Lessons in the Ladder Days

Candace Long: I'm Candace Long with Lessons in the Latter Days, offering biblical commentary to make sense of the times that we’re living in. I just completed an important series called "The Final Week of the Church Age," which outlines what my research shows to be the last seven years of the church age. While rereading the transcript of part seven, my mind flashed to Revelation 4.

Guest (Male): "After this," referring to the entire vision John had seen of Jesus, "I looked, and behold, a door opened in heaven. And the first voice I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me, which said, 'Come up here, and I will show you things which must be hereafter.'"

Candace Long: In this one verse, we're on Patmos one minute, and suddenly a three-word sound cue takes us up to heaven with John, and we're given a panorama of the next seven years. I want you to stop and consider these three words, "Come up here," because they will soon shake the world. These three words will be broadcast throughout heaven and earth, and millions of people will vanish from the planet.

What's interesting is that Revelation 4 is the last time the church, the ekklēsia, appears in the book. This tells us the preceding 51 verses about the seven churches belong to the period before the rapture, and that's the period I've just been writing about: the last week of the church age. Today's episode is called "What the Seven Churches in Revelation Tell Us Seen Through a Jewish Lens."

As I reread these chapters, I saw them through the eyes of someone who studies Torah every week. It reminded me when I used to fly my plane and suddenly came upon a familiar landmark. At that moment, I would know where I was; I was immediately reoriented. Same experience. I read about the seven churches and suddenly saw things I had never seen before.

Before sharing them, I need to make four disclaimers. Number one, I want to recognize the fine work by Christian scholars such as Hal Lindsey, Dr. Grant Jeffrey, and Dr. John Walvoord, who have influenced millions regarding how to view the end of days. My intent here is not to cast doubt on their work, but to add to it by sharing insights I believe are relevant. Because most believers do not study Torah each week, they are missing the 4,000-year wisdom found in the oral law.

Number two, the second disclaimer is that time will not permit giving you a lot of background on these churches. A great place to find this is Hal Lindsey's commentary on Revelation called *There's a New World Coming*, which I refer to in this episode. My focus here will be on two things: first, what was the main issue that Jesus had with each church; and secondly, what warning did he give if the issue were not corrected?

Number three, I will include Hal Lindsey's panorama of church history known as dispensationalism, which describes the historical role each church was to play between the time of Jesus and the tribulation. I include it as a familiar point of reference. And number four, my subsequent commentary will center on several deeply rooted concepts found in the Torah, which give us a clearer understanding of the book of Revelation.

As an example, we learned in earlier episodes of "The Final Week of the Church Age" that God chose each of the 10 plagues in a very specific order during the Exodus story. We then saw how those 10 plagues have become prophetic signposts that are unfolding now in that same order as we prepare for our exodus at the rapture. I'm going to show you that in the same way God chose those 10 plagues, Jesus chose these seven churches in this specific order.

Church number one was Ephesus, the most important Greek city in Asia Minor. It was a large banking center and filled with idolatry. The temple of the Greek goddess Diana was considered one of the seven wonders of the world. Here is Jesus' primary rebuke and his warning.

Guest (Male): "You have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come suddenly to you and will remove the lampstand out of its place, unless you repent."

Candace Long: In the span of church history, Hal Lindsey views Ephesus as a prophetic picture of the apostolic church from Jesus' death to the end of the first century. Church number two was Smyrna. It had a great economy since it was on the main trade route from Rome to India and Persia. Alexander the Great planned this city. On one end of the main street was the temple of Zeus, and on the other end, the temple of Cybele, mother of the gods.

Many Jews lived in Smyrna, but they wanted nothing to do with believers in Messiah, who were forced to worship Caesar or be put to death. Jesus did not rebuke this church because of the persecution they had to endure. He said, "Be faithful to death, and I will give you a crown of life." Lindsey places Smyrna in the era of persecution from 100 to 312 AD under the ten Caesars, when many believers suffered as martyrs.

Church number three was Pergamum, the capital city of Asia Minor. The altar to Zeus was a wonder of the ancient world, and the people worshipped gods of healing. Jesus knew his believers were living where Satan's throne was. They ate food sacrificed to idols and committed fornication. He said, "Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth."

