1 To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: 2 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. 6 But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’
"To the angel of the church of Ephesus write etc." (1a) The church of Ephesus emerges as central to the churches of subsequent ages. Their primary work was to establish the doctrine of the apostles. And they recorded it in the epistles to the churches throughout the region addressing various issues. Indeed it is good for us for there is nothing new under the sun. “To the Ephesians, as 'the faithful brethren in Christ,' was addressed the most wonderful revelation God has given to man. It stands therefore for the model church in the apostolic age." (Arno Gaebelein)
“These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands” (1b) Jesus had walked among them in the flesh for three and a half years, but in the middle of the last prophetic week of Daniel, He was cut off, but not for His own sins but for the sins of the people. (Dan. 9:26) “During this time of spiritual purity, the Gospel came directly from the lips of those who had an intimate knowledge of Christ and His disciples. Whilst it is not safe to supply specific dates to any of the [other] churches, let us place this church from the time of the Resurrection until the last apostle had passed from the scene.” (Nicholas Brightman)
“I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil” (2a) “Christ, as the omniscient God, knows all the works of His people, and the springs, and principles, and ends, and views of them, whether they are done in obedience to Him, and spring from love to Him, and are performed in His strength, and by His grace, and are directed to His glory.” (John Gill)
““Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 18:18)
“And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars.” (2b) “Evil men are a burden which the Ephesian Church regarded as intolerable. We are to ‘bear (the same Greek, Gal 6:2) one another‘s burdens’ in the case of weak brethren; but not to bear false brethren.” (Jameson, Faussett, Brown) Thus: “They have diligently gone about the work of God and have measured what they hear against the truth of [Old Testament] Scriptures. These are characteristics that Christ seeks in His followers. Thus were the Bereans’ of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they… searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so’ (Acts 17:11)” (Nicholas Brightman)— “and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary.” (3b)
“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” (4) While you were struggling with the Scriptures, you were purified by My Words, but now you have left Me. You know the Word, but will you also do it? Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:17) Obey what you learn.. “There was not so much need to take heed unto their doctrine, but there was great need that they should take heed unto themselves (1 Timothy 4:16).” (C. J. Ellicott)
"Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, ” (5a) Walk the walk. Persevere. There is no basis in the Bible for “once saved always saved.” But there is an encouragement to perseverance to the end. “Do the first works; devote thyself as earnestly and heartily to my service as at the beginning.” (Justin Edwards)— "or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.” (5b) “In Revelation, God’s witnessing people are referred to as lampstands (11:4). As ancient Israel was called to be God’s light-bearing witness to the world (cf Isa 42:6-7; 49:6; 60:1-3), so is the church in Ephesus. When the Israelites ‘renounced their calling to be a light to the nations, God removed them as his light-bearing people and transferred the emblem of that call to the church.’ (Beale) The church is called to be the light for the world (Matt 5:14-16; Phil 2:15) If it [or a member of it] does not exercise its call to shine, it loses the very essence of its existence; consequently, it will have its witnessing lampstand removed from its place, just as Israel in the Old Testament.” (Ranko Stefanovic)
“But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”(6) Wolves come in sheep clothing. Some suggest that these are “followers of the deacon Nicholas who was appointed at the time of Steven (See Acts 6:5). ”(Brightman) “Here Paul’s ‘wolves’ are called Nicolaitanes. They were… trying to establish as ‘Priestly Order’—PROBABLY trying to model the Church after the Old Testament order of Priests, Levites, and common people. This is seen in the meaning of the word which is from ‘Niko’ to conquer, to overthrow, and ‘Laos’ the people or laity. The object was to establish a ‘Holy Order of Men,’ and place them over the laity, which was foreign to the New Testament plan, and call them not pastors, but— Clergy, Bishops, Archbishops, Cardinals, Popes. Here we have the origin of the dogma of ‘Apostolic Succession,’ and the separation of the Clergy from the Laity, a thing that God ‘hates.’ The church at Ephesus was not deceived, but recognized them as false apostles and liars.” (Clarence Larkin)
