Revelation 2

Who are the angels?

The expression 'seven angels' of the seven churches, which Jesus holds in his right hand, seems strange. The book of Revelation offers us a glimpse into the invisible reality and it becomes clear that angels play an important role in developments on earth. The question is, however, whether this also applies to chapters 2 and 3. There are various arguments to assume that the 'angels of the seven churches' are not heavenly beings but people.

(1) Revelation begins in chapter 1 with the mention of the 'staircase' by which we received the Revelation. It consisted of four steps: (1) God, (2) Jesus, (3) an angel and (4) John. It would be strange if John then writes again to angels, who would have to pass on the message to churches. The step of the ‘angel’ as a heavenly being in the invisible world has already been taken.

(2) Nowhere in the Bible do people report to angels. It is always angels who pass on messages to people. It is true that the church ‘makes known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places the manifold wisdom of God’. But from the context it is clear that this concerns ‘the promise in Christ’, in which non-Jews of all peoples have also been given a share. We also encounter this in Revelation, namely in chapter 5, where the redeemed people in heaven sing the song of praise for the Lamb, who bought them with his blood from every tribe, language, people and nation. In that song of praise angels read what their Creator has done for insignificant people, but it is not about specific messages that angels ‘have to do something with’, as in chapters 2 and 3.

(3) Angels are called ministering spirits, who are sent out to serve those who inherit salvation. Angels can convey a message from God that is so important that people are saved by listening to that message. That happened, for example, with Lot and his two daughters. But angels cannot do more than that. Nowhere in the Bible do we read that angels must ‘repent’ – as we read with five of the seven churches in these chapters – that they repent, so that the church will go in the right direction. Angels can be sent out in response to the life of faith that people show towards God (Dan.9:21, Acts 10:2,3). But nowhere do we read that angels themselves must demonstrate such a life of faith, ‘bear difficulties’, ‘show perseverance’, ‘not grow weary’, ‘exert themselves’, ‘be faithful unto death’, ‘not fear’, ‘hold fast to Jesus’ name’, ‘not deny’ his name, and so on. These are all exhortations to human church members.

(4) Nowhere in the Bible are angels held responsible for the behavior of people and nowhere are people judged on the behavior of angels. Here, however, the addressee is reproached for the fact that there are church members who ‘hold to the teaching of Balaam’ and to ‘the teaching of the Nicolaitans’. Conversely, in the case of the church in Ephesus, the lampstand is taken away if the angel does not repent. The ‘remember from what height you have fallen’ is in the singular and refers to the addressee, the angel, and not to the entire group of church members. That angel cannot then be a heavenly being.

(5) The position that an angel would receive as ‘responsible for the church’ does not correspond with the rest of the New Testament. In Hebrews we read: ‘He did not subject to angels the world to come about which we speak…’ and then we read that this position is reserved for man. But would man then be subject to angels? No, because Paul writes that one day we will ‘judge angels’. Furthermore, we read that God does not accept angels but does accept the offspring of Abraham, who are all those who believe God at his word. They are people, elders, believers within the church, who are appointed as ‘responsible’ for the church. Jesus says this to Peter (John 21:15) and Peter in turn to the church (1 Pet.5:2). Paul also says this to the church in Ephesus (Acts 20:28).

If we conclude that the word ‘angel’ in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation does not indicate a heavenly being but a human being, then this must be supported by scripture, for example because the word ‘angel’ is also used elsewhere for a human being. Well, that is also the case. The usual word for ‘angel’ in the Hebrew Old Testament, mal’āḵ , is also used several times for people who are sent as messengers. The Greek word ‘angelos’ is also used here and there in the New Testament for human messengers. For that reason and because of the context, we can assume that ‘angel’ here also refers to a human messenger.

The stars in Jesus' right hand

The angels are symbolically represented as stars in the right hand of the Son of Man. Could it not then be about heavenly beings? Here too, the whole of Scripture must be considered. Angels are indeed represented as ‘stars’. When God performed his great acts of creation, the morning stars rejoiced – according to the book of Job . Angels are called ‘children or sons of God’ in that same passage. This agrees with the book of Hebrews , where God is called the ‘father of spirits’. Satan, God’s adversary, was once a ‘morning star’. But is the expression ‘star’ exclusive to angels? No, just read along in Daniel 8, where a small horn that comes from the Greco-Macedonian world empire, which is represented by a goat, that casts ‘stars’ to the earth, which in its context does not mean angels but human beings of God's people. The ‘stars’ that fell to the earth were the Jews who stood up for the honor of the God of Israel. They could not have been angels because they can never be killed by people. So again, the stars in Jesus’ right hand are the members of the church who hold on to his testimony and the Word of God.

