Revelation 2:19 Kommentar

The apostle John, having in the foregoing chapter written the things which he had seen, now proceeds to write the things that are, according to the command of God (Rev 1:19), that is, the present state of the seven churches of Asia, with which he had a particular acquaintance, and for which he had a tender concern. He was directed to write to every one of them according to their present state and circumstances, and to inscribe every letter to the angel of that church, to the minister or rather ministry of that church, called angels because they are the messengers of God to mankind. In this chapter we have, I. The message sent to Ephesus (Rev 2:1-7). II. To Smyrna (Rev 2:8-11). III. To Pergamos (Rev 2:12-17). IV. To Thyatira (Rev 2:18, etc.).

INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION 2 This chapter contains the epistles to the churches at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, and Thyatira. It begins with that to Ephesus, in which the sender of it describes himself by some of his characters mentioned in the preceding chapter; takes notice of some things commendable in this church, Rev 2:1, reproves her for leaving her first love; gives some advice upon it; threatens her in case of non-repentance; yet notwithstanding commends her for her detestation of some bad practices; and concludes the epistle with a phrase exciting to attention to what is written, and with a promise to them that are constant and conquering, Rev 2:4, next follows the epistle to the church at Smyrna, in which the sender assumes some of his former titles; takes notice of her works in general, and of her afflictions in particular, and of the blasphemy of others, Rev 2:8, fortifies her against a great affliction to be endured, described by its author, kind, use, and duration; and exhorts to faithfulness and constancy, with a promise of a crown of life, Rev 2:10, and closes the epistle in the same form as the preceding, promising security from the second death to the persevering and conquering Christian, Rev 2:11, and next in order is the epistle to the church at Pergamos, in which the sender takes to him one of the above characters in the description of him; observes her works and place of abode, and commends her faithfulness to him in the worst of times and places, Rev 2:12, yet exhibits a complaint against her for having, and conniving at persons of bad principles and practice, called Balaamites and Nicolaitans, Rev 2:14, exhorts to repentance, and in failure of it threatens to come and fight against them; and closes the epistle in the same manner as the two former, with a promise of hidden manna, a white stone, and a new name to him that overcomes, Rev 2:16, and the last epistle in this chapter is that to the church at Thyatira, in which the sender makes use of some other titles and characters of his before mentioned; takes notice of her good works, and yet signifies he had a controversy with her, for permitting a false prophetess to teach in her, who seduced men to fornication and idolatry, Rev 2:18, whose impenitence is complained of, and which was aggravated by having space for repentance given her, Rev 2:21, wherefore, in case of continuance in impenitence, he threatens both her and her followers with tribulation and death, whereby the omniscience and justice of Christ would be manifest to all the churches, Rev 2:22, and then another and better sort of men in this church are addressed, who are described as not having imbibed the doctrine of the false prophetess, and as not approving the depths of Satan, or her doctrines of devils; and these are told that no other burden should be laid on them than was, and are exhorted to hold fast what they had, until the coming of Christ, Rev 2:24, and for their encouragement to hold on to the end, many promises are made unto them respecting their power and rule over their enemies, and the happy days that they should enjoy, Rev 2:26, and the epistle is concluded with the usual epiphonema, Rev 2:29.

I know thy works,.... Good works, as appears from the particular enumeration of them afterwards, and the commendation of proficiency in them, the last being more than the first, and the distinction from the evil ones in Rev 2:20; this is said to the faithful followers and professors of Christ in this interval: and charity; by which is meant not a relieving the wants of the poor; much less such a charity as connives at the errors and heresies of men; but the divine grace of love to God nod Christ, and the saints, without which a profession of religion is a vain thing; and, generally speaking, this grace is most in exercise in a time of trouble and persecution: and service; or "ministry", meaning either the ministry of the word, which was exercised by many with great zeal, diligence, and faithfulness, as by Wickliff, John Huss, Jerom of Prague, and others; or the ministering to the necessities of the poor saints, as an evidence of their charity or love; or else the service of God is here intended, which is but reasonable, and is his due, and ought to be performed to him only, and that with fear and fervency, in faith, and with a pure conscience, with humility, and without mercenary views, and in righteousness and true holiness; or the service of love which the saints perform to one another, as praying for one another, bearing one another's burdens, admonishing and reproving for sin, restoring such as are gone astray, comforting the distressed, building up one another in their most holy faith, and exhorting and stirring up each other to the duties of religion: and faith; not the doctrine of faith, as preached by the ministers of the word, and held and maintained by the true professors of it; but either the grace of faith, or the profession of both; or rather the faithfulness, both of the ministers and private believers of those times, as the Waldenses and Albigenses, the Lollards and Wickliffites, who abode by, and were faithful to the light which they had received: and thy patience; in suffering for the sake of Christ and the Gospel: and very much it was they did endure, and yet held out to the end: and thy works, and the last to be more than the first; that is, that their works or acts of love to God and Christ and one another, and of service to God and to the saints, and of faith and faithfulness in the cause of God, and of patience in suffering for the Gospel of Christ, were more in quantity, and greater in quality, toward the close of this period, which brought on the Reformation, than at the beginning of it; and which were done by the persons before mentioned, and by others.

