The seven letters* These letters have received a variety of ‘interpretations’. The basic meaning is obviously the literal one—these were actual churches at the time that John wrote, and each one was exactly as described in its letter. By way of application, these churches may also be taken as symbolic—at any given moment throughout the history of the Church local churches may be found to be similar in character to any one of these seven. It is also possible to see these seven churches as prophetic of the general course of the Church through time, and in that event we are presumably in the last or Laodicean age.
2
To Ephesus
1 “To the messenger of the church in Ephesus write:
“These things says He who holds the seven stars on His right hand, who walks about in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:† Christ's walking about in the midst of the churches is not an aimless meandering; He is observing and evaluating. 2 ‘I know your works, yes the labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot stand those who are evil. And you have tested those who claim to be apostles and are not,‡ Evidently it is possible to test the validity of someone's claim to be an apostle—I wish we had been told how to do it. and found them to be liars; 3 and you have born up and endured on account of my name, and not grown weary.
4 “ ‘Nevertheless I have against you that you have left your first love.§ Ouch! 5 So think about from where you have drifted* They had not taken a sudden fall, they had drifted from their moorings, a process so gradual that it may go unnoticed for quite some time. It can happen to us too. and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come at you swiftly and remove your lampstand out of its place† In fact, Ephesus did lose its lampstand.—unless you do repent. 6 But you do have this, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans,‡ We don't know for sure who or what they were. The etymology of the word suggests ‘laity conquerors’, perhaps the beginning of the system where the clergy dominates the laity. Once someone has a ‘guaranteed’ position their lifestyle often becomes licentious. which I also hate.’
7 “He who has an ear§ That is right, just one ear. In other words, we had better pay attention! let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.* At this point it becomes very clear that God is giving a general application to these letters. The first one was written to a literal church in literal Ephesus, in literal terms, but all of us are to pay attention to the spiritual principles and lessons involved. To the one who overcomes† So what happens if you do not overcome?? I will grant to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of my God.‡ The Tree of Life is first mentioned in Genesis 3:22-24; it must have been transplanted out of the Garden of Eden before the Flood, unless it was a replica of the original in God's Paradise. A considerable majority of the Greek manuscripts, including the best line of transmission, have “my” God. While walking this earth the Son repeatedly referred to the Father as ‘my God’.
To Smyrna
8 “And to the messenger of the church in Smyrna write:
“These things says the First and the Last,§ Here, and in 1:17 and 22:13, the glorified Christ calls Himself “the First and the Last”—comparing with Isaiah 44:6 we have one of several demonstrations that Jesus Christ is Jehovah [Mormons and JWs deny that He is Jehovah]. who became dead and came to life: 9 ‘I know your works and affliction and poverty (but you are rich), and the slander of those who claim to be Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.* You had better believe that there is a ‘synagogue of Satan’ near you! Why do you suppose that 1 Peter 5:8 says to “be vigilant”? In our day false Christians are more of a problem than false Jews. 10 Do not fear any of the things that you are about to suffer: Take note, the devil is really about to throw some of you into prison, so that you may be tested, and you will have an affliction of ten days.† The Lord does not promise us a free ride, bed of roses, or whatever. Here they are given specific advance warning—bad times ahead. (Presumably the “days” are not solar.) Stay faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life.’‡ So what happens if you don't stay faithful? Note that the Lord does not register any complaint against Smyrna. If you are being persecuted for your faith it tends to keep you pretty close to the Lord. Also there is no incentive to pretend.
11 “He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. The one who overcomes will absolutely not be harmed by the second death.§ Revelation 20:14 makes clear that “the second death” is the Lake of Fire. The first death is the physical one; the second is the spiritual one—eternal separation from the Creator, in whose image we are. Of course the redeemed go into eternal life, not death, so the “second death” holds no threat for them. But there is the little matter of ‘overcoming’.
To Pergamos
12 “And to the messenger of the church in Pergamos write:
“These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: 13 ‘I know your works, and where you live, where Satan's throne is. And you hold my name fast and did not deny my faith during the days in which Antipas was my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan lives.* I find the double reference to Satan here to be curious. The opposition in the spirit realm would be especially strong.
14 “ ‘Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you have there adepts of the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things offered to idols and to fornicate.† Why are fornication and adultery becoming more and more common in ‘Christian’ circles today? They come with idolatry—the church is riddled with humanism, relativism, materialism, spiritism, etc., false gods all. One wonders how many Christians today have a world view that is strictly Biblical, without any admixture of the world's values. 15 Thus‡ Birds of a feather flock together; if you start sinning in one area, before long it is two. you also have adepts of the doctrine of the Nicolaitans as well. 16 Repent! Or else I will come at you swiftly and will fight against them§ Notice that the pronoun changes—it is specifically against the Nicolaitans and Balaamites that He will fight. with the sword of my mouth.’