"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." (7a) “The conclusion containing a commandment of attention, and a promise of everlasting life, shown in a figure; (Genesis 2:9). {(5)}” (Geneva Study Bible) "To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” (7b) Mankind has fallen indeed “but through Christ, this situation has been changed. The faithful followers of Christ will, in the new earth (which Revelation describes as the restored garden of Eden) have access to ‘the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month.” (Ranko Stefanovic)
8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life: 9 “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.10 Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”’
“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna:” Polycarp was at this time the angel or bishop at Smyrna. The name Smyrna “means ‘Sweet-smelling’ and is related to the incense known as myrrh which was given by the Wise Men to the infant Jesus... In keeping with its name, this church certainly presents a ‘sweet savor’ to the Lord.” (Brightman) “These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life” (8b) “It is no surprise that Jesus uses these words to identify Himself to Smyrna because, just as He died and was raised to life, so many of these faithful members also tasted death for their faith…” (Nicholas Brightman) And thus they will be resurrected onto life- "Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming." (1 Cor.15:23)
"I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich)" (9a) Emperor worship was mandatory. "Once a year, every Roman citizen was obliged to perform the religious duty of burning incense on the altar to the godhead of Ceasar, and then was issued a certificate. To refuse brought about the threat of death [and certainly poverty].” (Ranko Stefanovic) These faithful chose affliction and poverty— poor choices in the eyes of some; ”but you are rich.” (9b)— “spiritually rich, notwithstanding thy deep poverty in temporal things." (Justin Edwards)
"And I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan." (9b) The Jews of that generation ”slandered the Christians before the local government, making malicious accusations, thus stirring up the pagans against the Christians and inciting the authorities to persecute them. (Christians were charged with being cannibals, atheists, and disloyal to the government.) (Aune)” ( Ranko Stefanovic) “They were Jews by birth only, but not spiritually. The title is not given them by the Spirit, nor by the seer, but by themselves… The enmity of the Jews against Christians is a familiar fact to all readers of the book of Acts; and it is a matter of history that their malignity was especially displayed toward the Church of Smyrna. In the circular letter addressed by the Church of Smyrna to the churches in the Christian world, it is related that Jews joined with heathen in clamoring that Polycarp should be cast to the lions or burned alive, and were foremost… in bringing logs for the pile.” (Vincent’s Word Studies)
"Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ‘ten days.’" (10a) "As the days in this book are what is commonly called prophetic days, each answering to a year, the ten years of tribulation may denote ten years of persecution." (Adam Clarke) "If Ephesus ended about AD 100, the Smyrna must commence at that time. This makes sense, for during the second century Christians suffered greatly in the Roman Empire. In fact they suffered persecution since the time of Nero in AD 64, when they were blamed for burning Rome. But during the time of the Roman emperor Diocletian; during the ten years between AD 303 and 313, they endured particularly bitter persecution. These are the ten days referred to earlier.” (Nicholas Brightman)
"Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life." (10b) Here is a call to perseverance. ”Be firm, hold fast the faith, confess Christ to the last, and at all hazards, and thou shalt have a crown of life - thou shalt be crowned with life, have an eternal happy existence, though thou suffer a temporal death. It is said of Polycarp that when brought before the judge, and commanded to abjure and blaspheme Christ, he firmly answered, ‘Eighty and six years have I served him, and he never did me wrong, how then can I blaspheme my king who hath saved me?’ He was then adjudged to the flames, and suffered cheerfully for Christ his Lord and Master." (Adam Clarke)
"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death." “The second death is the final punishment of unrepentant sinners—all whose names are not written is the book of life—that takes place at the end of the 1000 years… From this death there is no resurrection. With the destruction of Satan and the unrighteous, sin is eradicated and death itself is destroyed (1 Cor. 15:26; Rev. 20:14; 21:8).” http://www.sdanet.org
12 "And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword:13 'I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.15 Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.16 Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
17 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”’
