THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST TO HIS SERVANT JOHN
The Unveiling of the Kingdom on Earth and in Heaven
Lesson 5
The Covenant Treaty Historical Prologue Continued:
Chapter 2:18-3:6
The Letters to the Churches at Thyatira and Sardis
Holy Lord,
We know that we must study
Your Sacred Word and abide by the guidance of Mother Church to avoid being led
astray by false teachers and their doctrines. We must be constantly vigilant
to prevent such traps of Satan and not become like the Christians at Thyatira
who, in their ignorance, allowed a woman who professed to be a prophetess to
mislead them into sinning against Christ and His covenant. Protect us, Lord,
from becoming dead in our sins instead of alive in the spirit of Christ. We
pray in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
+ + +
I will proclaim the decree of Yahweh: He said to me, "You
are my son, today have I fathered you; ask of me, and I shall give you the
nations as your birthright, the whole wide world as your possession. With an iron
scepter, you will break them, shatter them like so many pots."
Psalms 2:7-9 (c.f., Rev 2:27 and 12:5)
I, Jesus, have sent my angel to attest these things to
you, for the sake of the churches, I am the sprig from the root of David and
the bright star of the morning.
Revelation 22:16
The letters to the churches continue in the Covenant Treaty format, establishing Jesus Christ's New Covenant with His universal Church, represented by the seven churches along the western coast of Asia Minor.
The New Covenant Treaty Format for the Church at Thyatira:
Thyatira (modern Akhisar, Turkey), located just 35 miles southeast of Pergamum, was the home of the businesswoman Lydia, the seller of purple cloth converted by Paul (see Acts 16:14-15). In the 1st century AD, powerful trade guilds dominated the local economy and controlled every business in Thyatira. To work in any trade, one had to belong to the guild of that trade. Belonging to a guild was integrally connected with the pagan religions that were approved by the Roman government since the guild meetings took place in the pagan temples and included the accepted practice of guild members eating a communal meal of meat sacrificed to pagan gods. In addition to eating meat sacrificed to pagan idols, illicit sexual relations were a central aspect of pagan worship. Most temples had male and female prostitutes permanently assigned to serve the temple and its worshipers. Any Christian who worked in a trade faced problems. His commitment to Christ and obedience to living a life of holiness as a Christian would affect his livelihood, his acceptance by his peers, and his ability to feed and house his family.
The city's chief deity was Tyrimnos, the son of Zeus. The people also practiced Emperor worship after the Roman Senate proclaimed Augustus Caesar "the incarnate son of god" in AD 14. Worship of the city's chief god mixed with devotion to the deified Caesar was a central feature of the Thyatiran community. The conflict between worshiping the false "son of god" and the true Son of God was always present for this Christian community and is probably why the first word of Christ to this church is the proclamation that He alone is the Son of God! This verse is the only place in the Book of Revelation that uses this specific title for Jesus Christ.
The Letter to the Church at Thyatira: A
Community in the Grip of a False Prophetess
Revelation 2:18-29 ~ 18 "Write to the angel of the church in Thyatira and say, Here
is the message of the Son of God who has eyes like a burning flame and feet
like burnished bronze. 19 I know your activities, your love, your faith, your
service, and your perseverance, and I know how you are still making progress. 20 Nevertheless,
I have a complaint to make: you tolerate the woman Jezebel* who claims to be a
prophetess, and by her teaching, she is luring my servants away to commit the
adultery of eating food which has been sacrificed to idols. 21 I have
given her time to repent, but she is not willing to repent of her adulterous
life. 22 Look, I am consigning her to a bed of pain, and all
her partners in adultery to great hardships, unless they repent of their
practices; 23 and I will see that her children die, so that all the
churches realize that it is I who test motives and thoughts and repay you as
your deeds deserve. 24 But on the rest of you in Thyatira, all of you who
have not accepted this teaching or learned the deep secrets of Satan, as they
are called, I am not laying any other burden; 25 but
hold firmly to what you already have until I come. 26 To
anyone who proves victorious and keeps working for me until the end, I will
give the authority over the nations, 27
which I myself have been given by
my Father, to rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like so many
pots. 28 And I will give such a person the Morning Star. 29 Let
anyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.'"
*Some of the ancient
manuscripts read your wife Jezebel, which suggests she was the wife of
the pastor. Her name is symbolic (c.f., 2 Kng 9:22).
The Preamble to the church at Thyatira begins with the identification of the sender of the letter as the Son of God, described like the mysterious figure from the prophet Daniel's vision (Dan 10:6) and John's vision in Chapter 1: and in the middle of them, one like a Son of Man ... his eyes like a burning flame, his feet like burnished bronze (Rev 1:13-15).
19 I know your activities, your love, your faith, your
service, and your perseverance, and I know how you are still making progress.
