Letters to the Churches: Pergamum

Today's letter is to the church at Pergamum.

¹² “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
   These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. ¹³ I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.
   ¹⁴ Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. ¹⁵Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶ Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
   ¹⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.


Pergamum was located in the fertile Caicus valley about fifteen miles from the Aegean Sea. It was the center for art, culture and learning, having the largest library outside of Alexandria. Paganism was a large part of the culture of this city, and there were three types that were popular. First was the worship of Dionysus, god of wine, and Aesculapius, god of medicine and healing (the serpent was his symbol). Second faction were the Greek worshipers of Zeus, king of the gods and Athena, goddess of wisdom. The third major worship was Roman emperor worship. Several temples were built to Roman emperors where they were worshiped as gods.


The sharp, double-edged sword represents Jesus power to judge and conquer His enemies. Jesus tells the church that He is aware that they are surrounded by paganism, the worship of Satan. He commends them for being faithful to Him, even through the adversity they were suffering. Jesus then criticized them for allowing false teachers into their church, these teachers are compared to the worshipers of Baalam in the old testament, who encouraged the Christians to "bend" the laws of morality. They are also compared to the Nicolaitans, which also "bent" the laws of morality. Jesus urges the church to repent, or suffer the penalty. Jesus then encourages the church, and lets them know that if they repent, they will receive eternal life. Eternal life is represented by both the manna and the white stone. Jewish tradition says that the jar of manna in the ark of the covenant would be divinely multiplied when the Messiah came. In the ancient world, white stones were used as tickets of entry for festivals, and the new name engraved on the stone may signify that the stone is genuine.

Letters to the Churches: Smyrna

Today I would like to discuss the letter John wrote to the second church at Smyrna.

⁸ “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
   These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. ⁹ I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.
   ¹¹ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.


First let me give you a background on Smyrna. It was a prosperous city, known for its great beauty, located about forty miles from Ephesus. The city had a large marketplace, which made it an important center of trade. There were many temples to the Roman gods located in the city, the main deity was Dionysus god of the harvest and later god of wine. Politically, Smyrna was very important to Rome, and were given many honors. Caesar worship was mandatory, citizens had to burn incense to Caesar and declare him lord every year. Many Christians in Smyrna refused to do so, like Polycarp who was burned at the stake. Smyrna also had a large Jewish population that would inform on the Christians.


Once more, John opens the letter with a greeting from Jesus. He commends the church for standing firm in their faith, even through persecution. Jesus tells the church that He knows that they are poor, their belongings could have been taken from them through their persecution; but they are rich in the things that matter, spiritually. He then encourages them to continue to stand firm in their faith, even if they die for it. They will be the ultimate victors, and will have a crown of eternal life. 

Letters to the Churches: Ephesus

Revelation 2 and 3 consist of John's letters to the churches of Asia that we discussed previously. The letters address the seven churches and what they are doing wrong. Many people believe the seven churches represent seven different types of Churches. I suggest that you keep both ideas in mind when reading these chapters. Today I want to discuss the first church, Ephesus.

To the Church in Ephesus

 ¹ “To the angel^[a] of the church in Ephesus write:

   These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: ² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. 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. ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

   ⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. ⁵ Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶ But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

   ⁷ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Let me first give you a background on the church at Ephesus. Ephesus was a large seaport that had around a quarter of a million people. They had many temples, the most famous one dedicated to the Roman goddess Diana. By the end of the first century, the church in Ephesus was probably one of the largest in the world.


The beginning of this letter lets the church know that the letter is being dictated to John from Jesus. Jesus lets the church know that He is with them, and He is aware of the good things they are doing. He commends them for their hard work and perseverance. He also commends them for not believing false teachers, and for enduring hardships. After this Jesus rebukes the church for not showing love like they did at first. They were following Jesus out of duty, it was all religion versus relationship. The "fruit" of a church is the deeds they do out of love, a church without love is a dead church. He tells the church to repent and to do works motivated by love and not duty.


²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23



 Jesus warns the church that if they do not change, He will remove their lampstand. A loveless church is not truly a church, and will die out. He does commend them for hating the Nicolaitans, who were false teachers. Jesus ends the letter with a challenge to the church to change their ways, and overcome the problem. If they do so, they will live forever with God in paradise.

