Monthly Archives: July 2015

Closed Minds

Revelation Commentary, , , , ,

Revelation 2:7a: “He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”[1]

This phrase ends every one of the messages to the Seven Churches. The main theme of the messages to the Churches is the refrain: “He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches.” It is a message of warning in light of the fact that Jerusalem is being destroyed because she closed her mind to Christ. On that Great Day of the Lord, at His appearing to reward His saints and to judge His enemies in the overthrow of Jerusalem, the appeal was to open their minds to Christ, the Word. The Spirit is still speaking this message to the Churches today.

A closed mind is the final stage of apostasy, beyond which there is no hope of repentance. As long as a person has an open mind, he may be taught the truth and corrected in his errors, but when he closes his mind, he seals himself into a chamber with no exit.

The closed mind accepts popular belief as authoritative and does not test doctrines or philosophies by Scripture. One attitude that reflects a closed mind is the expression: “Everyone knows –(thus and so).” Scriptures may be taken out of context as ‘proof-texts’ without weighing the evidence from the whole Bible.

“Rightly Interpreting the Word”

Interpretation is a stronghold; like a building, it is a system. It is indeed frustrating when a neat system of doctrine is upset by finding error in the foundational premises. Much effort, dedication, and persistence are required to rethink a whole system and make necessary adjustments. An attitude typical of the closed mind is: “I know what I want to believe, so don’t confuse me with the facts.”

It is painful to have to admit error or ignorance, especially when one has taught these errors to others. It is scary to take responsibility for an opinion. The easy way out is to simply say: “Our church teaches (thus and so).” It is unpleasant to the Flesh, but sweet to the Spirit to experience Truth firsthand.

Church Dogma – An Idol Not To Be Questioned

Closed minds are prevalent in the religious world, and are especially reflected in the area of dogma. Religious organizations typically lay down a body of doctrines that are considered as the authoritative principles of that religious body. Upon this basic dogma, other doctrines are built. But, while doctrinal principles may be discussed, refined, proven or disproven, the dogmatic foundations of those doctrines are expected to be accepted as true without question.

The word ‘doctrine’ implies a principle accepted by a body of believers, while ‘dogma,’ though a synonym of ‘doctrine,’ implies a doctrine that must be accepted without question merely upon the authority of the founders of the body. Obviously, if these founders were ignorant, unaware, deceived or malicious, their dogma will be faulty, and doctrines built upon that dogma will not be sound. Dogma thus assumes a blind belief in the infallibility of the founders of a religion and becomes an idol.

The Dogma of the Pharisees

Christ faced just such a situation when He ministered to the scribes and Pharisees. Their minds were closed to the truth He taught because of the dogmatic teaching of the rabbis. Many of these teachings were supposedly the authoritative interpretation of Scripture, but were actually perversions and distortions. Jesus refuted these errors consistently, for example, in the Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard that it was said …. but I say unto you….” He pronounced “Woes” and judgments upon those who refused to hear Him, (Matthew 23).

Christ referred these Pharisees to the Scriptural foundations. He quoted from the prophet Isaiah, (Isaiah 6:9-13). Isaiah was called to preach to the nation of Israel to warn them that judgment for their sins was coming and to call them to repentance. Yet, he was told he would not succeed in turning the nation, for “hearing they would not hear and seeing they would not perceive.” Isaiah would fail, for their minds were closed.

When he asked: “How long, O Lord?” the answer was:  “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without men, and the land is utterly desolate, and the Lord removes men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.” (RSV)

Their destruction was assured because of their closed minds. Yet, though the nation would not be saved, his preaching was not in vain for a remnant would hear and be saved.

