Friday, April 18, 2014

Revelation 2 - Good News/Bad News

In reading through Revelation chapter 2, a couple questions came to mind.  First, does every church have an angel/messenger assigned to it?  (v. 1, 8, 12 and 18)

Then, who in the world are the Nicolaitans?  (v. 6 and 15).  This site has some ideas.  And this one has some similar, but slightly different ideas.  I guess the bottom line is that whoever they were, Jesus was not at all happy with their doctrine and practices.  Those who oppose the Nicolaitans are commended and those who do not are rebuked.  It's fair to say that Nicolaitans = bad company.

Throughout the chapter we see a clear picture that for each of these churches it's kind of a mixed bag.  There are things that Jesus praises them for, and other things that He holds against them (except maybe for Smyrna).  But one important idea to notice seems to be that regardless of their faults, it's not too late.  Each of these churches is promised a chance to be counted among the "victorious" who will eat from the tree of life (v. 7), not be hurt by the second death (v. 11), receive some of the hidden manna and receive a white stone with a new name (v. 17), and receive authority over the nations (v. 26).


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