Lindsey places Pergamum during the era when the Hellenized church merged with the state. That was when Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire from 312 to 590. Church number four was Thyatira. Its main industry was dyeing red and purple cloth. The trade guilds were so powerful that to make a living there, you had to make moral and spiritual compromises.

Jesus' rebuke centered around their acceptance of witchcraft practices that seduced believers into immoral lifestyles. Strangely, he didn't get rid of Jezebel but threw her into a bed and said that believers who consorted with her would be brought into great tribulation unless they repent. As to church history, Thyatira spans the Middle Ages from 590 to 1517, when people were bound to image worship and superstitions.

Church number five was Sardis. It was once a rich and powerful city but became morally compromised. What Jesus said to them was a wake-up call to overcome this spiritually dead environment. He found none of their works completed in the eyes of God, which could potentially blot out their names from the book of life. Lindsey sees that Sardis symbolized the Reformation era from 1517 to 1750, when the church was reformed but not revived.

Church number six was Philadelphia, a very missionary-minded church. Even though their strength was wearing down, Jesus promised he would come suddenly and keep them from the hour of trial. He encouraged them to use every opportunity to be a good witness to the large number of Jews in their midst, so they would "know that I have loved you." Lindsey views the Philadelphia church as representative of the great missionary era from 1750 to 1925, when many missionary movements began.

Church number seven was Laodicea, which was a wealthy banking center and catered to people's physical pleasures. The believers were self-sufficient and oblivious to the fact they were spiritually dead. Jesus gave no word of commendation but said that he would stand outside the door and wait to be invited in. Only then could they undergo the refinement needed to enter the kingdom.

Lindsey writes this era began in 1900 when the philosophy of higher criticism infiltrated the church, poisoning people's belief in Scripture and the deity of Jesus, and lasting until the tribulation. Again, a reminder that what I have shared is not meant as a thorough teaching of these churches; simply, I wanted to lay the groundwork needed to bring you insights from the Torah.

Insight number one: what Jesus meant by Ephesus losing its first love. To most Christians, leaving your first love means you no longer feel as you used to, that your relationship with Jesus has grown stale. This is not at all the view of our Jewish forefathers. They equate leaving your first love with dismissing, forsaking, and laying aside Torah study.

Let me offer support for this view from both the Old Testament and Jesus' own words. Deuteronomy 7 says, "Know that the Lord your God, he is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commandments." To the Father, keeping and guarding his ways is how we show we love him. This includes keeping the Sabbath and honoring the festivals.

If we don't do any of that in our church, then you have left your first love. Jesus told Ephesus the way back: "Remember what you did at the first." He's referring to the first Gentile and Jewish followers of Messiah. They were called "The Way," and they faithfully honored all of the ways that set God's people apart from every other nation. In John 14, Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my mitzvot, my commandments. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me."

Jesus honored the Sabbath, kept the feasts, and was the Torah in the flesh. This is the primary view espoused in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul tells the churches at Corinth and at Thessalonica to "stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us." The word traditions is the word paradosis, which refers to God's precepts, the Jewish traditionary law.

Insight number two: what happens if we dismiss the Torah? Jesus said to the church at Ephesus, "Do the first works, or I will remove your candlestick." Throughout Scripture, the word candlestick refers to the Menorah, which depicts the seven spirits of God. In the fourth verse of Revelation, John writes, "Grace and peace from him who was, and who is, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness."

All of the Trinity are in this verse. Jehovah, the Eternal One, oversees his son commissioning each church to light the lamps of these seven spirits to illuminate the people. By failing to put Torah study in its proper place, Jesus says the entire candlestick will be removed. Numbers 8 in the Torah describes the Menorah in detail, but basically, the seven spirits are listed in Isaiah 11: "There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots."

This is God's metaphorical language describing the main branch of the Menorah that is connected to its base, which is the stump of Jesse. That's the lineage from which Messiah would come. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. This is the middle branch of the Menorah, and all of the other six lamps shine their light toward this one, which is called the Spirit of the Lord.

Our forefathers call this one the Spirit of Mercy. Off to its right are the next three spirits: number one, the Spirit of Wisdom; number two, the Spirit of Understanding; number three, the Spirit of Counsel. Off to its left are five, six, and seven: the Spirit of Might, the Spirit of Knowledge, and the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord.

