“A Few Things Against Thee”
Revelation 2
12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;
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 Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.
16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
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 hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
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The letters to the seven churches mentioned in Revelation are so very interesting to read about. They give a window into just about every kind of congregation that has existed since Yeshua until now. Not too many things have changed.
Reality tells us that the “church” hasn’t become the purified object one would have expected. Common sense would seem to indicate that a body of people who claim to be children of the living God by way of the new-birth in Yeshua would have pretty much by now become a model representation of God’s intention.
Perhaps not so much …
After 2,000 years the seeds of these seven churches are still alive and well in some form or another. I find that instructively amazing.
What I am particularly focused upon is the mention of martyrdom. We’re told that a fellow by the name of Antipas was a faithful martyr. And yet … the congregation caught the eye of God in a negative way.
God acknowledges they don’t have an easy go of things. They dwell where Satan has a prominent seat of authority. And yet, they hold fast to the name of Yeshua without backing down or yielding ground concerning the faith … even in the face of Antipas’ death. That is so commendable.
Yet …
Their doctrine had gotten somewhat derailed along the way. As a matter of fact it seems like they were falling victim to the same snares their forefathers did many years ago in the past. They too are a mixture of good and not so good, commendable and not so commendable.
So God exhorts them, by way of Antipas’ example, to get their act together … or else. He calls them to shame and repentance.
Shame — because one of their own gave his life for Yeshua. And yet, they are entangled in things that have defamed the meaningful worth of that self-sacrificing life.
Repentance — because they are headed for something far worse than martyrdom … the punitive anger of Christ. He will come to them quickly with His unsheathed sword, “the sharp sword with two edges,” and do some much needed pruning.
We’re not much different today, are we? We’re a mixture of some good things and some not so good things. That’s not surprising. And, I don’t think God is too up in arms about that reality.
What does get His ire up is continued persistence in a path of life that slowly distills His Word down to the point of ineffective embarrassment.
A few wrong turns and a few slip ups on our part I think God understands. But, when we start sacrificing Bible truth/doctrine on the altar of our own expedience He will turn that same Word against us — His Sword of Truth …
Just like He said He would to the congregation in Pergamos. He promised, that if necessary, He would even fight against the guilty parties.
In reading about these dear folks I was convicted, challenged and motivated to determine what side of their aisle I was sitting on. It’s easy to fall in lockstep with the majority. It’s exciting. It’s appealing. It’s alluring. It’s instantly gratifying.
It’s quite another thing to match up to the life and death of an Antipas. Do I honesty want to end up like him? Nope. But, I need to at least do some deep inner searching about where I am and what my intentions are. None of us can rely upon the easy street of Americanized Christianity any longer, let alone our Country.
We live in interestingly complex and confusing times. We are starting to realize our need to unhook from this present world system. It’s no friend of ours. We are actually considered enemies. There will be increasing measures taken to remove our witness and our influence.
But that’s to be expected. Yeshua told us the world hates us because it hates Him.
I want to take this one step further …
We need to distance ourselves from normative Evangelical Christianity. And, we need to do the same thing regarding the larger Messianic/Hebraic Roots movement. Both bodies seem to be more concerned with being all things to all people.
However …
I do believe some are finally beginning to realize that being all things to all people only causes all people to cast us off as irrelevant.
Why?
It’s like the Borg in Star Trek.
If the Borg do not view someone as an immediate threat they leave them alone. They even let them walk amongst them unharmed. They will ignore them as being irrelevant and not worth their time and effort.
Interesting parallel I think.
We are just insipid enough for the world to not be bothered by us. As long as we’re not bothering them we don’t even show up as a blip on their radar. We are irrelevant.
Antipas wasn’t going to have anything to do with that kind of life. He accepted his duty to be faithful. He knew the risks. And yet, he stayed the course.
What’s the alternative? — Doctrinal heresy.
Eventually we become no different than Nick, Balaam and Balak. It might look appealing for the moment. But, it always has a way of coming back to bite us.
Could it be that our irrelevance has risen up to bite us?
If so, I’m thinking God just might have …
“A Few Things Against” us too.