Verse 20 is the Historical
Prologue of the New Covenant Treaty with Thyatira. As in the other letters,
Jesus "knows" their activities, and He compliments them on their works and
their continuing progress.
Question: What are the four works of faith that Jesus compliments
as even more impressive in the present than in the past?
Answer: 1) love, 2) faith, 3) service, and 4) perseverance.
Ethical Stipulations: 20 Nevertheless, I have a complaint to make: you tolerate
the woman Jezebel who claims to be a prophetess, and by her teaching, she is
luring my servants away to commit the adultery of eating food which has been
sacrificed to idols.
In the Ethical Stipulations, Jesus
rebukes the angel/bishop of Thyatira.
Question: In spite of all the good works of the church at
Thyatira, this community suffers from what disturbing defect?
Answer: They allowed themselves to be led into doctrinal
heresy and moral laxity by a woman with influence over the community by styling
herself a prophetess.
The bishop and elders were allowing false doctrine to have a place in the teaching of the church. Jesus again calls this heresy by a symbolic name as He did in the letter to Pergamum, where He used the examples of Moabite King Balak and Balaam, the prophet who opposed the will of God (Rev 2:14).
Question: How is the heresy identified, and who was the Old
Testament woman with this name?
See 1 Kng 16:31-21:26
and 2 Kng 9:22-37.
Answer: Jesus compares the heresy with the sin of adultery
and compares the offender who led the community astray with Jezebel, the
daughter of Ethbaal, the pagan king of the Phoenician city-state of Sidon, given
in marriage to King Ahab of Israel.
King Ahab and Queen Jezebel lived in the period of the Divided Monarchy of the 9th century BC when the once unified nation of Israel divided into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah (1 Kng 12:1-25). Queen Jezebel fostered the worship of the Canaanite god Baal in Israel and supported 450 pagan prophets (1 Kng 18:19). When God's prophets resisted the practice of Baal worship, Jezebel attempted to establish Baal worship as the dominant religion by exterminating Yahweh's prophets (1 Kng 18:4, 13). God's prophet Elijah took on the 450 false prophets and defeated them in a dramatic showdown on Mt. Carmel (1 Kng 19:1-2), which resulted in Jezebel decreeing a death sentence against Elijah.
Jezebel was a powerful, strong-willed woman (married to a weak man) who was guilty of heresy and murder (1 Kng 21:5-15), and because of her sins, she came to a bad end (2 Kng 9:29-37). Scripture identifies the actions of the Old Testament Jezebel as "harlotries" and "witchcrafts." The Jezebel of the church at Thyatira also advocated compromise with paganism. She may have been the wife of the pastor since some ancient manuscripts read your wife Jezebel. She was a woman of influence in the community, either the wife of the pastor, an elder, or she was a deaconess.1
Adultery is one of the four reoccurring symbolic images the Old Testament prophets used to express rebellion/apostasy from the covenant with Yahweh:
| Image Groups |
Part I Covenant relationship |
Part II Rebellion |
Part III Redemptive Judgment |
Part IV Restoration Fulfilled |
| Covenant Marriage | Israel Bride of Yahweh | Unfaithful adulteress/harlot | Humiliated, abused & abandoned by lovers | The Bride restored to her Bridegroom |
| Examples in Scripture |
Isaiah 61:10-11; Jeremiah 2:2; Ezekiel 16:4-14 |
Isaiah: 1:21;
Jeremiah 3:6-8; 13:22-23, 26; 23:10; Ezekiel 16:15-34; 23:1-12; Hosea 4:10-14 |
Jeremiah 3:1b-2; 4:30-31; Ezekiel 16:23-61; 23:35-49; Amos 4:7-8; Hosea 2:4-15 |
Matthew 9:15; John 3:28-29; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelation 19:7-9; 21:2, 9; 22:17 |
See the full chart "The Symbolic Images of the Old Testament Prophets."
Do we face this same danger from false messengers today? What about the call for more Catholic compromises in the Ecumenical movement? Catholics committed to this movement, and others often suggest that the Church should abandon her arrogant, intolerant absolutism and seek to combine the best of our tradition and doctrine with the best in other religions. The woman in the spirit of Jezebel in the church at Thyatira might have argued the same themes as the "Ecumenicist at all costs" adherents who protest: "after all, there is only one god, so worship given to Allah or Buddha is really offered to the true God," or "by communing with other religions we might be more effective in witnessing to them," or "by joining with other religions we would truly be creating a universal faith which answers the needs of all peoples and all cultures = all-inclusive."
