages is done, over with a victorious battle by the sword coming out of Your mouth (Revelation 19:11-16, 19-21). The enemy totally defeated, thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur-and you will reign! Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The One riding on it is called Faithful and True, and He judges and makes war in righteousness. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and many royal crowns are on His head. He has a name written that no one knows except Himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which He is called is “the Word of God.” I worship You and choose to love You by not tolerating other’s wrong beliefs. In the holy name of Your Son and the power of His resurrection. Amen

Today, as long as you are syncretistic, or believe that everything goes, people are tolerant; however, as soon as you believe in absolutes, they become extremely intolerant. A culture that tolerates evil calls disagreement phobia. Taking a stand is considered hate. Conviction is seen as bigoted fanaticism. Sound biblical doctrine is regarded as discrimination. As in many churches that compromise their values today, this was a picture of the ancient church at Thyatira. In His letter to that church, Messiah addressed the issue of big sins in a small church – and the even bigger issue of tolerating them.

1. The description of Christ: The title Son of God and the two other phrases are taken from the vision of the risen Messiah in 1:12-17. This title emphasizes His deity, stressing the point that He was one with ADONAI (John 5:18). The change of wording from 1:13 should not escape us. There, John describes Him as someone like a son of man; here, however, He is identified as the Son of God. Indeed, this is the only time in the book of Revelation that this title is given to Him because He comes to the church in Thyatira, not as a sympathetic High Priest, but as Judge. Nothing can be hidden from Him because His eyes are like blazing fire (Dani’el 10:6). As Hebrews 4:13 says: Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account. His feet are like burnished bronze because He comes to this church in judgment (1:14-15 and here in 2:18). Everything in the courtyard of the Tabernacle was made of bronze because it pointed to judgment (see the commentary on Exodus, to see link click Fa – Build an Altar of Acacia Wood Overlaid with Bronze). This frightening description of Messiah should have been terrifying to them, but few repented.

2. The church: As is the case with the churches at Smyrna and Pergamum, the Bible does not record the founding of the church in Thyatira. The book of Acts tells us that a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, was converted and baptized, along with the members of her household, under Rabbi Sha’ul’s ministry at Philippi (Acts 16:14-15). So it seems that Lydia and her household participated in starting the church in Thyaria, probably as an outreach of the apostle Paul’s ministry at Ephesus (Acts 19:10). It was evidently the smallest church from the smallest city of the seven. But big problems can occur in small places.

3. The city: From Pergamum, the northernmost of the seven cities, the Roman road curved east and then southeast to Thyatira, about forty miles away. The name of the city means continual sacrifice. The longest of the seven letters is addressed to the least known, least important and least remarkable of the cities. All the other cities were visually remarkable. Thyatira, however, was built on flat land and lacked an acropolis. Its lack of natural fortifications played a major role in its history.

Thyatira was founded by one of Alexander the Great’s successors, Seleucus, as a military outpost guarding the north-south road. Because Thyatira had no natural defenses, the city was continually destroyed and rebuilt. It was the gateway to Pergamum, and would only be useful militarily to buy time for that city to ready for attack. Finally, around 190 BC, Thyatira was conquered by the Romans and thus enjoyed peace under Roman rule. At that time it became a thriving commercial center. Is location on the main north-south road, formally a liability, and then became an asset. It connected Pergamum with Laodicea, Smyrna and the inner regions of Asia. At the time that John wrote Revelation, it was just entering its greatest period of prosperity.

Unlike Pergamum or Smyrna, it was not an important religious center. It did possess a few temples, but it had no strong devotion to the worship of the emperor. The primary god worshiped there was the Greek sun god, Apollo. There were a few Torah observant Jews in Thyatira, but not enough to cause trouble for the church there. The problem there was not external persecution, but internal compromise.

Thyatira gained a reputation as a blue-collar town, where the trade guilds stood at the center of the social and religious life. To hold a job or run a business, it was necessary to be a member of a guild. These guilds enjoyed feasts that were dedicated to their patron deities, in whose honor they were held – complete with meat sacrificed to idols. Some believers would argue that the alleged gods were not real so participation in the meals did not compromise their witness for the Lord. The real problem was the fact that the feasts usually ended in an orgy. This was the same problem that the other churches in Asia faced. Ephesus had opposed all such compromise with pagan practices; in Pergamum, a small number of believers fully gave themselves over to pagan social life. The problem in Thyatira, as we shall see, assumed a new and dangerous form.⁸³

4. The commendation: I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first (2:19). In some ways Thyatira was strong where Ephesus was weak. Unlike Ephesus, which had lost its first love and stopped doing the things they had done at earlier, the latter works of Thyatira were more impressive than in its beginnings. In fact it was the first church of the seven to be commended for its love. They believed the right message; they had the right motivation. But all their fine attributes, as crucial as they were, could not substitute for godly living, and their pagan life style was dragging them down.

5. The concern: So outwardly they seemed to be doing well. Its members demonstrated love, faith, service and perseverance. They were committed – in fact increasing – in their work for God and His Kingdom. So what did Yeshua have against them? The problem was two fold. First, they violated the biblical teaching that a woman is not to be the authoritative teacher of her local church (see my commentary on Genesis Lv – I Do Not Permit a Woman to Teach or Have Authority Over a Man, She Must Be Silent). But a woman who called herself a prophetess was courting them. False teaching can come from gifted people and Jezebel was clearly gifted. She claimed to have special revelations from the Lord, which qualified her to be the authoritative teacher in the body of believers at Thyatira. A little compromise here, a little compromise there, and before long she had won their hearts. She was obviously subversive to the church leadership and won over followers among the Thyatiran believers . . . all to their detriment.

Secondly, they compounded their error by tolerating her teaching and being led into idolatry. Undoubtedly, Jezebel was not the false prophetess’s real name, but like the infamous wife of King Ahab, she was Satan’s agent to corrupt God’s people and was dangerously close to eliminating true worship of ADONAI. She was deceptive, idolatrous, domineering, scheming and vicious. Thus, Yeshua branded her with the symbolic name of Jezebel.⁸⁴ Here is the opposite situation from that in Ephesus. The Ephesians had tested those who called themselves apostles and had rejected them, but in doing so they had become harsh and critical. In Thyatira, however, a church that was abounding and increasing in love and faith tolerated a false prophetess to their own spiritual undoing.⁸⁵

When a woman is used symbolically in Scripture, she represents a religious entity either positively or negatively. On the positive side, there is Yisra’el as the Wife of ADONAI and the Church as the Bride of Christ; on the negative side, there is the Great Prostitute of Chapter 17, and here, the woman Jezebel. This name would remind these believers of the pagan wife of king Ahab in the TaNaKh, who introduced pagan worship into Isra’el that surpassed all the previous sins of idolatry in the northern Kingdom.

Idolatry in the northern Kingdom of Isra’el began with the first king, Jeroboam. But there was a difference between the sin of Jeroboam and the sin of Ba’al worship introduced by Jezebel. The sin of Jeroboam was a corruption of the true religion. Jeroboam set up a golden calf in the cities of Dan and Bethel, but they represented the God that brought them out of the land of Egypt. This was idolatry, but it was a corruption of the true worship of the Lord (First Kings 12:25-33). With Jezebel, however, a whole new god and system of worship were introduced in Isra’el (First Kings 16:29-33). Through Jezebel, Ba’al worship came into the northern Kingdom, resulting in more idolatry than ever before. The worship of Ba’al involved sexuality immorality. In the corruption of the true religion, morality was still present; however, in the worship of Ba’al there was total immorality.

Therefore, Jezebel became a very real picture of what the Roman church evolved into during the period of the Dark Ages. It introduced a paganism that resulted in idolatry and spiritual adultery. It became a new religious system bearing little resemblance to the New Covenant body of believers.⁸⁶ So like the Jezebel of old, this woman misled the body at Thyatira by her teaching, and led them into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols (2:20). The error of the prophetess Jezebel was the same as that of the Nicolatians in Pergamum, full acceptance of the world’s value system. The reason the problem was so much worse in Thyatira was that membership in the trade guilds involved participation in the feats that led them into sexual immorality.

Obviously, despite the virtues of some the people of Thyatira, most of the people in the church there were getting sidetracked and going along with teachings that were contrary to the gospel. It was not enough for them to rest on their accomplishments. Yeshua was challenging the sin in their midst.

It is not hard to understand the dilemma. At times, we can be so concerned with our personal lives, trying to grow in holiness or working for the Lord, that we overlook what would otherwise be obvious sin. We may be trying to advance in one area of our faith, while at the same time we ignore problems in another area.

When you see a family member getting involved in something that is harmful, do you turn away, or do you storm heaven in intercession, or for opportunities to win that person to Christ? Do you allow gossip or cheating to take place at work, as long as you don’t participate in it? Or do you try to say something or look for peaceful ways to offer alternatives? In your own life, do you focus on having a good prayer time, and yet tolerate “little white lies?” Let’s not put blinders on when it comes to living out our faith. Let’s hold on to what Yeshua has done, and not tolerate anything or anyone that distorts the gospel.⁸⁷

Graciously, Jesus gave the false prophetess time to repent of her immorality, but she was unwilling (2:21) because she loved the darkness rather than the light (John 3:19). But she refused to repent, and therefore the Lord declared that He would cast her on a bed of sickness, and would also make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repented of her ways (2:22). The Greek text simply reads bed, but translators have correctly rendered the idea of the TaNaKh that means to fall sick (Exodus 21:18). Probably a contrast between a bed of sickness and a bed of adultery is intended. Messiah promised to punish Jezebel with some sort of sickness.⁸⁸ In addition, any of the believers in the body who did not repent of their sin of physical and spiritual adultery would also suffer with her.