An important question that remains is: why? Why does Jesus use the word ‘angel’ and not, for example, the word ‘elder’, as in Revelation 4, where we see the 24 elders around the throne of God? There could be several reasons for this.

(1) This is not about the work of an elder, who must shepherd and feed the church, but about conveying a message that concerns the entire church, each member individually.

(2) If a specific office in the church had been addressed, the other church members could withdraw from the message. However, Jesus’ message concerns every member of the church. Anyone could be the ‘angel of the church’ and first take the message to heart themselves and then encourage others to do the same.

(3) That every church member could be the messaging angel is also evident from the conclusion of each of the seven messages: ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ In essence, every church member is responsible for doing something with the exhortations that Jesus gives to his church.

The character of the churches

The way in which Jesus is introduced to each of the seven churches corresponds to the character of the church in question. The descriptions of the churches have two meanings. First, they refer to seven local churches, which actually existed in Asia (present-day Turkey) at that time.

Second, the descriptions reflect a historical development, in seven phases, of the church of Jesus Christ through the course of history up to the rapture, with which the age of the church will end. These two meanings seem difficult to reconcile. If Ephesians describes the condition of the first Christian church, that existed at the time, why were there seven separate descriptions needed and how could the six other churches deviate so much from the description given of Ephesus?

Of course, no church is the same. Paul's letters show a great diversity of churches. He writes a letter to a church with much division and practical evil, such as Corinth, a letter to a church with doctrinal evil, such as Galatians, a letter to a church in danger of gnosticism and asceticism, such as Colossians, and a letter to a church in confusion about the coming of Christ, such as Thessalonica. likewise we see great diversity in the churches of Revelation 2 and 3. And so we see it throughout history. Even in the time of the Catholic Church, there were also other church churches, such as the Waldensians.

Yet there has been a historical development throughout church history, in which, despite the great differences between local churches, there were global characteristics and tendencies that were similar and that characterized a period of church history. One could argue that Ephesians describes the global character of the early church, but that at that time there were churches with characteristics that were very similar to future phases in worldwide church history.

That Ephesians represents the global character of all seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 is evident from the way in which the Lord presents Himself to Ephesus: ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands’. He is the Lord of all seven churches at that time. Ephesus therefore represents the entire Christian community in the first century or centuries of our era.

Church History

Anyone who searches the Internet for support for either the interpretation as local congregations in the first century or as periods in church history will come across both views. Those who want to limit the interpretation to only the first century of our era need an awful lot of words to undermine the other interpretation. The arguments that are put forward are unfounded and sometimes laughable. Interpreters who do draw a parallel with church history hardly need an argument, the similarities are so obvious. Church history can be placed next to the seven letters in the following way:

(1)   Ephesus: Apostolic period Pentecost – AD 100

The definition of the Christian faith

(2)   Smyrna: Persecution under Roman emperors – AD 100 – 313

The defense of the Christian faith

(3)   Pergamon: The early Catholic church from Constantine – AD 313 – 590

The questioning of the Christian faith

(4)   Thyatira: The Roman Catholic Middle Ages – AD 590 – 1517

The defilement of the Christian faith

(5)   Sardis: Protestantism – 1517 – 1795

The rediscovery of the Christian faith

(6)  Philadelphia: The missionary communities – 1795 – 1870

The discernment of the Christian faith

(7)  Laodicea: Modernism and ecumenical churches – 1870 – Rapture

The denial of the Christian faith

Similarities with other Bible texts

There is a certain similarity between the seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3 and the seven parables of Jesus in Matthew 13 . These parables are:

(1) The Sower and the seed, the ‘definition’ of the Christian faith – corresponds to Ephesus

(2) The wheat and the tares, the false doctrine, which was already present in the period of the apostles – therefore does NOT correspond to Smyrna, where it was about attacks from outside

(3) The mustard seed, the unnatural growth, which began when Christians were given important places in the Roman Empire under Constantine – corresponds to Pergamon

(4) The leaven, which is hidden in three measures of meal – the offering that is brought to God is completely defiled – corresponds to Thyatira

(5) The hidden treasure in the field – the rediscovered truth of salvation by faith and grace – corresponds to Sardis

(6) The pearl of great price – the glory of Christ in the spectrum of prophecy – corresponds to Philadelphia