Regardless of the arguments used then or now, any doctrine contrary to the teaching of the Church is heresy, and we cannot afford to tolerate them because there is too much at stake! That is the very phrase Jesus uses in verse 20, saying, "you tolerate the woman Jezebel!" Orthodox (meaning, "true doctrine") Christianity is intolerant of false doctrine. A church that tolerates false teaching is a church under God's judgment; for He will not tolerate her! It is not to say we shouldn't be involved in dialogue with other Christian churches and other religions (Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, etc.), and we should be tolerant of each other's mistakes and differences over nonessential issues. However, when it comes to clear violations of Biblical law, doctrine (teaching), and dogma (truths) of the Holy Catholic Church, God requires the leadership of the community to put a stop to false teaching before it damages the integrity of the Church. Some teach false doctrine through ignorance and some knowingly through an agenda.
Question: Can you think of any examples of each of these kinds
of errors?
Answers: 21 I have given her time to repent, but she is not
willing to repent of her adulterous life.
Jesus used the word
"adultery" to describe Thyatira's "Jezebel" because she was no longer faithful
to Yahweh, the Divine Bridegroom, and sought relationships with false gods. God
always calls us to repentance and to return to fellowship with Him. This woman had the time (and probably instruction concerning
her errors) to repent "of her adulterous life," and she had refused. In the
literal sense, it is also possible that Jezebel had encouraged God's people to
commit sexual sins in connection with the pagan religious rites of the trade
guilds. On the other hand, the word "adultery" has a long Biblical tradition
as a symbol of rebellion against God (c.f., Ezekiel Chapters 16 and
23). Later, Jesus will describe the "Great Harlot of Babylon," using another
reference to the Biblical story of Jezebel, in Revelation 17:5, 16; and 19:2,
and He will identify her with apostate Judaism.
22 Look, I am consigning her to a bed of pain, and all
her partners in adultery to great
hardship, unless they repent of their practices
Notice that Jesus repeats the
word "repent" three times in verses 21 and 22. The Greek word translated "bed" is kline; it can mean a bed that
you slept on or the couch one reclined on at banquets (following Greek and
Roman customs of reclining to eat at formal meals). The Greek text of Matthew 26:21, Mark 14:18, and Luke 22:14 describe Jesus and His disciples as
"reclining" at the table of the Last Supper. However, some scholars suggest
the word could also refer to one's funeral bed or bier since it was a Roman
custom to cremate the dead. All of these interpretations fit symbolically:
There seems to be a play-on-words explained by the next clause as Jesus says, "and all her partners in adultery to great-hardship." With grim humor, Jesus seems to be saying: "Do you want to "get into bed with her? All right then, commit heresy/adultery, and here's a deathbed for you!" In this case, the punishment fits the crime. The destiny for those who refuse to walk in the way of righteousness is a bed of pain. Notice that this first-century judgment against the followers of Jezebel is to be subject to "great hardship" or another way to translate this phrase: to "great tribulation." This is, perhaps, another indication that these events took place within the lifetime of these transgressors during the generation after Christ's death and resurrection, just as Jesus stated in Matthew 24:21, 34 ~ "21 For there will be great distress, unparalleled since the world began, and such as will never be again ... 34 In truth, I tell you, before this generation has passed away, all these things will have taken place."
However, the end of the verse holds out hope where Jesus says, "unless they repent of their practices," holding out the prospect of mercy. Mercy amid judgment is a theme throughout the Book of Revelation. The book is full of divine judgments, but there is always the prospect of divine deliverance for those who repent and turn to God just as there was throughout Salvation History in the Flood judgment (Gen 7:1; 2 Pt 2:5), the salvation of Lot's family at Sodom (Gen 19:1, 15-16), the Exodus liberation (Ex 12:29, 37-42), and the preservation of the faithful remnant of Judah in the Babylonian exile (2 Chron 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-5).
23 and I will see that her children die [and her children
I will kill with death], so that all the churches realize that it is I who test
motives and thoughts and repay you as your deeds deserve.
"Her children" is a reference
to Jezebel's disciples or her followers in general, just as Revelation 12:17
calls all "who obey God's commandments and have in themselves the witness of
Jesus," the Virgin Mary's children. Revelation 2:23 is another example of what
some scholars point out as John's bad Greek. The literal translation is and
her children I will kill with death, referring to the judgment of spiritual,
not physical, death that is eternal separation from God. It is another
example of John thinking in Hebrew and writing in Greek. The literal Greek translation
is a conventional Hebrew means of intensifying the meaning of a word known as a
pleonasm, a linguistic means of double emphasis. For another example
see Genesis 2:17, where God is speaking to Adam and Eve, and the literal
translation should read: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
you are not to eat; for, the day you eat of that, you are doomed to die die. As
Christians, we recognize the theology of the "second death" as referring to
eternal death in both these passages.
so that all the churches
realize that it is I who test motives and thoughts [test the kidneys and
hearts]
The literal Greek reads test
the kidneys and hearts. In ancient times, the kidneys were regarded
as the seat of emotions while the heart stood for the intellect and the true
essence of the person. The implication to "test" or to "search," as some
translations read, is that nothing can be hidden from God. Even the most
secret thoughts and actions are known to Him.