Then the Lord named a third group that would face judgment, declaring: I will strike her children dead. Here John distinguishes between those who joined in the adultery with her and those who are called her children. Death was the judgment for the latter, while sickness was the punishment for the former. Evidently the Holy Spirit intends to differentiate between those who were still struggling with the problem of how to be loyal to Messiah and at the same time keep their jobs, and those who had given themselves over wholeheartedly to the teaching of the false prophetess.⁸⁹ The result of this would be that all the other six churches would know that Yeshua was the One who searched their hearts and minds, and He would repay each of them according to their deeds (2:23). As the Psalmist said: O righteous God, who searches minds and hearts, bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure (Psalm 7:9).

In the larger context, verses 22–23 contain some of the harshest words of judgment in these seven letters. They describe the judgment of those with the spirit of Jezebel, who think like Jezebel, or those who believe what the original Jezebel believed. Therefore, they will go through the Great Tribulation, but the faithful believers, like those in the church of Philadelphia will not.

6. The command: Having warned the followers of the false prophetess to repent, Christ gave words of comfort to the rest of the true believers in Thyatira who did not hold to her teaching, even through they tolerated her. Even though in the minority, the true believers were those who had not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets. Various Gnostic philosophies appealed to people’s pride by promising spiritual knowledge deeper than available to ordinary mortals. Many modern cults make the same empty promises. Jezebel and her followers had claimed to understand the very depths of Satan’s realm and yet remain spiritually untouched. In other words, they believed they could swim in a spiritual toilet and come up smelling like a rose. In that pre-Gnostic teaching, they taught they were free to participate in sins of the body without it affecting their spiritual life. In their twisted thinking, because the spirit belongs to ADONAI it didn’t matter if they attended idolatrous feasts or engaged in orgies. They wanted to live like the devil and then brazenly come to worship God (2:24). Her false teaching is alive and well today under a variety of names; and just when faithful believers put these modern heresies in the grave, they seem to jump right back out again! That’s because it’s so enticing to justify immorality in the name of grace.

We need to take a stand against false doctrine in the Church. We are in no position to condemn others (Like 6:37; Romans 2:1); however, Paul instructed the Corinthians to judge those within the local church by rebuking sin and correcting false teaching. This often meant removing the wicked person from the church through proper church discipline (1 Cor 5:9-13). The purpose is not merely to purify the local church, but also the restoration of the open, habitual sinning believer. In other words, the biblical approach to toleration is, “Don’t judge the world (First John 2:15-17) for God will judge them. Instead, hold your local church or messianic synagogue to its own standards of doctrinal and moral purity.”

To the true believers, Jesus said: I will not impose any other burden on you. However, to prevent overconfidence, Christ commanded: Only hold on to what you have until I come (2:25). The English phrase hold fast, comes from the Greek word krateo, which points to the fact that their holding on would not be an easy thing to do. Bearing the burden of false teaching and immoral living in their own church, they were also under constant spiritual attack and ridicule from Jezebel and her followers. Continuing in their faithfulness would be task enough. This is true for us also today. We need to hate what is evil and cling to what is good until Messiah returns (Romans 12:9).

7. The counsel: The promise is two-fold. First, the victorious believer who overcomes Satan’s counterfeit system and does Christ’s will to the end will have a part in the Messianic Kingdom, where Jesus will give him authority over the nations. Those who remain faithful to Messiah in this life will rule with Him in His earthly Messianic Kingdom. As the psalmist said: He will rule them with an iron scepter; He will dash them into pieces like pottery (Psalm 2:7-9; Isaiah 30:14). Those who rebel against Christ’s rule during the Millennium will be destroyed (20:7-15). The believers who rule with Him will receive His authority, just as He received authority from His Father (2:26-27). Secondly, they will also have the Morning Star or Jesus Himself (2:28). In 22:16, the Lord said: I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the church. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright and Morning Star (also see Numbers 24:17; Second Peter 1:19). The possession of the true faith presumes the possession of the true God.

Finally, Jesus says: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the messianic communities (2:29). This is a warning to the church at Thyatira to listen to what He has said. The letter reveals the seriousness of practicing, or tolerating, sin. But those who are faithful, even though there are struggles in this life, they will experience the fullness of the Lord as they reign with Him in His thousand-year Millennial Kingdom.

Jesus, gaze on me with your eyes like blazing fire. Pierce through my individualism and through any hollow reliance I have on my own abilities or actions. Help me not to tolerate sin, but hold on to what you have given me.⁹⁰ In the name of the Son of God, whose feet are like burnished bronze, amen.

The compromising body of believers at Thyatira picture the Church during the Dark Ages from AD 607 to 1517. It was called the Dark Ages because spiritual darkness grew as a result of the marriage of the Church to the world. The light, which Jesus Christ entrusted to His Church all but flickered out during that dark time.

Thyatira means continual sacrifice, which is the central heresy of the Roman Catholic church. That is, the church of Rome denies the finished work of Messiah on the cross. Jesus said: It is finished (John 19:30), but the Roman church believes in a continual sacrifice that produces such things as sacraments and praying for the dead, burning candles and so on. The following changes and doctrines that have their source in paganism were added to the church during the Dark Ages:

AD 607 Boniface III made the first universally recognized pope

AD 709 Kissing the Pope’s feet started

AD 786 Worshiping of images and relics

AD 850 The use of “holy water”

AD 995 Canonization of dead saints

AD 998 Fasting on Fridays during Lent

AD 1079 Celibacy of the priesthood

AD 1090 Prayer beads introduced

AD 1184 The Inquisition

AD 1190 Sale of Indulgences started

AD 1215 The doctrine of transubstantiation started

AD 1220 Worship of the wafer or host

AD 1229 The Bible was forbidden to the common people

AD 1414 The communion cup was forbidden to the common people

AD 1439 The doctrine of purgatory was decreed

AD 1439 The doctrine of the seven sacraments was affirmed

AD 1508 The Ave Maria was approved

AD 1534 The Jesuit order was founded

AD 1545 Tradition was granted equal authority with the Bible

AD 1546 The Apocryphal books were put into the Roman Bible

All heresy falls into one of two basic categories: a false concept of the deity of Christ or mixing works with faith. The church of Rome can hardly be accused of teaching a false concept of the deity of Messiah; however, their emphasis on the continual sacrifice and rejection of Messiah’s finished work breeds a concept that caused mankind to try to earn his or her own salvation by works, penance, indulgences and many other satanically conceived ideas labeled by the Lord as Satan’s so-called deep secrets.⁹¹ Once the church at Thyatira started to compromise and fall in love with the world, it started a downward slide to spiritual death. About thirty miles southeast of Thyatira, the believers at Sardis had compromised to the point that they were on spiritual life support.

The Church at Pergamum
2: 12-17

The church at Pergamum DIG: What pressures were the believers in Pergamum facing? At what point were they strong? Where were they tempted? To what does the statement where Satan has his throne refer? What do you think is easier to endure: persecution by enemies or seduction by culture? Why? Why is the title by which Messiah reveals Himself so appropriate to the faithful there? What is the significance of the sword? Of the hidden manna and the white stone?

REFLECT: What cultural influences distract you from your relationship with Messiah? How subtle are these influences in your life? How direct? Has worldly compromise ever led to total disobedience in your life? What weapons has God given you to do battle against that? Which has proven most helpful? Do you acknowledge Jesus publicly as your Lord and Savior? Or is it to costly for you to do that?

For many people in the universal Church, the term worldliness has a quaint, old-fashioned ring to it. They associate it with prohibitions against things like dancing, going to the movies, or playing cards. Today there are some churches that don’t preach much against worldliness. It might make somebody feel uncomfortable. And heaven forbid, they wouldn’t want that.

But the Bible doesn’t hesitate to condemn worldliness for the serious sin that it is. Worldliness is any preoccupation with, or love for, the world. Since believers are not part of the world system (John 15:19), they must not act as though they were.⁶⁶ Rabbi Sha’ul wrote: Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2). Because they have been redeemed by ADONAI’s grace, believers are called to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age (Titus 2:12). James encourages us to keep ourselves from being polluted by the world, because anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God (James 1:27b, 4:4).

John makes the believer’s duty to avoid worldly compromise unmistakably clear when he says: Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of the eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires will pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever (First John 2:17). The church in Pergamum, like many today, had failed to heed to biblical warnings against worldliness. Consequently, it was flirting and in danger of falling in love with the world.⁶⁷

We face similar challenges today. “It’s not really a lie – I just didn’t tell the whole truth.” “I have no problem reading horoscopes with my friends – I don’t really believe in them.” “So I look at porn on the internet – it’s just like looking at a menu. I’m not ordering anything.” Every day we are faced with opportunities to compromise our faith. It may not seem like a big deal, because we’re not overtly denying Yeshua. But the unintended consequences can be far greater than we could ever imagine. Sin always promises more than it can deliver, and costs you more than you wanted to pay.