He said, I know your works, your love and faith and service, just as he said, I praise all your efforts. For he puts "I know," instead of, "I praise," like, "I know you to be spoken of among all men" to Moses, (Ex. 33:12) and "the Lord knows the way of the righteous." (Ps. 1:6) And he says that service is assistance to those in need. And he says that your latter works exceed the first; it shows that as they went on, they themselves became greater in fulfilling the commandments.

He says that he knows the work, the love, the faith, the service and the patience of his church. “And that your latter works exceed the first.” He indicates that at the end of time there will be a great number of saints, when, with the coming of the man of sin, the son of perdition, innumerable thousands of saints will be consecrated with their own blood.

And to the angel of the church of Thyatira write: These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like to a flame of fire, and his feet like to fine brass. I know thy works, and thy faith, and thy charity, and thy ministry, and thy patience, and thy last works which are more than the former. This is said to the universal Church, whose works, charity, and faith the Lord knows because he approves them by the grace of choosing. However, these things are mentioned out of order: for you first need to believe, then to love what you believe, and lastly to do the works love and belief force you to. By ministry in this passage he wants us to understand ample almsgiving in extreme poverty. We should however ask the question of why the last works of the Church are declared to be more than the former. So, one should know that at first, the Gentiles converted to Christ were ordered by the apostles to keep only four laws: namely to abstain from things sacrificed, fornication, meat of animals killed by suffocation, and blood; [Cf. Acts 15:19-20] but after a little time had passed, they attained the summit of perfection, so that many of the believers disregarded all things of the world. Either this is the explanation, or it is because starting from the persecution of the Antichrist a greater virtue of works will shine in the Church. Indeed, while the Church made up of Gentiles is now working alone, it will then also bring the Jews to faith, and thus work twice as much.

I know thy works - And of these he first sets forth their charity, την αγαπην, their love to God and each other; and particularly to the poor and distressed: and hence followed their faith, την πιστιν, their fidelity, to the grace they had received; and service, την διακονιαν, and ministration; properly pious and benevolent service to widows, orphans, and the poor in general. And thy patience - Την ὑπομονην σου· Thy perseverance under afflictions and persecutions, and thy continuance in well-doing. I put faith before service according to the general consent of the best MSS. and versions. Thy works - The continued labor of love, and thorough obedience. The last to be more than the first - They not only retained what they had received at first, but grew in grace, and in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. This is a rare thing in most Christian Churches: they generally lose the power of religion, and rest in the forms of worship; and it requires a powerful revival to bring them to such a state that their last works shall be more than their first.

EPISTLES TO EPHESUS, SMYRNA, PERGAMOS, THYATIRA. (Rev. 2:1-29) Ephesus--famed for the temple of Diana, one of the seven wonders of the world. For three years Paul labored there. He subsequently ordained Timothy superintending overseer or bishop there: probably his charge was but of a temporary nature. John, towards the close of his life, took it as the center from which he superintended the province. holdeth--Greek, "holdeth fast," as in Rev 2:25; Rev 3:11; compare Joh 10:28-29. The title of Christ here as "holding fast the seven stars (from Rev 1:16 : only that, for having is substituted holding fast in His grasp), and walking in the midst of the seven candlesticks," accords with the beginning of His address to the seven churches representing the universal Church. Walking expresses His unwearied activity in the Church, guarding her from internal and external evils, as the high priest moved to and fro in the sanctuary.

The oldest manuscripts transpose the English Version order, and read, "faith and service." The four are subordinate to "thy works"; thus, "I know thy works, even the love and the faith (these two forming one pair, as 'faith works by love,' Gal 5:6), and the service (ministration to the suffering members of the Church, and to all in spiritual or temporal need), and the endurance of (that is, shown by) thee (this pronoun belongs to all four)." As love is inward, so service is its outward manifestation. Similarly, faith and persevering endurance, or "patient continuance (the same Greek as here, Rom 2:7) in well-doing," are connected. and thy works; and the last--Omit the second "and," with the three oldest manuscripts and the ancient versions; translate, "And (I know) thy works which are last (to be) more in number than the first"; realizing Th1 4:1; the converse of Mat 12:45; Pe2 2:20. Instead of retrograding from "the first works" and "first love," as Ephesus, Thyatira's last works exceeded her first (Rev 2:4-5).