17 “He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To the one who overcomes I will grant to eat from* “From” is literal, maybe too literal; perhaps we should render “some of” the hidden manna. the hidden manna. And I will give him a white pebble, and on the pebble a new name written, which no one knows except the receiver.† Our name identifies us to other people, so what good is a name that no one knows? Except that the giver knows, obviously. So maybe the private name has to do with a private relationship, between giver and receiver! Eating “hidden manna” also sounds sort of private.
To Thyatira
18 “And to the messenger of the church in Thyatira write:
“These things says the Son of God,‡ If anyone was still in doubt as to the identity of the One who is dictating these letters, the doubt stops here. He who has the eyes like a flame of fire and the feet like fine brass: 19 ‘I know your works§ Each of the seven letters begins with this phrase, ‘I know your works’. How we act reflects our worldview, what we really believe.—the love, the faith, the service—and your endurance; in fact your last works are greater than the first.* Wow, here is a church that has it all—love, faith, service, endurance—and it is growing, doing more and more! Yes, well, but, then there is the rest of the story.
20 “ ‘Nevertheless I have against you that you tolerate your wife Jezebel,† About three fourths of the Greek manuscripts, including the best line of transmission, read “your wife” rather than ‘that woman’. The main group that reads ‘that woman’ reflects a tradition that is full of obvious corruptions, and so does not inspire confidence. The original reading is doubtless “your wife”. To have a wife the messenger must be a man, not an angel. who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives my slaves‡ The Lord uses an emphatic possessive pronoun here—she is messing with His slaves. to fornicate and to eat things offered to idols.§ Again, notice that fornication and idolatry go together. 21 I even gave her time so that she might repent, but she does not want to repent of her fornication.* If someone refuses to repent they are beyond help; judgment has to come. 22  So, I am throwing her into a sickbed and those adulterating with her into great affliction, unless they repent of her works.† Two thirds of the Greek manuscripts, including the most dependable group, have “her” works, not ‘their’ works. In verse 20 the Lord emphasized that they were His slaves. If the original reading is “her” works, as I believe, then what is involved here is spiritual adultery—she was not literally sleeping with a variety of men in the church. No matter how much love, faith and service there may be in a church, the Lord will not tolerate idolatry, which is spiritual adultery. 23 And I will execute her children;‡ Literally ‘kill by death’—so how else can you kill someone if not by death? Those who are familiar with the KJV will recall the phrase ‘let him die the death’, which in the context implies execution. I take it that “her children” does not refer to her literal sons and daughters, but to her ‘spiritual children’, those who have bought into her teaching and life style. The Lord wants to eradicate her ‘genes’, as it were. But why does God not kill Jezebel herself, instead of her children? I imagine that God uses evil people, like Jezebel, to put the rest of us to the test, to see whose side we really are on. Those who go along with a ‘Jezebel’ don't really want God. and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your works.§ What we do, or do not do, not only makes a difference down here, but will also make a difference ‘up there’.
24 “ ‘Now to the rest of you who are in Thyatira I say—to as many as do not hold this teaching, those who have not known* “Known” implies experiential knowledge. Note that the Lord links Jezebel's teaching directly to Satan, and those who are doing it are deeply involved with him (whether or not they fully understand the implications—if they are ‘deceived’ [v. 20] then they may indeed not understand). the depths of Satan, as they say—I will not put any other burden on you; 25 just hold fast what you have until I come.† They were doing quite well, generally—see the second note with verse 19 above. So if they throw off Jezebel's influence they will be all right. 26 And as for the one who overcomes and keeps my works‡ “Keeps my works until the end”—it is not enough to hold to the right doctrine; the Lord wants to see us reproducing His works (John 14:12). Notice that our participation in the administration of the Messianic Millennial Kingdom is at stake. until the end, I will give him authority over the nations; 27 and he will shepherd them with a rod of iron; they will be smashed like clay pots 28 —just as I have received from my Father.§ The Lord is evidently referring to Psalms 2:7-9. In that event He is declaring that He is the “Son” in verse7 and that He did indeed ask for and receive the nations as an inheritance. If we are coheirs (Romans 8:17) then we are involved in the outworking. And I will give him the morning star.’* In Revelation 22:16 the Lord declares Himself to be the “morning star”. In Isaiah 14:12 Satan is called “day-star, son of the morning”, but that was what he was before he fell. The planets Venus and Mercury are the ‘morning stars’ we see in the sky at dawn. But the Lord here says the morning star. I guess we will find out what He means when we get there.
29 “He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