The believers in Pergamum also had plenty of complicated choices. Should they go to a nonbeliever’s banquet, when some of the food might have been sacrificed to idols? What about buying meat at the market, where it was hard to know whether it had come from the pagan temple? Their temptation was to “bend the rules” a little bit so that they could fit into the world.⁶⁸ The issue that the believers in Pergamum faced is the same one that you and I face today. How can we lead godly lives in the midst of a sinful world that offers other answers to life’s dilemmas?

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for You holiness. You are never even the slightest bit wrong or unkind and You never close Your eye to wrong. Praise You for Your offer of to the one who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone – and written on the stone a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.” (Revelation 2:17). Praise You for giving strength to Your children to stand up to wrong- even when everyone else caves in and  goes along with leaders who are wrong. Thank You for the example of Joshua and Caleb who were the only two who looked at the giant problem and called it small because they saw Your greatness (Numbers 14:6-9, 27). Joshua and Caleb’s thinking: Big God – small problem. Others thinking: Big Problem – small god. You are a Big and Powerful and Almighty Father and God whom we can depend on. Please help us to look up to how great You are so we do not make any compromises with those who do not love, or follow You. You are Awesome and we love and trust You. In your holy Son’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen       

1. The description of Christ: Like a cancerous tumor that penetrates and spreads through healthy flesh, worldly compromise allows lies to invade the truth, ultimately destroying it. Only the sharp scalpel in the hands of a meticulous surgeon can remove the cancer without killing the patient. Likewise, Messiah, the Great Physician, is qualified not only to diagnose, but also to successfully treat the disease of worldly compromise. The One who held the sharp, double-edged sword was the glorified Christ Himself (2:12c). The type of sword mentioned here is the rhomphaia, a weapon similar to the sword used by the Romans in battle. This image, as seen in John’s first vision of Messiah in 1:16, deliberately points back to the Greek translation of Isaiah 11:4 in the Septuagint. There Jesus is seen as the Judge who comes to strike the earth with the sword of His mouth; with the breath, pneuma or Spirit in the Greek, of His lips He will slay the wicked.

The Lord established Himself as the Judge who will make war against His enemies at the Second Coming (19:15). As Judge, He wields a sharp double-edged sword. The sword from His mouth, therefore, symbolizes the verbal pronouncement of judgment. Christ’s enemies, who will gather in the Valley of Jezreel against Him with their arsenal of weapons, will be destroyed simply by the words of His mouth (to see link click Ex – The Eight Stage Campaign of Armageddon). Paul used the same type of imagery to refer to the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17). Likewise, the writer to the Hebrews describes the word of God as being more powerful than a two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). Although referring to a different type of sword than the rhomphaia, the point is clear: Yeshua’s warfare against rebellion and evil will be swift and decisive.

2. The church: The book of Acts does not record the founding of the church in Pergamum (2:12a). According to Acts 16:7-8, Rabbi Sha’ul passed through Mysia, which is the area that Pergamum was located in, on his second missionary journey. But there is no indication that he preached or founded the body of believers there. It was probably founded during Paul’s ministry in Ephesus (Acts 19:10). Because it was immersed in pagan culture, it was continually enticed into sin and forced to worship Cesar as Lord.⁶⁹

3. The city: Again if you would travel the normal trade route, going north from Ephesus to Smyrna, you would continue north about 55 miles and come to Pergamum (2:12b). The name Pergamum means thoroughly married. It was the northernmost of the seven cities. The Roman writer Pliny called it “by far the most distinguished city in Asia.”⁷⁰ By the time John wrote Revelation, it had been Asia’s capital for almost 250 years. Today the city is called Bergama. The city was located on a huge granite hill that rose a thousand feet above the plain of the river Caicus and lays about 10 miles inland from the Aegean Sea.⁷¹

The last king of Pergamum, Attalus III, left his territory to Rome, and it was made the capital city of the Roman province of Asia. It was the first city of Asia to openly support emperor worship. In 29 BC a temple was dedicated “to the divine Augustus and the goddess Roma,” and thus became the heart of emperor worship at that time. Observance of this worship became a test of loyalty to Rome and refusal to take part in the daily cult was considered high treason, punishable by death. Thus, in other cities, believers were primarily in danger on the one day of the year they were required to offer sacrifices to the emperor; however, in Pergamum they were in danger every day.⁷²

Pergamum was also a center for many other deities. All of their pagan temples were located a thousand feet above the plain, with the main market place below. There was an amphitheater that could seat 10,000 people. There they had a huge, forty-foot altar dedicated to Zeus and a temple where they worshiped Athena.⁷³ The city was extremely spiritually corrupt.

It also had a great university with a library with over 200,000 hand written volumes. It was so impressive that it was later sent to Alexandria, Egypt as a gift from Mark Anthony to his lover, Queen Cleopatra of Egypt. Trying to build a library equal to Alexandra’s, the third century king of Pergamum tried to lure the librarian in Alexandria to his city. However, the plot was discovered and in retaliation, the Egyptian ruler refused to sell Pergamum any more papyrus. So out of necessity, the Pergamenes developed parchment, made of treated animal skins, for use as writing material. Though parchment was actually known from a thousand years earlier in Egypt, the Pergamenes were responsible for its widespread use in the ancient world. In fact, the word parchment may derive from a form of the word Pergamum. It was a very important city to the Romans.

There was also a great medical school there run by the priests, and what some have called the first great psychological school in the world. There they believed they could talk you into being well. There is a tunnel there, and you can walk through it today, with holes in the ceiling every twelve to fourteen feet. The disturbed person would stop under each one of the holes, and a doctor of psychological medicine would be on top of the tunnel, psychoanalyzing this person without being seen. By the time the person got to the end of the tunnel, the disturbed person would supposedly be healed. But if they weren’t quite certain that worked they could go over to the mineral baths. They boasted that anyone who came to Pergamum could have their problems solved. Thus, the believers there were living in a city that believed they could solve their own problems without the aide of Yeshua.

Pergamum was also the center of worship of Esculapius, the serpent-god of healing. Its idol was a staff with the snake curled around it. The serpent curled around a staff was the city emblem. They worshiped the snake and believed that he had the power to heal. Nonpoisonous snakes commonly roamed freely in the temple dedicated to him. Worshipers would either sleep or lay down on the temple’s floor hoping to be touched by one of the snakes, symbolically Esculapius himself, and thereby be healed. Such symbolism would undoubtedly remind the body of believers of Satan (12:9, 14-15, 20:2).⁷⁴ During the reign of Emperor Diocletian some believers who were stonecutters were executed for refusing to carve an image of Esculapius.⁷⁵ It was a very dangerous place to be a follower of Christ. Thus, for any or all of these reasons, Pergamum could justifiably be called the city where Satan had his throne. It had become the greatest center of pagan worship in the world at that time. Not only that, it was also the greatest advocate of emperor worship and, therefore, provided an unusually difficult environment for a church.

4. The commendation: Despite the difficult circumstances in which they found themselves, there were believers in Pergamum who courageously maintained their faith in Yeshua Messiah. Because the center of Ba’al worship had shifted from Babylon to Pergamum, He commended them for remaining true to His name even though they lived where Satan had his throne (2:13a). This is encouraging to us today because Jesus knows what you are going through. He knows where you live. He is omniscient and knows everything. But it’s also convicting because Christ challenged and convicted them about their compromises there. He also knows how we compromise our faith in this world that we live in. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13). Satan was ruling and dominating that city in a special way. In every area of life the gospel was being opposed. This church was ministering where the Adversary had his throne, where Esculapius, the serpent, was worshiped. Yet, they remained faithful.

Yet you remain true to My name. Even though Pergamum was characterized as the seat of Satan’s authority, the church didn’t try to escape the extreme pressure. Those believers held fast to the belief that Jesus was Lord. Not Cesar as lord, not the medical school as lord, not the psychology school as lord, not the temple worship system as lord, but Yeshua as Lord. They knew the battleground was the deity of Christ and they held firm. You did not renounce your faith in Me, even in the days of Antipas, My faithful witness, who was put to death in your city – where Satan lives (2:13b). Antipas was the bishop of Pergamum, ordained by the apostle John, and his faith got the attention of the priests of the medical medical school. The pagan priests went to the Roman governor and complained that the prayers of Antipas were driving their spirits out of the city and hindering the worship of their gods.  As punishment, the governor ordered Antipas to offer a sacrifice of wine and incense to a statue of the Roman emperor and declare that the emperor was “lord and god.”

Antipas refused and was sentenced to death on the Altar of Zeus. Most of that altar still survives today, and surrounding it are some of the world’s most famous marble friezes. They depict the Gigantomachy, or the battle between the Greek gods and the giants. At the top of the altar was a hollow bronze bull, designed for human sacrifice. Historians describe the method of execution suffered by Antipas. They would take the victim, place him inside the bull, and they would tie him in such a way that his head would go into the head of the bull. Then they would light a huge fire under the bull, and as the fire heated the bronze, the person inside of the bull would slowly begin to roast to death. As the victim would begin to moan and to cry out in pain, his cries would echo through the pipes in the head of the bull so it seemed to make the bull come alive. Even in the midst of the flames, the elderly bishop Antipas died praying for his church. The year was AD 92. A few years later, the apostle John wrote the book of Revelation.

