Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #20 of Revelation 2, and we are currently reading Revelation 2:14:

But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.

We have been looking at the biblical history of Balaam in order to understand why God is referring to him here.  Historically, we saw that he did teach Balak, the king of Moab, to cause the women of Midian to intermingle with the men of Israel.  Through that attachment in these relationships, they would be led to sympathize with the Midianites and begin to worship their idols.  As a result, God brought a plague upon Israel in which 24,000 Israelites died, 23,000 of them in one day. 

The Lord is teaching us about the character of judgment that would come upon the house of God.  This teaching was directed toward the end of the church age when God would judge His professed people, and this has already been accomplished when the church age ended back in 1988, and the entire Great Tribulation period is also complete.  The 23 full years has ended, and we are living in the days after the Tribulation in Day of Judgment beginning May 21, 2011.

These verses are helpful in seeing why God brought judgment upon the New Testament churches and congregations.  Spiritually, they were following in the steps of Balaam.  They were holding the doctrine of Balaam by eating things sacrificed to idols and committing fornication.  This was the sin of the churches throughout the church age.  Finally, God came to visit them for these things, and He saw there was no repentance.  Therefore He removed His “candlestick,” and the Holy Spirit came out of the midst of the congregations, and God began judgment at the house of God.

Let us look at one more word in Revelation 2:14 before we move on to the rest of the verse.  Again, it says in Revelation 2:14:

… thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel…

We are going to look at a couple of places where this Greek word is found, but it will not be translated as “stumblingblock” in the two verses we will go to, but it will be translated once as “occasion to fall,” in Romans 14:13:

Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.

Here, the same Greek word is translated as “occasion to fall,” and it is not the word “stumblingblock.”  That sometimes happens in the New Testament.  God can use an English word in one place that is a translation of one Greek word, and in another place it is a translation of another Greek word, and that is what is going on here.  Notice that it says, “that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.”  Of course an “occasion to fall” is a stumblingblock, and someone is “tripping” over something in the way ahead of him.  In the Bible, when we read about “the way,” we always have to think of the way of the Lord Jesus Christ, as Christ said in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  Therefore, when someone puts an “occasion to fall,” in spiritual terms it refers to when another person is attempting to follow the way of Christ as set out in the Bible, and another individual is hampering that path by placing an obstacle in the way.  He is preventing his brother from going down the road he should go down, which is the way of the Lord Jesus Christ.  And that is something God cannot stand.  God hates anyone who places obstacles in the way of the Lord.

We can picture this in our minds by picturing a path, the narrow way of Christ, and that way is difficult enough without someone placing a big boulder in that path that may cause his brother to stumble.  We must follow the way of Christ, and we want nothing to obstruct the path.  By God’s grace, God has lightened the path of the true believer, and the child of God has eyes to see, and the Word of God is a lamp unto his feet so that he can see these “stumblingblocks,” or “occasions to fall,” and he can sidestep them, or remove them from the way, and he can continue on the path that leads to the kingdom of heaven.

But the real problem when a person is not a true child of God is that He has a Bible, but he has not been enlightened.  He has no “oil for his lamp,” and he has no way to lighten the way of Christ.  He is in darkness, and when a stumblingblock is put in his way it will cause an “occasion to fall.”  Now just because this person was in darkness, it does not mean that it is acceptable to do.  It is still a horrendous thing.  We would never want to have anything to do with being an “occasion to fall” to a brother who professes to be a child of God, and he stumbles upon a doctrine that is false.  The true believer is very careful of this, and we never want to be an offence, or a reason that someone might stumble from the true way.  So we carefully compare Scripture with Scripture, making sure it harmonizes and is in line with all the Bible says, so that we are not presenting a stumblingblock, or occasion to fall for someone.

But many are in darkness themselves, and they develop teachings and doctrines in that darkness, and they place it in the way of someone, let us say, who had been following the true Gospel.  He was listening to the truth, and in a sense he was going the right way, understanding it to a degree, and following along down that right path.  We have hope for him, and we pray that he will continue.  But now someone has put forth a false teaching or doctrine, and it was designed by the enemies of God to lead people off course and to get them off the right road.  Then this person stumbles over this particular teaching, and he begins to turn to the left, to the right, or, perhaps, even turning back.