Christ knew that He faced the same situation – people with closed minds, accepting only the interpretations of their malicious leaders; people whose ears were closed to hearing and whose eyes were closed to seeing the truth, (Matthew 13:14-17; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:9-10; John 12: 39-40.) This willful blindness and deafness greatly grieved and frustrated our Lord. It was this that prompted Him to so often repeat the refrain: “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Jesus Calls Us To “Hear”

The series of parables in Mark 4:1-33 begins with the command: “Hearken!” (KJV) or “Listen!” (RSV). The series ends with the statement that Jesus taught the larger crowds by parables only as they were able to hear, (v. 33). The reason for using parables as a method of teaching is given in verse 12:

“So that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; lest they should turn again, and be forgiven.” (RSV)

The principal point of the parables is given in verses 24 and 25: “Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.”

In context, when He speaks of the ‘measure,’ He is speaking of the measure of the Word which a man has allowed to take root and to bear fruit in his life. To him that has thus incorporated the Word into his life, more of the Word will be given, but to him that has only accepted the surface meaning of the parables, and who refuses to allow the Word to impart a deeper spiritual meaning, even the Word that he has heard superficially will be taken from him.

The Parable Of The Candle

The parable of the candle, (Mark 4:21-22), is about the entrance of the Word into a man. Psalm 119:130: “The entrance of thy words giveth light: it giveth understanding unto the simple.” The Word enters a man through the channel of hearing. Unless the hearer places the ‘light’ of the Word upon a ‘candlestick,’ that is, gives it a place of prominence and honor, it will not give him light. But if it is given its proper place, it will illuminate his inner man, cleansing him from the secret sins of the heart and mind.

Those with closed minds do not allow the Word to penetrate their hard exterior of religious dogma. As both the fulfillment and the embodiment of the Word, Christ emphasized its acceptance as a means of salvation. So Christ punctuated the parables, as well as the messages to the churches with the refrain: “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Search The Scriptures – Learn Their Context

Genuine faith in the Scriptures does not fear to subject them to careful scrutiny and analysis. The doctrine of the infallibility of the Scriptures has been well examined and has proven reliable. The Holy Bible has been preserved and transmitted down to us as a faithful witness to the Truth by many generations of saints. But examining our dogmatic beliefs can be unsettling, for our entire philosophy of life rests upon them. In rooting out false dogma, we must carefully examine them in the light of the Scripture and hold fast that which is good.

The Scriptures establish that Jesus is the Messiah Savior, the Son of the Living God, whose coming was foretold by the Prophets. His words have been tried and proven for 2000 years. We can accept His authority. Upon His authority, we can accept Christ’s Spirit, which says: “Let God be true and every man a liar.”

The Spirit of Truth

This Spirit of Truth will reveal our weaknesses and errors and give us full assurance of pardon if we repent and allow the Truth to rule our conduct and thinking, although here we only know in part – our knowledge is not perfect. The Spirit of Truth is also the Spirit of Love. Because He loves us, we have the security to examine the Scriptures without bias and without fear of condemnation. We can postpone an opinion until we have gathered more information and we can change our opinion when we find we are wrong. In other words, we can be teachable.

The greatest hindrance to enlightenment is a closed mind. The greatest challenge to teaching is not how to fill a mind, but how to open it. “The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back,” (Isaiah 50:5).

[1] In Hebrew perhaps “Hearing, let him hear… (with acceptance)“.

False Apostles

Revelation Commentary, ,

Revelation 2:2: “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.”

“Them which say they are apostles and are not.” This is in anticipation of the warning in 2:9 (to Smyrna) and 3:9 (to Philadelphia) against “those who say they are Jews but are not.” These false apostles are judged like the false Jews, – they are liars.

Danger of False Doctrine

Eusebius quotes the writings of Hegesippus concerning “the seven sects” which divided the Church in his day:

“Every man introducing his own opinion in his own particular way. From these in turn came false Christs, false prophets, false apostles, who split the unity of the Church by poisonous suggestions against God and against His Christ,” (4.22.4).

This is similar to the modern “new age” teaching that everyone should be “true to himself” and pay no attention to anyone else. This is the prelude to anarchy. When this teaching is practiced, the culture descends into the law of the jungle, “survival of the fittest,” and “law of tooth and claw.”