In the 19th century, German engineers dismantled the altar and took it to Berlin. The so-called Throne of Satan went on display in the city’s Pergamon Museum in 1930, just in time to inspire one of the most brutal dictators the world has ever seen.

We need to be mindful that our own faithfulness to the Gospel opens us up to satanic attack. Satan is trying to wear you and I down so we don’t take a stand on anything. He wants our testimony to be wiped out by worldly compromise. In the midst of that hostile environment they had the courage to acknowledge Messiah as Lord publicly. Evidently a believer named Antipas would not compromise on that issue and was put to death. His name means against all. It probably meant that he had to take a stand against all satanic worship. What a wonderful thing to say about a true believer: Here is My faithful witness. Don’t you hope that Yeshua would say that about you?

5. The concern: Nevertheless, I have a few things against you. The problem in the church at Ephesus was false apostles, but the problem here was false teachers. In the first heresy, Jesus said: You have some people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality (2:14). Balaam, in Numbers 22-24, was a seer of Mesopotamia. He was hired by Balak, the king of Mo’ab, in league with the Midianites, to pronounce a prophetic curse of Isra’el. Although on four different occasions he tried to curse the Jews, but ADONAI took control of Balak so that on all four occasions he pronounced a blessing on the Jews instead. With the failure of pronouncing a curse on Isra’el, Balaam used a different tactic. He recommended that the women of Mo’ab and Midian entice the Jewish men sexually. Part of the enticement included the worship of their gods. The plot worked, Isra’el was cursed, and many died in a plague. The teaching of Balaam was encouragement of corruption by intermarriage, resulting in sexual immorality and idolatry. No doubt in the city of Pergamum, intermarriage with the pagan world was a real problem. Because civil and religious life were so intertwined, for believers to accept social engagements probably meant some involvement with paganism.⁷⁶

It didn’t take long for the practice of worldly compromise to become a pattern in their daily life. They even ended up accepting the Nicolaitans. In the second heresy, Jesus said: Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans (2:15). They were also involved in idolatry and immorality. The church at Ephesus hated the works of the Nicolaitans (2:6), but the church in Pergamum tolerated their teaching. They had not yet embraced their teachings, but they had allowed them in the church, and the leaven was beginning to work. While the Ephesians understood how to love the sinner and reject the sin, Pergamum chose to love the sinner and accept the sin! It was during this period of Church history that a distinction began to emerge between the clergy and the laity with different sets of laws and regulation for each group. A priestly order was set up in the Roman Catholic Church that further corrupted it and laid the foundation for the Dark Ages.

In the age of Constantine, the Church became thoroughly married to the state, which eventually resulted in sexual immorality and idolatry. “Christianity” became the state religion and all people all over the Roman Empire were baptized into it without any regard to personal faith. As a result, a massive amount of pagans entered the Church bringing many of their pagan practices with them. Idolatry entered the Church as these people added Yeshua to their many others gods. It planted the seeds for what later developed into the Roman Catholic Church. Thus, those false teachers were rightly condemned for believing in the teachings of Balaam (Hebrew meaning not of the people), and the Nicolaitans (Greek meaning conquering the people).⁷⁷ The spirit of compromise has been one of the greatest evils in the Church ever since the days of the little body of believers in Pergamum.

It was a short distance from worldly compromise to spiritual adultery and the church in Pergamum was nearing that point. But we face that same dilemma today: do we change the world or does the world change us. It is tempting to try to find “loopholes” in our faith to justify becoming one of the crowd. We can excuse our behavior on a moral technicality, or try to put a positive spin on our actions, but in the end, we still have to ask whether we are compromising our faith in order to reap the passing benefits of the world.⁷⁸

6. The command: The church in Pergamum had compromised doctrine and morality for the sake of peace and unity. They took the love and grace of Yeshua to an extreme. He, therefore, offered them an opportunity to get back on the right track. The only answer for their sinful behavior was to repent – they needed to turn around and go in a different direction. The worldly compromise had to end and they needed to remove all false teachings from their midst. If they did not, the consequences would be dire. Jesus said He would soon come to them and fight against them with the sword of His mouth (2:16). While tolerance can be a virtue, tolerating heretical teaching or sinful behavior is not a virtue but a sin. You cannot swim in the toilet and come up smelling like a rose.

7. The counsel: Jesus concludes His letter with a word of encouragement: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Yeshua appeared to Pergamum with a sharp, double-edged sword to cut through the subtle deceptions of Satan (2:17a). Messiah knows that Satan’s primary strategy is to chip away at our faith little by little so that over time he can separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35) without our even recognizing it. But the Lord promises that when we make right choices, rejecting the temptations of the world, we will receive heavenly riches instead – the hidden manna and a white stone with a new name written on it.

The promise to those in Pergamum who were martyred was strikingly unique. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna (2:17b). The Bible shows us that God fed Isra’el in the wilderness with bread from heaven (Exodus 16:33; John 6:31-35), which was called manna and that a golden jar was filled with manna and put into the ark that it might be kept for future generations (Exodus 16:15 and 31). The rabbis teach that in the third heaven “mills grind manna for the righteous” (Chagigah 12b). According to Second Baruch 29:8, in the Messianic Kingdom “the treasury of manna will again descend from on high, and those alive then will eat of it.” When the First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, Jeremiah (Second Maccabees 2:4-8) or an angel (Second Baruch 6:5-10) rescued the ark of the Covenant with its jar filled with manna, and it is being kept for the days of the Messiah, when the LORD’s people will eat it once again. John uses the language of such traditions to show that believers in Jesus will be admitted to the messianic Banquet, the marriage feast of the Lamb (19:9).

I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it (2:17c). In the ancient world, white stones had a variety of uses. A white stone signaled acquittal by a jury, a black stone condemnation. In addition, it was a token of admission, membership or recognition.⁷⁹ People would be given a white stone as a symbol of their acceptance. Thus, a white stone points to our being found innocent of our sins because of His substitutionary death on the cross and our acceptance into the family of God. This would have been particularly comforting to those first century believers facing martyrdom.

The Greek word for new, kainos, does not mean new in contrast to old in time, but new in the sense of becoming something different. As believers, when we die we will become something new because we will exchange our bodies of corruption for resurrection bodies. Our standing before ADONAI cannot change because we were justified for all time at conversion. But the Bible teaches that will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed (First Corinthians 15:52). So this new name will serve as each believer’s admission pass into heaven. It will uniquely reflect God’s special love for you, if you have accepted Him as Lord of your life.

Jesus, bring your sword to cut away the subtle compromises that tie me to the empty riches of this world. I want so badly to be satisfied and nourished by You, even if the world can’t recognize my success.⁸⁰ In the name of Him who has the sharp, double-edged sword, amen. He is able.

The worldly believers at Pergamum picture the Church during the Age of Constantine from AD 312 to 606. Satan learned from his attack on the church of Smyrna that persecutions only caused the Church to flourish and continue in a perpetual state of revival. After Diocletian’s unsuccessful attack on the Church, Constantine battled for the throne with a general named Maxentius. During the battle, Constantine, already attracted to Christianity, allegedly saw a vision of a fiery cross in the sky and heard a voice saying, “In this sign conquer.” Constantine’s rise to the throne was not without controversy, and it had far-reaching effects on believers during the fourth, fifth and sixth centuries.

Constantine believed this vision was a message from the Lord that if he would embrace the Christian religion, he would be able to conquer his enemies. He supposedly accepted the Christian faith and declared himself to be its defender and protector. There are some people who accept his profession as a bona fide conversion; however, a careful examination of his life indicates that he either had a poor concept of what it meant to follow Jesus, or he had never been truly born again by the Spirit of God.

When Constantine became emperor of Rome, he became the virtual emperor of the Western world. As the self-styled “protector of the Christian faith,” he issued an edict of toleration for Christianity and showered many favors on the Church. The government provided money for the operation of the Church, and many of the pagan temples were taken over by believers. To please the emperor, these leaders adopted customs that were parallel to pagan practices. In fact, during the succeeding three centuries, many practices of pagan origin were adopted. One compromise led to another, and what seemed at the start to be a great blessing ended up a great curse because it robbed the true believers of their evangelistic fervor.

The influence of paganism in the Church increased over the years little by little, step by step. The Church began to shroud itself in “mystery” and ritualism that had a strong resemblance to Babylonian mysticism. The Chaldean tau, which was the elevation of a large “T” on the end of a pole, was changed to the sign of the cross. The rosary of pagan origin was introduced. Celibacy of the priest and nuns, which has no scriptural basis, found a counterpart in the chaste virgins of paganism was conceived. Here is a partial list of unscriptural changes introduced from 312 to 600. Gradually, these changes became more prominent than the teachings of the Church.

