Shepherds Bible Revelation Chapter 2

Shepherds Bible Revelation Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

1. Unto the angel of the church of Eph’-e--sus write; These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, who walke th in the midst of the seve n golde n candlesticks. 2. I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apos tles, and are not, and hast found them liars: # To whom is God talking here? This is a church, or group of people, who k now who the evil ones are. They know the ide ntity of the liars, the sons of Satan, the Kenites who have come from Cain all the way from the beginning 3. And hast borne, and hast patience, and for My name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. #These people are obviously very strong. 4. N evertheless I have somewhat a­ gainst thee, b ecause thou hast left thy first love. # A great deal can be read into this verse. It could be referring to many of the churches that know the national level of things and what the beast system invo lves. They have left Christ more or less out of it. They try to fight the battle without Him. This cannot he done. What is “thy first love”? It is Jesus Christ. They must turn back to Christ as the King, who is soon coming back to reign. They will reign with Him, if first they return to the love of Jesus Christ. 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. # He is saving that without repe ntance He will cease sending the truth to peop le, whereby they will not know the end or the things that are going to happen so that they will not know how to react or how to be a servant of His. 6. B ut this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nic-o—la’-i-­tans, which I also hate. # There are no written records anywhere which deal with the Nicolaitans. This verse refers to something that is to happen in the future. In the Hebrew translation the word for Nicolaitans means “Baalimites”; Baal, being Luci­ fer or Satanic people. You, just as the church in this verse, recognize that fact and He is proud that you do. They claim to be the chosen people of God, when in fact they are not, but are really Kenites, stemming from Cain’s seed. So in this verse, He is talking to a group of people that do in fact know their own identity. 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. #What is the “tree of life”? It is Jesus Christ Himself. He is saying, those of you who have an ear to hear will be able to partake directly of His inheritance. He is in the midst of the paradise of God. What a beauti­ ful thought.

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; # Please note how He bears down on the fact that He was dead and is alive. This resurrection has everything to do with this book. If you do not be­ lieve that Jesus Christ was crucified and resurrected and raised from the dead by the Father, then you waste your time reading further. 9. I know thy works, and tribulation and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of the m which say they are Jews, a nd are not, b ut are the synagogue of Satan. # The Kenites began to call them selves Jews in Jer. 35:11, and the Greek word “Jew’ means to be a descenda nt of Juda h (true Israel) and/or merely a resident of Judea. See App. II. The Kenites claim to be the chos en ones of God, b ut in fact are not, a nd are the synagogue of Satan. Lucifer’s own household, who refuse to accept Jesus Christ. 10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into pr ison, that ye may be tried: and ye shall have tribulation ten da ys: be thou faithful unto d eath, a nd I will give thee a crown of life. # This verse refers to the 13th chapter of Mark where those, who recognize the false christ and his children, will be delivered up because they stand against the false christ. For what purpose? For a testimony for Jesus Christ. Then there will be tribulation for 10 days. Daniel’s prophetic days, which are 1.485 years each, make this ten day period a little more than 14 years in length. See App. I. This tribulation started in 1967 when the old city of Jerusalem fell to the Ke­nites during the 6 day war. Calcu­ lating 14 years from that date brings us to 1981. Notice the crown talked abo ut here. I t is an Eternal crown, giving the wearer an eternity to praise Him. 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. # What is this second death? It is the result of that testing at the end of the millennium, as we see in Revela­tion 20:6 and 20:14. 12. And to the angel of the church in Per’-ga- mos write; These things saith He which hath the sharp sword with two edges; #This sword is His word, His truth, and we will carry this Word forth. Pergamos is a city in Mysia which was famous for the worship of Aescula­pius, to whom the title of Soter (mean­ ing savior) was given. Soter’s emblem was the serpent. This is identified with Apollo in Acts 16:16 where the word is “divination”. “Divination” in Greek means python”, serpent or destroyer”; which was destroyed by Apo llo. We see then, that this is an evil place, where Satan exercises his po wer and a uthor ity. 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 An’—ti— pas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

