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In the following commentary, words in CAPS indicate the biblical text, while words in lower case indicate the commentary on that text.

Studies in Revelation

by Dr. John H. Roller

Chapter 2

Verses 1-7

Introduction

There are many valid ways to interpret the seven short “letters” that the Apostle John (in his vision) heard Jesus “dictate” to him. Perhaps the most obvious way is to take them literally – as letters from Jesus (in Heaven), through the Apostle John (on Patmos) to the Christians who attended the churches in those seven cities of Asia Minor near the end of the first century AD. In that case, the statements in the letters would apply to the situations and circumstances under which those people lived at that time – and they would be of relatively little interest to us, unless we wanted to know more about what was going on in Asia Minor over 1,900 years ago. Another way to interpret these letters is to say that every church, in every place, and at every time, can find itself “represented” by the message given to one of these seven churches. Still another way is to say that the statements in the letters apply to all churches in all places throughout history, in such a way that every Christian who has ever lived could find something in at least one of these letters that would apply to his (or her) own situation and the circumstances in which he (or she) lived (or lives) – and to the church that he (or she) attended (or attends). Each of these three interpretations is fairly easy to “do” and the results will contribute to your understanding of what God meant to communicate to us in this Book. The first one requires that you have some knowledge of first-century history; for the other two, you would simply read the letters as if they had been written with you in mind, and see what part (or parts) of them apply to your situation and circumstances.

There is also a somewhat more specific (and somewhat more difficult) method of interpreting the letters, which I will be presenting in these “Studies.” In this view (known as Historicism), each of the seven letters contains a symbolic representation of the events that were to take place in the Christian church (all over the world) during a specific period of time in history. Thus, taken together, the seven letters present an overview, in chronological order, of the history of Christianity, from the first century until just before the Second Coming of Christ. This view is more “difficult” for two reasons: first, because it requires taking plain-sounding statements as symbolic, and then guessing what the symbols refer to; and, second, because it requires a knowledge of history that is more extensive than most people have.

There is a structural pattern that prevails throughout the seven letters, with slight (but significant) variations. Each letter begins, “To the angel of the church in (or of) _______ write:” (the blank representing the name of the city to which that letter is addressed). Then there is a statement identifying the Author of the letter (Jesus) by a description drawn from the description of Jesus in Revelation 1 and particularly appropriate to the message in that particular letter. Next, most of the letters contain a statement beginning with the words “I know” and either commending the recipients for their good deeds, criticizing them for their sins, or (in most cases) both. Usually, there is a challenge to repent and do better. Each letter includes the statement, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies,” and each letter includes a promise addressed to “him who overcomes” – sometimes the statement comes first, and sometimes the promise comes first. The promise is always particularly relevant to the situation described in that particular letter.

Revelation 2:1

TO THE ANGEL OF THE ASSEMBLY IN EPHESUS (representing the Apostolic Age, from AD 30, when the church was ‘born’ – on the Day of Pentecost – to AD 102, when John, the last of the original 12 Apostles, died) WRITE: ‘HE WHO HOLDS THE SEVEN STARS IN HIS RIGHT HAND (see Revelation 1:16), HE WHO WALKS AMONG THE SEVEN GOLDEN LAMPSTANDS (see Revelation 1:13) SAYS THESE THINGS:

Revelation 2:2

“I KNOW YOUR WORKS, AND YOUR TOIL AND PERSEVERANCE (during the Apostolic Age, Christians worked very hard to spread the Gospel throughout the world; most non-Christians had never heard of Jesus and didn’t know anything about Him, so the Christians constantly had to explain to their friends and neighbors what Christianity was all about), AND THAT YOU CAN’T TOLERATE EVIL MEN (during the Apostolic Age, the church maintained a very clear standard of righteousness, by which one had to live if one was to be accepted as a member of the Christian community), AND HAVE TESTED THOSE WHO CALL THEMSELVES APOSTLES, AND THEY ARE NOT, AND FOUND THEM FALSE. Whenever something genuine and valuable is available, there will be people who produce counterfeit copies of it, in the hope of making money from those who don’t know the difference. Nobody prints counterfeit $3 bills, because there are no genuine $3 bills. People produce counterfeit $20 bills, $50 bills and $100 bills, because there are genuine $20 bills, $50 bills and $100 bills in circulation. So, when there were genuine Apostles of Jesus Christ on Earth, preaching His message, there were also counterfeit ‘apostles’ preaching their own ‘versions’ of ‘Christianity.’ First-century churches had to ‘test’ claims of apostolic authority, and they learned how to distinguish true Apostles from the pretenders. (But we won’t read much about ‘apostles’ in Jesus’ letters to the other six churches, because they describe conditions that existed only after the true apostles had all died.)

Revelation 2:3

YOU HAVE PERSEVERANCE (patience) AND HAVE ENDURED (suffered) FOR MY NAME’S SAKE, AND HAVE NOT GROWN WEARY. Those are all very commendable qualities.

Revelation 2:4

BUT (having looked at Jesus’ commendation of the Apostolic Age church, we turn to His criticism of that church) I HAVE THIS AGAINST YOU, THAT YOU LEFT YOUR FIRST LOVE. In Ephesians 3:17-19, the Apostle Paul wrote, ‘[I pray] that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know Christ’s love, which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.’ Paul, writing to the literal church in Ephesus, emphasized the importance of love; 36 years later, Jesus criticized the church age that is symbolized by Ephesus for abandoning that emphasis on love.

Revelation 2:5

REMEMBER THEREFORE FROM WHERE (from what ‘height’ of love) YOU HAVE FALLEN, AND REPENT (turn around) AND DO THE FIRST WORKS (get back to an emphasis on love); OR ELSE (if you don’t) I AM COMING TO YOU SWIFTLY (Jesus could have returned at the end of the Apostolic Age if God had wanted Him to – see John 21:22-23), AND WILL MOVE YOUR LAMPSTAND OUT OF ITS PLACE, UNLESS YOU REPENT. (The sad ending to the story of the literal church in Ephesus is that it didn’t repent, but continued on its path toward ritualistic legalism, declined, and eventually closed, and there never was a Christian church in the city of Ephesus again.)

Revelation 2:6

BUT (returning to commendation again) THIS YOU HAVE, THAT YOU HATE THE WORKS (peddling religion for financial gain) OF THE NICOLAITANS (one of the groups of false teachers), WHICH I ALSO HATE. It’s sobering to think that although there are relatively few things that Jesus is said, in the Bible, to ‘hate,’ one of them is the very common sin of trying to get rich by preaching what people like to hear, rather than preaching what the Bible says.

Revelation 2:7

HE WHO HAS AN EAR, LET HIM HEAR (see Matthew 11:15, 13:9 and 13:43; Mark 4:9; and Luke 8:8 and 14:35 – this was a ‘favorite’ expression of Jesus’) WHAT THE SPIRIT SAYS TO THE ASSEMBLIES. TO HIM WHO OVERCOMES I WILL GIVE (the right) TO EAT OF THE TREE OF LIFE, WHICH IS IN THE PARADISE OF MY GOD (which really means, ‘to live forever’).”’ We will see the ‘tree of life’ again when we come to the passage about ‘the Paradise of God’ in Revelation 21-22.