AD 312 Prayers for the dead

AD 312 Making the sign of the cross

AD 375 Worship of saints and angels

AD 394 The Mass was first celebrated

AD 431 The worship of Mary began

AD 500 Priests began dressing differently than laity

AD 526 Extreme use of rubbing or sprinkling oil during a religious ceremony

AD 593 The doctrine of purgatory was introduced

AD 600 The Mass started to be conducted in Latin

AD 600 Prayers started to be directed at Mary

From AD 312 on, the Church became more and more Roman and less and less messianic in its practices. Before then, the movement of Yeshua was an independent collection of local churches working together whenever possible, but not dominated by a central authority. The name Pergamum literally means thoroughly married, and as the body of Christ became thoroughly married to the Roman Empire and elevated to a place of acceptance, it declined in spiritual blessing and power.⁸¹ In reality, it began to commit spiritual adultery. We will see this when we visit the next church down the road, traveling southeast to Thyatira.

The Church at Smyrna
2: 8-11

The church at Smyrna DIG: What problems is this church facing? How can they be both rich and poverty stricken at the same time? What is the crown of life promised to them? What is the meaning of the second death? Why is Jesus known as the First and the Last? What does this passage teach you about suffering?

REFLECT: Do you ever fear pain and hardship? Are you wondering if your struggles will ever end? Do you feel anxious about what tragedies or trials may be just around the corner, ready to shatter the comfort of your relatively stable and predictable life? Do you believe that Yeshua knows every detail of your circumstance? When asked if she believed in God, Cassie Bernall said, “Yes.” What would you say?

Regardless of race, nationality, ethnicity, gender, social status, age, or religion, all of us share the language of suffering. We may not be able to relate to another culture’s music, taste in food or humor, yet we all understand pain. In that sense we are all united by the experiences of hardship, heartache, affliction, sadness and grief.

For believers, the language of suffering has a unique and profound dialect, often misunderstood by foreigners to the faith. We believe that all suffering has a specific purpose in ADONAI’s sovereign plan. The apostle Paul said it this way: We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him . . . to be conformed, literally pressed under great pressure, to the likeness of His Son (Romans 8:28a-29a). Suffering speaks to the soul like nothing else. This isn’t intended to say that persecution is a thing of beauty or that the wicked are in fact good (Psalm 73). More accurately, believers know that in spite of their pain, the Lord can reverse the intended outcome and bring about blessing.

Suffering and hardship often seem unbearable, but they have a way of purifying God’s people. Maybe that is why we’re never far from life’s trials. When the tsunami of hardship rushes at us, we must stand firm on the foundation of Yeshua Messiah rather than being washed away with despair and hopelessness.

Throughout its history, it has been a paradoxical truth that the more believers have been persecuted, the greater has been their purity and strength. For decades, the atheistic communist governments in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe suppressed churches. Today believers continue to be persecuted in Muslim countries. They are forbidden to openly proclaim their faith. Many are imprisoned and some martyred. Yet the Church has not only survived, it has flourished.

The Bible links the persecution of believers with their spiritual strength. Consider it pure joy, my brothers, wrote James, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:2-4). In addition, the apostle Peter encouraged suffering believers with the truth that after you have suffered a little while, the Messiah Himself will restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast (First Peter 5:10). Our faith is forged through the furnace of adversity.

The church in Smyrna displayed the power and purity that comes from successfully enduring persecution. It has been said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. Well, persecution had purified and purged this church from sin and affirmed the faith of its members. It became an inspiration to believers everywhere. Hypocrites do not stay to face persecution, because false believers do not want to experience the pain. Trials and persecution strengthen and refine true faith, but expose and destroy false faith.

Scripture makes it perfectly clear that persecution and trials are an inevitable and essential part of a life of faith (Acts 14:22; Second Timothy 3:12). The example of that church instructs all others on how to properly respond to persecution when the time comes.⁵³ Job said: Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him (Job 13:15), the church in Smyrna lived those words out.

1. The description of Christ: As you read the letters to the churches, notice the way the Messiah describes Himself at the beginning of each letter. It will be a clue to the theme of the letter and what each church needed to understand in order to receive the ultimate victory over its struggles. To this church He described Himself as the first and the last, who died and came to life again (2:8c). His very title emphasized His victory over death. Yeshua understood the hardships they faced because He Himself was dead and now is alive. He had passed through suffering and death and He was assuring the believers in Smyrna that He would take them through as well. Earlier, Jesus said to a distraught Martha after learning of the death of her brother Lazarus: Your brother will rise again. I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in Me will never die (John 11:23-26). Jesus’ resurrection proves that there is life beyond the grave, and by His own death and resurrection, He proves that we can be there with Him.⁵⁴ The Lord has conquered death (John 14:19), and later in the book these believers at Smyrna would learn that there would be no more death or mourning or crying or pain in the New Jerusalem, for the old order of things would pass away (21:4). He was the first and the last. This would have been tremendously encouraging to the church at Smyrna facing death.

Dear Heavenly Father, How Awesome You are! Praise You that You have power over life and death. Praise You that death could not hold You (Matthew 28:7, Revelation 1:18). Thank You for Your words of encouragement in Your description of Yourself to Smyrna, (He) who died and came to life again. Even when staring at death – we have a secure hope because of our firm foundation of trust in Your Almighty power. Rather than fearing death, we can focus on “Death is swallowed up in victory” and But thanks be to God, who keeps giving us the victory through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah! (First Corinthians 15:54, 57). We rejoice knowing that death to our earthly bodies will transform into heavenly bodies (Second Corinthians 5:1-4) in God’s heavenly kingdom where there will no longer be death, sadness, crying or pain but great peace, joy and eternal love! Praise You for taking away our fear of death, and turning it into longing to be with You forever in your perfect eternal home. We love You and look forward to living with You forever in heaven, with all our problems and trials gone and living in peace and joy forevermore! In your holy Son’s name and power of resurrection. Amen

If Messiah were only God, we might perceive Him as aloof, separated from our human experiences of suffering and unable to understand or relate to our desperate plight. If Christ were only a man, His death would have been nothing more than just another martyrdom of a good man. He would have been a weak victim of human tragedy, unable to conquer death and powerless to triumph over the grave. But because He is the first (existing before anything) and the last (who will live for eternity) fully God and fully man, we can know that He shares in our pain and not merely stares at our suffering. The writer to the Hebrews said it like this: Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16).

2. The city: The name of the city came from one of its most important commercial products, means myrrh. The root of this word means bitterness. Myrrh is an ingredient in perfume (Psalm 45:8), it was used as one of the holy anointing oils of the priesthood (Ex 30:23), it was used for the purification of women (Esther 2:12) and an embalming spice for the dead (Jn 19:39). It was brought as a gift to the baby Yeshua, by one of the Magi, indicating that He was born to die (Mt 2:11). But there is a very interesting thing about myrrh, it has to be crushed to produce its fragrance. It was always a sign of bitterness and sorrow. The very name of the city smacks of death and crushing oppression (2:8b).

It was a large and wealthy city that was the archrival of Ephesus. In fact, it was constantly competing with Ephesus for title, “First city of Asia.” In John’s day it was a thriving city with a famous stadium, library and a diverse population of perhaps half-million people. It enjoyed great natural advantages, including an excellent harbor at the end of a well protected gulf. It was thus the natural outlet for the trade of the rich valley of the Hermus regions and beyond.⁵⁵ The Romans called it the beauty of Asia, and when you drive into Smyrna, even today, you can see why. There is a sloping hill that goes up to a plateau right behind this beautiful seaport city. This city had a long-standing loyalty to Rome even before it became a mighty empire. It was one of the first cities to engage in worship of the Roman emperor and it won the honor of building a temple to the Emperor Tiberius. In Yochanan’s time, they continued to honor Cesar as lord of all. Consequently, Smyrna was deeply involved in emperor worship.

There was also a very large population of secular Jews in Smyrna that opposed the church there. They had considerable influence over the civil authorities in Smyrna, so much so, that they acted more like Romans than Jews of faith. They did, in fact, work actively and purposefully against the cause of Christ. Though the secular Jews in the Roman Empire were legally excused from sacrificing to the emperor, those who believed in Messiah enjoyed no such exemption after the synagogues threw them out. Therefore, believers in Smyrna faced persecution from both secular Jews and Gentiles. On the one hand, the Gentiles devoted themselves to emperor worship. On the other hand, the secular Jews were devoted to attempting to fulfill the Torah in their own strength. This mixture of Roman patriots and Jewish zealots put those believers between a rock and a hard place.

3. The church: To the angel of the church in Smyrna write (2:8a). In the midst of their suffering, Messiah came to this church with a message of hope. The Master’s timely message reminded them that God gives strength to those who suffer and rewards those who endure. The benefits of perseverance hold true in this life, but also in the life to come. When and by whom it was founded, we do not know. We assume that it was the fruit of Rabbi Sha’ul’s missionary work in Asia that was centered in Ephesus (Acts 19:10). At the time of John’s writing, the believers there had endured the fires of pain and the suffering of persecution, and their sorrows would soon increase. Their future looked bleak. However, the church was healthy for the letter contains no word of criticism.⁵⁶ They weren’t suffering hardship because they did anything wrong. On the contrary, in spite of their poverty due to persecution, they were spiritually rich. The city of Smyrna was dedicated to Cesar, but the believers in Smyrna were dedicated to Christ.

