The Book of Revelation Fresno School of Missions Dr. Nzash Lumeya, Director
“Things which must shortly take place” Chapter 2
Thursday, 6 PM to 7 PM with free discussion available 7 to 7:30 PM. September 24, 2020
On Zoom. Zoom links will be sent before class.
Lesson Two
Homework.
Read handout entitled Revelation Context
Read Revelation chapters 1 and 2.
Read Genesis chapters 1-3
Review.
Revelation chapter 1. The revelation from Jesus Christ which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon take place.
The time is near. Hear this and take it to heart.
Greeting to the 7 churches in Asia province. From Him who is, and who was, and who is to come and from the 7 spirits before His throne and from Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ speaking to John, who was in the Spirit:
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in a loud voice like a trumpet, told him to write on a scroll what he sees and send it to the 7 churches.
Jesus was standing among 7 golden lampstands, dressed in a robe with a gold sash around his chest; hair white like wool, white as snow, eyes like blazing fire, feet like bronze glowing, voice like sound of rushing waters.
Jesus held 7 stars in His right hand, double-edged sword coming out of His mouth, face shining like the brilliance of the sun.
The 7 stars are the 7 angels of the churches. The 7 lampstands are the churches.
If you have not accepted the Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, the wrath of God still rests on you.
If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have been redeemed and have the seal of God on you forever.
This week.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?
2 Peter 3:10-11a NIV
Genesis 1-3.
In the beginning. Created beings and their attributes. Distinction of your body, soul, spirit. With God. Evil-created? Rebellion. Consequences-past, present, future.
Geographical and spiritual environment of the first four churches.
See research by Dr. Marius, attached here below.
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Revelation chapter 2.
To the angels of the church in Ephesus, in Smyrna, in Pergamum, and Thyatira.
In Ephesus. Identifies Who is speaking to them-holds 7 stars, walks among the 7 lampstands.
Acknowledgement: deeds-hard work, perseverance; cannot tolerate wicked people, have tested those who falsely claim to be apostles, endured hardship for His name, not grown weary. They hate the practices of the Nicolaitans.
Held against them: forsaken the love they had at first.
Call to repent: consider how far you have fallen; do the things you did at first. If not: He will remove their lampstand from its place.
Whoever has (an ear)ears to hear, hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Whoever is victorious, He will give the right to eat from the tree of life-it’s in the paradise of God.
In Smyrna. Identifies Who is speaking to them-the First and Last, Who died and came to life again.
Acknowledgement: knows their afflictions and poverty, the slander of those who say they are Jews, but are a “synagogue of Satan”.
Forewarning: don’t be afraid of what they are about to suffer; the devil will put some of them in prison to test them; they will suffer persecution for 10 days.
Instruction: be faithful even to death and He will give them life.
Whoever has ears to hear, hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one victorious, will not be hurt by the 2nd death.
In Pergamum. Identifies Who is speaking to them: has the “sharp, double-edged sword”; knows they live where Satan has his throne.
Acknowledgement: they remain ‘true to His name; did not renounce their faith in Him, even in the faithful witness’, Antipas (put to death), days and some to the Nicolaitans’ teaching.
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Held against them: some hold to Balaam teaching; some hold to Nicolaitans’ teaching.
Call to repent. If not, He will come and fight against them with the sword of His mouth.
Whoever has(an ear) ears to hear, hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, He will give the hidden manna and a white stone with a new name on it.
In Thyatira. Identifies Who is speaking to them: the Son of God, eyes like burning fire, feet like burnished bronze; knows their deeds.
Acknowledgement: their love, faith service, perseverance, doing more than they did at first.
Held against them: they tolerate Jezebel teaching, leading them to sexual immorality and eating food offered to idols;
Call to repent. she is unwilling to repent so she will suffer; He “will strike her children dead”. If those who ‘commit adultery with her’ do not repent they will suffer with her; then all the churches will know that He searches hearts and minds and will repay each according to their deeds.
Instruction: To the rest who do not hold to her teaching and not learned Satan’s “deep secrets”, hold on to what they have until He comes.
To the one who is victorious and does His will to the end, He will give authority (just as He received authority from His Father) over the nations and that one will rule (describes how); and will give that one the morning star. Whoever has (an ear) ears to hear, hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Next week.
Consciously practice God’s Love on your family, your coworkers, your Christian brothers and sisters, your neighbors, your enemies - through the power and counsel of the Holy Spirit.
Read handout, Intro to Genesis Related to Revelation, by Dr. Fitzalbert Marius.
Read Revelation, chapter 3.
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Information about the four churches in Revelation chapter 2: 1
Ephesus, though not the capital of the province of Asia, is the most known city in the province.