(7) The dragnet – the separation between true and false doctrine and Christians – corresponds with Laodicea

There is also a certain similarity between the seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3 and the seven pieces of armor that Paul mentions in Ephesians 6. These pieces of armor are:

(1) The belt of truth, the definition of the Christian faith, corresponding to Ephesus

(2) The breastplate of righteousness, the defense of the Christian faith against forces that would pierce its heart through persecution, corresponding to Smyrna

(3) The shoes of the readiness of the gospel of peace, the strong spread of the Christian faith – think of Boniface, corresponding to Pergamon

(4) The shield of faith, the defense against attacks from within under the Catholic Popes, who abused the church institution as an instrument of power, corresponding to Thyatira

(5) The helmet of salvation, the rediscovery of salvation by grace alone, under Protestantism, corresponding to Sardis

(6) The sword of the Spirit, the power of the prophetic word was used again in the time of the missionary communities, corresponding to Philadelphia

(7) Prayer, the personal relationship with God, which is of vital importance in times of decline when Christianity has largely lost its spiritual power, corresponding to Laodicea.

Of course, these parallels concern different emphases. In each of the phases of God's community, all seven pieces of equipment are needed to stand firm.

It has already been indicated above that the meaning of the letters is twofold and applies to both the seven communities in Asia in the first century and to phases in the history of the Christian community as a whole. There is a third meaning and that is the application to the personal life of the believer. In principle, every encouragement and admonition from the letters can be applied to the situation of a believer, depending on his life and circumstances.

The Lampstand

Jesus walks among the seven lampstands. The image of a seven-fold light is not new. It also existed in the tabernacle, the tent of God, which was constructed by the people of Israel and which they carried with them on their desert journey. The design of the tabernacle was shown by God to Moses during the forty days that he was on the mountain. After that, the design was carried out under Moses' supervision and set up in the desert. God showed a design for each individual object, the description of which we find in the book of Exodus. This also applies to the seven-branched lampstand, which had to be made of a talent of gold as one hammered work with a middle shaft from which a total of six branches came out on the left and right. Every object in the tabernacle is an image of Jesus Christ, including the golden lampstand. The oil, the fuel for the lamps, is a picture of God's Spirit. The lamps on the lampstand picture the believers, whose light was to shine against the lampstand itself at the front. It is not about the believers themselves but about putting Christ in the light.

As it was in the tabernacle, so it is in Revelation 2 and 3. The seven lampstands, pictures of the seven churches, are there to glorify Christ and to continue his testimony. He walks among the lampstands. The light of the seven churches falls on Him. One difference is that it is not now about one lampstand with seven branches, representing Christ, but about seven separate lampstands, each representing a church. The lampstand can be taken away by Christ. That is what happened in the case of the first church, Ephesus, who heard this warning. The area of ​​Turkey, where Paul once made his missionary journeys and where a number of places were located to which he sent his letters, are now largely subject to Islam. Fortunately, the testimony is then continued with a new phase in Christianity, represented by a new lampstand.

Structured defense

The structure of each of the seven letters in Revelation 2 and 3 is almost identical.

(1) Writing assignment

(2) Description of Christ

(3) I know your works: positive points

(4) But I have against you: negative points (if any)

(5) Advice for recovery

(6) Who has ears to hear

(7) Who overcomes

Points (6) and (7) are reversed in the last four churches. Everything shows that the church of Christ is constantly on the defensive. The developments that the churches have to deal with are aimed at disrupting the church from within or from without. The devil comes as a roaring lion but more often as an angel of light. The weapons that Paul speaks about in Ephesians 6 are therefore all defensive weapons. Throughout the seven letters we see how evil slowly grows in the church. It begins in Ephesus, with the abandonment of the first love. That is what Jesus has against this church. If He is no longer the One and the All, the great Object of worship, then there can still be works, effort and perseverance, but for Him (and for the believer) these no longer have the same value as the works from the early first faith.

