HKB
administration of charity. Acts 6:5. The tradition may possibly be correct. If it is correct, then Nicolaüs, in his later life, had not justified the confidence originally reposed in him.
At the first mention of the Nicolaitans, in the letter to Ephesus, Rev. 2:6, nothing whatever is said about their tenets. Their error, however, was not merely theoretical, but practical, for it was their "works" that the Lord is represented as hating. In the letter to Pergamum, the Nicolaitans are probably meant in v. 14. Like Balaam, they enticed the people of God to idolatry and impurity. The form which their idolatry took was the eating of meats offered to idols. The question of meats offered to idols was no simple matter. In the First Epistle to the Corinthians Paul had permitted the eating of such meats under certain circumstances, but had sternly forbidden it wherever it involved real or supposed participation in idolatrous worship. The form in which it was favored by the Nicolaitans evidently fell under the latter category. In a time of persecution, the temptation to guilty compromise with heathenism must have been insidious; and also the low morality of the Asian cities threatened ever and again to drag Christian people back into the impure life of the world.
In the letter to Thyatira, also, "the woman Jezebel" is apparently to be connected with the same sect, for the practical faults in Thyatira and in Pergamum were identical. Jezebel, the Phoenician wife of Ahab, was, like Balaam, a striking Old Testament example of one who led Israel into sin. It is significant that the woman Jezebel in Thyatira called herself a prophetess. Rev. 2:20. This circumstance seems to indicate that the Nicolaitans had excused their moral laxness by an appeal to special revelations. The impression is confirmed by v. 24. Apparently the Nicolaitans had boasted of their knowledge of the "deep things," and had despised the simple Christians who contented themselves with a holy life. At any rate, whatever particular justification the Nicolaitans advanced for their immoral life, they could not deceive the all-searching eye of Christ. Their "deep things" were deep things, not of God, but of Satan!
Who is meant by "the woman Jezebel"? Some interpreters, who suppose that the "angel" of the church was the bishop, regard Jezebel as a designation of the bishop's wife. This whole interpretation is, however, beset with serious difficulty. Perhaps "the woman Jezebel" does not refer to an individual at all, but is simply a figurative designation of the Nicolaitan sect. The description of the coming retribution in vs. 21-23 seems to be highly figurative.
It will be observed that the sin of the churches at Pergamum and Thyatira was not limited to those who actually accepted the Nicolaitan teaching. Even to endure the presence of the guilty sect was the object of the Lord's rebuke. Toward the works of the Nicolaitans only hatred was in place. Rev. 2:6. That is a solemn lesson for modern indifferentism. Tolerance is good; but there are times when it is a deadly sin.
IN THE LIBRARY.--Purves, "Christianity in the Apostolic Age," pp. 274, 308-312. Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible": Purves (supplemented), article on "Revelation." M'Clymont, "The New Testament and Its Writers," pp. 150-155. Milligan, "Lectures on the Apocalypse" and "Discussions on the Apocalypse." Ellicott, "A New Testament Commentary for English Readers," vol. iii, pp. 523-641: Carpenter, "The Revelation of St. John." Ramsay, "The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia." Plumptre, "A Popular Exposition of the Epistles to the Seven Churches of Asia." Swete, "The Apocalypse of St. John." Zahn, "Introduction to the New Testament," vol. iii, pp. 384-449. The two last-named works are intended primarily for those who have some knowledge of Greek, but can also be used by others.
LESSON XXXVIII
A VISION OF THE FINAL TRIUMPH
The Book of Revelation (Second Lesson)
The interpretations of the Apocalypse may be divided into four classes.