A Slight Detour

I am taking a small detour out of Revelation for today.  A couple of weeks ago, I was watching Grant Jeffrey on his program Bible Prophecy Revealed.  The theme of his program that day was about the Phenomenon of Biblical Anniversaries. As I watched the program, I became fascinated, and decided that I needed to write about it.


Every nation has holidays that celebrate specific events that have happened in their history. It is extremely rare for another event with the same theme to happen on the exact same day. In fact, no nation has actually had this kind of thing happen except for Israel. There have been forty major events that have happened to Israel that have happened on the same day, a Jewish holiday, and are of the same theme.


I shall begin on the tenth day of Nissan, this is the first month of the Jewish year. The theme for this day is sanctification-setting apart for a holy purpose.  The original event that began this holiday is the Passover celebration. This was during the time when the Jews were slaves in Egypt, God had sent various plagues down on Egypt, but Pharoah was unwilling to let them go and lose his slave laborers. The final plague that was sent down on Egypt was the killing of the first born, except for the Jews who had put lambs blood on their door lintels. When all Egypt's first born were killed, they were passed over. The Jews were to celebrate this event every year.
Other events with the same theme that occurred on this same day are:

• Israel crosses the Jordan. They are taking possession of the land that God promised them as they have been set apart to do.
• Jesus was cut off and rejected by the Jews on Palm Sunday. This was the first time Jesus presented himself to His people as the Messiah, and they rejected Him. This marks the end of the sixty-ninth week of Daniel's seventy weeks.
• Ezekiel receives a vision of the Millenial Temple, where the people of Israel will be sanctified for the Lord

The next Holy day is the fourteenth day of Nissan, the Passover supper. The theme for this day is the covenant relationship of God to Israel. This day was celebrated by the Jews in preparation for the Exodus from Egypt.  

Other events that occurred on this day with the same theme are:

• God made a covenant with Abraham. Abraham was to follow God, and God would bless him and make him a mighty nation, and they would be God's special chosen people.
• First Passover celebration in Canaan. God restores his covenant with the people of Israel, and to show that they accepted the covenant, all Israelite men were to be circumcised. 

  Genesis 17:10

  Today's New International Version (TNIV)
  ¹⁰ This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
• The Book of the Law found. After many years of bad kings that did not follow God, Josiah became king. He loved God and tried to follow Him. While restoring the temple, the Book of the Law was found. After reading it, Josiah cried out to God for forgiveness on the land. He read to the people from the Book, and had them renew their covenant with God.

•  ³¹ The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD—to follow the LORD and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book. ³² Then he had everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin pledge themselves to it; the people of Jerusalem did this in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors. 2 Chronicles 34:31-32
• Dedication of the second temple. The Israelites had been taken from their land by conquest. After many years Darius of Persia allowed the Israelites to return home and rebuild their temple. Since the Israelites had been in captivity all these years, they had not been allowed to celebrate their holidays, or continue their sacrifices.
•  ¹⁹ On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover. ²⁰ The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their relatives the priests and for themselves. ²¹ So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the LORD, the God of Israel. ²² For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the LORD had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel. Ezra 6:19-22
• The last supper, the covenant of Jesus to His disciples and the church. Jesus made a covenant between God and man with Jesus as the mediator.
• ²² While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying,“Take it; this is my body.” ²³ Then he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  ²⁴ “This is my blood of the^[c] covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. ²⁵ “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Mark 14:22-25

The fifteenth day of Nissan, the feast of Unleavened Bread. The theme is the purging out of sin. When Pharaoh freed the Israelites, they left in such a hurry that they could not wait for bread dough to rise. In remembrance of  this event no bread with yeast or levening is eaten, for which reason it is called "The Festival of Unleavened Bread".

Other events that occurred on this day with the same theme:

• Jesus Christ was crucified. He died on the cross and took our sins upon himself.                                    ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in^[b]Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
• Exodus journey begins
• Fall of the Jewish resistance at Masada in 73AD. After two years of fighting the Roman soldiers, the wall was breached on this day. The Jews killed their families and themselves rather than be taken into captivity.