And to repay you as your
deeds deserve
The "you" is plural; we might
have expected you in the singular to conform with the address to the
angel/bishop of the church. The plural "you" makes this statement to the entire
community very personal.
Why does God judge and discipline those who belong to Him? The Prophet Isaiah wrote, Following the path of your judgments, Yahweh, we set our hopes in you, your name, your memory are all our soul desires. At night my soul longs for you, and my spirit within me seeks you out; for when your judgments appear on earth the inhabitants of the world learn what saving justice is. If pity is shown to the wicked without his learning what saving justice is, he will act wrongly in the land of right conduct and not see the majesty of Yahweh (Is 26:8-10a). Those who genuinely love the Lord will heed His judgment and yield to renewed obedience, but God will punish those who rebel against Him. He is not a permissive parent. The purpose of God's judgment is to bring about repentance and salvation. The word discipline means "to teach."
Question: If you have ever corrected the behavior of a child, one of your own or a niece or nephew, or a subordinate, what was the goal of your discipline? How does that compare to God's discipline through judgment on His children? Job 5:17-18 reminds us, Blessed are those whom God corrects! Do not then scorn the lesson of Shaddai! For He who wounds is He who soothes the sore, and the hand that hurts is the hand that heals." And in Psalms 94:12, the psalmist wrote: How blessed are those you instruct (discipline), Yahweh, whom you teach by means of your law.
24 But on the rest of you in Thyatira, all of you who
have not accepted this teaching or learnt the deep secrets of Satan, as they
are called
A central part of Jezebel's
heresy involved a search into the deep secrets of Satan, as they are called.
This influential woman was a heretic. Heresy among Christians is a belief or
practice by a baptized Christian still in communion with the Church that is at
variance with the authorized teachings of the Church and which promotes
separation from the body of faithful believers. The heretics have claimed
knowledge of "the deep things," but the "secrets" are not heavenly but
satanic. The "they" probably refers to the true believers; the indication is
that this deep teaching has not seduced them but has set them apart from the
heretics in the congregation. It is unlikely the "they" refers to the heretics
who want acceptance within the Christian congregation and therefore would not
refer to the "secrets" as coming from Satan. It appears that Jezebel's
doctrine of sanctification through idolatry and fornication was a slightly
Christianized version of the first heresy that soiled the world with sin, and
which has been manifested in every culture from the beginning down through
history.
Question: What was the first heresy, and where did it take
place? See Gen 3:4-5.
Answer: In the Garden of Eden. Eve saw disobedience to God
as the key to freedom, wisdom, and attainment of divine status through secret knowledge/wisdom.
Then the snake said to the woman, "No! You will not die! God knows in fact
that the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods,
knowing good for evil." The church at Thyatira was experiencing the life
or death conflict of revolution and chaos versus holiness and order.
The Succession Arrangements ~ 25 I am not laying any other burden; but hold firmly to what you already have until I come. 26 To anyone who proves victorious and keeps working for me until the end, I will give the authority over the nations, 27 which I myself have been given by my Father, to rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like so many pots. 28 And I will give such a person the Morning Star. 29 Let anyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.'"
25 I am not laying any other burden; but hold on firmly
to what you already have until I come.
Jesus encourages the faithful
to hold firm to holiness and order. These are the Christians in Thyatira who
have not been seduced by forbidden knowledge in satanic practices, despite the possible
economic and social consequences of their refusal to compromise.
Question: Does Jesus place any other requirements on the
faithful members?
Answer: No. The faithful are to continue practicing the
essentials of faith by holding to their orthodox doctrine and standards until
Christ comes with tribulation to judge the heretics who are illegally
controlling the community.
Notice the phrase I place no other burden on you. The first Council of the Church was the Council of Jerusalem in AD 49/50 (see the list of Ecumenical Councils). The edicts of this first council were sent to the universal Church the same year and referred to eating meat sacrificed to idols mentioned in the letter to Pergamum. In Acts 15:28-29, the council wrote to the Christian communities: It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to impose on you any burden beyond these essentials: you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from illicit marriages. Avoid these, and you will do what is right. Farewell.
until I come.
The command is to "hold on"
in remaining faithful to orthodox teaching, and the words "until I come" turns
the message towards the glorious day when Jesus will bring judgment on the
wicked. Of course, Jesus "coming in judgment" continues throughout history in
every generation.
26 To anyone who proves victorious and keeps working for
me until the end, I will give the authority over the nations, 27 which I
myself have been given by my Father, to rule them with an iron scepter and
shatter them like so many pots. 28
And I will give such a person the
Morning Star. 29 Let anyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is
saying to the churches.'"