4. The commendation: Imagine yourself sitting among the gathering of the Lord’s people in Smyrna on a cold morning before sunrise. A little lamp-lit room houses what was left of a small group of beaten and harassed believers. The once-lively crowd now displays obvious gaps where people once sat. Some have fallen away under persecution. Others have seemingly vanished into thin air – arrested, exiled, or executed. Some risked their lives just to meet that morning to pray, sing hymns, and to read the Scriptures. All of you are outcasts, desperate for a word of encouragement from the messenger sitting in your midst. In the dim light the scroll is unrolled and, in quiet confidence, the word from Yeshua is read to them: I know your afflictions and your poverty – yet you are rich (2:9a). He knew first hand the kind of suffering and pain they endured as rejected outcasts. The word afflictions always means pressure from outside. This is like going to your job or community and facing people who care little about your God or, for that matter, little about you personally. The apostle Paul said it this way: We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed (Second Corinthians 4:8). Remember what Smyrna means? Crushed so that the aroma will come out. Those believers in Smyrna were being crushed by the culture there. They were being killed and persecuted, actually shunned by the culture there. They were fired from their jobs or couldn’t get jobs; people would not buy their products that they sold. They had their properties confiscated. So they were poor financially because of their stand for Jesus, yet, Messiah tells them in this letter, they were rich in the things that would last for eternity. Jesus Christ became poor that we could be spiritually rich. James reminds us that God has chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promises to those who love Him (James 2:5).

Secondly, Christ said: I know the slander of those who say they are Jews but are not (2:9b). Here, a literal understanding of this verse points to the fact that these were Gentiles who pretended to be Jews. Nowhere in the New Covenant are unbelieving Jews called non-Jews, although Romans 2:28-29 is sometimes mistakenly used as evidence to the contrary. This same expression . . . those who claim to be apostles but are not is found in Revelation 2:2. They were not apostles and they here were not Jews. In the first century the Jewish religion was highly regarded and many Gentiles preferred a short-cut, reaping the advantage of Jewish identification without the burden of adherence to the Torah. Paul had already encountered such as those in Galatia (Gal 6:12-13). A true Jew would recognize God, yet these Gentiles, who pretended to be Jews, were so enmeshed in the political life of Smyrna that they honored Cesar as lord of all. Although they were outwardly part of the local synagogue, they cared little for what ADONAI wrote or thought.

Sixty years after this letter was written, those Gentiles joined with other citizens of Smyrna to form a mob and burned Polycarp, who was the pastor of the church there, alive. He was eighty-six years old. As a young man he was discipled by the apostle John, and little did he know that sixty years later God would call upon him to fulfill the message to that band of believers: Be faithful, even to the point of death. This is what those Gentiles who led the mob, cried out with uncontrollable wrath as the flames engulfed Polycarp, “This is the teacher of Asia. The father of the church. The destroyer of our gods, who teaches many not to offer sacrifice, nor to worship them.”

Without exception this phenomenon of Gentiles imagining that they were Jews when they are not has led to strange doctrines and practices. Such Gentiles were not accepted by Jews as Jewish; nor as this verse shows, were they accepted by Christians as Christian. Isolated and self defensive, they can easily become prideful, neither obeying the Torah nor showing brotherly love to Yeshua’s true followers. It is easy to see why Jesus does not regard them as harmlessly neutral but pegs them as a synagogue of Satan (2:9c).⁵⁷

5. The concern: Although they suffered physical hardship and poverty, the believers at Smyrna clung to their vast spiritual wealth. Fittingly, this church, along with those in Philadelphia, received no rebuke in its letter from the Lord.

6. The command: Brace yourself for more suffering to come. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer, even if it took harsher forms of imprisonment and capital punishment, as it often did. He would be there through their trials, saying: Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me (Hebrews 13:5b-6). The word suffer here is in the present tense, so their time of suffering would be intense but short. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you (2:10a). In the ancient world prisons were a place where the accused awaited execution.⁵⁸ It would be a divine test to distinguish true believers from false believers.⁵⁹ And you will suffer persecution for ten days (2:10b). The ten days are symbolic of ten Roman emperors who persecuted the Church from AD 96 to 305: Domitian (96), Trajan (98-117), Hadrian (117-138), Antonius Pius (138-161), Marcus Aurelius (161-180), Septimus Severus (193-211), Maximun (235-238), Decius (249-251), Valarian (251-260), and Diocletian (284-305). Diocletian is considered the worst emperor in Rome’s history and the greatest enemy of those of faith. He led a violent attempt to destroy the Bible from the face of the earth. Under his leadership many Roman cities had public burnings of the Scriptures.⁶⁰

Jesus said: Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). The word to give rest means to refresh or revive, as from labor or a long journey. Yeshua Messiah promises spiritual rest to everyone who comes to Him in repentance and humble faith. He will never leave us or forsake us, He will be with us forever. We have nothing to fear. Christ does not get rid of the trouble; He is with us through the trouble.

7. The counsel: Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life (2:10c). The crown of life is not a promise of a special reward for martyrs. God has promised this crown to all those who remain faithful to Him when under persecution. Blessed is the man who perseveres under trail, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him (James 1:12). The figure of the crown is not borrowed from royalty, but from the festivity of athletic games that were held in the large arena in Smyrna. Contestants there strove to receive an earthly crown that would not last, but Rabbi Sha’ul reminds the believers in Smyrna, that even though they suffered physical death, they would receive a crown that will last forever, eternal crown of life (First Corinthians 9:25).⁶¹

Does your faith in the resurrection have an impact on your everyday life? You may not be called upon to die or go to prison for your faith. Still, every day we face different kinds of “death.” There is a kind of death involved when we face the choice of holding on to or letting go of a comfort in our life that tends to weaken our faith or lead us into temptation. There is also the death that comes when physical illness takes away not only our health but our confidence or independence as well.

Whenever we face the stripping away of such things, is our response fear or anger? Yeshua understands. Remember, He has walked that path before us and calls us to let Him walk with us now. He longs to lead us through difficulties, great or small. As we cling to Messiah and allow Him to bring life out of these little deaths, we will find our confidence in Him erasing our fears. Our faith in the resurrection, put into practice in this way, will prepare us for eternal life with Him. Like the victorious believers in Smyrna, we will not be hurt at all by the second death.⁶²

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the seven churches. There was a clear chain of command regarding those messages to the seven churches. The glorified Messiah gave the message, the angel to each group of believers guarded and assured the arrival of the message, John wrote the message, then the Spirit spoke the message to listening ears and open hearts.⁶³ He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death (2:11). This is the first mention of the phrase second death in the Bible, but the concept of future judgment for unbelievers is clear in the TaNaKh. It is associated with the destination of the unsaved after their bodily resurrection (Dani’el 12:2). Those who overcome – true believers in Yeshua – will not be hurt by the second death (Dani’el 12:3; Revelation 20:6). Unbelievers, however, will suffer a second death after they are thrown into the lake of fire (to see link click Fp – The Lake of Fire is the Second Death).

The promise of eternal life (see my commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer) with no possibility of experiencing eternal death and damnation was meant to instill concrete hope in the Smyrnean believers. No matter how severe the persecution would grow and no matter what the church at Smyrna had to endure, His promises would give them strength to persevere. And we need to remember that the same promises remain true for us toady.

On April 20th, 1999, Cassie Bernall was sitting in the library of Columbine High School, in Littleton, Colorado, when two white neo-Nazi racists burst in and began shooting everyone in sight. Cassie stood up and began to pray. One of the killers pointed a shotgun in Cassie’s face and asked her, “Do you believe in God?” Cassie stood face to face with her killer and said “Yes”. One of the killers then said to her,” Why?” and then immediately shot her in the face, without giving her a chance to answer.

Cassie died a true martyr for her faith. She could have begged for her life, in hopes that her killers would take pity on her and maybe spare her. But she refused to do that. Cassie did not give her killer the satisfaction of seeing her beg and plead for her life. She knew where she would be going and was faithful, even to the point of death. Cassie proved that she loved Yeshua so much, that she was willing to die for her faith in Him. Today, many say they love Jesus, but if asked to prove their faith like Cassie or the believers in Smyrna did, many would back down, cry, and beg for their lives. Cassie entered the Columbine High School library to study during lunch. She left a martyr.

Lord, in your humanity, you have experienced suffering and death. Let me not feel abandoned when I face the same. Instead, help me to take hold of Your hand and walk with You into the next life.⁶⁴ In the name of the First and the Last, who died and came to life again, amen. You are faithful.

The persecuted believers at Smyrna are a picture of the Church during the Age of Roman persecution from AD 96 to 305. During the second and third centuries this persecution age saw thousands of believers brought into the amphitheaters of Rome to be fed to hungry lions while multitudes of spectators cheered. Many were crucified. Others were covered with animal skins and tortured to death by wild dogs. It was not unheard of for them to be covered with tar and set on fire to serve as human torches. They were also boiled in oil and burned at the stake, as was Polycarp in the city of Smyrna itself in AD 156. One historian has estimated that during this period, five million believers were martyred for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

This period was probably the greatest time of persecution the Church has ever known. Satan unleashed a violent attack on it during that time in an effort to obliterate it. For it became evident to him that the faithful preaching of the gospel during the Apostolic Age had become a serious threat to his worldwide godless empire. But he was unsuccessful and God was victorious. The gospel was preached around the world.

