The book of Revelation is the most extensive book of prophecy in the Bible. It is exclusively prophetic starting from the time John received the prophecies from Christ to the very end of the book (Revelation 1:1). John is commanded to send what he received to the seven church congregations in Asia Minor, referring to the area included in modern-day Turkey. These seven messages should be understood to contain specific messages to those congregations about their spiritual condition, as it existed at that time. However, each specific message to each congregation ends with the admonition for all who would read the message down through history. Each message ends with the phrase, “He who has an ear,” meaning there is a warning to be heeded by those who have the humility to listen, for all Christians at all times from that time forward. In itself this phrase reflects the prophetic purpose of these letters in that the lessons to be learned are for everyone in the future. If these letters were only written to encourage and correct those specific congregations, they would not be in a book exclusively written by God to foretell the future of mankind. If not prophetic, these letters would be pastoral missives for the individual congregations such as First and Second Corinthians. The placement of these letters in the Book of Revelation establishes their prophetic relevance.

The following article and all successive articles on the topic of Church History will examine in detail the prophecies contained in each letter. If the reader has ears to hear as these letters are examined, the reader will see prophecies concerning God’s church from the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) until this present materialistic day when the heart of Laodicea reigns in professing Christianity.

In these seven letters Christ says he knows the works of those addressed in the letters. This means that the works that are known are works either worthy of Christians or not. It should be kept in mind that the each letter is written for a specific period in history, and most of these prophecies are now history – or prophecies – fulfilled. Therefore, it should be remembered the prophecies now fulfilled are the history of the trials, tribulations, and victories of God’s people down through the ages. It should also be remembered, and these articles will reflect this, that prophesied events in the letters written to the church are not yet all fulfilled. In fact some of the meaning of these prophecies is not yet revealed in full. The fulfillment of these prophecies will be revealed as God’s plan unfolds, and will be understood by those who “have an ear to hear.”

These articles are being published with the desire that our readers will better understand church history, and will have their eyes opened to the “things which must shortly come to pass.”


THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF REVELATION

Part I
Ephesus

The second and third chapters of the book of Revelation, a book of prophecy, describe seven churches located in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). They are Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea; and they play a pivotal role in the prophetic return of Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus commanded John to write down the prophecies that were revealed by vision to him about the churches and send the prophecies to them. Why just these seven churches? Why not send the writings to all the churches that were then extant? You will discover in this article that these seven churches provide a roadmap along which we can travel down through history to our day and beyond that leads us to the return of Jesus Christ.

A scripture found in 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us, “all biblical scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness.” The book of Revelation goes beyond correction and reproof, providing us with a warning about the end time and pronouncing a blessing as well. Jesus states, “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophesy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.” This blessing is given to those who take heed to His final warning and, “keep those things which are written in it” (Revelation 1:3). Two whole chapters were written about these seven churches that offer certain key events to watch for.

Jesus clearly stated that there is only one true church (1 Corinthians 12:12). So the seven churches were actually seven congregations. They did not make up the entire church. The seven churches were named after the cities in which they resided. – Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea – all gentile cities. Also, God’s church was not divided into various denominations as seen throughout modern Christianity today. Why then did Jesus specify these seven, and what are we to learn from them?

These seven churches actually represent seven consecutive eras in church history that begin with the time of the apostles and end just before the glorious return of Jesus Christ. Each of the cities the churches were named after displayed certain characteristics Jesus used to demonstrate particular strengths or weaknesses in each church era. Clarence Larkin, author of the book, The Book of Revelation, also points out: “While the character of these Seven Churches is descriptive of the Church during the seven periods of her history, we must not forget that the condition of those churches, as described, were their exact conditions in John’s day.” More importantly, when reading the scripture that follows the introduction to each church, there is mentioned an attribute of Jesus Christ. It is these attributes of Jesus and the characteristics of the physical cities that help us locate the true church down through history!

