Revelation 2

1. Write this to the pastor of the church in Ephesus: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands says this to you.

Some teachers say that the seven churches show us seven periods of time in the history of the church. Some teachers say that they show us some of the things that are in our churches today.

2. I know what you do. You work hard, and you never give up. I know that you do not accept evil people. You have tested those who say that they are apostles but really are not. You found that they are liars.

This church knew how to test men to see if they are what they say they are. Some people think that God does not know what they are doing.

They think that if they keep something only in their mind then God can never know it. Jesus says, “I know what you are thinking and what you are doing.”

3. You continue to serve Me. You have suffered troubles for My name, and you have not given up.

Suffering proves that death can be overcome! We might feel dead inside and think that we get nothing from reading the Bible or prayer and feel dead inside but if we keep holding on when it seems like there is nothing, He will bring us back from the dead.

When a baby gets himself all dirty we do not say that now we do not love him. He is the one we love even if he looks dirty on the outside. God sees our heart even we are not showing much good on the outside. He thinks the best of us!

4. But I have this against you: You have left the love you had in the beginning.

When you leave something, it means that you tell yourself that you will come back for it later. When we first met the Lord we would do anything for Him.

Something happened and we began to become very busy but we tried to do something for Him when we had time. The Lord wants to spend time with us in the Word and in prayer. We will find that life is easier this way.

5. So remember where you were before you fell. Change your hearts and do what you did at first. If you do not change, I will come to you. I will take away your lampstand from its place.

The church of Ephesus is gone and is an empty place now. Jesus says that He will not stay in a church that has no love. This is something serious to think about when there is fighting in the church.

6. But there is something you do that is right: You hate what the Nicolaitans do, as much as I.

Nicolaitan comes from words that mean “control the people.” Jesus died so that we could come directly to God. We do not need a priest to stand between us and God. This idea has become a way for men to say that they are closer to God than we are. This is why some churches have men who dress in a certain way and keep a distance between themselves and the people.

There are also churches which teach that the leaders control the people. They must come to the leaders for every decision. There are no big people and little people in God’s kingdom. Because of these ideas men laugh at the church and the history of the church. We need to tell such men that these ideas do not teach the way of life that Jesus taught.

7. Every person who has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who wins the victory I will give the right to eat the fruit from the tree of life. This tree is in the garden of God.

Adam and Eve were given the idea that knowing evil is more important than eternal life. We need to guard ourselves against being curious about evil. We should not play with this but turn away from things which want to give us a taste of what evil is like. We have to make the same choice that Adam and Eve were given.

Many in the church will try to find an easy way out of trouble when the church is attacked. The ones who hang on will have blessings in their lives that nobody else knows about. God re-planted the tree of life in the new heaven. Revelation 22:2

8. Write this to the pastor [Polycarp] of the church in Smyrna: The One who is the First and the Last says this to you. He is the One who died and came to life again.

Jesus is reminding them that He also suffered. Polycarp was a student of John’s and the pastor at this time. He was killed by the Romans. When he was asked to deny Christ he said, “How could I? After all these years He has never done me wrong!”

9. I know your troubles. I know that you are poor, but really you are rich! I know the bad things that some people say about you. They say they are Jews, but they are not true Jews. They are a synagogue that belongs to Satan.

Those who trust God the way Abraham did are the real Jews.

This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children. Romans 9:8

Not all who are born into the nation of Israel are true Jews! Romans 9:6

10. Do not be afraid of what will happen to you. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But be faithful, even if you have to die. If you are faithful, I will give you the crown of life.


We need to remind ourselves that we are not fighting against people, but it is the devil is trying to destroy us. When we think that our trouble is from people we make it harder on ourselves.

Some teachers say that the ten days means there will be ten times of trouble in the church. There are Scriptures that show ten days to mean a very short time. See Daniel 1:11, Genesis 24:55.

11. Everyone who has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. He who wins the victory will not be hurt by the second death.

Death cannot hurt us. The sting of death is felt by those who will not only die but will die again when they are separated from God forever.
12 – 13

Write this to the pastor of the church in Pergamum: “The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this to you.

I know where you live. You live where Satan has his throne. But you hold on to My name. You did not refuse to tell about your trust in me even during the time of Antipas. Antipas was my faithful witness who was killed in your city. Your city is where Satan lives.