The ancient serpent, however, learned a valuable lesson. The more he persecuted the Church, the more it overcame the one condemning characteristic of the apostolic age, that of having left its first love. Not one word of condemnation was spoken to this body of believers. Consequently, this age ended with the easing of persecution. Then the devil used what turned out to be one of his most effective weapons, making the world enticing enough that the Body of Messiah would fall in love with it.⁶⁵ We will see this next tactic in our travels as we next visit the church up the road in Pergamum.

The Church at Ephesus
2: 1-7

The church at Ephesus DIG: What do you know about the church at Ephesus (see Acts 18:18 to 19:41)? What good characterized these believers? How might its strengths have been the cause of its failure? What do you think their worship was like? Who were the Nicolaitans? What is repentance? Why was it necessary for the Ephesian church?

REFLECT: Of the positive qualities mentioned about this church, which best describes you? Your church? Your messianic synagogue? Why? Is there anything that can be substituted for Yeshua’s love in your life? Is there any way in which you have left your first love for Him? Has something or someone else taken His place? Has God removed your testimony? What secrets have you found to keep that love alive?

Today, believing in ADONAI can mean just about anything. It has been reduced to believing in practically everything, yet at the same time, it means nothing . . . because it means so little. But though the world may be confused about what a believer in Jesus is, the Bible is clear. They are those who are united to God through Christ. They have repented of their sins and are saved by faith alone in Yeshua Messiah. As a result, ADONAI has forgiven their sins and made them His children and transformed them into new creatures indwelt by God the Holy Spirit.

Many things characterize a believer in Jesus, but the foremost characteristic is the love of God. When challenged to name the single greatest commandment of the Torah, Jesus replied: Love ADONAI your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37). Those who love Yeshua Messiah are blessed (Ephesians 6:24), and those who do not are cursed (First Corinthians 16:22). But while the love of God will always be present in true believers, it can fluctuate in its intensity. Believers will not always love Jesus Christ will all their heart, soul and mind, which is a sin. There is no better illustration in Scripture of the seriousness of allowing love for Yeshua to wane than this letter to the church in Ephesus.⁴⁰

1. The description of Christ: Although He is not specifically named, it is obvious that this is Jesus Christ as He was depicted in the vision of 1:9-20. It could only be the Messiah who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands (2:1c). In fact, Christ identifies Himself to each of the first five churches by using a phrase from that vision (2:8 with 1:18; 2:12 with 1:16; 2:18 with 1:14-15 and 3:1 with 1:16). That reinforces the truth that He is the author of the letters. They are His direct word, through the apostle John, to those local congregations, to other churches like them in years beyond, even all the way down to us today. The Messiah walked among the seven churches in Asia Minor at that time. He was in full control, and those first century believers had nothing to fear. Not even Domitian.

2. The church: To the angel of the church in Ephesus write (2:1a). Perhaps no church in history had as rich a testimony and heritage as this one. The name Ephesus means desired one. The balance of authority and ministry had shifted from Jerusalem to Ephesus after Jerusalem had been destroyed in AD 70. Ephesus was then the primary center of Church teaching and practice. It was a great church that began in the home of Aquila and Priscilla who had come there with Paul (Acts 18:18-19). Actually the churches at Corinth, Ephesus and Rome all began in the home of Aquila and Priscilla. Paul spent about three years in Ephesus (Acts 20:31) and it became the center of evangelism for all of Asia Minor (Acts 19:10). There is little doubt that the other six churches in Asia Minor were founded as a result of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus. Later, the ministry there was carried on by Paul’s companion Timothy (First Timothy 1:3), and according to fathers of the faith, Irenaeus and Eusebius, after Paul’s death, by the apostle John. No doubt John was leading the Ephesian community of believers when he was arrested and exiled to Patmos.

3. The city: While not its capital (Pergamum was the province’s official capital), Ephesus (2:1b) was the most important city in Asia Minor. In fact, since the Roman governor lived there, it could be argued that Ephesus was the de facto capital. Its population in New Covenant times was estimated between 250,000 and 500,000 people. Situated at the mouth of the Cayster River on a gulf of the Aegean Sea, it had a great seaport on its harbor. From its elevation of 450 feet it dominated the view, the most striking and picturesque feature of the city.⁴¹ Four great trade routes converged on Ephesus, as a result, it was called the metropolis of Asia and the Romans felt it was the greatest center of trade east of Rome. The city’s theater, where Rabbi Sha’ul and his companions were dragged (Acts 19:29), seated some 25,000 people. Athletic events, rivaling the Olympic games, were held in a stadium there. As a free city, it was granted self-government by Rome and no Roman troops were stationed there. It also served as a legal city in which the Romans tried important cases and dispensed justice on a regular basis.⁴²

It was also a religious center. The cult of emperor worship was very strong there, and temples were built for Claudius, Hadrian and Severus. No matter what gods they worshiped, each individual was required to swear allegiance to Cesar as the supreme lord over all. It was also known for its magical arts and was one of the centers of occultism. It had long been the home of the Mother Goddess, who was identified by the Greeks as Artemis, or Diana in Latin (Acts 19:35). To this goddess was dedicated a huge temple that was known as one of the wonders of the ancient world with a tree of “salvation” in the midst of it. About four times the size of the Parthenon, it was 425 feet long, 200 feet wide, and 60 feet high. It had 127 marble pillars, 36 of them overlaid with gold and jewels. Because its inner shrine was supposedly sacred, this temple served as one of the most important banks in the Mediterranean world. The temple also provided sanctuary from criminals. Further, the sale of little idols used in the worship of Artemis provided an important source of income for the city (Acts 19:24). Every spring a month-long festival was held in honor of the goddess, complete with athletic, dramatic and musical events.⁴³

The worship of Artemis was unspeakably evil. Sexual immorality was rampant in Ephesus, and it was one of the most immoral cities of the ancient world. This temple also became the site of the worship of the goddess Roma and of the Roman Emperor.⁴⁴ Thousands of priestesses, who were little more than ritual prostitutes, played a major role in the worship of Artemis. The temple grounds were a chaotic scene made up of priests, prostitutes, bankers, criminals, musicians, dancers and frenzied, hysterical worshipers. The philosopher Heraclitus was called the weeping philosopher because he said no one could live in Ephesus and not weep over its immorality. Huddled in the midst of such pagan idolatry that characterized Ephesus, was a group of faithful believers. It was to them that the Messiah addressed the first of His seven letters.⁴⁵

4. The commendation: I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. The Greek word for hard work is kopos, which means toil that exhausts. Perseverance means endurance. Despite their difficult circumstances, they were faithful to ADONAI and had toiled long and hard for the gospel. But hard work can never be substituted for the love of the Lord in their lives, in my life or in your life. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false (2:2). Apparently the Ephesian church had the ability to discern spiritual truth. They could recognize false teachers and teachings. Many years earlier Paul had told them: I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears (Acts 20:29-31). False doctrine would be on its way and they fought against it. They believed in theological truth and sound doctrine. They tested the spirits to see if they were from God (First John 4:1-3). The Ephesian church did not tolerate wicked men. But as great as its doctrinal stand was, there was something fundamentally wrong with them.

In the second commendation, Yeshua says: You have persevered and have endured hardships for My name, and have not grown weary (2:3). This problem with false teachers was not a temporary one; the problem had been ongoing. Because they refused to bow-the-knee to the goddess Diana or the images of the emperor, they found themselves maligned, slandered, boycotted, and abused. Like the Jewish merchants in Berlin in the 1930s, the believers in Ephesus would have been objects of physical violence, social ostracism, and economic repression. Nonetheless, they endured; they bore up under the load and had persevered and endured hardships for Christ’s sake for over thirty-five years. Now you would think that it would have been an expression of love. Yet according to this 2:4 it was not. It was a strange paradox, but they had left their first love even though they had endured hardships for the sake of the Lord. Nothing can substitute for our relationship with Jesus. Absolutely nothing.

Dear Heavenly Father, What great love You have shown for Your children! You suffered excruciating pain on the cross in order to be the Lamb of God (John 1:29) and to bear sin’s punishment (2 Cor 5:21). You not only forgive our sins when we repent (1 Jn 1:9); but also: As far as the east is from the west, so far have You removed our transgressions from us. (Psalms 103:12). You did not just write about love – You demonstrated it (Romans 5:8). Good deeds, even bearing up under persecution, is cold and empty without a heart of love behind it. You are love (1 John 4:8)! Love is what Your children desire from You and what You desire from Your children. Please help us remember to make time to just love on you by praising you and sitting in Your presence and adoring you! We praise You for your wonderful characteristics of holiness (Leviticus 11:45), love (Psalms 63:6, 103:17; First John 4:16), compassion (Psalms 103:13), kindness (Rom 2:4, Titus 3:4), righteousness (Psalms 103:13), greatness (Psalms 104:1), power ( Psalms 29:4,66:3; Mt 24:30, 26:64; Lk 1:37), infinite understanding (Psalms 147:5), living in our hearts by Your Sprit (Romans 5:5, Gal 4:6  1 John 4:8-15), never leaving Your children (Heb 13:5) and Yeshua preparing (Jn 14:1-3) a home in heaven of perfect peace and great joy for all who love and follow You as Lord and Savior (Rom 10:9-10). We love You and desire to show our love for You. In the holy name of Your Son and His power of resurrection. Amen

Christ’s third commendation related to doctrinal discernment. The Ephesians sniffed out, rejected and put those so-called “apostles” to the test. They took their stand against a group of false teachers active in Asia Minor in the late first century. Jesus said: You have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate (2:6). The word Nicolaitans comes from two Greek words, one laos, meaning the people, and the other, nikao, meaning to conquer. We get our word laity from the last part of that word. It seemed to be an effort to usurp the rightful authority of the church leaders and to rule over the people.

