Revelation 2:14,15 - I have a few things against you

2:14

Having received the praise (and note that God does praise people, Jesus praises people) we now come to the criticisms. “I have a few things against you”. It seems that the tone is that these things are wrong and do need to be sorted out, but it is not downright condemnation. There were some who held to the teaching of Balaam. We can read about Balaam and Balak in Numbers 22-24, and Israel’s downfall in Numbers 25. It is not clear whether Balaam is just being used as a parallel in the Bible to what was happening, or whether there was some false prophet who got called Balaam. Back in Numbers Balaam had been hired to curse Israel, but always ended up blessing them! While Balaal got progressively more proud of himself. Having survived this attack, the downfall of the Israelites came in chapter 25 when they were seduced by the Moabites. Sometimes we may survive an attack from outside, but then relax and get caught by our own sin.

2:15

The Nicolaitans get mentioned again. The naming of eating food offered to idols, and sexual immorality in the previous verse provides the grounds for assuming that the Nicolaitans encouraged, even approved, of these practices. There were some who held to the teachings of the Nicolaitans. We should note that throughout the New Testament, and here we have Jesus Himself speaking, a very strong line is taken against false teachers and their practices. When we take a soft line against such things in the church today we are not acting in accord with the teachings of the Lord.