Hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Revelation 2:1-17 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:

² ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; ³ and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. ⁴ But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵ Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent. ⁶ Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’

Message to Smyrna

⁸ “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this:

⁹ ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. ¹¹ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.’

Message to Pergamum

¹² “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:

¹³ ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. ¹⁴ But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. ¹⁵ So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶ Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. ¹⁷ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’

From time to time, I feel it is necessary for me to acknowledge and make it clear that I am not a Biblical scholar. What I share in “Daily Nuggets” is a reflection on God’s word; it is what the Lord and the Spirit impress on me as I meditate on His word. As I reflect on Revelation, keep in mind, it is from that perspective rather than as an authority.  As we look at the messages to the seven churches of Revelation, I can’t help but to think that seven is the number of God’s completion. The cumulative messages to the churches contain the messages for God’s church to be complete. In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus says:  “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  If we, as God’s church, will hear what the Spirit says to the churches, we will find rest.

The text says:  to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this:  ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.’ Surely, we are seeing a time when the church will see and know tribulation and persecution. The world will try to take from the church financially, by limiting its gathering, by limiting its ability to speak and practice what the Bible says. The church needs to heed the words of Jesus who says in Matthew 6:19-21: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  As believers, yoked to Christ, we are rich with the treasures of heaven. In John 16:33 Jesus says:  “These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”   We will not only endure tribulation, but in Christ we will overcome.

The text says:  “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:  ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore  repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’  A more in depth study could help us to understand the specific teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans, but suffice it to say that there are many false teachings. In Matthew 24:4-14 Jesus says:  “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many people. And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains. Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. And at that time many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will rise up and mislead many people. And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold. But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”  The most dangerous false teachings are not those that deny Christ. They are easy to recognize as false. The most dangerous; the ones who mislead many, are the ones who name a different version of Christ, those who teach that Jesus would embrace sin, immorality and lawlessness. The devil will gladly use the truth of God’s word, if he can twist it to sow a lie. Getting people to question, add to or subtract from God’s word is the same method he used in the garden with Eve and it’s still his greatest deception today.  Hebrews 4:12 says:  The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  The message in the text says that the Lord will give us hidden manna. The manna that the Israelites were given in the wilderness was to demonstrate our need for God’s daily provision and direction. We need to seek God’s manna daily, reading and meditating on His word. The only way we can truly protect ourselves from being misled by what is false, is to know the truth. We need to know and to share the Gospel of the kingdom.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, for the Revelation of Christ, for the truth revealed in Your word and by the Spirit. I repent of anything that I might have believed, which is false. I desire to find the hidden manna You have for me each day. Help me to hear what the Spirit is saying. Help me to endure and overcome in Christ.  Amen.