Revelation 2-3 Commentary - The 7 Church Ages

Revelation Chapter 2 & 3

The 7 Churches

Because these 7 churches in Asia minor were located so closely to each other, yet experienced vastly different circumstances, this is proof that the carnal, Futurist/literalist and simplistic view of the 7 churches is false. Our God is far more profound than that. These churches are 7 historical church ages, foretelling the condition of the church down through the ages.

There were much larger churches Christ could have prophesied about, like in Corinth, Philippi and Thessalonica. Why would he choose these 7 churches? It’s because the definition of their names are a tell. The meaning of their names are describing their spiritual condition in a timeline down thru history.

This is the Historicist view of the 7 church ages. As you are about to see, the Preterists and Futurists simplistic view have absolutely no explanation to some of these verses and points made.

1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

If we go back to Rev 1:20, it defines what the 7 stars and golden candlesticks are.

Rev 1:20 - The mystery of the 7 stars which you saw in my right hand, and the 7 golden candlesticks. The 7 stars are the 7 messengers of the 7 churches. And the 7 candlesticks which you saw are the 7 churches.

A star in prophecy points to leader. The leaders over these churches are being addressed as to the condition of the church for that church age.

Remember this definition of what a candlestick is. It is a church. This ties into Revelation chapter 11, which calls the 2 witnesses “two candlesticks.” By this, the two witnesses are defined as 2 of the 7 churches. This alone proves out the Futurist view to be false because they define the two witnesses as literal, but here, it defines the two witnesses as 2 of the 7 churches, or 2 of the 7 church ages.

Here, this first church addressed is Ephesus. The meaning of the name Ephesus is to relax from effort. It is contemplated that this church age is called Ephesus because they relaxed from their former effort of spreading the gospel. With persecution, tribulation and false apostles coming in wearing down the saints, it had an effect of saints starting to pull away from spreading the gospel.

2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

Even Paul the Apostle warned of this in his day, that liars would come into the church and distort the gospel.

Acts 20:29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. 4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

Ephesus, to relax from effort, is shown here by the early church leaving their first love.

5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. 6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

This early church hated the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. What stands out is that in the next church age, they will embrace the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. There is not a definitive source in history of exactly what the Nicolaitans were teaching, but the progression of once hating this teaching, then later on embracing it, shows the slow degradation of the early church, over time, already started creeping into it. It is contemplated that this church era was most likely the first and second century early church age.

7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;

The word smyrna here is a symbol of death or martyrdom. Smyrna is Myrrh which is used in burials. This was caused by the church going through a great tribulation era of martyrdom into the 4^thcentury. Which was dead and is alive reveals also what this church would have to go through, that they would have to face death, but is really alive.

9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

Here we see a struggle between true believing Jews and the false believers creeping into the church or synagogues. This was a time in the church when apostasy was creeping in and not always dealt with. The church also had to deal with the super liberal Greeks converting and bringing in their own thinking and customs, as is shown in the next church ages.

10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

The 10 day tribulation here is not a literal 10 days because in prophecy, a day equals a year, more thoroughly explained here. Furthermore, there have been millions of saints throughout history that have been jailed or persecuted much much longer than a mere 10 days, so it makes no sense to see this as a measly little 10 days literally. These 10 day/years are describing the most severe persecution in history, the well known Diocletian Persecution of AD 303-313.

This only perfect match in history sets a prescedent, that throughout the book of Revelation, we must take all time frames given and consistently convert them from days to years, something the Preterists and Futurists cannot explain, along with the other timelines of Revelation.

11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;

The name Pergamos means married to city. Rome was that city the church married itself to, in the genesis of this 4th century, church age.

13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

Satan’s seat was Rome at that time. It was the seat of the beast, also spoken of in Revelation 16.

The word Antipas is a combination of two words, anti, meaning against and pas, meaning Father, or agains the Father. His name was declaring the empire to be against our Heavenly Father. Christ’s words here show this was the era just past the severe persecutions that took place up to AD 313. Though persecution was still on going in various other ways, the main thrust of the persecutions stopped with Constantine.

14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.

Here we have the spiritual fornication of idolatry creeping into the church. The church here is cheating on the Lord to bring in elements of idolatry and intermingling that with the pure faith. This was taking place in both the Eastern Orthodox Empire and the Latin Western Empire. They had began to heavily incorporate the queen of heaven religion of the pagan mother son worship, now calling these pagan gods, Mary and Jesus.

15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.

As said above, no one is too sure exactly what that doctrine was, but it shows the progressive departure from the purity of the faith. What was once hated by the earlier church age, is now embraced by this backslidden early medieval church age.

16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Here we see the Lord says he will fight against these compromising believers inside his church. As we see in this church era, they compromised with the empire, being married to the city, Rome and its compromise with the empire who moved to unite the true church with the pagan idolaters, in a political move to unite the fragmenting empire. The church had become apostate.

17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

There are promises of greater revelation, i.e. the hidden manna, given to those who receive his correction here.

18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;

The word Thyatira means ruled by a woman, as shown in verse 20 with Jezebel ruling.

19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.

This was that part of the church that progressed with the gospel, but also became polluted with idolatry.

20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

The promise of tribulation in the 5 ^th and 6 ^th trumpets, was fulfillment of this. The Eastern Orthodox church of this era had so compomised with idolatry and false teaching, that the pure faith could no longer be recognized for what it once was. He threw her false church/empire into great tribulation because they did not repent. He did the same with ancient Israel when they fell into idolatry. God does not change and is not partial with his judgments.

23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.

This shows there was a part of the church that remained faithful, while the other part was apostate.