Ephesus - start of 1500 years of regress

Characteristic is the difference with 1 Thessalonians 1:3, where it speaks of: ‘the work of your faith, the effort of your love, and the perseverance of your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ’. In the old church of Thessaloniki, works, effort and perseverance were still inspired by faith, hope and love there. This deep motivation from faith had begun to be missing in the Ephesians of Revelation and only the external activities were still present. Without a return to the ‘first works’, resulting from love for Him, a development towards more serious deviations was inevitable – the lampstand would be taken away. Indeed, we see the church of God drifting further and further away in the course of the letters:

(1) Ephesus was still well-protected against deviations. The positive points that Jesus mentions each show the aversion of this church to any form of false doctrine. Apparently Paul's warning was well-founded: 'I know that after my departure savage wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock; and from your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them'. The believers in Ephesus could not tolerate bad people. They exposed false apostles. They hated the teaching of the Nicolaitans. The Nicolaitans were a sect that promoted an immoral life of fornication and justified the eating of sacrificial meat for idols. They may have done so with the argument that Paul denounces in his letter to the Romans: ‘And why not, as we are slandered, and as some say that we say, Let us do evil that good may come? Their judgment is just.’ There are three different explanations for the name ‘Nicolaitans’: (1) nikao (= to overcome, to conquer) and laos (= people). Nicolaitans are, literally understood, “conquerors of (i.e. over) the people”. (2) Their name is derived from the Hebrew nicolah = 'let us eat. (3) They were followers of 'Nicolas', which could have been one of the seven ministers in the early church (Acts 6:5).

(2) Pergamon, the third church, is accused of holding on to the teaching of Balaam, ‘who taught Balak to set a snare for the sons of Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication. In the same way you have those who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. When Israel left the desert and was encamped opposite Moab, Balak, the king of Moab, asked Balaam to curse the people. However, God made it so that Balaam could only bless the people. In order to ruin the people, Balaam devised the trick of seducing the people into fornication and idolatry with the daughters and gods of Moab. In Ephesus they hated the teaching of the Nicolaitans. In Pergamon some hold on to the ‘teaching of Balaam’ or of the Nicaloites, as if it were not yet actually practiced but rather played with the idea that it would be permissible.

(3) Thyatira, the fourth church, shows that the evil has grown further and that a woman, who is called Jezebel, not only teaches but also deceives into fornication and eating idol sacrifices. This goes one step further than in Pergamon. Just like Balaam, Jezebel is also a figure from the Old Testament, who led the people of Israel into idolatry. The devil knows how to deceive the people of God, the testimony of God on earth, again and again with the same old tricks. Just as the spiritual life and the testimony of Israel were put to the test, so too is the church of God. 'Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.'

The tree of life

The seven elements indicated above are in line with each other in each letter. The promise for the overcomers, with which the letter to the first church concludes, goes back to the tree of life, which once stood in the middle of the garden. The first human couple had lost access to this tree. Adam and Eve preferred the tree of knowledge of good and evil to the tree of life. Putting doctrine above life has proven to be a great danger in Christianity. Jesus calls on his congregation to seek their ‘first love’ again and to do the first works, of faith, hope and love, to put life and not doctrine first. Otherwise you will eventually lose the doctrine, as we saw above. Those who choose life, He will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

The term ‘paradise’ only appears three times in the Bible. On the cross, Jesus says to the robber: ‘Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise'. Paul was caught up to the third heaven, to paradise, and there he heard unspeakable words that may not be spoken. This letter to Ephesus is probably the reason why the Garden of Eden is equated with paradise. Furthermore, this garden is not called ‘paradise’ anywhere in the Bible.

The term ‘tree of life’ appears more often. Besides the tree in Genesis 3, this tree also stands for wisdom, the products of the righteous, a desire that is fulfilled and a healthy (wise, healing) tongue. These are all things that are connected with 'true life', with a good person, with Christ, in Whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. In essence He Himself is the tree of life and where He is, paradise is. That is why it says in Revelation 22:2 'In the middle of the street of it and by the one and on the other side of the river was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.’ The river has its source in the throne of God and of the Lamb. Jesus is the ultimate source of the fruits and leaves of the tree of life. Apparently the tree of life here is a species of which there are several copies, which can stand on either side of the river. According to the message of Revelation 2 to Ephesus, this river flows through the paradise of God. Paradise is where the Lamb is.

Smyrna - Persecution

The letter to Smyrna revolves around the threat of death from both the Jewish community and the Roman Empire that this church experienced. The Jews had a privileged position in the Roman Empire. They were exempt from military service in the Roman army and they had all kinds of tax advantages. Initially, Christians were seen as a Jewish sect. The Jews did not appreciate that. In every possible way, the Jewish authorities made it clear that they wanted to have nothing to do with Christians who claimed that the Messiah had already come as Jesus, the crucified Rabbi of Nazareth.