We do not only agree with the teachings of a certain church, but we hold on to the name of Jesus and are not ashamed of that name. The city of Pergamum had a cliff outside of town called the Throne of Zeus.

There were cults that taught that there was secret knowledge that they would teach you if you would join them. The world thinks we are crazy because we trust in the name of Jesus instead of their secret knowledge.

14. “But I have a few things against you: You have some there who follow the teaching of Balaam. Balaam taught Balak how to cause the people of Israel to sin. They sinned by eating food offered to idols and by taking part in sexual sins.
 
Balaam was a false prophet who taught Israel how to mix the worship of God with evil things. He did this to make some money. God will destroy any church that pretends to worship Him in this way.

It is amazing that there were Christians in this church who wanted to hold on to the name of Jesus and mix the ideas of demons with their worship.

Maybe they thought they would have less persecution if they allowed some of these things in the church?

As far as the leaders of the church, we cannot imagine one of the apostles asking a church how much money they would get before they did any ministry.

15. You also have some who follow the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

The Ephesians allowed these false leaders to stay in the church but the church of Pergamum accepted them completely. This shows us that if you allow some evil thing to stay around you, then later you will accept it.

Now the church is turned over to the so-called experts. Today we are told that pastors should not counsel people, but send them to experts. If we know the word of God, we do not need any experts.

16. So change your hearts and lives! If you do not, I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword that comes out of My mouth.

God’s Words go deep inside of a person, whether they want to listen or not. Their conscience will give them no rest.

17. Everyone who has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches! I will give the hidden manna to everyone who wins the victory. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it. No one knows this new name except the one who receives it.

The men who fought in the Roman games were given a white stone after they won the fight. Judges in court would give white stone to a man if he was set free. We are given a white stone to show that God accepts us.

When God changed somebody’s name in the Bible He was saying, “That is who you were but this is who you are now.” The manna reminds us that we have to come to God every day to get what we need.

18 – 19

Write this to the pastor of the church in Thyatira: The Son of God is saying these things. He is the One who has eyes that blaze like fire and feet like shining bronze. He says this to you:

I know what you do. I know about your love, your faith, your service, and your patience. I know that you are doing more now than you did at first.

We can become so busy doing the work of the church that we are not paying attention to the life of the church. We do not serve Jesus only by doing things but also by watching and praying guarding the church.

20. But I have this against you: You let that woman Jezebel do what she wants. She says that she is a prophetess. But she is leading my servants away with her teaching. Jezebel leads them to take part in sexual sins and to eat food that is offered to idols.

We can see when someone is a false Christian. First, they want to get everyone to pay attention to them and follow them. Next they want to control people. Finally, they suggest that we change the things of God to fit better with their own ideas.

21. I have given her time to change her heart and turn away from her sin. But she does not want to change.

When people go this way they think they have deep knowledge and are superior to those who try to help them see the light -God still gives them a chance to change!

22. And so I will throw her on a bed of suffering. And all those who take part in adultery with her into a time of great trouble. I will do this now if they do not turn away from the wrongs she does.

God uses trouble to clean up His church. There is always a chance that some people who are playing with the devil will run away from him when things get hot.

23. I will also kill her followers. Then all the churches will know that I am the One who knows what people feel and think. And I will repay each of you for what you have done.


There are many examples in the Bible, and in modern life, to show that God can take the lives of those who lead His people away from the truth.

24 – 25

But others of you in Thyatira have not followed her teaching. You have not learned what some call Satan’s deep secrets. This is what I say to you: I will not put any other load on you. Only continue the way you are until I come.


The Christians who were not following this woman were outnumbered. Jesus is telling them to hold on to what they have. There is no use fighting against a church full of people who have made up their minds to do something stupid.

26. I will give power to everyone who wins the victory and continues to the end to do what I want. I will give him power over the nations:

During these times, Jesus told us that He would be with us and show us what to do and what to say (Luke 12:11). Psalm 2:9

27. You will make them obey you by punishing them with an iron rod. You will break them into pieces like pottery.

Many teachers tell us that this is talking about the time when Jesus returns and rules the earth for a thousand years. Isaiah 30 14, Jeremiah 19 11

28 – 29

This is the same power I received from my Father. I will also give him the morning star. Everyone who has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.


The morning star is seen when the darkest part of night is going away and the sun is just about to rise. You have to take some effort to see it while others sleep.