The faithful Christians were
suffering both from the pagan world outside the community and the false
apostles preaching heresy within the church. It seems to be an impossible
situation, yet Christ makes this awesome promise to the messenger to share with
his congregation. This passage is a reference to God the Father's promise to
the Son in Psalm 2:1-9 ~ Ask of Me, and I shall give you the nations as
your birthright, the whole wide world as your possession. With an iron scepter,
you will break them, shatter them like so many pots (Ps 2:8-9). It also
recalls Daniel's vision of the Son of Man in Daniel 7:13-14 who ascended to the
Father who gave Him power and authority over all nations
to rule them with an iron
scepter and shatter them like so many pots.
Iron was at that time the
strongest known material on earth or in the heavens since meteorites were mostly
composed of it, and they were the only known source of iron before the
discovery of the smelting process to remove iron ore from other minerals. The
"iron scepter" is an image of Christ the king's unbreakable sovereignty; the
words are repeated in Revelation 12:5. God the Father granted the Son sovereign
rule and dominion over the earth, and all nations come under His Messianic
kingship. The importance of the reference here is that Jesus promises the
Christian overcomers to who receive His letters a share in His Messianic reign
in the world to come. The message is clear, no matter how much faithful
Christians suffer now, Christ will be victorious, and He will conquer all who
oppose Him (Ps 2:1-6)! God has given His Son "all authority in heaven and on
earth." Christ the King is with His faithful until the end of the age (
Mt 28:18-20), and the gates of Hades (the grave) cannot prevail against His Church
(Mt 16:18).
For more references about Jesus' Messianic kingship, in addition to Psalm 2, also see 22:27-31; 46:4, 10; 65:2; 66:4; 68:31-32; 72; 86:9; 102:15-22; 110; 138:4-5; 145:10-11). Psalms Chapters 2 and 110 are the two most quoted Psalms in the New Testament:
28 And I will give such a person the Morning Star.
29 Let anyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
The divine promises made to
Old Covenant Israel will be fulfilled in the New Covenant Israel, the Holy Catholic
(universal) Church (CCC 877), the "new wineskins" that can hold the "new wine"
(blood of Christ) of the New Covenant that the "old wineskins" of the Old
Covenant could not contain (Mt 9:17; Mk 2:22; Lk 5:37-38). The sufferings of
the faithful Christians of Thyatira that came from within the church and outside
did not mean the end of the world but rather the birth pangs of the new beginning.
The long dark night of their sufferings would eventually yield a bright new day
when Christ will give these victorious "overcomers" a further token of triumph:
the Morning Star.
Question: Who is the Morning Star? See Rev 22:16.
Answer: Jesus
Christ is the light of the eternal day for those called to eternal salvation!
This passage may be a symbol of the Christian's share in the resurrection and glory of Christ since Venus, the material morning star, announces each new day in its rising and is symbolic of rebirth/resurrection. But since the passage refers to Christ Himself as "the bright and morning star" in Revelation 22:16, it seems more likely to point to the presence of the Christ, Himself. After all, the ultimate reward of each Christian is to be with His Lord in perfect communion for eternity. There may also be a connection to the prophecy Yahweh put in the mouth of Balaam in Numbers 24:17: "I see him but not in the present. I perceive him but not close at hand: a star is emerging from Jacob; a scepter is rising from Israel...." St. Peter also mentions the "morning star": So we have confirmation of the words of the prophets; and you will be right to pay attention to it as to a lamp for lighting a way through the dark, until the dawn comes and the morning star rises in your minds (2 Pt 1:19).1.
Jesus ends the letter with the same message that closes the others: with the reminder that God the Holy Spirit is speaking to the churches!.
Question: What Old Testament references are
in the letter, referring to what periods in salvation history?
Answer: There are references to the Davidic covenant and the
age of the prophets by quoting from Messianic Psalm 2 and referring to Jesus as
"the Son of God," and to Queen Jezebel of the period of the Divided Monarchy.
For example:
Revelation Chapter 3: The Letter to the Church at Sardis
So be very careful about the sort of lives you lead,
like intelligent and not like senseless people. Make the best of the present
time, for it is a wicked age. This is why you must not be thoughtless but must
recognize what is the will of the Lord.