The seven churches were located along an ancient mail route in Asia Minor and were part of the Roman Empire. In the two thousand years since Christ, each has been able to locate itself in history by the details recorded about it. Looking back over the attributes provided, we can see approximately when in history a particular church era ended and another church era began. Understanding this progression of each church era leads to the realization that the end time state of the church is upon us now, and makes it clear what we are to watch for! Christ is now revealing to those of us who live in the end time “things which must shortly take place” prior to His return. Now let’s take a look at the prophecies themselves and discover their importance to Christians today:

EPHESUS ERA - 31 A.D. – 135 A.D. (approximately)

“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’

The importance of the city of Ephesus to the early church is evident. The Apostle Paul spent about three years building the congregation there into a thriving church. Following the first Roman-Jewish war in 70 A.D., Jerusalem and its famous temple were destroyed; and Ephesus replaced Jerusalem as the center of Christianity. In the fifth of his eight volumes on Christian church history, Philip Schaff states: “Ephesus, by the labors of Paul and of John, became the chief theatre of church history in the second half of the first and during the greater part of the second century” (Schaff, 425). Many of the Jewish Christians moved to Ephesus, and the Apostle John finished his ministry there as he trained the next generation of church leaders. Even Mary, the mother of Jesus, was said to have lived out her life in this city under the care of John.

Ephesus was one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire and was the capital of Asia Minor, the eastern province of the empire. Like Rome in the West, all roads in the East led to Ephesus. One road led east toward Babylon and passed through Laodicea. A second road led north through Smyrna, and a third road led south to the Meander Valley. Viewed from the island of Patmos where the Apostle John wrote the book of Revelation, the seven cities of Revelation were listed in a precise order along a mail route that followed a slightly circular path with Ephesus being the port of entry. When you consider its relationship to Rome, the fact it was the capital of Asia Minor, its commercial wealth, and its importance to the early Christian community, there is very little reason to question why Ephesus was the first of the seven cities mentioned in the book of Revelation.

Revelation 2:1: “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:”

The opening statement to the Church of Ephesus brings into focus that it is Jesus Christ who is head of the church. This in itself negates the false notion that any man can be the head of the church. It is he who HOLDS the seven stars and WALKS in the MIDST of the candle sticks who gives these prophecies (Ref. Revelation 1:20). Only Jesus Christ can make the claim of being in the midst of all seven eras of the church! The lampstands are, of course, a symbol of the Church during its various eras as it brought and still brings the light of the gospel to the world.

Revelation 2:2: "I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;”

31 A.D. – BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH

The Ephesian era, also called the apostolic age, began in 31 A.D., exactly on the day of Pentecost. After receiving the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Peter preached a very powerful sermon. Following the sermon, three thousand people were baptized; and so started the Church that Jesus Christ founded (Acts 2). Later the church was referred to as the church of God (Acts 20:28). Although the first Christians were Jewish converts, eventually Gentiles (non-israelites) were also included in the membership of the church (Acts 10).

Rome viewed this fledging Christian church as nothing other than another Jewish sect, and for a while barely noticed them. The weekly Sabbath and annual Holy Days observed by the Christians were the same that many of the Jews kept. Even the same Synagogues were used for worship. On the other hand, the Jews, especially their leadership, viewed Christianity as an opposing threat to their hegemony in Judea. The miracles and power demonstrated by the apostles unsettled the Jewish hierarchy. Realizing the danger Christianity posed to their position and their authority, the Sanhedrin commissioned a man named Saul to stamp out the Christian movement. Saul began to zealously fulfill his commission by consenting to the stoning of Stephen, a newly ordained Christian deacon who was filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:57-59). Saul continued to play a role in persecuting the church sending many to prison and scattering church members into all parts of Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1-3).

