The End of the Matter
The Churches of Revelation
Part 2
Matthew 15:7-9:
”Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
This is part two of my article entitled “The Churches of Revelation”. This article is part of a larger series entitled “The End of the Matter”. The objective of these articles is to answer two questions which the disciples asked Yahoshua {Jesus}?
Matthew 24:3:
“Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’”
They’re actually asking him three questions, but we’re only going to deal with that two that are highlighted. What will be the sign of His coming and the end of the age? We will be going through the prophecies of Daniel, Ezekiel, and the book of Revelations, to learn what the Holy Scriptures has to say about these questions.
In our last article we began going through the churches listed in the book of Revelation chapters 2 and 3. We learned that each church had each been given a message from their High Priest, Yahoshua; each message being a prophecy as to their fate, and spiritual condition, while they are present upon this earth.
These messages are made up of a five parts.
1. The specific Church to whom the messages for.
2. The specific message to that Church.
3. The works the church does that Yahoshua loves.
4. The works the church does that Yahoshua hates.
5. The rewards for overcoming their sins.
For more review please refer to the last article “The Churches of Revelation Part One”.
We left off with the church of Smyrna. It was during the time of this church that we found a deception had begun to take place. We learned in our previous lesson that there were a group of people who had begun to claim that they were Jews. The people who were doing this were Gentiles. They were the descendants of people who had been placed in the land by the king of Assyria hundreds of years before. You can find this story in second Kings chapter 17.
The same time this deception, Gentiles claiming to be Jews, was beginning to take place, the church itself was being taken over by the Gentile converts. It was during the time of the church of Smyrna, that Gentiles are claiming to be the physical children of Israel, and the Gentiles are becoming the Spiritual Body of Christ.
Due to the length of this article I will not be posting every verse. Also for more clarification you may refer to the chart which is posted at the end of this article.
We will now begin with the next churchlisted, which is Pergamos.
Pergamos
Revelation 2:12-17
The message to this church, as with the earlier ones, begins with Yahoshua identifying Himself. He then gives them His message.
Revelation 2: 13:
“I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is.”
This is the very first message He gives to the church at Pergamos. Let us put this on hold and go to the next part of His message; the works the church does that Yahoshua loves.
Revelation 2:13:
“And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
They hold fast to His name. Even during the time when one of their own was killed in the place where Satan dwells.
The next message to the church is about the works they do that He hates.
Revelation 2:13-14:
“But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.”
The next part of their message is their reward for overcoming, and as with all the churches so far the reward is eternal life.
Revelation 2:17:
“….To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”’
The church of Pergamos is going through an interesting time. It seems Satan has placed his throne upon the earth. This can only mean that he has set up a kingdom on earth. We know that Satan can set up a kingdom on earth because he offered all the kingdoms of this earth to our Savior Yahoshua in the desert.
Matthew 4:8-9:
“Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will Give You If will fall down and worship me.’”
Yahoshua turned him down, sent Satan away, and went about His Father’s business. The point is Satan, for the time being, rules the kingdoms of this world. They are under his sway; they are under his control.
2 Corinthians 4:4 {Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)}
“….in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds….”
And he has placed his throne in the same place where the church is during this time.
Revelation 2: 13:
“I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is.”
We must understand three things about Satan.
1. What he wants.
2. What he needs.
3. How he plans to obtain them.
The answer to the first is, he wants to be God.
Isaiah 14:12-14:
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
The answer to the second is Satan needs to be worshipped. Remember his offer to the Messiah in the desert.
Matthew 4:9:
”All these things I will Give You If You will fall down and worship me.’”
The answer to the third is he plans to obtain these things through deception.
Revelation 12:9:
” So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
Revelation 18:23:
“….for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.”
What exactly is deception? The Merriam Webster on-line dictionary defines deception as:
de·cep·tion noun \di-ˈsep-shən\ : The act of making someone believe something that is not true: the act of deceiving someone
Satan achieves his deceptions through lies, he simply offers an alternative. That is exactly what he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden. He offered an alternative to God’s word. He gave Eve a counterfeit doctrine.
Genesis 3:1:
“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’”
Satan offers Eve a counterfeit doctrine. He asked her, “Didn’t God say you could eat all the fruit of the garden.” {My quote added}
Eve counters Satan with God’s true doctrine.
Genesis 3:2-3:
“And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden….God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
And once again Satan offers a counterfeit doctrine, an alternative to the true word of God.
Genesis 3:4:
”Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’”
The serpent deceived Eve through his lies. It was done by offering Eve a counterfeit doctrine. God told Eve if she ate or touched the fruit she would die. This was God’s doctrine.
Satan told Eve, that if she ate the fruit she would not die, but become as God. This was Satan’s counterfeit doctrine.