During his ministry, Paul encountered nothing but opposition from official Jewish sources. In Galatia, the Jews tried several times to incite the rulers of a city against Paul. They tried to smear him everywhere. They had tried to murder him on the temple square and would have succeeded, had the Roman legion not come to his rescue. Being imprisoned, new murderous plans against him were undertaken, while one accusation after another was brought against Paul.

If the church of Smyrna was subject to ‘slander’ by those who say they are Jews but in reality are a synagogue of Satan, then that was not new. The slander of the Jewish upper class against Jesus began more than a year before the crucifixion, when they attributed his works to the prince of the demons. Jesus then spoke of the ‘blasphemy against the Spirit’, which would never be forgiven. Later, Jesus reproaches the Jews of his time for their unbelief and says that they are not children of Abraham but children of the devil.

Throughout the book of Acts, the Jews were given the opportunity to repent of this attitude until the very end. Their continued resistance to Jesus Christ eventually led to the destruction of the Temple in the year 70 AD. A hardening had occurred and, as Jesus warned a year before the crucifixion, the spirit of idolatry that had left the people since the Babylonian captivity would return and bring with it seven other demons more wicked than himself. The Jewish authorities, who continued to reject Christ, had been corrupted by the ‘synagogue of Satan’, who could do nothing but slander the followers of Christ in order to maintain their own stubborn rejection of Him.

But the young Christianity also had much to fear from Rome. Prophetically, the ten days of tribulation may refer to the persecution under Diocletian, which lasted from 303 to 313 AD and ended with the Edict of Milan by Constantine the Great. It may also refer to the ten persecutions of Christians within the Roman empire, that would pass in total.

The crown of life

To the church that was persecuted to death, Jesus presents himself as the First and the Last, Who was dead and has come to life again. The winners are promised triumph over the second death. That is a great comfort in times of tribulation. So also in the great tribulation that is yet to come:  ‘Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.’

Prison, with the prospect of death, is Satan’s way of instilling fear in Christians and tempting them to deny Christ in favor of Roman gods or the emperor. Jesus said to his disciples: Matthew 10:28 ‘And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.’ That last one is ‘the second death’, from which the believer will not suffer any harm, the ‘lake of fire’. But besides the ‘negative promise’ of ‘no harm from the second death’, there is also a positive promise of ‘the crown of life’. This is a reward, especially for those who endure trials and furthermore for everyone who loves the Lord. The crown of life (the promise to overcomers of Smyrna) seems to go a little further than the tree of life (the promise to overcomers of Ephesus) and concerns not only the continuation of life but also the quality of life.

Prophetically, the letter to Smyrna points to the second and third centuries of church history. However, it has a practical message for all Christians of all times. That message is now more relevant than ever, now that we see dictatorships rising all over the world, which target civil liberties, including those of Christians. Governments believe they can use the so-called Corona pandemic to prohibit Christian congregations from meeting together or to come up with all kinds of rules for this, which are diametrically opposed to the Bible. Even pastors are thrown in prison, not yet under death threats, but the fact itself is bad enough. For those who have the testimony of Jesus, it is important to obey God more than people and to persevere in meeting together, on no other basis than that of God and of Christ, and to persevere in testifying to Jesus.

Pergamon - Deception

The writing to Pergamon shows that the church has found itself in a completely new situation. It is no longer persecuted but ‘dwells where Satan’s throne is’. Pergamon is a striking description of the church from the moment that Christianity was declared the official state religion of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great (around 312 AD). After the abandonment of the first love by Ephesus, the bride was driven back into the arms of Jesus by the suffering of Smyrna. The devil raged like a roaring lion but only achieved steadfastness and perseverance from the suffering church. ‘If you can’t beat them, join them’, became the new strategy. Church and state were mixed. The church was allowed to co-rule and believers were given privileges. It was not long before evil no longer came from outside but from within. The doctrine of Balaam was perhaps not yet practiced but it was taught that it is okay to eat idol sacrifices and to commit fornication. Preparations were already being made for far-reaching cooperation with the rulers of the Roman Empire, in all kinds of areas, in which political influence and not the Word of God was leading. The devil came as an angel of light. The church was close to the seat of power, lived where Satan is.

Of course, Pergamon was also an existing community in the time of John. The throne of Satan was the enormous altar of Zeus and Athena, with idolatrous sacrifices and temple prostitution. This altar was moved from Turkey to Berlin in the 19th century. The Zeppelin tribune from which Hitler gave his mass speeches in the years of Nazi Germany was designed by Albert Speer after the model of the altar of Zeus.