The impact Saul had on the church was unexpected. Those who were scattered continued preaching the word (Acts 8:4,), and the church continued to grow despite this first attempt to destroy it. The apostles who stayed in Jerusalem continued performing miracles, “and many believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women” (Acts 5:14). Although the apostles were thrown into prison, beaten, and put on trial many times, they continued preaching with great joy and zeal,” rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His (Christ’s) name” (Acts 5:41).

Eventually, even Saul was converted. He was renamed Paul and was made an apostle by Jesus Christ (Acts 9:17-18). As the Apostle Paul, he became one of the most prolific writers of the New Testament and “raised up” many of the Gentile churches, including the Church at Ephesus. Until this time the church was basically made up of Jewish converts, although Peter had baptized Cornelius, a Centurion of an Italian Regiment (Acts 10:48). How the gentiles would be incorporated into the body of believers became the focus of a major dispute among the apostles.

49 A.D. – JERUSALEM COUNCIL

The first church council took place in Jerusalem around 49 A.D. This may have been the only council that included all the apostles. During the conference a dispute arose over whether gentile converts needed to be circumcised in order to receive salvation. Certain men from Judea had determined that, “Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question” (Acts 15:2). What question? The question concerning circumcision! It was a specific point (or Statute: Leviticus 10:11) of the Law of Moses that needed clarification. It did not call into question the continuation of God’s constitutional Law – The Ten Commandments – however.

The Jewish Christians, including most of the apostles, believed at first the Gentiles did need to be physically circumcised. This was hotly debated; but finally, “Peter rose and declared, ‘Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they’" (Acts 15:7-11). James, in searching the scriptures, declared Peter to be correct by quoting Amos 9:11-12.

Many incorrectly believe and teach that this first council removed the great constitutional law (the Ten Commandments) from the Christian church. What was removed was the physical rite of circumcision as required in the Law of Moses (Leviticus 12:3), which was only a forerunner or type of the spiritual circumcision that is now required of all Christians: Colossians 2:11 states, “When you came to Christ, you were ‘circumcised,’ but not by a physical procedure. It was a spiritual procedure — the cutting away of your sinful nature NLT. Thus the Apostle Paul made it clear that only the manner of circumcision had changed, not the need for it. The council then mandated several other aspects of the Law of Moses. James continued, “Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood” (Acts 15:19-20). The Ten Commandments were never in question, nor were they ever part of the Mosaic Law. The Ten Commandments have always been the indisputable Laws of God written by His own finger on tablets of stone (Exodus 31:18 & 34:28), and now on the hearts and in the minds of true Christians (Hebrews 8:10, 10:16).

Thus the apostles of the Ephesus era labored to establish the church, making every effort to plant it firmly in the truth of God’s word, while raising it in its understanding above the letter of the law to include the spirit of the Law.

64 A.D. – BURNING OF ROME

Nero (54-68 A.D.) was the first Roman Emperor to persecute the Christian community. He blamed the Christians for burning major portions of Rome in fires that raged for six days. When the great conflagration was over, three districts were totally destroyed and seven of the fourteen districts of the city were ruined. Most historians believe that Nero himself had these districts burned so he could start building his own personal palace along with other buildings he envisioned for the new Rome. Since Christianity appealed more to the poorer classes, it proved convenient for Roman officials to blame them for the fires, declaring them a revolutionary Jewish sect preaching against the social status of the empire. Nero’s case was further supported by deflecting attention away from him and onto those he labeled as “haters of all men.”

Nero immediately started rounding up known Christians for public execution. “First those that confessed to being Christians were arrested. Then, on information obtained from them, hundreds were convicted, more for their anti-social beliefs than for fire-raising. In their deaths they were made a mockery. They were covered in skins of wild animals, torn to death by dogs, crucified or set on fire – so that when darkness fell, they burned like torches in the night … As a result, although they were guilty of being Christians and deserved death, people started feeling sorry for them. For they realized that they were being massacred not for the public good but to satisfy one man’s mania” (Eerdman 71). The Roman citizenry believed they were guilty for being Christians, but not the burning of Rome.

