As a young Christian, I read the
book of Revelation and got the word “Nicolaitans” mixed up with the word
“Neapolitan” - as in Neapolitan ice-cream. It was my least favourite ice-cream.
My friends and I would buy it cheaply from Sainsburys and we thought we were
getting a real bargain because, of course, Neapolitan had three flavours of
ice-cream in one tub - chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. The problem was
everyone dug into the chocolate. Some didn’t mind the vanilla (as long as it
was covered in chocolate sauce). And the strawberry was always left behind;
usually as a melted, sticky mess.
I guess, back then, as I read in
Revelation how much Jesus hated the practices of the Nicolaitans (Revelation
2:6), I thought it must have been the same as my hatred of cheap ice-cream.
Hopefully, we learned a bit more
about who the Nicolaitans actually were, in our passage from Revelation this
week.
1. False teaching
Jesus rebukes the Christians in Pergamum for “holding to the
teaching of the Nicolaitans” (Revelation 2:15). But the question is: What did
the Nicolaitans teach?
We get a clue from the previous verse. Jesus compares this
teaching to a well-known Old Testament account. “You have a people there who
hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to
sin.” (Revelation 2:14)
Balak was the King of Moab who hired the prophet Balaam to
curse the people of God (The account is recorded in the book of Numbers 22 to
24). Things didn’t go according to plan, as God caused Balaam to bless the Israelites
instead of cursing them. King Balak became angry and frustrated with Balaam,
but the prophet replied that it was God who was preventing him from doing his
job. Yet Balaam did propose a solution for the king; a loophole, as it were.
Instead of cursing the Israelites directly, all King Balak had to do was lead
the people of God into sin. God would be angry with them, and God himself would
pour out judgement on them for their sin.
Jesus equates the teaching of the Nicolaitans with that of
Balaam: “Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the
Nicolaitans.” Scholars have pointed out that both names carry the same meaning
- “Nikan” in Greek and “Bilah” in Hebrew mean “to conquer or
rule”; while “laos” and “‘am” both mean “people”. This was
teaching on sin - how to conquer your enemies and exercise power over your
enemies - by causing them to fall into gross sin.
2. False worship
The Israelites sinned by “eating food sacrificed to idols
and by committing sexual immorality” (Revelation 2:14). It is important to
understand that at the heart of this sin was false worship. The reason why God
was angry with the Israelites was because “Israel joined in worshiping the Baal
of Peor” (Numbers 25:3). They had forsaken God and worshipped idols.
This is not to say that that sexual sins are not serious -
they are. Yet what Balak did was to tempt the people of God using sex, to
participate in the worship of a foreign god. This is also clear from the
accompanying reference of “eating food sacrificed to idols”.
What makes such situations of gross sin so difficult to deal
with, is deception. Paul deals with these two very issues - of sexual
misconduct (1 Corinthians 6:15) and eating food offered to idols (1 Corinthians
8:10, 10:21) - in his first letter to the Corinthians. There it was evident
that pride had kept the Christians from recognising these acts as foolish and
sinful. The Corinthians thought they knew better - better even than the apostle
Paul. Yet, in reality, they were being deceived (1 Corinthians 6:9).
Similarly here, the church of Pergamum was strong when it
came to withstanding physical persecution from Satan (Revelation 2:13). Jesus
even commends one of their own, Antipas, whom he calls “my faithful witness” -
the Greek word “witness” being the English word for “martyr”. These Christians
in Pergamum faced death and stood strong. Yet they faced temptation and fell
into idolatry.
3. False teachers
Teachers like Balaam and the Nicolaitans were not condemned
for committing sin, but for teaching others to sin. Balaam himself did not
commit such acts. He did not lure the Israelites to worship Baal. All he did
was tell Balak how to get the job done.
The teachers in a church are the leaders of that church. We
need to be very careful who we allow to take the pulpit on Sundays; who we ask
to lead bible study in our groups; who we entrust to teach our kids in Sunday
School.
Most of all, we need to ensure that what is taught - from
the pulpit, in our bible studies and in our Sunday schools - is nothing else
but the full revelation of the gospel of Jesus Christ - his death on the cross
as the only payment for the forgiveness of our sins. Not ideas about church
programmes. Not opinions about politics. Not ten ways to be successful.
Remember: the teaching of Balaam was a “how-to” on influencing, on winning, on
conquering your enemies, your friends and your people. That is not the gospel.
The corrective given by the Lord Jesus himself in this
passage is his word - the sword of his mouth.
Repent therefore! Otherwise, I
will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Revelation 2:16
Speak, O Lord, as we come to
You
To receive the food of Your
Holy Word.
Take Your truth, plant it deep
in us;
Shape and fashion us in Your
likeness,
That the light of Christ might
be seen today
In our acts of love and our
deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in
us
All Your purposes for Your
glory.
(“Speak O
Lord” by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend)
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