Ephesians 5:15-17
The New Covenant Treaty Format for the Church at Sardis
The city of Sardis was founded circa 1200 BC and became the capital of the Lydian kingdom. Situated at the junction of five roads, and commanding the Hermus valley, Sardis was a wealthy commercial city. Built on the top of an extremely steep hill, the city's defenses seemed impregnable, and yet in the past, their sense of false security had led to the conquest and destruction of the city by both the Persian king Cyrus (549 BC) and by the Seleucid king Antiochus III (218 BC). On both occasions, enemy troops scaled the hill at night and found that the over-confident citizens had not even bothered to set a guard. In AD 17, an earthquake severely damaged the city; however, it was soon rebuilt through the generous aid of the Roman Emperor Tiberius to whom the people of Sardis were immensely grateful. The citizens reflected their gratitude through their loyalty to the Roman Empire. The main religion at Sardis was the worship of the goddess Cybele, but there was also a temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis. The people of Sardis commemorated both goddesses with their images on the city's coins. By the second century AD, Sardis began to decline as a trading center. Today Sardis is a small village called Sart.
Thyatiran coin showing a
goddess on one side and the Roman eagle on the reverse:
The Letter to the Church at Sardis: A Once Faithful Community in Crisis
Revelation 3:1-6 ~ 3:1 "Write to
the angel of the church in Sardis and say, Here is the message of the one who
holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars : I know about your behavior, how you are reputed
to be alive and yet are dead. 2 Wake up; put some resolve into what little vigor you
have left: it is dying fast. So far, I have failed to notice anything in your
behavior that my God could possibly call perfect [complete/fulfilled]; 3 remember
how you first heard the message. Hold on to that. Repent! If you do not wake
up, I shall come to you like a thief, and you will have no idea at what hour I
shall come upon you. 4 There are a few in Sardis, it is true, who have kept
their robes unstained, and they are fit to come with me, dressed in white. 5 Anyone
who proves victorious will be dressed like these in what robes: I shall not
blot that name out of the book of life but acknowledge it in the presence of my
Father and his angels. 6 Let anyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is
saying to the churches.'"
The Preamble: 3:1a "Write to the angel of the church in Sardis and say, Here
is the message of the one who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven
stars
We have more repeated patterns:
the command to "write" and "here is the message" (2:1, 8, 12), and also how
Jesus identifies Himself "as the one who holds the seven spirits of God and the
seven stars" from 1:16. In our discussion of this phrase in Chapter 1, we
commented that the number 7 is one of the "perfect" numbers and symbolizes
spiritual perfection. This passage refers to the prophetic mission of the Holy
Spirit. The prophets speak for God under the power of the Holy Spirit. In Revelation 1:4, Jesus addressed St. John in "grace and peace," identifying Himself
as:
The first and third refer to God the Father and God the Son, and therefore, the most likely interpretation is that John's greeting is from the Triune God with the seven Spirits symbolize God the Holy Spirit in all His spiritual perfection (see Chapter 1 notes for more information on this passage).
Then, in revelation 1:16, John records that he sees Jesus "holding seven stars," which is how Jesus identifies Himself to the church at Sardis in 3:1. The seven stars, Christ tells John in 1:16 and 20, are the angelos = messengers who are the pastors of the seven churches to whom he must send the letters. Jesus holds the stars/churches in His right hand; under His power and authority, the letters will speak to the churches on His behalf. The messengers of the churches belong to Him, and they are accountable to Him for their actions as well as their inaction. The pastor and the elders of the church in Sardis desperately need to be reminded of this because they had allowed the church to fall into spiritual decay.
Historical Prologue: 1b I know
about your behavior: how you are reputed to be alive and yet are dead.
After the vivid reminder of
the dignity and authority of the risen Christ, there is a severe condemnation
of the community at Sardis.
Question: What does it mean to be "alive for Christ?" What does
Jesus mean when He tells them they were "reputed" to be "alive" but that they
are "dead?"
Answer: The church at Sardis previously had a reputation for
being an active faith community that was "alive" for Christ but no more.
This Christian community was probably well-known in the Roman province of Asia, living in such a prosperous and famous city. At one time, they were spiritually alive for Christ, but now they had only their past reputation. They were no longer yielding "fruit" for Christ's Kingdom. Their "tree of faith" was weakened to the point of death.
However, this church was not suffering under any external persecution like the churches at Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamum. It is interesting that of these churches, the Christians at Smyrna were suffering the most on account of their Christian faith, yet they were yielding the "sweetest fruit" in works for Christ. What accounts for the differences between Smyrna and Sardis?
There seems to be no evidence, in an era of growing Roman persecution, that the church at Sardis experienced either theological controversy or abuse. The body of the letter to Sardis seems to indicate that the church had almost completely compromised with the pagan culture of the city. The result of this "ecumenical" approach of the community to the pagan religions of their neighbors was that the once busy, fruitful church was compromising itself almost to death. The walking almost dead at Sardis did not necessarily result from a lack of youth activities, or meaningless inward-looking "spiritual awakening" programs, which is the reason why most churches today tend to be called "dead." Instead, it appears the church at Sardis lacked the depth of conviction necessary to even begin a fight against heresy. Sardis was drowning in mediocrity while she pursued non-controversial "works."