There must be a standard for living in community with others and the reality is that only the Bible standards can survive the ages. Jesus is our Perfect Example. He sacrificed Himself for the good of Humankind. As Christians we are called to just such sacrifice.

 

The Church At Ephesus – Accusation and Commendation

Revelation Commentary, , ,

Accusation

Revelation 2:4: “Nevertheless I have [somewhat] against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 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”.

These words are those of a legal proceeding. The court is being informed of the accusation against the Church at Ephesus. The Church had “fallen” from the perfect or idealized place it should have in the heavenlies, that is, the Spirit.

Nicolaitans

Revelation 2:6 “But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate”.

The Church is commended for one thing: they hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans. The Hebrew word for ‘hate’ in view here may have been chêt’, “to condemn in a forensic sense, declare guilty.”[1]

“The deeds of the Nicolaitans may have been to follow after the error of Balaam. “His error was thinking that God was the minister of man’s convenience rather than the Lord of his destinies. Their [the Nicolaitans’] doctrine was similar to that of Balaam through whose influence the Israelites ate things sacrificed to idols and committed fornication,” (Revelation 2:14-15″ ZPBD, p. 586).

However, the word ‘Nicolaitans’ may have been a transliteration of the Hebrew word nâkâl which means “to act fraudulently.” Derivations of the word mean “machination, wile.” Derived nouns mean “fraudulent, deceitful, crafty.”

Nimrod’s Cities

From the root of this word is the name of the city of Kala, or Calah, which was originally built by Nimrod. Also from the same root is the name of the city, Calneh, one of four cities, including Babel, Erech, and Akkad, which were founded by Nimrod. In Arabic the word ‘calneh’ means “to call some person or thing by a figurative name or cognomen.”

The False ‘Revelation’ by Nicolaus

Eusebius quotes Dionysus and Irenaeus concerning the sect of the Nicolaitans.[2] They attribute the founding of the sect to a certain Cerinthus who purported to have a special revelation of a secret writing from Nicolaus, one of the deacons appointed along with Stephen. This spurious revelation taught that the kingdom of Christ was to be an earthly kingdom of a thousand years where all of the lusts of the flesh would be indulged to the full. It thus encouraged utter promiscuity. “Cerinthus and the Nicolaitans tried to import into Christianity the notorious licentiousness of western Asia Minor,” (ibid. 138 note 3).

This spurious “revelation” which Cerinthus brought forth, was sometimes confused with the Book of Revelation given to John. This confusion brought discredit to the Revelation of John and caused some to reject it saying that it was not the work of a Christian but rather that of Cerinthus (ibid., 7.25.6). In truth, this Scripture in chapter 2:6 clearly shows that the Revelation of John condemns the doctrines espoused by Cerinthus and his Nicolaitans.

‘Nicolaitans’ Not From the Deacon Nicholas

Lightfoot discredits the opinion that the Nicolaitans derived their name from the Nicolas of Acts 6:5, but rather from the Hebrew word Necola, meaning ‘Let us eat together,” comparing them to those of Isaiah 22:13 who reveled in idolatrous eating of flesh and drinking of wine (CNT, vol. 4, 64). Thus Eusebius, Irenaeus, Dionysus and Lightfoot basically agree as to the character of the Nicolaitans.

Repent

The defendant Church is ordered to “repent,” etc., or if they will not, the judgment will fall upon them quickly. Their ‘candlestick’ will be removed. That ‘candlestick’ is the ministering Spirit. To remove this ‘candlestick’ is a cosmic disaster similar to that of a falling star.

In Isaiah 13, a prophecy is given against Babylon. It tells of God’s wrath against her. This is done on the “Day of the Lord.” In this day, “the stars of heaven and their constellations, [symbols of the ministers and their congregations], will not show their light.”

[1] Ges. Lexicon, s.v., Hiphil (3).