It is very questionable whether Antipas was a concrete martyr. According to tradition, he was a student of John himself. But otherwise the reports contradict each other. The dating of his death varies between the year 68 AD and the year 92 AD. There are no official sources with his name. This may concern the meaning of the name Antipas, as 'anti-papa's'. The name is then an expression of the aversion that arose among many believers to assign a special title to high-ranking clergy. This is in imitation of the words of Jesus: 'But you shall not be called Rabbi, for one is your Teacher, even Christ; and all you are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your Father, even He who is in heaven. And you shall not be called masters, for one is your Master, even Christ.’ Of course, these critics of the elite clergy were persecuted because they endangered influential positions. Because Christians and their faith were given an important place in the empire, they then assumed in their doctrine that the kingdom of God had already come and that Christ was not visible on earth but reigned in his vicar, the emperor of the empire. The physical coming of Christ and the establishment of his millennial kingdom disappeared completely from view (post- and a-millennialism). The heresy of cooperation with the world united with the heresy that the day of God would already have dawned. Augustine is an exponent of this time in the Christian church and his influence still continues to proliferate.

Both the presentation of Christ and the reward are particularly appropriate. For Pergamon, Christ is the one who has the two-edged, sharp sword. It is the sword that comes from his mouth, the Word of God. The Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. It is the sword of the Spirit. For a church that proclaims doctrines that deny its separation from the world and that instead encourage it to rule in the world and to work together in a kingdom that crucified Christ, there is nothing left but to be introduced to the sword of Christ. He even wages war against those who propagate this doctrine. Paul already warned the Corinthians against entering into an unequal yoke with unbelievers. He further wrote to them: ‘You are already full, you are already rich, you have reigned without us; and I would that you did reign, that we also might reign with you.’ The Word of God makes short work of Augustine-style heresy – no matter how prominent this learned monk may be in the eyes of the world.

The Manna and the Stone

The reward of Christ to the victors, like the Word of God, stands in stark contrast to the church views within Pergamon. While the Christianity of that time strove for a beautiful influential social position, Christ gives the victors something that is ‘hidden’ and ‘secret’, completely invisible to the eyes of society. What He gives are two attributes that were also present in the ark of the covenant: manna and a stone. ‘Hidden manna’ was in a golden jar, in the ark, behind the veil in the tabernacle and later in the temple, where only the high priest was allowed to come once a year. Manna is the bread that the Israelis were given to eat from God from heaven for forty years in the desert – even at the time that Balaam came with his teaching to seduce the people. The manna was spoiled after one or two days and had to be collected again and again. Moses ordered to put a jar with an omer (2 to 3 liters) of manna in the ark, so that they would have a sign throughout their generations to remember what God had done for them. After the miracle of feeding the 5000, Jesus compares himself to the manna (John 6:32). He is the bread of life. As long as Christians are on their ‘desert journey’ through this world, they feed on Jesus, Who He was in His humiliation on earth. The knowledge that the believer has of Jesus in His humiliation on earth is unique to every Christian and hidden from the world. Christ also gives a stone. That is not a stone with the law of God, how people should live while they are not able to do so, but a stone with a new name, the essence of the believer in his relationship to God, able to live according to God’s will because God has written His law, a letter from Christ, in his heart (Heb.8:10,11 - 2 Cor.3:3).

Thyatira - Idolatry

In the church of Thyatira we see the evil that already tried to infiltrate the church in the era of Ephesus: the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. The fact that the Lord Jesus hates the works of the Nicolaitans must have the effect on the church that it keeps itself as far away from it as possible. In the time of the persecutions of Smyrna, we indeed read nothing more about the Nicolaitans, but their doctrine resurfaces in the subsequent phase of church history, Pergamon. A few hold on to it and that has consequences. In the period of Thyatira we read that the doctrine is practiced. In Pergamon it was still a doctrine that could lead to idol sacrifices and fornication. In Thyatira a so-called prophetess, Jezebel, is at work, who deceives the servants of the Lord to actually eat idol sacrifices and commit fornication. While the church of Pergamon lived close to Satan, in Thyatira Satan has crept into the church under the disguise of a prophetess, to corrupt it from within. In church history we see this indeed happen in the time of Roman Catholicism, in which the church not only ruled with the world but even ruled over the world. That world is nothing other than the underground continuation of the old world empires and the church therefore absorbs all the affairs of those world empires in order to strengthen its rule over the world. In Thyatira we see a church that mixes the holy things of God with the unholy things of the world kingdoms, which ultimately come from the realm of demons. We see on a large scale what Paul warns about in his letters to the Corinthians:

'Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what fellowship has light with darkness? And what agreement has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?' (2 Cor.6:14)

The official church of the Middle Ages (ca 500 AD – ca 1500 AD) is indeed very similar to Queen Jezebel from the Old Testament, who led the people of Israel into idolatry to Baal, wrote letters in the name of her husband, King Ahab, and severely persecuted true believers (1 Kings 21:7,8). In this way the Catholic church also presents itself as the vicar of Christ and in his name many believers were killed who rightly turned against her idolatry. A list of names that have resisted the errors of Roman Catholicism over the centuries can be found on pages 57 and 58 of Revelations from Revelation.