The seventeenth day of Nissan, the Feast of Firstfruits. The theme of this day is resurrection. The feast of firstfruits was celebrated to acknowledge early spring crops. It was a thanksgiving offering to God for His provision. In Christianity, this Feast is celebrated as Easter. 

Other events that have occurred with the same theme:

• Noah's ark comes to rest of Mount Ararat. This represented a new beginning, a resurrection of the old world.
• Israel crosses the Red Sea. This was a new beginning for Israel, they resurrected the old covenant between themselves and GodIsrael eats the first fruits of the promised land. When Israel reached the Jordan river, they sent spies into the land. The spies returned on this day, bringing with them all the bounty of the land.    
•   ¹⁰ On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. ¹¹ The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. Joshua 5:10-11
• Christ resurrected                                                                                                                             
• ²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²² For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. ²³ But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.                      1 Corinthians 15:20-23

The next Holy day is the sixth day of Sivan, the Feast of Pentacost.Pentecost is the Jewish harvest festival of Shauvot, which commemorates God giving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai fifty days after the Exodus.   The theme of this day is the revelation of God's will. 

There is one other event that happened on this day with the same theme, and that is the Holy Spirit was given to the church on this day.                          

   ¹ When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues^[a] as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1-4

The next series of Holy days commemorate sad days in Israel's history.

The seventeenth day of Tammuz is the next Holy day. The theme is the breaking of a spiritual symbol of God's favor. 

Events that have occurred on this day include:

• Moses broke the two tablets of the law when he came down from Mt Sinai and saw the golden calf
• Babylonians invaded Jerusalem and stopped the daily sacrifice
• The walls of Jerusalem were breached before the destruction of the second temple

The ninth day of Av is considered the saddest day of the Jewish year. The theme is a fast of mourning. Eight disasters have happened to the Jewish people on this same day.  The odds of eight disasters with the same theme occurring on the same day are 1 in 863,000,000 x 1 billion! 

• The twelve spies that were sent to explore Canaan returned on this day. All but Joshua and Caleb brought a bad report. They said there was no way that they could defeat the peoples living in these lands, they were too strong.  The people believed the spies and began to despair, they did not have faith in God. As punishment, God decreed that not one of them would enter the promised land except for Joshua and Caleb. 
• Babylonians destroy Solomon's Temple in 587 BC
• Romans destroy the second temple in 70 AD
• Romans plow Israel with salt rendering the land useless 71 AD
• Romans destroy army of Israel 135 AD
• England expels the Jews from her land 1290 AD
• Spain expels the Jews from her land 1492 AD
• World War I declared. Russia began a program to persecute the Jews, killing 100,000. 1914 AD

The first day of Tishri is the Jewish New Years day. This is the Feast of Trumpets or Rosh Ha'shanah. The theme is a memorial day of Holy convocation.

Events that have occurred on this day with the same theme:

• The high priest brought the first offering to the rebuilt temple
• Ezra read the law to the returned exiles
• Future possibility, this may be the date for the Battle of Armageddon. Many Biblical scholars believe that this may be true. 

The tenth day of Tishri is the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. The theme of this day is mourning and atonement for sin.

Events that have occurred on this day:

• Aaron, as the high priest made atonement for Israel for the first time.                                                   ³¹ Moses then said to Aaron and his sons, “Cook the meat at the entrance to the tent of meeting and eat it there with the bread from the basket of ordination offerings, as I was commanded: ‘Aaron and his sons are to eat it.’ ³² Then burn up the rest of the meat and the bread. ³³ Do not leave the entrance to the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are completed, for your ordination will last seven days. ³⁴ What has been done today was commanded by the LORD to make atonement for you. ³⁵ You must stay at the entrance to the tent of meeting day and night for seven days and do what the LORD requires, so you will not die; for that is what I have been commanded.” Leviticus 8:31-35
• Israel saved from annihilation in the War of Yom Kippur in 1973.         
•                            The obvious reason for choosing the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur to stage a surprise attack on Israel was that on this specific holiday (unlike any other) the country comes to a complete standstill. Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar; both religiously observant Jews and most of the secular majority fast, abstain from any use of fire, electricity, engines, communications, etc., and all road traffic ceases. Many soldiers also go home from military facilities for the holiday, and Israel is more vulnerable with much of its military on leave. The war coincided that year with the Muslim month of Ramadan, when many Arab Muslim soldiers also fast. Other analysts believe that the attack on Yom Kippur actually helped Israel to more easily marshal reserves from their homes and synagogues, because the nature of the holiday meant that roads and communication were largely open and this eased mobilizing and transporting the military. Wikipedia.
• Future: Possible date when Israel shall mourn for their Messiah.  Israel will finally realize that Jesus was their Messiah, and that they have wasted all these years.                                                                      ¹⁰ “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit^[a] of grace and supplication. They will look on^[b] me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. ¹¹ On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. ¹² The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, ¹³ the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, ¹⁴ and all the rest of the clans and their wives. Zechariah 12:10-14

Fifteenth day of Tishri, the Feast of Tabernacles. Theme is the coming presence of God.

Events that occurred on this day:

• Dedication of Solomon's Temple

Possible birth day of Jesus Christ. Many Messianic Torah teachers believe that Jesus was actually born on this day. The apostle John uses a word at the beginning of his gospel that translates to booth or tabernacle. 

John 1:14

Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

 ¹⁴And the Word became flesh, and did tabernacle among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of an only begotten of a father, full of grace and truth.

with Jesus birth, God came down to be with us, just like He did with Moses in the wilderness.

• Future: Possible ushering in of Kingdom Age

As you can see from these many examples, there is no other people that have had so many events occur on the same day with the same theme. God does nothing by accident. 

John's Mission

 ⁹ I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. ¹⁰ On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, ¹¹ which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”


In these verses John gives us a background on why he was on Patmos and the circumstances in which he was given the revelation.  He was on Patmos for proclaiming the word of God, as we already discussed Patmos was a Roman penal colony. He may have been meditating on the word of God when he hears a voice behind him telling him to write on a scroll what he will see and send it to the seven churches of Asia. The voice is loud, like a trumpet-not something that can be ignored. 


¹² I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man,^[d]dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. ¹⁴ The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. ¹⁵His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.


When John turned around he sees someone "like the son of man" standing among seven lampstands. The lampstands represent the seven churches. The person that John sees is Jesus Christ who described himself as the son of man. Jesus is standing among the lampstands because He is always with us. John recognizes Jesus, but He looks different. He is glorious and powerful, clearly in His exalted form. John then tries to describe what Jesus looks like. His clothing represent that Jesus is our high priest and He is the intermediary between us and God. His white hair symbolizes His wisdom and omniscience, and His eyes represent the fact that He sees all of the evil in the world and will soon respond with righteous anger.  His feet may represent the fact that He will subdue His enemies. In the ancient times, it was common to place your foot on the neck of your defeated foes to show your victory over them. His voice can't be ignored, it must be heard and obeyed. In His hand are seven stars, these represent the angels of the seven churches. These could be literal guardian angels or human messengers that were supposed to bring the message of the revelation to their churches; maybe the pastors of the churches. The sharp sword coming out of His mouth is not a literal sword. John  uses imagery to show that Jesus has come to conquer His enemies, the actual sword is the Word of God. His face is so bright like the sun, this means that John saw Jesus in the glory of full deity, this is the same brightness that was described at Christ's transfiguration.


² There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Matthew 17:2




 ¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.


John recognized that he was standing in the presence of Jesus and fell to the ground in worship. Jesus placed His right hand on John which signifies blessing. Jesus first calms his fears, then states that He has been in control since the beginning of time into eternity. He reminds John that He died and rose from the dead, and He has the power over life and death.


 ¹⁹ “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. ²⁰ The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels^[e] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.


Now that Jesus has established who He is, He tells John to write down what Jesus will be showing him. First Jesus explains to John the meaning of the stars and the lampstands. The first part of the vision is explained for him.