Prior to the persecution, the Christian church in Rome was so small it didn’t even have a bishop. Now the church in Rome was practically wiped out. Since most of the Christians came from the poorer classes, including slaves, those who escaped the persecution had nowhere to live. Some fled to the neighboring countryside. It took several years for the church in Rome to rebuild.

WORKS OF THE APOSTLES

As history of the early church shows, the works, labor, and patience of the apostles were clearly evident. The book of Acts shows how fervent and hardworking they were in preaching the gospel message. Even under direct persecution the apostles were patient and relied on God to see them through. Their works of faith were visibly seen through miracles and signs (Acts 8:13). The Apostle Paul states in 2 Corinthians 12:12, “Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.” The apostles and the gentile converts show incredible patience with each other as they sorted out the details of circumcision.

However, even while the apostles were still alive, certain individuals began preaching another gospel (Galatians 1:6). Some others even claimed to be apostles, but were shown to be liars and false apostles by their works (2 Corinthians 11:13). Simon Magus, or Simon the Sorcerer as he was known, was attracted to Christianity in Samaria where he clearly saw the power of the Holy Spirit working within the apostles – a power he even tried to buy (Acts 8:18). Although Peter rebuked him, he eventually relocated to Rome where he systematically synchronized the doctrines of Jesus Christ with Hellenism and Babylonian paganism. This was the beginning of the Gnostic doctrine that quickly became problematic for the true church. This false doctrine began to replace the true teachings of Jesus and became known as the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.

Revelation 2:3-4: “and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”

From 31 A.D. to 64 A.D., the apostles powerfully and zealously led the church. They demonstrated great faith and showed great signs and wonders. Being led by the Holy Spirit they spread the gospel to every corner of the world. They began in Judea and spread out through the lost tribes of Israel, and were found among the Gentile nations. As long as they were alive, the church continued to preach the same gospel that Christ taught, and the church grew in great numbers. However, as the apostles were martyred, the false teachings of a different gospel message began to enter into the church.

The church began to be swayed by clever men with glib tongues (Romans 16:18). By listening to these false ministers, the church began committing spiritual fornication; and some quit following the actual teachings of Jesus. Individuals in the church began to leave their first love. The beginning of this gradual separation from the true teachings of Jesus became more evident as the first and second Jewish rebellions against the Roman Empire took their toll. Roman hatred of anything that resembled Judaism caused weak members to vacillate.

70 A.D. – DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE

The Roman Empire was becoming more hostile to the Jews. The Jews were not allowed to serve in duties of state as they once had, and were being oppressively taxed. The Jews in Palestine and Egypt began riots that led to the first Jewish war with Rome. The Jewish rebellion lasted from 66-73 A.D. and had disastrous results, not just for the Jews but for Christians as well. The Jews lost their temple and the Christians had to flee Jerusalem.

According to Josephus, a Jewish historian and a General during the first rebellion, the Christians in Jerusalem were miraculously told to flee as the Roman army was beginning the siege of the city in 69 A.D. They fled to Pella; and shortly afterward, in 70 A.D., Jerusalem fell to the Roman General Titus. Although the Jerusalem church survived for many years in Pella, many left the city to live in Ephesus. Since Jesus was from Nazareth, those that remained in Pella began to be called “Nazarenes” by the Romans to delineate them from Jews. However, the Romans still viewed Christianity as a sect of Judaism.

Following the destruction of the temple, the church was scattered and demoralized. Many had hoped Christ would return in their lifetime; but now the powerful Roman army had taken Jerusalem, and the temple was completely destroyed. These events, they had thought, would immediately precede the return of Jesus. With their hopes unrealized, the zeal of the church began to wane. The Roman Empire began treating all Christians as if they were Jews. False teachers rose up from within the Christian Church seeking positions of authority, especially among those in close proximately to Rome. These profligates began changing doctrines in order to separate the church from anything that smacked of “Judaism”. Their heresies were a blend of Christian doctrine and pagan Roman beliefs, and their acceptance by some eventually led the church into its first schism.