Merriam Webster on-line dictionary defines counterfeit as:
coun·ter·feit adjective \ˈkau̇nt-ər-ˌfit\: made to look like an exact copy of something in order to trick people
This is how Satan achieves his goals. He lies to people by giving them a false doctrine, a counterfeit alternative to the Commands and Laws of God. He gets them thinking that something is wrong with God or His Commands, doubt begins to creep into their minds, and then Satan offers his counterfeit doctrine as truth.
How is this possible? How is Satan able to deceive not just the world, but the disciples of Yahoshua; His church?
2 Corinthians 11:13-15:
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”
Now back to the message.
I am going to repeat part of the message, but in a different translation.
Revelation 2:13: {New Living Translation (NLT)}
“I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne.”
Let us recap exactly what is going on during the time the church of Pergamos is on this earth. The church which Yahoshua started has come under attack by Satan. False prophets, false apostles and false doctrines were appearing everywhere and infiltrating the church itself. The people with in God’s church began to practice the ways of the Nicolotians, to hold the doctrine of Balaam, and commit sexual immorality. Is it any wonder? Remember, the church of Pergamos was located in the same place where Satan had set up his earthly kingdom, where he had set up his throne.
Satan wants to be God, and wants to be worshipped as God. In order to achieve this he began to deceive the world into thinking that the Gentiles who inhabited the land of Samaria were actually the true children of Israel. He and his followers then began to infiltrate the churches, who are the spiritual Israelites, with false prophets, false apostles, and false doctrine.
The church was growing because of the Gentile converts; this was not a bad thing. Gentiles were called to the faith through His Holy Spirit, But because of the influx of Gentile converts into the church, and because they’re called Spiritual Israelites, Satan was able to deceive the world into thinking the Gentiles were also the physical descendents of Jacob.
Remember, this was happening to Israel because of their sins
Psalm 78:37:
“For their heart was not steadfast with Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.”
Israel had been taken captive and replaced by a counterfeit.
One church falls away while another is raised up.
Speaking of the falling away of Israel and the rise of the Gentiles Paul says:
Romans 11:11:
“I say then, have they {Israel} stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.”
And how long will this punishment to Israel last?
Romans 11:25:
”For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
2 Corinthians 4:4 {Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)}
“….in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds….”
Satan wants what God has, and if he cannot get what God has he will set up his own counterfeit version. God’s Kingdom is coming to this earth, so Satan set up his own kingdom on this earth. The church is the representation of God’s kingdom. So therefore Satan’s counterfeit version must be a church which represents his kingdom.
God has called a people to be his very own,
Isaiah 41:8:
“But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend.”
So Satan rose up a people of his own; a counterfeit version for himself. They are a people who would, knowingly and/or unknowingly, worship him as god.
Revelation 2:9:
“….and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”
Satan’s church, and the church of Pergamos are both in the same place; the place where Satan’s throne is located. It was this church, the church which the bible calls the “Synagogue of Satan”, that was deceiving the people of the world into believing that the Gentiles are the true people of God and that Satan’s church was, the Spiritual Body of Yahoshua, and it was this “Synagogue of Satan” which was killing the true worshippers of Yahoshua, and at the same time God was using them to punish the true children of Jacob by taking them captive, and spreading them throughout the world.
And while Satan was killing the people of God he was also offering the world an “alternative”.
Thyatira
Revelation 2:18-29
The next message is given to the church of Thyatira. It begins with Yahoshua identifying Himself as the message giver. He then tells them that He knows their works and the works that He loves.
Revelation 2:19:
“I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.
Unfortunately just like every other church we have read about so far, this church is also doing things that He hates.
Revelation 2:20:
”Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.”
Apparently this woman Jezebel was causing quite a stir, but we will come back to her in a moment; let us continue with the message to the church. There is an anomaly in the message to this church; Yahoshua gives them a command that He gives no other church before this.
Revelation 2:25:
”But hold fast what you have till I come.”
He then tells them their reward for overcoming. We find this is also a little different than the churches.
Revelation 2:26:
“And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations.”
So now let us see if we can understand what is going on with this church during the time they are upon the earth. The previous church, the church of Pergamos, had been persecuted by the kingdom and synagogue of Satan. The church of Thyatira has become dominated by Gentiles. If there are any natural born Israelites within the church, they have no idea who they really are. By this time Israel has been dispersed among the nations and placed into captivity just as God had prophesied.
Deuteronomy 28:58:
“If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD”
Deuteronomy 28:63-64:
”…. it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess. Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known—wood and stone.”
Israel has been scattered, lost, and enslaved, and the Gentiles have been raised up to replace them. Yahoshua warned Israel of this fate if they did not repent of their sins.
Matthew 3:8-10:
” Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
The story of Israel rejection and the raising up of the Gentiles can be found in Romans chapter Eleven.