The church at Sardis had become "secularized." Its fundamental worldview was the same as that of the surrounding pagan culture. It had become what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:1-2, "And you were dead, through the crimes and the sins which used to make up your way of life when you were living by the principles of this world, obeying the ruler who dominates the air, and the spirit who is at work in those who rebel. We too were all among them once, living only by our natural inclinations, obeying the demands of human self-indulgence and our own whim; our nature made us no less liable to God's retribution than the rest of the world." Satan must have been satisfied with Sardis' not to bother to add persecution and suffering. It is a condition that reminds us of a saying of the Church Fathers: "The blood of the martyrs produces the seeds of faith that grow the Church."
Question: Are there those in the Catholic Church today who urge a more secularized world view? What is the agenda they propose to bring the Catholic Church into the 21st century? What do the Old and New Testaments condemn as mortal sins that the secular world tells us is acceptable behavior in our times? What is the risk they are taking?
2 "Wake up; put some resolve into what little vigor you
have left: it is dying fast. So far, I have failed to notice anything in your
behavior that my God could possibly call perfect [complete/fulfilled]; remember
how you first heard the message. Hold on to that. Repent!"
The better translation of the
Greek is that their work was not complete or fulfilled. The Greek word is pleroo and
not teleios that Jesus used in Matthew 5:48 when He said, Be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect (NAB).
Question: Christ gives Sardis two admonitions. What are they?
Answer: (1) He tells them to "wake up!" and (2) He commands
them to "remember."
They have also received, in the case of the pastor/messenger, to whom Jesus addresses letter, both the privileges and responsibilities of the ministerial priesthood. Under the Covenantal Oath, they were to keep watch over and to guard the Bride of Christ, the same admonition given to Adam in the Garden of Eden. And the enemy was the same for both!
Question: Who is the enemy?
Answer: Satan the great serpent and deceiver.
Question: At the end of Revelation 3:2, Christ gives a command.
What is it that the Lord requires?
Answer: Repentance.
3 "If you do not wake up, I shall come to you like a
thief, and you will have no idea at what hour I shall come upon you."
Question: And what will happen if they fail to repent?
Answer: The church will face the judgment of Christ, the same
warning as 1:7; 2:5 and 2:16. His "coming" in judgment against a local church
or even against a nation is not the same as the Parousia, 2nd Coming
of Christ, at the end of history. The words used in this passage "to you" indicate
a local coming, not a futuristic, end of the world coming.
4 "There are a few in Sardis, it is true, who have kept
their robes unstained, and they are fit to come with me, dressed in white. 5 "Anyone
who proves victorious will be dressed, like these, in white robes; I
shall not blot that name out of the book of life, but acknowledge it in
the presence of my Father and His angels."
There was a remnant of the
church that had remained faithful to what they had received and heard. They
had not "soiled their garments" with sin; they had not become
secularized and had not conformed to the dominant pagan culture.
The Book of Revelation refers to the saints being "clothed in white garments" seven times (Rev 3:4, 18; 4:4; 6:11; 7:9, 13; 19:14), and the Bride of Christ dressed in dazzling white linen (Rev 19:8). In Scripture, white robes symbolize righteousness and purity with origins in the sun-white brilliance of the Glory-cloud of God. In their resurrection in Christ, the saints are re-created in the image of God and clothed with the grace of Christ. This verse is a description of an aspect of salvation in which all who "persevere to the end" have an eternal inheritance.
The reference to unstained white garments recalls a parable Jesus told during His last week in Jerusalem: the Parable of the Wedding Feast (Mt 22:1-14; Lk 14:16-24). In the parable, a king gave a feast for his son's wedding. He sent his servants to assemble the guests He invited, but they would not come, so after punishing those who refused to attend, he sent more servants to extend his invitation to everyone. As the king passed through the banquet hall, he noticed a guest who as not wearing a wedding garment, and when the king asked him why the man had no excuse to offer. The king had the man cast into the darkness. The king is God the Father, the wedding feast is the Supper of Christ the Lamb and His Bride, the Church, and anyone who does not come with a pure soul, wearing a "garment" of divine grace, will be cast out into eternal darkness.
In Galatians 3:27, St. Paul writes since every one of you that has been baptized has been clothed in Christ. Becoming dressed physically and spiritually in the white robes of righteousness takes place at our baptism and continues as we work out our salvation daily in obedience to God by participating in His sacraments and daily clothing ourselves in grace and virtue. Read, for example, Colossians 3:4-17, paying particular attention to verses 4 and 10. Concerning the end of our faith journey, Paul writes 4, But when Christ is revealed, and He is your life, you too will be revealed with Him in glory (Col 3:4). In the Sacrament of Baptism, Paul writes, 10 You have stripped off your old behavior with your old self, and you have put on a new self which will progress towards true knowledge the more it is renewed in the image of its Creator (Col 3:10). We have put on the white robe of the wedding garment of grace, and we must be careful to maintain its unstained (by sin) character throughout our walk of faith. At the wedding feast of the Lamb and His Bride, Revelation 19:17
Question: What are the two promises Christ makes to the faithful
remnant of Sardis in verse 5b?