*^ These letters have received a variety of ‘interpretations’. The basic meaning is obviously the literal one—these were actual churches at the time that John wrote, and each one was exactly as described in its letter. By way of application, these churches may also be taken as symbolic—at any given moment throughout the history of the Church local churches may be found to be similar in character to any one of these seven. It is also possible to see these seven churches as prophetic of the general course of the Church through time, and in that event we are presumably in the last or Laodicean age.

†2:1 Christ's walking about in the midst of the churches is not an aimless meandering; He is observing and evaluating.

‡2:2 Evidently it is possible to test the validity of someone's claim to be an apostle—I wish we had been told how to do it.

§2:4 Ouch!

*2:5 They had not taken a sudden fall, they had drifted from their moorings, a process so gradual that it may go unnoticed for quite some time. It can happen to us too.

†2:5 In fact, Ephesus did lose its lampstand.

‡2:6 We don't know for sure who or what they were. The etymology of the word suggests ‘laity conquerors’, perhaps the beginning of the system where the clergy dominates the laity. Once someone has a ‘guaranteed’ position their lifestyle often becomes licentious.

§2:7 That is right, just one ear. In other words, we had better pay attention!

*2:7 At this point it becomes very clear that God is giving a general application to these letters. The first one was written to a literal church in literal Ephesus, in literal terms, but all of us are to pay attention to the spiritual principles and lessons involved.

†2:7 So what happens if you do not overcome??

‡2:7 The Tree of Life is first mentioned in Genesis 3:22-24; it must have been transplanted out of the Garden of Eden before the Flood, unless it was a replica of the original in God's Paradise. A considerable majority of the Greek manuscripts, including the best line of transmission, have “my” God. While walking this earth the Son repeatedly referred to the Father as ‘my God’.

§2:8 Here, and in 1:17 and 22:13, the glorified Christ calls Himself “the First and the Last”—comparing with Isaiah 44:6 we have one of several demonstrations that Jesus Christ is Jehovah [Mormons and JWs deny that He is Jehovah].

*2:9 You had better believe that there is a ‘synagogue of Satan’ near you! Why do you suppose that 1 Peter 5:8 says to “be vigilant”? In our day false Christians are more of a problem than false Jews.

†2:10 The Lord does not promise us a free ride, bed of roses, or whatever. Here they are given specific advance warning—bad times ahead. (Presumably the “days” are not solar.)

‡2:10 So what happens if you don't stay faithful? Note that the Lord does not register any complaint against Smyrna. If you are being persecuted for your faith it tends to keep you pretty close to the Lord. Also there is no incentive to pretend.

§2:11 Revelation 20:14 makes clear that “the second death” is the Lake of Fire. The first death is the physical one; the second is the spiritual one—eternal separation from the Creator, in whose image we are. Of course the redeemed go into eternal life, not death, so the “second death” holds no threat for them. But there is the little matter of ‘overcoming’.