And that was the sin of Balaam.  That is what he was teaching Balak to do, ultimately, in a spiritual sense.  He was causing the Israelites to stumble over his doctrine, and yet it was because they were in darkness themselves that they did fall.  Nonetheless, God held Balaam responsible, and, finally, he was slain with the sword by God’s direction.

Again, spiritually, what was happening at the church at Pergamos applies to all the churches throughout the church age regarding individuals who “worked overtime” to develop teachings that were not true teachings of the Bible.  It is really amazing when we consider the number of theological books, studies, and commentaries that we see, and the tremendous amount of writings that men have done on the Bible over the centuries, and much of it has been false.  It is not in line with the Word of God, and basically it is nothing more than a stumblingblock, or “occasion to fall,” that has been placed in the way.

Of course God’s people are always led by the Spirit of God, and God enlightens our way, and He makes sure that we continue going down the proper way.  We may take a step off course from time to time, but He will correct us as He leads us to the still waters and green pastures.  He makes absolutely sure that His people follow the truth.  This is the way of the people of God.

But there are many that start in the right way, but they go out of the way, just as Balaam went out of the way, and the donkey was forcing him to turn from that path that would certainly lead to destruction.

Let us look at one more verse where we see this Greek word that was translated as “stumblingblock,” and here it will be translated as “offences.”  It says in Romans 16:17:

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

Here, the Lord moved the Apostle Paul to give good counsel to the people of God that they are to mark individuals that come teaching their own gospel, or doctrine, which is contrary to the doctrine which we have learned.  We have to emphasize that when it says, “contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned,” God is not referring to the doctrine that the churches put forth.   We would not mark a person who is coming with a teaching that is contrary to a confession, creed, or contrary to a renowned theologian’s stance.  That is not what God is saying.  If that were so, God’s people living at this time would be “marked” for offences.  And the churches have actually marked us.  God has opened the Scriptures to reveal truths that were long hidden throughout the church age, and we have learned things that are contrary to the doctrines of churches, and even contrary to traditions of men that have been held to for hundreds of years.  They have, indeed, marked the people of God as heretics who believe in the doctrine of the end of the church age, and other doctrines that the Lord has unsealed.

That is not what God is referring to here.  It is not that we hold up someone’s teachings to the standards of a theologian or of  the churches down through the centuries, but it means that we hold up the teachings to the standard of the Bible, and only the Bible.

Yes, the churches would claim to do that too.  “Oh, we only hold to the Bible!”  They say it, but in practice they deny it.  They hold to those things taught them by their favorite theologian from their particular denomination.  They hold those teachings over the Bible, or they hold those confessions that they have held for centuries up on an equal status with the Bible.  So when a teaching is put forth that says, “That confession is not completely accurate, and your creeds are off on a couple of points.”  Then they mark us as teaching contrary to the doctrines which they have learned.  But that is not what God means.  It is error by the churches, and in fact it is  their “high place.”  It is one of the major reasons God brought judgment upon them because they hold the traditions of men above the traditions of God’s Word, and this is proven when the two are at odds.  When God through His Word opens up a doctrine that contradicts a doctrine of a church father or elder, it is almost always the case that the doctrine of the church father is upheld, and the doctrine of God and His Word is put down by the churches. 

Of course God noticed this, and it was His point of contention with the churches for many centuries, and it was one of the major reasons He ended the church age.  There were those there that held the doctrine of Balaam, and not the doctrine of God.  They went contrary to God in order to uphold the teachings of men.

Let us return to Revelation 2, and move on to Revelation 2:15:

So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

Now the Lord is really pinpointing the fact that this church at Pergamos had a great deal of trouble.  There were a great deal of spiritual problems found there.  They had those who held the doctrine of Balaam, and they also had those who held the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.  It is indicating that there was great trouble in the church of Pergamos.  More than that, God is speaking to all the churches throughout the church age, and these things were going on throughout the many centuries of the church age.

Perhaps verse 15 sounds familiar to you.  If you have been following along in our studies, it should sound familiar because it is very similar to what we read in Revelation 2:6:

But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

In that verse God was actually commending the church at Ephesus because they hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans, and He indicated that He also hated those deeds.  It is similar, but different, because the Lord is not saying to them at Pergamos that they hate the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, but they had there those that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing God hates.  So while it was a commendation to the believers at Ephesus for not following the deeds of the Nicolaitans, but in Pergamos they had some there who held the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.