Answer: The first promise is not to blot their names out of
the Book of Life, and the second is to acknowledge them by name before His
Father and the angels in Heaven.
Jesus' first promise to the "victorious" is: "I shall not blot that name out of the book of life." The Book of Life is a registry of the names of those destined for glory, written by God, and kept secure in Heaven. Both the Old and New Testaments refer to this special book (Ex 32:32-33; Ps 69:28; 138:16; Dan 7:10; 12:1; Mt 10:32; Phil 4:3; Rev 3:5; 20:11-12; 21:27). The Book of Revelation records those whose names not found in the Book of Life will be thrown into the fire of the Hell of the Damned ( Rev 3:5; 13:8; 20:15).
Jesus' promise, "I shall not blot that name out of the book of life," is also a warning that has been a source of controversy for centuries. It raises the question of whether one can lose one's salvation? The Catechism teaches: Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man. We can lose this priceless gift, as St. Paul indicated to St. Timothy: (1Tim 1:18-19) "Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith." To live, grow, and persevere in the faith until the end we must nourish it with the word of God; we must beg the Lord to increase our faith; it must be "working through charity": abounding in hope, and rooted in the faith of the Church (CCC 162).
The Bible is
full of examples of those who profess Christ and by all accounts appear to be
"saved" but finally apostatize from the faith and inherit damnation rather than
salvation.
Question: Can you name an Apostle who lost his salvation?
Answer: Judas is the
obvious example, but he is not the only one. The Old Testament provides many cases
of members of the covenant family who departed from the faith, and the New
Testament warns us over and over again of the judgment of God against those who
break His covenant (see
Mt 7:15-23; 13:20-21; 24:10-12;
2 Thess 2:3, 11-12;
1 Tim 4:1-3;
2 Tim 3:1-9; 4:3-4;
Heb 2:1-3; 3:12-14; 6:4-6; 10:26-31, 35-39;
2 Peter 2:1-3, 20-22; 3:17).
The warning Jesus gives is not to be taken lightly. Those whose names appear in the Book of Life, the baptized who profess Christ, are counted and treated as true believers, but they must persevere in their faith throughout their lives. If they apostatize and fall into the sins of immorality, heresy, and secularization that characterized the church at Sardis, God will erase their names from the Book of Life. However, the promise remains for the Christian who is an "overcomer," and by faithfulness demonstrates that he or she belongs to Christ. He/she is in no danger, and God will never erase his or her name from the Book of Life.
This final promise is that He will "acknowledge it in the presence of my Father and His angels," and supported by Jesus' statements in the Gospels. In Matthew 10:32-33, He says: "So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of human beings, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But the one who disowns me in the presence of human beings, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven." Also see Mark 8:38 and Luke 12:8-9. Many Christians at Sardis were denying Christ as they worked for the praise and acceptance of men rather than God. At the Last Judgment, they would surely hear the words from the Son of God in Matthew 7:23 "Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, all evildoers!"
Question: Is this message as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago? Do we "listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches" (Rev 3:6)?
Question: What are the Old Testament references in the letter,
and from what period in Salvation History?
Answer: The imagery comes from the later prophetic period and
the era of the Divided Monarchy, and the protection of the Holy Remnant
promised by the prophets.
The Old Testament imagery is from the prophetic period when God's prophets called the covenant people to repent and return to their relationship with the One, True God and to the period of the Divided Monarchy:
Endnotes:
1. Isaiah 12:12 personifies the King
of Babylon as Satan and refers to him as "Daystar, son of Dawn" who fell from
the heavens. The Fathers of the Church identified the fall of Daystar/the
Morning Star (Lucifer in St. Jerome's Latin Vulgate) with the fall of the
prince of the demons when Christ arose as the true "Morning Star" of salvation.
2. The Latin Rite of the Church encouraged but didn't require a celibate priesthood until about the year 800. The Eastern Rites, in ancient times and today, allow priests to marry before ordination, and they cannot remarry if their wives die. Monks of the Easter Rites take a vow of celibacy, and Eastern Rite bishops come from the orders of celibate Monks.
Catechism references for this lesson (* indicates Scripture quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
Davidic Covenant (CCC 215, 238*, 441*, 709*, 2579*, 2465*)
The Church is the new Israel (CCC 877)
Heresy (CCC 465, 2089)
Apostasy (CCC 675, 817, 2089, 2289, 2577)
Losing the gift of eternal salvation (CCC 162*)
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2000, revised 2019 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.