The trade route from the Euphrates civilization terminated in Ephesus. Ephesus displaced Miletus as a trading port, but when its harbor, like that of Miletus, silted up, Smyrna replaced both....
It was a beautiful city with great temples, the most notable being the temple of Artemis, which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The amphitheater which could seat 45,000 people was also a grand monument in the city.
The city was known for its Greek - Roman mystery cults.
Built near the shrine of an old Anatolian fertility goddess, Ephesus became the seat of an oriental cult.
The Anatolian deity has been taken over by the Greeks under the name of Artemis, the Diana of the Romans. The temple of Diana was the center of pagan worship for all the Mediterranean lands.
Grotesquely represented with a turreted head and many breasts, the goddess and her cult found expression in the famous temple, served like Aphrodite at Corinth, by a host of priestess courtesans.
The proud title of this great commercial and religious center was “Neocorus”... the temple keeper of sacristan ... of Artemis.
The temple of Artemis enjoyed services of an army of virgin priestesses, eunuch priest, choristers, vergers and acrobats... in a spate of infamous and immoral excess... in early Christian era... was a city of magic and necromancy, the home of a superstition so ancient and deeply rooted that it outlived the gods of Olympus.
Ephesus was the headquarters of Paul’s great third journey. It was later the center of mission and pastoral activities of John.
Smyrna was a port city along the coast. It was a city of great wealth. The city was first founded around 1200 B.C. It was destroyed around 627 B.C. by the Lydians. The city was part of the tract of Asia Minor, known as Aeolis, which was a part of the larger division of Mysia. It was located 40 miles north of Ephesus.
1 Research and written by Dr. Fitzalbert Marius,. Compiled and reformatted in pertinent part by SJ Bagley.
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First occupied by the Aeolians (an early Greek people; perhaps the earliest of Greek stock; a mixture of Hellenes and Pelasgi), and later falling in the hands of the Ionians. It was rebuilt by Alexander the great. It became a Roman province of Asia in 133 B.C.
Smyrna was known for its strong center of emperor worship.
A temple to the goddess of Rome was built in 195 B.C., and in 26 A.D. a temple to Tiberius was constructed. These temples and others were built upon an acropolis, producing a dramatic effect, which during those times was described as “ The Crown of Smyrna”.
Evidence shows that some first century Jewish settlements in Asia were extremely poor: because they were under great economic, geographical, and physical persecution.
The most noteworthy of those persecuted was Polycarp, in 169 A.D. under the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Polycarp was a student of John; and was the bishop of Smyrna.
Before being burned he said. :You threaten me with fire, which burns for an hour and is extinguished; but the fire of the future judgment and eternal punishment, you are ignorant of”
The Christians of those days were persecuted with stripes, scourging, drawings, tearing, stoning, hot irons, boiling oil, wild beasts, hangings, etc.
Pergamum, (modern Bergama, q.v.), city, ancient Mysia, in western Asia Minor, on the north bank of the Caicus (now Bakir) River, about 15 miles from the sea. Built on three terraces, it was beautifully laid out. Its acropolis was the summit of a conical hill, about 900 feet above sea level, crowded with magnificent buildings, chiefly two palaces, the library,
the temple of Dionysus and Athena, and the great open altar to Zeus, one of the architectural and sculptural wonders of the ancient world.
The material used here in copying books was parchment (Latin: pergamena charta), a very thin skin, more durable than papyrus; the name is derived from that of the city. such well known sculptures as “The Dying Gaul” and “The Dying Gaul and His Wife” were done here to celebrate the victory over the neighboring Gauls (or Galatians) in central Asia Minor.
The manufacture of tapestries, especially cloth of gold, and the production of fine pottery, precious ointments, and perfumes were thriving industries.
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Its independent political history began when Lysimachus of Thrace, one of Alexander’s bodyguards, deposited here a large part of his treasure of 9000 gold talents, entrusting it to Philetaerus, son of Attalus of Tios, who, however, revolted in 283 B.C., and set himself up as ruler in alliance with the Seleucids. The kingdom of Pergamum continued until 133 B.C. when the last ruler, the childless Attalus III, bequeathed it to the Romans.
The most brilliant era in the history of Pergamum was that of Eumenes II (r. 197-?160 B. C.) who adorned his capital with magnificent works of architecture and sculpture. He founded the famous library of 200,000 volumes, second only to that of Alexandria.
Thyatira, unlike the three previous cities, (Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamum) is not suitable as a major city. It was situated 30 miles inland from Pergamum.
It was originally a military outpost maintained to protect the road from Pergamum to Sardis.
It was a commercial center of weavers, leather workers, potters, and bronze workers.
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