#The phrase, “where Satan’s seat is”, fixes the time of this revelation as future. Satan’s seat will be geographi­cally located in that place only at the end of this present age. Take the word “Antipas”. Antipas in Greek means anti- father; “anti” being against, and “pas” being father. Pas has never been

used to mean our Father, so we shall call “pas” the falsefather. We will equate Antipas for the moment with the two witnesses in Revelation, Chapter 11. Now we see “Antipas” emerging as a faithful martyr who is against, (anti) the falsefather, (pas). We are standing with John in the 20t h century looking at our own time through his eyes. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doc trine of Ba’-laam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. # What would this stumbling block do? It could confuse to the extent that a person or people would not be able to differentiate between the Kenites of the world and the true chosen elect. 15. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nic—o—la’—i- tans, which thing I hate. #Remember the Nicolaitans are also Baalimites or of Baal. 16. Repent: or else I will come unto thee quickly and will fight against them with the sword o f My mout h. 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 hidde n man’- na, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. # The “hidden manna” is the truth fed directly from the Father. White stands for purity. This “stone,” which is #5586 in Greek, is used only in this one place in the entire Bible. It means “a pebble worn smoot h by handing while counting”. In Revelation 13:18 the word “count” (#5585) is used “to count the number of the beast”. It means pebbles or stones to enumerate the identity of the beast and his chil­dren. Both “stone” and “count” come from the primary word #5584, which means “to verify by contact” or “to search for. Satan’s name in Ezekiel 28 is Tyrus, which means “rock”, and is the Hebrew word #6865. His children, the Kenites, are “stones” and “pebbles” symbolically speaking. By knowing w ho a nd where the Kenites are, we possess the hidden manna or hidden truth and will be able to ide ntify the ir father, the false christ, when he comes. Yahveh is revealing a truth here for those who will receive it. 18. And unto the angel of the church in Thy-a—ti’-ra write; These things saith the Son of God, who bath His eyes like unto a flame of fire, and His feet are like fine brass. # Again, here is this purity and out­standing countenance coming from the face. 19. I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy pa­tience, a nd thy works : and the last to be more than the first. 20. Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, be cause thou suf­ ferest that woman Jez’—e— hel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacri­ ficed unto idols. # Let us understand this verse very clearly. Again, we are dealing with a people who know the truth as to whom the Kenites are. This Jezebel is not the Jezebel of the Old Testament, but the Jezebel of the New Testament, that harlot in Revelation 17:4-5 who rides upon the back of babylon, or confusion. Those people today, who do not know there will be a personal individual false christ in the last days, will be misled. W hat does it mean “to seduce My servants and commit fornication?” He is talking about His servants, the elect, to seduce them to pay homage to the false christ. Even if the y know who the false chil­dren are, if they be lieve not that the false christ sha ll come in pe rson, the n when he comes in a ll his splendor (which is part of what Satan’s name means) to deceive the

world, then he will deceive them also, and he will cause them to pay homage to him, and possibly be lieve upo n him. 21.

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

# Let’s equate Jezebel with the people today who are willfully ignorant as to the Bible’s warning concerning our current condition. These people are being given time to know the truth and to repent of their sins; yet, they do not study to s how themselves ap­proved just as she did not repent. And the Bible shows us they will not. 22. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, a nd them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. # He is going to cast her into a bed of deception. Refer to II Thessalon­ ians, “And for this cause God shall send them strong de lusion, that they should be lieve a lie:” 23. A nd 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. # This is not an actual death. Since the adults allow themselves to be de­ceived by her, their children will die a spiritual death. 24. But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thy-a--ti’-ra, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as the y speak; I will put upo n you none other burde n. # Or those who reject the doctrine of Jezebel, He will set free. 25. B ut 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: #There is great strength in this verse. The Greek word translated “nations”. is “ethnos”, which means race. So it appears that we are not talking about Israel nations, but rather the races of the world. The overcome will reign o ver them, not in a sense of po wer, b ut of love and compassion. Thos e, that have the ears to hear, will have the opportunity to teach with Christ through the millennium. 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. 28. And I will give him the morning star. #The “morning star” is Jesus Christ. “Morning star” also translates to mean “early light”. The word “morning” is the Greek word #3720, meaning “ear­ ly”. The word “star” is the Greek word #796 meaning “light”. The message of Jesus Christ and full knowledge does give the elect early knowledge or light. Thus, they are prepared for the last days, whereas others will have it come upon them unawares. 29. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches #So far, the people of the churches we have covered know the truth; yet, He is still somewhat against many of them. The church at Smyr na was the only o ne He seemed to have nothing against.