The call for conversion has sounded increasingly clear from the year 1100 and became louder until the clarion call of Protestantism and the Reformation. Unfortunately, the church did not want to listen to all that and it even started with a counter-reformation, first by the Dominicans and later by the Jesuits, in which military means were not shunned. The counter-reformation continues secretly to this day in the form of the Ecumenical movement, in which all straying daughters must return to the mother church and her Babylonian idolatry.

It requires a thorough study of Roman Catholicism to list all the expressions that are derived from the old Babylonian religion. For those who want to delve into this, the book ‘ The Two Babylons ’ by Alexander Hislop will be a shocking discovery. However, it will suffice to say that the Lord Jesus Himself strikingly described the ecclesiastical error as being about ‘the depths of Satan’.

Judgment

The announced judgment, the sickbed, has actually come in a series of epidemics that have ravaged Europe in the late Middle Ages and even afterwards. The Black Death is said to have cost the lives of approximately 25 million people between 1348 and 1351.

In both the characterization of Thyatira and her judgment, clear references can be found to the end times, in which this church with her ‘returned daughters’ in the Ecumenical One World religion, will experience the horrors of the Endtime. First of all, Queen Jezebel with her Baal service immediately brings to mind the great whore. Secondly, during her reign, the prophet Elijah appeared, who pronounced God’s judgment on the land of a drought of three and a half years (James 5:17). In the end times, an Elijah figure will also appear again, who will strike the earth with drought for three and a half years (Rev.11:6). Furthermore, Jesus speaks of a ‘great tribulation’, an expression that refers very specifically to the end times and that will last three and a half years. We will return to this great tribulation in more detail in the explanation of later chapters.

The great blow to her worldly power, the Catholic church received already in the late 1700's, at the French Revolution, followed by the Napoleontic wars and successive secularization of the West. This blow was dealt to her by the worldly forces that she cooperated with for so long. Revelation 17 shows us the Medieval church in control of the empire that had dissipated in Europe's nations but this empire had constantly struggled to regain control. This eventually succeeded through the influence of secret societies, which lay at the foundation of the United States of America. It was through Freemasonry that the influence of the Roman Catholic Church was curtailed, first in the young USA and then in France. The rest of Europe followed suit.

The French Revolution meant an enormous limitation of Catholic power, with the execution of several clergymen, but Napoleon deposed the Pope and imprisoned him in 1798. Until 1929, the power of the Church was greatly limited. In that year, with the ‘ Lateran Treaty ’, the Church regained control over its own territory, the Vatican, from where it could once again show some grandeur, but never with the political power, it once had.

In the process of conquering the power of the church, both the 1800's and the 1900's have seen decades of enormous strife, war and turmoil, in which many people died, as Jesus foretold: 'Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death' (Rev.2:22,23). This coincides with a prophecy on 'the great whore of Revelation 17: 'And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.' (Rev.17:16)

The final judgment is found in the end times, in 18, where we read about the judgment of  Babylon the great, which no longer just represents the false church that held the world population in its grip for approximately 1,500 years. In the Endtime, Babylon the Great is the dominant world empire, which has brought down church power and uses the external remains of it as a facade to hide its true objectives of waging war for total world dominance. 

The fact that the Roman Catholic system is thoroughly infiltrated by a false religion does not mean that believers who find themselves in that system should be condemned. On the contrary. There are many true believers in the Roman Catholic church who love the Lord and serve Him faithfully. Jesus says of them: ‘I know your works, your love, your service, your faith, your perseverance and your works, and that the latter are more than the former.’ The error of liberalism has spread much more in the Protestant churches than in the Catholic church, although the latter has not been free from it either.