Yochanan had sent out itinerant teachers to his converts in Asia Minor and they were rebuffed by a dictatorial leader named Diotrephes, who even excommunicated believers who showed hospitality to John’s messengers. So, John communicated: I wrote to you, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome his brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church (Third John 9-10). The Nicolaitans were false prophets who came into these early churches with the purpose of usurping the authority of Paul and even Christ Himself. To accomplish this, they claimed to have divine powers, even working pseudo-miracles. The Nicolaitans were eloquent and persuasive men. Peter said they would introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord, being able to exploit the flock with stories they had made up by mouthing empty, boastful words (Second Peter 2:1, 3, 18). By such means these conquers of the people tried to change the grace of our God into a license for immorality (see the commentary on Jude, to see link click Ah – Godless People Have Secretly Slipped In). But the Ephesians were well taught in doctrine, by Paul, by Timothy, and then by John. They recognized those false prophets and they hated their practices. Therefore, Yeshua commended them for it.

This danger was not unique to the early churches, and Jesus desires that all believers watch for, and reject, the practices of the Nicolaitans. The dangers are just as real today. False prophets, pseudo-miracles, people conquerors, false teachers who deny the deity of Christ, antinomian teachers who say that God’s grace covers deliberately immoral behavior, men and women who take authority to themselves that the Messiah never intended, are at least as great a problem in the Church today as it was then. The glimpse of Christ’s stand against the sin and the embrace of the sinner should give us confidence to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), while letting ADONAI alone judge the world (First Corinthians 5:9-12).⁴⁶

5. The concern: Like an unexpected twist in the road during a pleasant drive through the countryside, Messiah interrupted His commendations of the Ephesians with one abrupt word: But. The small Greek word alla indicates a sharp contrast, and in the case of Ephesus, it was very significant: But I hold this against you . . . You have left your first love (2:4). There was something missing in their lives. They got busy with other things. How did this happen? Martha could certainly be commended for her faithfulness in the kitchen. But the Lord told her that she had left out the very best thing. Mary sat at the feet of Jesus in relationship with Him, and Yeshua said that was better than all of Martha’s busy work. She had settled for something good, instead of something better. The first thing that goes in the believer’s life is their first love. You can still be active and accomplish a great deal for ADONAI. But the first thing that goes is the love for Jesus Himself. We are all grateful for what He has done. We love Him for His death on the cross. We love Him that He rose from the dead. We love Messiah in the sense that one day He is going to come back and we are going to see Him. However, there is more here than loving Him for what He has done . . . past tense. You have left your first love. Was Yeshua your first love? If anything gets in the way of your love for Him, He wants it out of the way.

We are not told why this happened to the Ephesians. Some have said they were too busy heresy hunting. They were very interested in orthodoxy. However, I have known people who are very orthodox, but they held their theological views with less than a loving attitude. To them, it is more important to win their theological argument than anything else. Maybe they were just careless. This happens sometimes, we can become careless about our faith if we are not careful. This erosion doesn’t happen overnight. No one suddenly wakes up one day and says, “I don’t love Jesus anymore. I’m tired of Yeshua and I’m finished with Him.” We wake up one day and find ourselves somewhat distant in our relationship with Messiah. It doesn’t happen like that. It happens over the years – after hardship, questions you can’t answer, trials that don’t seem to have any purpose, the loss of hope, or the loss of a loved one. To avoid this we need to constantly remind ourselves of what Jesus Christ has done for us. That is to say, every day we need to renew our faith.

In the midst of the Ephesians’ hard work and endurance for Christ, their love for Him began to fade. Thirty-five years earlier, Paul had written the church in Ephesus, commending them for their love (Ephesians 1:15-16, 6:23-24). Ephesus means darling. Think of the love between two newlyweds. The effort to set up a household, adjust to one another’s habits, and develop a new work schedule often occurs under difficult situations, yet first love causes the couple to remember these early times with humor and tenderness. The Ephesians had lost that kind of love. It wasn’t enough that they continued through the motions. Jesus wanted more than their doctrinal discerning deeds. He wanted the devotion and adoration of their hearts.

Don’t we all know “religious” people who seem burdened and grim as they try to please ADONAI? They are so busy doing the King’s business, that they have no time for the King. Perhaps they have lost some of that first love that brings joy into even difficult tasks. Maybe they need to make some adjustments in the way they live, in order to renew and nurture their love for God. King David said it best: Restore to me the joy of Your salvation (Psalm 51:12a).

What about you? Are there moments when you can pursue and allow Yeshua’s presence to fill your heart? It might be a reflective moment after services, or prayer, or a brief moment of quiet that gives you a chance to rest in the Lord’s loving embrace. Is there a sin that calls for repentance? Seek forgiveness, and know the joy that comes from a heart made light by Jesus’ love. Be attentive to the Spirit, and come back to your first love!⁴⁷

6. The command: After charging the Ephesians with abandoning their first love, Christ pointed out three simple ways to swing a U-turn and reestablish their walks in the right direction: remember, repent and rekindle. First, they were to remember the height from which they had fallen! The Ephesians had wandered far from the roots of love, and Messiah was calling them to come to their senses and return home. They were told to remember because they had forgotten. The love that they had for the Lord had grown cold. As believers, sometimes remembering the way life used to be can be the first step on our way back to our first love for Jesus and an energetic love for others.

Secondly, they were told to repent, that is, turn around and go in a different direction, and do in obedience the things you did at first. A new attitude must be the first step in any authentic change of actions. Repentance is a true inward change, not a fake outward modification of behavior. It is a work of grace created by God the Holy Spirit, which involves a deeply personal decision. This would suggest that the cooling off in our love for Christ is a sin, something to be repented of. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your menorah from its place (2:5). If they did not repent, it would lead to the destruction of the witness, the testimony, and the effectiveness, of that church in the world. Its angel would be removed and the Messiah would no longer dwell in their midst. Yes, a group of people did continue to meet in Ephesus for many years afterwards, even calling themselves a church. But it would no longer belong to Jesus. Eventually the city of Ephesus became a ruin. This correction to the Ephesian church represents every other person whose love for Christ has grown cold. This warning still applies to us today.⁴⁸

Thirdly, an unspoken response by the Ephesians was to rekindle their love relationship with the Lord. After remembering and repenting, believers who had left their first love needed to rekindle it again. How is that done? You have to work at it. You have to do the things that you did when you first came to know and love Yeshua. Emotions are the caboose on this and not the engine. Once you have committed yourself to action and are faithful, after a time, the feelings will inevitably follow.

7. The counsel: Listen! This is for you! He who has an ear, let him hear what the Holy Spirit says to the churches then and now. It is a spiritual principle that only those who desire to know God’s will can know it (John 7:17). Only those who have spiritual ears can hear what the Holy Spirit says. This is a promise from Jesus. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life (Genesis 3:22-24), which is in the paradise of God (2:7). Believers are overcomers. For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God (First Yochanan 5:4-5).

This would have been especially comforting to those believers living in Ephesus because they knew full well of a tree-shrine in the center of the temple of the goddess Artemis. That tree-shrine was supposed to be a place of salvation for the criminal, a place of refuge, surrounded by a wall. But that “salvation” had corrupted the city. The Ephesian who had to live in that immoral city understood well the contrast to the Holy City, where nothing impure would ever enter it, nor would anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (21:10 and 27). To those Ephesians, the salvation of the cross stood out in marked contrast to the “salvation” of Artemis, which gave the criminals immunity to continue their crimes even if they were about to die.⁴⁹ It is the same for us today. If you have overcome the world by faith in Yeshua the Messiah, you will have eternal life. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life (First John 5:12).

The example of the Ephesian church warns that doctrinal orthodoxy and outward service cannot make up for a cold heart. Believers must carefully heed Solomon’s counsel: Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life (Proverbs 4:23).⁵⁰

Lord of my salvation, perfect Lover, fill me with more of Your love and presence. May I never forget that You are the source of life.⁵¹ In the name of Him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden menorahs. Amen.

The Ephesian messianic community is a picture of believers during the Apostolic Church Age from AD 30 to 96. When this letter was written, the church in Ephesus was then in its second generation, those who had come into that church in the thirty years since Paul had ministered in their midst. Though they continued to labor faithfully as those who had preceded them, the love of God that had characterized the first generation was missing. This cooling of heart was a dangerous forerunner of spiritual apathy and eventual removing of their lampstand from its place. Unfortunately, this became the pattern of the Church from then on: First a cooling of spiritual love, then the love of God replaced by a love for the things of the world, with resulting compromise and spiritual corruption. This was followed by departure from the faith and loss of effective spiritual testimony.⁵² Believers during the Apostolic Church Age preached the gospel around the world, but with successive generations, it left its first love.

The seven churches to whom the Lord communicated His message were geographically laid out in a circle. After leaving Ephesus and traveling north up one of the several main routes you would come to the city of Smyrna, some thirty-five miles north, so that is where we shall travel next.