The Revelation of Y'shua the Anointed: Chapter Two, Part 1

Welcome to Thus Say the Prophets!

The Revelation of Y'shua the Anointed:
A Study into the Noahide Nazarene Way
By Ben Ruach ha Kodesh (John of AllFaith) � 9.16.09 (3.15.08)
Chapter Two -- Part One

The Seven Periods of the Church

In the second and third chapters of the Revelation of Y'shua the Anointed we learn that the Way would become the Church and pass through seven distinct periods of time before finally being rejected by God and man. These "churches" existed in the cities referenced, but the prophetic meaning is deeper, signifying the future of the Church and their falling away from the God of Israel. We are currently living in the seventh and final of these church periods as we will see in the next chapter. As we continue with our verse by verse study we will examine each of the Seven Church periods and their approximate dates. These dates are given only as markers. The distinguishing traits of each period bleed over into the others in the continuous flow of time. This list should not therefore be taken as giving exact dates for the periods they reference. In this presentation the Master addresses those who hold true to his Way. Hopefully this includes you.

The Church of Ephesus:

70 CE - 170 CE: As the Jews, including the followers of Y'shua the Anointed, were expelled from Zion (as the Master predicted in Matthew 24) the followers of Y'shua of Nazareth began losing faith in the Way. The persecutions and depredations they faced were horrendous. As we go through these two chapters we do well to bear this in mind. These were generally good people facing extreme circumstances and, as (as Fox's Book of Martyrs makes clear, many of them met their challenges with admirable faith and courage. Here is but one example:

Forty Brave Soldiers for Christ

But not all Believers stood firm like these forty brave soldiers. Certain of the followers of the Way began embracing various non-Abrahamic doctrines. They did this for many reasons. Having lost their homes and being dispersed throughout the world they began to compromise their beliefs and accept doctrines never taught by the Master or the Jewish Scriptures he honored.

Revelation 2:
1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
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:
3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
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.
6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.
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.

There were still many devout followers of the Way and they were struggling to maintain the true faith of the Master's reformed Jewish movement. Others however were claiming to be apostles of the Master when in truth they were introducing foreign doctrines and leading the Believers astray. Chief among these heretics were the Nicolaitanes (Nicolaitans or Nicolaites). While neither the texts we have today in the Bible nor external sources positively identifies this movement, we do have clear information about their beliefs that makes their identity certain as we will see below. This sect (in verse 14 below) held to "the error of Balaam" as we will see below. The error of Balaam was the merging of Judaism with other religions and their rites, thus leading them astray from the God of Israel.

HaShem is the God of the whole world. There is no God aside or beside Him! HaShem is One:

Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: HaShem our God [elohiym] is one HaShem

Y'shua the Anointed taught that there were also non-Jewish sheep in God's pastures as well:

John 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

He however had come solely to call for the restoration of the House of Israel:

Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Following his resurrection from the dead however, the Master extended his ministry to the Noahides, inviting all who would accept to join with the "Tree of Israel" (Romans 11) and embrace his Jewish teachings and movement:

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

The Noahide followers of Master Y'shua are called to conform to the image and beliefs of their Master (Rom 8:29). Those who embrace his reformed Jewish teachings (not to be confused with the modern Jewish movement by that name) are "grafted onto the tree of Israel" as Paul explains in some detail at Romans 11.

The Nicolaitanes however were separating the Believers from the Tree of Israel and leading them away from Judaism and into a religious synthesis that was the hallmark of Roman religion.

As is well known, whenever Rome conquered a people their gods were merged into the Roman pantheon. The Jews had determinedly resisted this since first encountering the Romans and thus regularly angered the Roman religious authorities. These Roman Pagans railed: How dare these Jews lift their god above the gods of Rome and its divine emperor!" The Nicolaitanes however were crafty and sought to merge the God of Israel, through the Way Movement, with Rome and thereby establish a Universal ("catholic") Church under their control and sovereign authority. That this was their intention is abundantly clear in many of the writings of the early Church fathers. This Church period precedes the creation of the Roman Papacy but in the Nicolaitanes we see the origins of the Universal Church that will eventually become Babylon the Great as will be discussed later in this study.

Next:

The Church of Smyrna