[2] Eusebius, History of the Church, 3.28.1 and 3.29.1.

This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book, Revelation in Context, available locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma or www.Amazon.com, or www.XulonPress.com.
Free downloads are also available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net.

The Church At Ephesus

Revelation Commentary, , , , ,

Revelation 2:1: “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write.”

The message to the angel of the church at Ephesus was probably meant to be not only to the Ephesians, but also to the several churches on the trade route into Asia Minor. Especially significant for this writing would be the fact that the seven churches addressed in Revelation 2 and 3 were located in cities which constituted one of these trade routes.

Two Maps

In the message to the churches of “Asia,” two maps may be in view: the terrestrial and the celestial. The heavenly, celestial, map is of the polar region, with Christ represented by the pole star and the seven stars by the constellation we know as “Ursa Major,” but which was known in Hebrew as ‘ash. The earthly map is of Asia Minor, wherein the seven contemporary churches lay in a configuration roughly comparable to that of the constellation.

The terrestrial, earthly, map bears a remarkable resemblance to the head of a horse outstretched in a running position[1]. The city of Ephesus lay at the point resembling the horse’s mouth and indeed was the entry point for trade routes to the interior of the continent. The word transliterated to Hebrew might be ‘aph sus the ‘nose of the horse’. The apocalyptic writers typically employed words cryptically; that is, they played with the sounds and made puns on words. The word ‘Ephesus’ could have been used as a pun for the Hebrew words peh sus “horse’s mouth.” The word ‘Ephesus’ then would cryptically suggest that the “horse’s mouth” was the entry point to the other six churches.

Since Ephesus was at “the Horse’s Mouth” it served as an entrance point for those things which were to circulate throughout that portion of Asia.[2]

Revelation 2:2: “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.”

“Them which say they are apostles and are not.” This is in anticipation of the warning in 2:9 (to Smyrna) and 3:9 (to Philadelphia) against “those who say they are Jews but are not.” These false apostles are judged like the false Jews, – they are liars.

Eusebius quotes the writings of Hegesippus concerning “the seven sects” which divided the Church in his day:

“Every man introducing his own opinion in his own particular way. From these in turn came false Christs, false prophets, false apostles, who split the unity of the Church by poisonous suggestions against God and against His Christ.” (4.22.4).

[1] See map of Asia Minor in Kee, Young, Froelich, Understanding the New Testament, 444.

[2] See Lindsell, Harper’s Study Bible, 1746.

Mystery of the Seven Stars

Revelation Commentary, , ,

Revelation 1:19: “Write…what is to take place hereafter.”

The word “hereafter” must have a reference point. In this case, it meant “after the time of this vision to John.” The reference point was the time at which the words were spoken. It therefore could mean the same as “the things which must shortly come to pass” in verse 1:1.

“Hereafter” means “after this in sequence or in time.” It does not refer to a continually moving point of time, but to the time at which it is spoken. For example, the word does not refer to something that will happen “after” some event of the twentieth century, since it was spoken in the first century.

Mystery of the Seven Stars

Revelation 1:20: “The mystery of the seven stars.”

A “mystery” in the New Testament usage is a veiled truth. The “mysteries” of the Book of Revelation are being ‘unveiled,’ – that is the meaning of the Greek word “apocalypse” which is translated ‘Revelation.’

This verse is the first instance of many in the Book that gives a clear interpretation of the symbols, that is, the “mysteries.” It sets the tone of the rest of the Book wherein the voice of the Spirit interprets the symbols.

This verse shows the fulfillment of Jesus’ words to Nathanael in John 1:51: “Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Christ is revealed here in the analogous position of the pole star. The “angels” or stars, are in the position of the Big-dipper constellation and rise and set, ascend and descend, around Him. Christ is the Center of the Universe. “In Him all things consist;” that is, “In Him all things hold together.” “In Him all of creation becomes a uni-verse, a united whole.”