Just before the Jewish rebellion, around 65 A.D., the Apostle John moved to Ephesus. By then most of the apostles had been martyred, and John was the sole apostle and leader of the Asian church. The Roman authorities arrested and sent him for his trial to Rome where Emperor Domitian (81-96 A.D.) sentenced him to be boiled in a vat of oil. Fortuitously changing his mind, however, Domitian exiled him to the Island of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelation (Revelation 1:1).

After being released from the Isle of Patmos, John finished his ministry in Ephesus where he sought to combat the creeping heresy that was being imposed on the Christian membership by false ministers. He also trained the next generation of church leaders. Polycarp was chief among them, and was to play an important role in the next era of the church. John, who died in 100 A.D. was the only apostle to die a natural death; but before he died, he found it necessary to admonish the church to continue keeping the commandments being dismissed as judaizing by the heretical teachers among them who feared Rome. John wrote, “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:3-6). By denying the commandments, men were starting to fear man and not God. In essence, they were denying Christ! The last apostle could see the doctrinal corruption the church would face after he was gone. For years the apostles had held this false teaching at bay; but soon following John’s death, the removal of the Laws of God, now being called the Law of Moses, became the main focus of a counterfeit gospel.

The Jerusalem-Pella congregation returned to Jerusalem in 73 A.D. Although poverty-stricken and isolated, the Nazarenes, as they were commonly called, continued to hold fast to the truth delivered to them by the apostles (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

135 A.D. – DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM

As the Roman world became increasingly hostile to the Jews, many anti-Jewish laws were enacted, forcing higher tribute. The Jews rioted again and this time many Christians were killed. During this restless period, Sixtus (116-126 A.D.), the bishop of Rome, began holding church services on the first day of the week, substituting Easter for the Passover. Eusebius lists Sixtus as the first Bishop of Rome who didn’t keep the customary Passover on the fourteenth of Nisan in accordance with the calendar God had given Moses (Eusebius 243). It is not surprising that the first deviation from the true teachings of Christ started in Rome, where anti-Jewish sentiment was the strongest.

The rioting turned into a second Jewish revolt against Rome around 133 A.D. As the war between Rome and the Jews raged, many Christians again began to lose heart because Jesus did not return as expected. After all, didn’t the armies surround Jerusalem as Daniel had prophesied? The Nazarenes were hated by the Jews, and were even considered traitors because they refused to fight the Romans. The Romans hated them because they wouldn’t swear allegiance to the Emperor or accept him as a god. The Nazarenes quickly found themselves besieged on all sides, and as a result they only tenuously held on to the truth.

In 135 A.D. the Romans defeated the Jews and completely destroyed Jerusalem. All Jews were banned from Jerusalem upon the pain of death; thus the Nazarenes returned to Pella. Other Christian communities throughout the empire fell under persecution from the state. Demoralized, many Christians became disheartened and pushed for a complete separation between Christianity and Judaism. Some bishops, especially in Rome, had already begun openly teaching against the doctrines the apostles had so zealously defended, typing them as “Jewish”. One such bishop became the next leader of the Nazarenes in Pella.

Revelation 2:5: “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place — unless you repent.”

What were the first works referred to in Revelation 2:5? As already stated, the early church was considered by Rome to be nothing more than another Jewish sect like those of the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes. They all worshiped on the seventh-day Sabbath and observed the Passover and the other biblical Holy Days. Also, the New Testament church obeyed the Commandments and even the statutes like the one that differentiated between clean and unclean meats (Leviticus 11). Unlike the Jewish sects, however, they faithfully followed the doctrines Christ had taught the apostles, and they zealously supported the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom of God.