Perhaps it was satan who converted Constantine I to a faults Christianity. “After the devil had played the roaring lion for several centuries, trying to exterminate the church of Jesus Christ, he discovered that 'the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.' He then stopped the persecutions suddenly and began to corrupt the Church. This is the meaning of the message to Pergamos, which means 'twice married,' a typical name for the professing Church which claims to be the bride of Christ, but is married to the world..." (Arno Gaebelein)
Constantine the Great- "Saint" Constantine, was a Roman Emperor from 306 to 337 AD. He was thought to be the angel of the church at Petamos, but he was no messenger or star of Yahweh God. "He had a rival by the name of Maxentius, whom he faced in battle. Constantine claimed that the night before he had a vision of Christ bearing a cross with the words: 'In hoc signo vinces' (in this sign thou shalt conquer). He had the next morning a beautiful banner made, which was called the Labarum, and went forth to battle, in which Maxentius was defeated as well as another competitor by name of Licinus. Constantine then became emperor and nominally a Christian and head of the Church, while retaining his heathen title as Pontifex Maximus, the high-priest. Then the corruption of the Church resulted. The Church became a political world institution, like the mustard seed, rooting itself in the field (the world) became a great tree, opening its branches to the fowls of the air to defile (Matthew 13:1-58;... Heathen priests became Christian priests. Heathen temples were changed into Christian churches; he demanded all children to be 'christened,' that is, made Christians by putting water upon their heads; heathen days of feasting and drinking were made into Christian days, like our 'Christmas' and nearly all the other saints’ days." (Arno Gaebelein)
"And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, "These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword'" (12), even the Word of God by which He will judge the nations and “cut off the impenitent, Revelation 2:16." (John Wesley) As Israel of old: “And if you will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; then I will walk contrary unto you in wrath; and I also will chastise you seven times for your sins…. And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your sun-images, and cast your dead bodies upon the bodies of your idols; and my soul shall abhor you. And I will make your cities a waste, and will bring your sanctuaries unto desolation." (Lev. 26:27-32)
"I know your works, and where you dwell,.. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith.." (13a), "Christ takes notice of their works; so as to approve them, that were good works, done according to His revealed will in his written Word... 'And hold fast to My name'- By Christ's name here we may understand His Word, His ordinances, His doctrine, His gospel, and whatsoever bears His name: and to hold fast His name is to cleave to the Lord..." (Knollys' Revelation Commentary)
Jesus also knows "where satan's throne is", "where he reigns as king, and is universally obeyed. It was a maxim among the Jews, that where the law of God was not studied, there Satan dwelt; but he was obliged to leave the place where a synagogue or academy was established." (Adam Clarke)
Babylon was that first seat from whence man was divided- home of false worship. But Pergamos became a type of Babylon "centre of a cult of emperor worship and built great temples... This may explain the city’s description as the place ‘where Satan dwells.” (Ranko Stefanovic) "Milton described Satan being in hell. 'High on a throne of royal state, That far outshone the wealth of Ormuz or of Ind, Satan exalted sat.' But that is not Scripture. Satan will be in hell, in his final abode 'the lake of fire' but he is not there now. He is the god of this world (age): his throne is right here on earth." (Arno Gaebelein) He has a foot is in the church of God, even the Papal throne of Rome.
They did not deny Jesus’ faith “even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, etc." (13b) No historical nor biblical narrative makes mention of this martyr- Antipas, "but Christ seeth and taketh notice of those little ones who belong to him, though the world overlooks them." (Matthew Poole) “Perhaps Antipas, meaning ‘for the father’… was a symbolic name for all of those who resisted the worship of the emperor...” (Nicholas Brightman), willing to die for His name sake.
"But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality." (14) “Thus Balaam’s children, even in the church of Christ, allured unwary souls to gentile feasts." (Sutcliffe) Some were eating meats sacrificed to idols and encouraging others to do it, thus harming those with weak consciences. “Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.” (15) “Here again the Nicolaitanes are mentioned, but, while the Ephesians hated the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, here in Pergamos we find the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, and the Lord says: 'which thing I hate.'" (Gaebelein) By this time the beliefs are embraced by the church, but hated of the God of Israel. The remanent church has now embraced the hierarchy of the church of Rome.