Romans 11:15-21:
”For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.”
Let us return to the church of Thyatira. This phase of the church seems to be at relative peace, meaning there does not seem to be a great purge or tribulation taking place to the people who are part of the church. We can tell this because Yahoshua says that their works would be better at the end of their time on this earth than they would be at the beginning. The problem with this church was a woman He calls Jezebel. She was a false prophet who taught a false doctrine. Whether her name was actually Jezebel is not known, but it is an obvious reference to the woman Jezebel of the Old Testament, you can read her story in First Kings chapter nineteen all the way to Second Kings chapter nine. Suffice it to say she was not a very good role model.
What exactly does Yahoshua have to say about this woman?
Revelation 2:20:
”…. you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. “
This woman Jezebel was teaching the church to commit what God calls “sexual immoral acts” and to eat things sacrificed to idols. We have heard this before; this sin is not new to the church?
Revelation 2:14:
” But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.”
It seems the churches of Thyatira and Pergamos have committed the same sin. To better understand this sin, let us go and take a quick look at these two men, Balaam and Balak.
As Israel was heading towards their promised land, they had to go through or get within close proximity of many different of nations. One of these nations was called Shittim, or as it is sometimes referred to, Moab.
Numbers 22:4-5:
”So Moab said to the elders of Midian, ‘Now this company will lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.’ And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. Then he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying: ‘Look, a people have come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me!”
Balak the king of Moab was afraid of Israel. He sent for Balaam who was a magician. Balak wanted Balaam to curse Israel but God would not allow it. You can find that story in the book of Numbers chapters 22 through 23. Since God would not allow Balaam to curse Israel he counseled Balak to try something else so that Israel might be destroyed. Numbers 31:16:
”Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.”
So what was the counsel Balaam gave to the women of Moab? How were they to place a stumbling block before the children of Israel?
Numbers 25:1-9:
”Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab.”
Let us stop here. The bible says Israel was playing the part of a harlot with the daughters of Moab!!! This is a sexual immoral act, just like the acts of the false prophetess Jezebel in the Church. This begs the question; how is Israel, playing the part of the harlot?
Numbers 25:2-3:
”They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel.”
When Israel worships other gods, they are playing the role of a harlot. This is the stumbling block which was set before Israel. The sexual immoral acts spoken of are not literally sex acts, but the act of God’s people worshipping other gods. This is Spiritual Adultery. Just as physical adultery is the act of one man or woman having sex outside of their marriage, spiritual adultery is the act of God’s Church worshipping another god. It is because of this sin that Yahoshua gives the following warning to the church of Thyatira about this woman Jezebel.
Revelation 2:21-23:
And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.”
It must be repeated that the sexual immorality being spoken of is the worshipping of other gods. Those who are committing adultery with Jezebel are her disciples who are worshipping other gods along with her. The children that Yahoshua says he will kill are offshoots, or people who are going around teaching others in the church this false doctrine, this worshipping of Baal, this doctrine of the Nicolaitans. This is the sin which angers God so much; it is and has been the same sin from the beginning.
2 Kings 17:33-35:
”They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away.”
Let us next look at the final verses of this message to the church of Thyatira. It is the reward for those who overcome.
Revelation 2:25-29:
”But hold fast what you have till I come.”
I mentioned earlier that the term,” till I come” was an anomaly. No church prior to this does Yahoshua say that they should wait for His return. In and of itself it doesn’t mean a lot, but when you pair it with the next verse it takes on a very special meaning.
Revelation 2:26-27:
“And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels As I also have received from My Father; ’”
This is a quotation from the book of Psalms chapter two verses eight and nine.
Psalm 2:6-9:
“’Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me,’ ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”
It is speaking of the reign of Yahoshua upon this earth. This is the promise the Father gave to His son Yahoshua for overcoming Satan and this world. This is the gift He shall receive when He returns as King of kings and Lord of lords. This is the same gift that Yahoshua is offering the church of Thyatira, if they overcome, as He has overcome. When you put these two verses together we can see that this will be the first church that will have members who will be alive when Yahoshua returns to claim His kingdom. This is why He tells them He will give them the morning star.
Revelation 2:28-29:
“And I will give him the morning star. He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’
And what is this morning star he speaks of?
Revelation 22:16:
“I, Yahoshua, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”
Gentiles have become Jews, Jews have become gentiles, and the churches of Pergamos and Thyatira are both playing the harlot, by mixing pagan worship with the true worship of the Father. This is the state of affairs that Yahoshua prophesied the church would be in. The messages that Yahoshua gives to these churches is the story of the church, which is also the story of Israel.
Well my friends as always all the things must come to an end and is with deep regret that I must end this article and this time. So until we meet again please remember the words of Yahoshua:
Revelation 22:7:
“Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
Peace