25 But that which ye have already. Hold fast till I come.

26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

The rod of iron is the word of God. It is by which all things are ruled in his coming kingdom. The promise here is only for believers who keep his word pure.

28 And I will give him the morning star.

This church era was that of the medieval age or dark age church. In this era, there was a morning star given. Remember, a star in prophecy is a person or leader. That first star of the reformation who made a huge impact was John Wycliff. He was known as the morning star of the reformation. The morning star is the first dawning of the light of day. He was the first significant star to free the Bible from the archaic Latin language into English. He was the first light of the word of God to shine in the common people’s language that was bound up for centuries in Latin by the censoring Priests of the Roman Catholic Church.

29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Not all believers inside the church had an ear to hear what the Spirit was saying. Even today, not all believers and even pastors inside today’s churches have an ear to hear what the Lord really wants to correct them on. We will read of that later in the last church age, Laodicea.

Revelation 3 Commentary

1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

The word Saris means escaping one or those called out. This was the era of The Reformation, those escaping the harlot church. The church that lives, but is dead is describing the two candlestick/two witnesses church era that had died, but came back to life, more explained here.

2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.

In this era, the 2 witnesses (churches) of Revelation 11 had died, fulfilling the exact to the day prophecy of Revelation 11 more explained here. Those things that are ready to die, came to pass. They died, but the Lord raised them from the dead as the Revelation 11 commentary shows.

3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

The few in Sardis did not defiled their garments because they were “the escaping ones”, from the idolatry of their day that was in the church at large.

5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Again, not everyone in the church had an ear to hear.

7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

The word Philadelphia means brotherly love. This was the church era of those who came out from the Reformation and began to spread the word of God like crazy, with printing bible enmass, forming bible societies and sending many missionaries.

8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

This church, at its start, was of little strength compared to the beast of the Catholic church. The Lord set an open door for the move of his word west in a mighty way, which England and the US expanding, played a huge role in.

9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Replace synagogue and Jews with Churches and believers. This was to address the Roman Catholic Church, which is as the synagogue of Satan and their persecuting members were liars who speak contrary to the word of God, putting their doctrines and traditions above the Biblical word, replacing his word for a lie. Catholics today are not so aggressive, but back in this era, they were at times violent about their religion and dogma. The previous church eras of mass martyrdom bare witness. Here the Lord is gonna put on public display, the shame of those violent Catholics of that age who were martyring his saints, so they would know that he loved them which were being martyred.

10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

They were kept from temptation because they kept the word of his patience, which was to be faithful thru enduring tribulations, and not caving into the deceptions and conformity of that era, through coming out of the harlot church. With God’s strength, the temptation to conform was resisted by believers in this era.

The words which shall come upon the whole world is as we discussed in our other commentaries, Hebrew hyperbole, not literally the entire world, but all those in the known world surrounding the persecuted church. See our Rev 13 Commentary for more on that.

11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

The end of that church age, was about seventy or eighty years ago. As we’ve shown here that a day in prophecy is a year, inversing it, from years to days, it comes to about ten weeks/seventy days ago, till he comes. That's not much time till left from there on the prophetic scale till Christ comes. Behold I come quickly shows this to be near our end times era, with little time left till “Behold I come quickly.”

12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

This shows that there are heavenly rewards of greater favor with God for those refuse to compromise the purity of the faith, overcome and are enduring trials, yet remain faithful.

13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Again, not everyone in the Orthodox churches are going to have an ear to hear.

14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

There is no special meaning to the word Laodicea here. It is peculiar that “the beginning of the creation of God” is mentioned here. Is this mentioned because of this also being the era the evolution theory deception dominating most of the twentieth century? The beginning of the creation of God is in stark contrast to what is thee number one lie in all the world, the theory of evolution, which flourished in this era of Laodicea.

15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Across the world today, we see as the world prospers so does the church, but that prosperity has created such a busyness that time given to prayer and worship suffers, making the church rich and lukewarm.

18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Throughout Revelation chapters 2 and 3, we see the progression of the church from the early stage of the first church, slowly degrading over time into the idolatrous medieval church, to escaping the lies of their centuries of iron rule, to the great era of Philadelphia spreading the word far and wide, to this era of Laodicea lukewarmness, unprepared for what’s to come… where we have mega churches of impersonal fluff and jaded saints drowning in the sea of shallow commercialism they despise, longing for real community and purpose, but not finding it in this end time Laodicea lukewarm church and land so saturated with so many gospel words, that it is taken for granted till the World War 3 tribulation begins, but then who can find refuge in a church built all wrong on corporate commercialism of the head Pastor Popery of the one main man band structure set up to only equip him to be heard and not built on shared land and real community. The World War 3 tribulation to come will end all of that and the only real community left will be with the ones you live with, because this church of today has despised prophecy and the preparations needed to help one another make it through to his coming just a few years later. They will not repent.

All the fluff of todays lukewarm church will be steeples crashing, budgets busted, in the sudden destruction coming in which these mega churches are left empty and unprepared to deal with the shock and awe their attendees face because they were built wrong and despised the words of the prophets. When Futurists are churning out like a machine for the display of false prophecy with big money backing them, is it no wonder the unstudied and theologically contented have stopped far short of the noble goal of searching out the fullness of truth? Is it no wonder they are ignoring prophecy? Is it no wonder that all they can feed their shallow attendees is baby food, gerber mush, well prepared for no cradle that will ever rock their boat in a pre tribulation rapture Futurism of a fluffy ride to Heaven. However, because they have compromised and have ignored the prophets, will their sudden crash, shock and awe teach their self convincing heart how their presumption to the leadership role has not helped at all in preparing the saints for the World War 3 time of trouble to come in this Laodicea era?

Other Chapters of Revelation Commentary are here

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