“’He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat.”’ (17a) "This manna was hidden, but Christ promises to give it to him that is conqueror. Jesus is the ark, the oil, the rod, the testimony, and the manna. He who is partaker of His grace has all those things in their spiritual meaning and perfection." (Clarke) "And I will give him a white stone and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it..." (17b) "For Zion's sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns. The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD will name." (Isaiah 62:1-2) Here is “a triple crown of glory”; namely, ‘the hidden manna', of which see in the sixteenth of Exodus; and 'a white stone', in the full blaze of justifying and sanctifying grace; 'and a new name', which the world do not know, for the good shepherd calls his sheep by a new name, which the enemies cannot learn." (Sutcliffe)
The high priest had these names “both on his shoulders and on his breast, noting both the power and the love with which our Lord Jesus interceeds for us. How near should Christ's name lie to our hearts, since he is pleased to lay our names so near his? And what a comfort is it to us, in all our addresses to God, that the great High Priest of our profession has the names of all his Israel upon his breast, before the Lord, for a memorial, presenting them to God?” (John Wesley)
18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, ‘These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass: 19 “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.
20 Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
The Son of Man appeared in the flesh to the first church, but here as the Son of God in His glory. “His description reminds us of the divine messenger in Daniel: 'His eyes were like flaming torches, His arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze’ (10:6). The flaming eyes symbolize Christ’s penetrating ability to see the innermost part of human beings.” (Ranko Stefanovic) And He signifies "His duration and everlasting firmness, in supporting his Church, and going about unceasingly for her welfare, under the figure of 'feet of fine brass'." (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary) "Here our Lord reveals Himself as 'the Son of God.' (2:18) Rome speaks more of Him as the son of the virgin, the son of Mary, than as the Son of God. The Roman Catholic apostasy has put a woman in the place of the Son of God... Jezebel the wicked woman represents the Papacy... the papacy assumes the place of teacher and dictator and Christ is rejected." (Arno Gaebelein) To this church, Jesus says: “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.” "Instead of declining, they had increased in good works." (Justin Edwards) but there was a fatal problem seen in verse 20— Jezebel and her doctrine.
“It appears that the extent of Thyatira’s problem was of a sexual and dietary nature. However, the reference to Jezebel reveals a deeper problem.” (Ranko Stefanovic) “Ahab, king of Israel, to strengthen his kingdom, married Jezebel, and she aided and abetted by Ahab, introduced the licentious worship of Baal into Israel, and killed all of the prophets of the LORD she could lay her hands on. And this influence she exercises, not only while her husband was alive, but also during the reign of her two sons, Ahaziah and Jeroram. Moreover, the marriage of her daughter, Athaliah to Jeroram, son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, introduced idolatrous worship into Judah, and it was not long before there was a house of Baal built in Jerusalem, and so Jezebel caused all of Israel to sin after the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat 1 Kings 16:29-33” (Clarence Larkin)
The church was conforming to the world rather than encouraging the world to conform to Christ. Jezebel was a wicked woman who corrupted the religion of her day, dying in her sins. Jesus “used the word, ‘Jezebel,’ as a symbol of an evil movement that was affecting His Church. As with the seven golden candlesticks, God’s Messiah took something from Jewish history and applied it to His Church; the Israel of God’ (Gal 6:16)...” (Wohlberg) ”The historical fact is that the Christian religion that emerged out of the collapsing Roman Empire departed so far from the simple beauty of the Gospel that it was barely recognizable as Christianity. It adopted pagan traditions and festivals, the worship of idols and relics, raised cash for its wars and cathedrals by the sale of indulgences, withheld the Holy Scriptures from the people, and if that wasn’t enough set up an inquisitorial system to weed out and destroy anyone who dared say a word against such practices.”(Brightman)
"The threat from this church did not come from without but from within.” (Stefanovic) “A careful study of the ‘Papal System’ from AD 606 to the Reformation of AD 1520, with its institution of the ‘Sacrifice of the Mass’ and other pagan rites, reveals in it the sway of ‘Jezebelism.’ It was also the period of ‘Jezebelistic Persecution,’ as seen in the wars of the Crusades...” (ClarenceLarkin)
21 And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. 22 Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. 23 I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.