The Menorah imagery is central to understanding these seven churches. The only church where it was mentioned was Ephesus, and you'll notice that none of the other churches even mentioned the candlestick. The influence of Hellenism grew after the first century, and by the third century, Christianity was severed completely from the roots of Judaism.

It was against the law to honor the Sabbath or celebrate the festivals. Christianity became the official religion of Rome, and the people were mandated to worship on Sunday. If you did any part of Judaism, you were put to death. Since Ephesus, the church splintered off from its first love, and the next six churches reflect the stages leading to the removal of the candlestick.

What I want you to see is that Jesus is telling us exactly how the church age will end. With each successive stage, another lamp will go out. First, the Spirit of Wisdom will be removed in the church. Next, the Spirit of Understanding, all the way to the removal of the final spirit, which is the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord. Now, by way of hope, I need to mention here that in every church age, there is a remnant of genuine believers who somehow survive, although it will get progressively harder.

Insight number three is found in Leviticus 26, which says that when we fail to acknowledge God's ways in one area, he disciplines us in seven ways: "If by this discipline you are not turned to me, but walk contrary to me, then I myself will punish you sevenfold for your sins." The sages write a lot about how a nation falls in seven ways, each stage worse than the one before, all the while the Father hoping his children will repent.

The most well-known Torah commentator is Rashi, and here is how he describes the seven ways we sin and step away from God. As I read them, I believe you’ll see these seven steps describe these seven churches, which in turn depict the final seven years of the church age we've been talking about.

Step number one in turning away from God: you stop studying Torah. Step two: you stop doing the commandments. Step three: you are revolted by others who are loyal to the Torah. Step four: you hate the sages who expound on the ways of God. Step five: you prevent others from being Torah observant or you make fun of them. Step six: you deny that God gave the commandments and ordinances. And step seven: you deny the existence of God who gave the covenant to his people in the first place.

Before we close, let me share some final thoughts as to how these things fit together. Number one, Deuteronomy 32 was a significant chapter at the end of the Torah where God told Moses what would happen to the Jews in the future. They would turn away, and his discipline of exile would come. I believe these seven churches were given to show us what would happen when God sent his own son as Torah in the flesh.

God's original desire was for believers to live according to the Torah and be filled with the Holy Spirit, just as Paul and the disciples were, but most defected and they went the way of Rome. The seven churches mirror the seven ways of sin, and each lamp, one by one, was snuffed out. By the time we get to the last church, Laodicea, there will be no trace of the Menorah left, leaving the church as little more than an empty shell.

Number two thought: in 2020, neither Jew nor Christian paid attention to God's promise in Exodus 15: "If you listen to my voice and keep my ways, I will put none of these diseases upon you." Instead, most chose the vaccine to save us from death. We turned from the Torah, the first step in falling away from God. In 2021, we were mandated to bow down to the vaccine or face intense persecution, the type of persecution the church of Smyrna faced.

In 2022, Pergamum, we saw the altar of Zeus, where people worshipped to protect their health. In 2023, Thyatira, this is when the great counterfeit was enthroned. What I hope you're seeing is the parallel between the seven churches in that order and year by year of what we are living through now.

Number three thought: we are very near the end of the church age, and it's important to understand that no matter how apostate our churches become, a remnant will be saved. The churches that will thrive will be the ones who graft believers back into the Jewish vine. Number four, as we follow the body of Jesus' last days, remember that Jesus had to die physically in order to be raised to new life. In like manner, we, as the body of Christ, must die physically too.

The Lord is getting us ready to hear these three words, "Come up here." And number five, 2025 is represented by the sixth church, Philadelphia. This will be our final opportunity for revival and outreach, especially to our Jewish brothers and sisters. Consider this: instead of trying to convert Jews to our tradition, why not ask them to teach you how to honor the Sabbath and study the Torah? Imagine what an impact that would make.

In the description notes to this episode, I will put links to resources that will help you understand how to reconnect with our Jewish roots. It doesn't have to be difficult. I started little by little a long time ago in baby steps, and the Father met me there and began teaching me in the Torah.

Go to candacelong.com/podcast and look for this episode, "What the Seven Churches in Revelation Tell Us." A lot of believers are studying the book of Revelation right now. That's good, but they need this episode to help them see it through a Jewish lens. I want to thank you for being with me today. I don't take our times together for granted. I’m Candace Long. Join me next time for Lessons in the Latter Days. God bless.