Eyes like unto a Flame of Fire

In the message to Thyatira, the description of Christ and the reward are again beautifully in line with the content of the message. Jesus presents himself as ‘the Son of God’, with eyes like a flame of fire and feet like shining copper. This fits beautifully with a Church that reveals itself as a Babylonian system that persecutes true believers. When Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has Daniel's three friends thrown into the fiery furnace, he sees not three but four men walking around in the fire, one of whom has the face of a 'son of God' (Dan.3:25). We see that same 'son of God' here in relation to the apostate Church, standing up for his servants. His fiery eyes and his feet like shining bronze (as if they glowed in a furnace, it is also added in the first chapter) show that He is always with the oppressed but also that He observes everything that goes against His holiness. Later He says: 'and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the reins and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your works.'

'Judgment begins at the house of God', writes Peter (1 Pet.4:17). Christ's eyes are primarily focused on his own church. ‘Whoever destroys the temple of God, him will God destroy.’ (1 Cor.3:17)

The image of the fiery, all-searching eyes of Christ closely matches the sharp two-edged sword that He wields in relation to Pergamon. ‘The Word of God … pierces even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and judges the thoughts and purposes of the heart.’ And immediately follows: ‘And there is no creature that is not manifest in His sight, but all things are naked and laid open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.’ (Heb.4:12) The sharp, two-edged sword and the fiery eyes form a unity. We see them again in chapter 19 of Revelation, where Jesus as ‘Word of God’ descends from heaven on a white horse, with eyes like a flame of fire and with a sharp sword coming out of His mouth. The difference is that there it is about striking the nations of the world, not the church or the apostate Church. The latter has already been judged.

Power over the nations

The reward for the overcomers is dominion over the nations of the world. It is precisely what the Church wanted to appropriate for itself before its time and which the overcomers testified that it had to wait for until Christ's return. The apostate Church already wanted to rule "without Him" ​​or even "in His stead," instead of being a humble witness to the Christ rejected by this world. The apostate Church is punished for this arbitrary self-glorification. But those who have held on to the humble testimony of Jesus, will have dominion with Him: "And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him will I give power over the nations. And he will rule them with a rod of iron; they will be broken to pieces like a potter's vessels; just as I also have received power from My Father." The iron and the shattering of the vessels speak of the enormous power and inflexibility of Christ's government. Everything will bow to Him and His will and God's law. Everything will be obedient to God. All resistance to God and His will will be crushed with an iron fist. There is no question of a democracy. Theocracy will have the last word. God Himself will rule in the person of Jesus Christ and His church. The blessed influence of the Torah, the laws that God gave to His people and to the world through Moses, will then become visible. Everything will be brought together under one head in Christ (Eph.1:10). That cannot be accomplished by Christians or a church - only by the physical return of Jesus in glory.

There is also the promise of the morning star. The morning star is the first sign of the approaching day. Christs explicitly calls Himself 'the Morning Star'. That is the coming of Christ for His church, the rapture. Those who continue to expect Him will participate in it, whether they have already died - then they will rise - or whether they are alive at His coming - then they will be changed. It is the planet Venus, which shines early in the morning. In 2025 there are many signs in the sky that indicate that the moment of Jesus' coming to fetch His bride is not far away.

That the morning star is promised to the overcomers of Thyatira means that this church will be there at the moment that Jesus comes to get his bride in the rapture. Where the churches that were depicted by Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamon have disappeared, Thyatira, the Roman Catholic church, is indeed still very much alive. And the churches that follow, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, are also still there.

The messages to the last four churches, in contrast to the first three, contain a reference to the coming of Christ to catch his church. It is true that Christ says to Pergamon, the third church: 'Repent. And if not, I will come to you quickly and will make war against them with the sword of my mouth'. But there it is about a coming in providence, in which He acts against this church through the circumstances and messages. Just as in the case of Thyatira, that He throws Jezebel on a bed and brings those who commit adultery with her into great oppression and will kill her children. For the first time, however, the command and promise are heard in Thyatira: 'Hold fast to what you have until I come.' This command to 'hold fast' is for the remaining time of the church on earth, until Christ comes to move his church to heaven.

Related to this is the reversed order of the promise to the overcomers and the repeated message 'whoever has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches'. In the first three churches, this call was followed by the promise to the overcomers. First 'Who overcomes', then 'Whoever has ears'. From Thyatira onwards, it is first said 'Who overcomes' and ends with 'Whoever has ears'. In this way, the victory becomes one with the rest of the message. The history of these churches continues, as it were, in one go from their earthly struggle towards the fulfillment of Christ's promises to the faithful, in heaven. This is no longer interrupted by 'Whoever has ears'.