*2:13 I find the double reference to Satan here to be curious. The opposition in the spirit realm would be especially strong.

†2:14 Why are fornication and adultery becoming more and more common in ‘Christian’ circles today? They come with idolatry—the church is riddled with humanism, relativism, materialism, spiritism, etc., false gods all. One wonders how many Christians today have a world view that is strictly Biblical, without any admixture of the world's values.

‡2:15 Birds of a feather flock together; if you start sinning in one area, before long it is two.

§2:16 Notice that the pronoun changes—it is specifically against the Nicolaitans and Balaamites that He will fight.

*2:17 “From” is literal, maybe too literal; perhaps we should render “some of” the hidden manna.

†2:17 Our name identifies us to other people, so what good is a name that no one knows? Except that the giver knows, obviously. So maybe the private name has to do with a private relationship, between giver and receiver! Eating “hidden manna” also sounds sort of private.

‡2:18 If anyone was still in doubt as to the identity of the One who is dictating these letters, the doubt stops here.

§2:19 Each of the seven letters begins with this phrase, ‘I know your works’. How we act reflects our worldview, what we really believe.

*2:19 Wow, here is a church that has it all—love, faith, service, endurance—and it is growing, doing more and more! Yes, well, but, then there is the rest of the story.

†2:20 About three fourths of the Greek manuscripts, including the best line of transmission, read “your wife” rather than ‘that woman’. The main group that reads ‘that woman’ reflects a tradition that is full of obvious corruptions, and so does not inspire confidence. The original reading is doubtless “your wife”. To have a wife the messenger must be a man, not an angel.

‡2:20 The Lord uses an emphatic possessive pronoun here—she is messing with His slaves.

§2:20 Again, notice that fornication and idolatry go together.

*2:21 If someone refuses to repent they are beyond help; judgment has to come.

†2:22 Two thirds of the Greek manuscripts, including the most dependable group, have “her” works, not ‘their’ works. In verse 20 the Lord emphasized that they were His slaves. If the original reading is “her” works, as I believe, then what is involved here is spiritual adultery—she was not literally sleeping with a variety of men in the church. No matter how much love, faith and service there may be in a church, the Lord will not tolerate idolatry, which is spiritual adultery.

‡2:23 Literally ‘kill by death’—so how else can you kill someone if not by death? Those who are familiar with the KJV will recall the phrase ‘let him die the death’, which in the context implies execution. I take it that “her children” does not refer to her literal sons and daughters, but to her ‘spiritual children’, those who have bought into her teaching and life style. The Lord wants to eradicate her ‘genes’, as it were. But why does God not kill Jezebel herself, instead of her children? I imagine that God uses evil people, like Jezebel, to put the rest of us to the test, to see whose side we really are on. Those who go along with a ‘Jezebel’ don't really want God.

§2:23 What we do, or do not do, not only makes a difference down here, but will also make a difference ‘up there’.

*2:24 “Known” implies experiential knowledge. Note that the Lord links Jezebel's teaching directly to Satan, and those who are doing it are deeply involved with him (whether or not they fully understand the implications—if they are ‘deceived’ [v. 20] then they may indeed not understand).

†2:25 They were doing quite well, generally—see the second note with verse 19 above. So if they throw off Jezebel's influence they will be all right.

‡2:26 “Keeps my works until the end”—it is not enough to hold to the right doctrine; the Lord wants to see us reproducing His works (John 14:12). Notice that our participation in the administration of the Messianic Millennial Kingdom is at stake.

§2:28 The Lord is evidently referring to Psalms 2:7-9. In that event He is declaring that He is the “Son” in verse7 and that He did indeed ask for and receive the nations as an inheritance. If we are coheirs (Romans 8:17) then we are involved in the outworking.

*2:28 In Revelation 22:16 the Lord declares Himself to be the “morning star”. In Isaiah 14:12 Satan is called “day-star, son of the morning”, but that was what he was before he fell. The planets Venus and Mercury are the ‘morning stars’ we see in the sky at dawn. But the Lord here says the morning star. I guess we will find out what He means when we get there.

© 2016 Wilbur N. Pickering, ThM, PhD