"And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent." (21) "This alludes to the history of Jezebel. God first sent Elijah to Ahab to pronounce a severe judgment upon him; upon which Ahab showed tokens of repentance, and so God put off his punishment. By these means the like punishment pronounced against Jezebel was also put off. Thus God gave her time to repent, which she did not, but instead of that seduced her sons to the same sins. See 1 Kings 21:1-29. According to the Mosaical law, the punishment of idolatrous seducers was not to be delayed at all, but God sometimes showed mercy; and now much more under the Christian dispensation, though that mercy is often abused, and thus produces the contrary effect, as in the case of this Jezebel. See Ecclesiastes 8:11.” (Adam Clarke)
"Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed." (22a) “This again alludes to the same history. Ahaziah, son of Ahab and Jezebel, by his mother's ill instruction and example, followed her ways. God punished him by making him fall down, as is supposed, from the top of the terrace over his house, and so to be bedridden for a long time under great anguish, designing thereby to give him time to repent; but when, instead of that, he sent to consult Baalzebub, Elijah was sent to pronounce a final doom against his impenitence. … The sacred writer, therefore, here threatens the Gnostic Jezebel to make that wherein she delighteth, as adulterers in the bed of lust, to be the very place, occasion, and instrument, of her greatest torment. So in Isaiah, the bed is made a symbol of tribulation, and anguish of body and mind. See Isaiah 28:20; Job 33:19.” (Adam Clarke)
"And those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds." (22) This is where the text speaks to the church, in Paul’s day, in our day and in the day in prophetic history in Thyatira. Do not go after other gods, as Ahab and Jezebel and their children did. “It is only by repentance that we can avoid the consequences of sin. The word ‘repent’ here evidently includes both sorrow for the past, and abandonment of the evil course of life.” (Barnes)
"I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts."(23a) "This is evidently an allusion to king Ahab’s seventy children who were slaughtered by Jehu (2 Kings 10:6-8).” (Ranks Stefanovic)
But the eternal death sentence is the warning to me and my household.—“ And I will give to each one of you according to your works." (23b) For the church, this is a reference to “the Day of the Lord.” Paul taught: in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds’ (Ps 62:12) Jesus will render “eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—'He will render' indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.” (Romans 2:5-11.)
24 “Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. 25 But hold fast what you have till I come. 26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—27 ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—as I also have received from My Father; 28 and I will give him the morning star. 29 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’
First Jesus rebukes one group, full of good works but having bad doctrine— that of Jezebel of old—seeking repentance. And then he speaks to the faithful remnant— such "as do not have this doctrine": "I will put on you no other burden. But hold fast what you have till I come." And then comes the twofold promise to the overcomers of this age. “In the context of Thyatira, Jesus is reminding the faithful of Thyatira that the dawn is soon coming; that this period of darkness is soon to end. Thus it was during the period of Thyatira that the light of the Gospel was shed abroad by faithful men such as John Wycliffe, Martin Tyndale and of course, Martin Luther...” (Brightman)
Be hearers and doers of the Word. Thus: ”First, they will be given authority over the nations. We recall the words of Psalm 2:8-9: ‘Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.’ Jesus has been given authority to rule over the nations (Rev 12:5; 19:15; cf. Matt 28:18; Rev 12:10) To the church in Thyatira, He gave the promise that the day is coming when the faithful and loyal remnant will share in the authority of Jesus; they will rule with Him (cf. Rev 1:6; 3:21). The fulfillment of this promise given in Psalm2 is realized in Revelation 20-22, when God’s people are on the throne and rule with Jesus in the heavenly places. A second promise is given: 'And I will give him the morning star.' Jesus calls Himself ‘the Bright and Morning Star.’ (Rev 22:16) … this reminds us of Balaam’s prophecy: ‘.. a Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult.’ (Num 24:17) As Barclay points out, ‘the promise of the morning star is the promise of Christ Himself.’ Not only will the conquerors be with Christ and rule with Him, but they will have a special close relationship with Him; they will never lose Him and will be with Him forever.” (Stefanovic)