Again, regarding the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, we do not know exactly what doctrine it was that was hated.  God was not specific.  He does not tell us that it was a doctrine of “free will,” or a doctrine that was false in some other area.  All He tells us is that some were holding this doctrine which He hates.  He also spoke positively of the Ephesians for hating it.  Now that is a big clue because God does not speak of hating specific doctrines all that often in the Bible, but He does tell us of some things He hates in particular.  For example, it says in Psalm 101:3:

I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.

Notice that God says that he hates the work of them, and in Revelation 2:6 He spoke of the work or deeds or the Nicolaitans.  Here it simply says that He hates the work of them that turn aside, and that would relate to turning aside from the right and good way of Jesus Christ and the Word of God.  So whatever doctrine the Nicolaitans had developed…and, you know, men in their sinful minds can develop a great many false teachings from the Bible because God has written the Bible in such a way that it is almost giving carte blanche to individuals to come away with the most erroneous teachings imaginable, and they even feel biblically justified that the Bible teaches it.   I think it is rare that someone teaches something falsely from the Bible with a conscious understanding that his teaching is false.  Normally, people that teach falsely fully believe that what they are saying is truth.  And that is due to the way God has written the Bible that allows for all kinds of things to be said about His Word by those who have no real spiritual understanding because they had never become saved and do not have the Spirit of God within them.  They have no enlightenment from the Holy Spirt, and they are in darkness.  And in their darkness, they develop innumerable false understandings of the Word of God.

One thing all false understandings have in common is that they can lead people aside, and out of the way. It also says in Psalm 119:104:

Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

We can be sure that this applied to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.  God hated it because it was a “false way,” and those that held to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans were holding to something that was a “false way.”  It was “another gospel” with no salvation.  There was no blessing in it.  It  was in complete opposition to Christ, and that is why God hated it.

God indicated that there were those that held to that doctrine in the church at Pergamos, and this would apply to all the churches.  Finally, it said in Revelation 2:16:

Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Was the Lord talking to the church at Pergamos?  Yes, and He was telling them, “You who hold to the doctrine of Balaam, and you who hold to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, and repent of these things and turn away from them.”  And He was speaking to the churches as a whole during the New Testament church age: “You must turn from these things that turn you aside.  You must remove the stumblingblocks that obstruct the right way, and follow only the way that I laid down in the Bible, and only the Bible.  This is the path that leads to the kingdom of heaven, and this is the way you must trod.  You must not go any other way.  Repent!”

And that command to repent echoed in the Bible in the first century A. D., and in the second, third, tenth, and twentieth century, and throughout the 1,955 years of the church age. God was commanding the churches: “Turn from you wicked ways.  Turn from the direction you are going.  You are leading people astray, and individuals are stumbling in their darkness upon these things.   You would even do harm to my elect, if it were possible, but I will protect them.  Turn, or else I will come unto you quickly and fight against you with the sword of my mouth!” 

Here in Revelation 2:16 God is warning the churches, and what a warning it is!  It is absolutely amazing.  You can just imagine them saying, “Well, what does it mean that He says to repent, or He will fight against us with the sword of His mouth?”  But we know, as we compare Scriptures, that the “sword” of the Lord’s mouth is the Word of God.  How can God fight against the churches if they do not repent?  By His Word  You know, it was due to the fact that the churches did not hold up the Word of God as highly as they ought to have done; and that they did not respect, honor, and revere it that they missed understanding what the Lord is saying here. 

In fact, God has fulfilled this verse in an amazing and incredible way.  He gave space for the churches to repent during the many centuries of the church age, but once the allotted time for repentance had elapsed, He came quickly and immediately in judgment.

And what did God do at the end of the church age and the beginning of the Great Tribulation?  He opened up His Word, the Bible.  He unsealed the Scriptures, and what came forth?  There were declarations and pronouncements from the Word of God.  The church age is over, the Word of God declared.  The Holy Spirit has left the congregations, the Word of God declared.  The churches have been turned over to Satan, the Word of God declared.  There was judgment upon judgment coming out of the mouth of the Lord (the Bible), and He came quickly, and with that sword of His mouth fought against the churches.