March 2022

On the Revelation of Yahshua Christ, Part 6: The Churches at Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea

In our last presentation, having concluded our commentary on Revelation chapter 2 we discussed the messages to the assemblies at Pergamos and Thyatira. In those messages, each of these assemblies were criticized by Yahshua Christ for having accepted men and women who were advocating the same sin, but in a somewhat different manner. The assembly at Pergamos had evidently had at least several unnamed members who upheld what Christ had described as the “teaching of Balaam, who had taught Balak to put a trap before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication.”

Consulting the Old Testament Scriptures in order to find what the teaching of Balaam had been, in Numbers chapter 25 we find that the Moabites had instructed their women to seduce the men of Israel into engaging in illicit acts of sexual intercourse. There we read, in part, “1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.” Then a little further on: “3 And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.” But it is not until this incident is mentioned again later, in Numbers chapter 31, that we find that it was indeed Balaam who had taught this, where we read that it was done “through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.” So Balaam, who was hired to curse Israel, could not curse them as Yahweh had caused only blessings to emanate from his mouth. Therefore, perceiving that if the men of Israel could be coaxed into such a sin that they would lose the favor of their God, he instructed Balak to do that very thing.

On the Revelation of Yahshua Christ, Part 5: The Churches at Pergamos and Thyatira

Presenting the first part of Revelation chapter 2 and the messages to the assemblies at Ephesus and Smyrna, we had encountered and discussed several concepts that are contained in those messages which we believe are necessary to understand not only in relation to the Revelation, but also to the entire Bible as well as to our lives as Christians today. First, although we are not told what sin it was that they had been committing, because the Ephesians had left their first love, as it was described, they then began to accept or to commit some sin from which they were commanded to repent. Then Christ had threatened that if they did not repent, they would be punished. So it is evident that even Christians who profess Christ and endure in His Name, who reject false apostles and Nicolaitans, which we interpret as those professional priests who with pretense would rule over the people, and who are also even commended for not bearing evil, must nevertheless seek to maintain complete obedience to the Gospel of Christ or face the consequences of punishment from God. This is absolutely contrary to the general belief of most Christians today, who basically claim that all one has to do is to believe in Jesus and perform some rituals in order to be saved. Having rejected false apostles, the Ephesians clearly believed the Gospel as it was taught them by true apostles, so they must have believed in Jesus, as today’s denominational Christians would also claim to do. Yet Christ Himself had warned them that they would be punished if they did not repent of their sin, that their lampstand would be removed from its place.