The first major corruption of doctrine in the Christian church occurred around 120 - 126 A.D., as a movement to throw out anything that smacked of Judaism took hold. Since keeping the seventh-day Sabbath was a mark of the Jewish people, false ministers seeking power and authority over the church started teaching that the “day of the sun” should be the day of worship. While this was a grave error, they taught this because they wanted to separate the church from its core beliefs, weakening it while pleasing the Romans. They began to make claims that Jesus was not raised from the dead late on the Sabbath, 3 days and 3 nights after being lain in the tomb; but rather on Sunday, instead. This caused a great controversy in the church known as the quartodeciman controversy that was finally settled in 325 by the Roman Emperor Constantine. The result, with Constantine’s blessing, was to replace the Christian Passover with the observance of Easter Sunday.

Besides the change from Passover to Easter, little by little, the day of the sun replaced the Sabbath as the day of worship. While those who readily departed from the true doctrines were, by and large, not converted, or were only half-convicted of the truth, those who chose to remain with the teachings of the apostles grew weak. The letter to Ephesus warned this faltering church to repent and go back to Christ’s original teachings.

Marcus, an Italian, became the first Gentile leader of the Jerusalem-Pella congregation. According to Edward Gibbon, Marcus persuaded most of the congregation to do away with the Law of Moses. Gibbon states, “At his persuasion the most considerable part of the congregation renounced the Mosaic Law (which they taught included the Ten Commandments), in the practice of which they had persevered above a century. By this sacrifice of their habits and prejudices they purchased a free admission into the colony of Hadrian and more firmly cemented their union with the Catholic Church” (Gibbon 497-498). Although the Roman Catholic Church had yet to be officially installed in Rome, the roots of this false system were beginning to take hold through denouncement of anything Jewish. This allowed Marcus to gain entry back into Jerusalem, now renamed Aelia Capitolina. The Nazarenes, who remained true to the faith once delivered, were now outcasts from Jewish society, the Roman Empire, and even from their own congregation.

Revelation 2:6: “But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”

The Nicolaitans received their name from Nicolas who was mentioned in Acts 6:5. According to tradition, Nicolas offered his wife to the male members of the congregation to negate the fact that he was vain. Other early writers deny these claims and state Nicolas and his family were God-fearing and upright. Whatever the case, the Nicolaitan doctrine is also known as Antinomianism which means “anti-law,” and rather than to Nicolas, it has been clearly attributed to Simon Magus.

Simon Magus, then, was the real architect of the Nicolaitan doctrine. “Early Christian writers unanimously regarded Simon as the fount of all heresies” (Eerdman 100). Simon, who was a very well known sorcerer in Samaria, “converted” to Christianity because he recognized the power that was in the Holy Spirit. Being a sorcerer, he thought he could buy the power for his own use. Peter publicly rebuked him for such thinking (Acts 8:9-23). Not long after, Simon Magus traveled to Rome where he began to teach his twisted form of Christianity that was a hodge-podge of beliefs having a rather universal appeal. His doctrines became imbedded in a popular heretical movement called Gnosticism. What were these doctrines?

Irenaeus wrote about the Nicolaitans, “They lead lives of unrestrained indulgence” and he added, “they practiced adultery and [ate] things sacrificed to idols.” Tertulian wrote that the “Nicolaitans in their maintenance for lust and luxury destroy the sanctity of marriage” (Irenaeus 352). What did unrestrained indulgence, adultery, eating things sacrifices to idols, lust and luxury have in common? License! Which is another way of saying lawlessness. The Nicolaitans wanted nothing to do with God’s law.

The word Nicolaitan means “conqueror of the laity” and refers to how certain men crept into the church and led true believers away from the teachings of Jesus Christ. Their false doctrines included Babylonian mysticism, which could be understood only by the initiates. Gnosticism merged a Hellenistic approach that deemed the gods controlled the fortunes of all humans with ancient mysteries from Babylon that included rebirth into an afterlife, systematic religious doctrine, and communal worship. These mysteries gained a powerful hold on society, and played a major role in the metallurgic guilds that turned out idols (See Acts 19:24 forward). The guilds, renowned for their secret and mysterious rites, controlled people’s livelihoods; and were thus able to force institutionalized debauchery upon regular citizens, forcing them to take part in perverse behavior that even included sacrificing food to pagan gods. The citizenry took part if they wanted to continue to work. Otherwise, they were considered outcasts by their community.

Taking all of these doctrinal errors and adding to them the fact these false teachers, beginning with Simon Magus, wanted preeminence over the people, it is clear conquering the laity was their true goal. This pseudo Christian approach appealed to many, especially the rich and affluent who wanted control. It appealed to the lower classes because they were taught they could easily gain salvation, something that wasn’t allowed through paganism, while they could continue their trades making idols. Those who followed the doctrine of the Nicolaitans threw off the law and became slaves to sin. Instead of putting on God’s righteousness, they were deciding for themselves what was right and what was wrong – something God hates!

The apostles, targeting Simon Magus, put a stop to this heretical teaching. John taught many who followed him to hold fast to the primitive faith, the true teachings of Jesus Christ. However, the first and second Jewish rebellions eroded this stance, especially in the west. Congregations started listening to false bishops who were promoting the ease and licentiousness found in strange doctrines that distanced the church from Judaism. Even though those in the first era who clung to the truth hated these heretical doctrines, removing those who taught them from their fellowship, the doctrines of lawlessness continued to plague the church over the next several centuries.

Revelation 2:7: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God."

The reward stated in Revelation 2:7 and held out by Jesus Christ to his church throughout this first era makes reference to the first chapters of the book of Genesis, a time of beginning. It is in the Garden of Eden that we first encounter the tree of life (Genesis 2:9, 3:22-24). Interestingly, those who rebelled against what Christ taught the apostles and chose their own doctrines were foreshadowed when Eve took a bite from the forbidden fruit of the tree of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). Those who rebelled also chose for themselves how they would worship their god. But those in the church who did not follow their pernicious ways overcame and will receive the gift of eternal life!

CONCLUSION

The prophecy to the church of Ephesus is very accurate when the early history of the church is considered. As long as the apostles were alive, the church was zealous for God and the preaching of the true gospel. As the apostles were martyred, members flagged in their zeal and were preyed upon by those who sought control of the church. Their zeal for the truth also waned as they began to follow another gospel, though there were always some who held fast to the truth they had received from the apostles. Christ promised these that if they overcame, they would be rewarded with eternal life.

Although the center of Christianity had moved from Jerusalem to Ephesus by the end of John’s ministry, the Jerusalem-Pella congregation still symbolized the beginning of the church and the apostolic age. As false apostles led the first and oldest Christian church back to Jerusalem and into apostasy, God removed its lampstand and ended the Ephesian Era.

Just as the city of Ephesus was the entry point to Asia Minor, the church of Ephesus is the starting place on the roadmap that follows God’s church down through time. Prophetically, this church was told to remain faithful to God and recapture their first love. We can learn this lesson as well. We, like the faithful of the Ephesus era, should remain faithful to the true gospel message no matter how many false gospels are preached.

Works Cited:

Eerdmans’ Handbook to the History of Christianity, Ed. Tim Dowley. Michigan: WM. B. Eerdmans, 1987

Eusebius, Vol. 1 of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers – Eusebius: Church History, 14 vols. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2004

Gibbon, Edward. Vol. 1 of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 3 vols. New York: Knopf, 1993

Irenaeus, Vol 1 of Ante-Nicene Fathers – Irenaeus Against Heresies, 10 vols. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2004

Larkin, Clarence. The Book of Revelation. Philadelphia: Rev. Clarence Larkin Estate, 1919.

Schaff, Phillip. Vol. 5 of History of the Christian Church. 8 vols. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2006.