A Deeper Dive Into the Book of Revelation - Part 61
The Doctrine of Balaam
“But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.”—Revelation 2:14 (NKJV)
In the Pergamean Church Age, the Truth of the Gospel was under attack. Severe persecution had tried and failed to destroy the Church. Instead of destroying the Church, the Church had grown and thrived under persecution.
Then the Roman emperors issued the Edict of Milan in 313 AD which granted tolerance and legal status for Christianity and relieved the Christians of the severe persecution of the Smyrnaean Church age. It may have looked like the worst was over for the attacks against the Church, but this false peace with the Church set the stage for something far worse. Jesus called it the doctrine of Balaam.
In Numbers chapter 22, Balak, the king of Moab, wanted to defeat God’s people through violence, and so he called on Balaam the prophet to curse Israel so that Balak’s forces could defeat them.
When that didn’t work, Balaam offered the enemies of God’s people a different strategy. Balaam suggested that the Moabites send their women into the camp of Israel to seduce them into acts of sexual immorality and to join with them in their idolatrous practices and to eat things that had been offered to their idols. In doing this, the Israelites would be defeated from within because God would be forced to judge them for their idolatry and immorality.
And it worked! This overthrow of God’s people is described for us in Numbers 25:1-9:
“Israel settled and remained in Shittim, and the people began to play the prostitute with the women of Moab [by being unfaithful to God]. For they invited the Israelites to the sacrifices of their gods, and the Israelites ate [food offered to idols] and bowed down to Moab’s gods. So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor [in worship]. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. The Lord said to Moses, ‘Take all the leaders of the people [who have committed sin with the Moabites], and execute them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.’ So Moses said to the judges of Israel, ‘Each one of you must kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor [in worship].’
“Then one of the Israelites came and presented to his relatives a Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and the whole congregation of the Israelites, while they were weeping [over God’s judgment] at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle). When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he left the congregation and took a spear in his hand, and he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and pierced both of them through the body, the man of Israel and the woman. Then the plague on the Israelites stopped. Nevertheless, those [Israelites] who died in the plague numbered 24,000.” (AMP)
So, as Paul Keith Davis teaches us, the Edict of Milan did not mean that the enemy was giving up. It just signaled a change in strategy. Instead of trying to destroy the Church through violence, the enemy began to bring moral and spiritual compromise into the Church in an attempt to destroy the Church from within.
“In an effort to unify Christianity and Paganism, Constantine began to mingle the rites of the two religions. The Roman pantheon of gods was slowly assimilated into Christianity. Peter became a substitute for Jupiter, the King of the gods and the Roman counterpart of the Grecian Zeus. The worship of saints became a substitute for pagan polytheism with each saint becoming a working model of one of the Greco-roman pantheon of gods. Pagan holidays were mingled with Christian beliefs, for example, the celebration of Easter and Christmas, both originally set apart for the worship of pagan deities were assimilated and rebranded to reflect Christian themes.” (Constantine : Compromise & Controversy)
Paul Keith Davis shares a quote from one historian who wrote, “Constantine’s goal was to transfer from heathenism to Christianity all that made it attractive in the eyes of the people.” (Davis, 2017b)
Many of the pagan practices and beliefs that were mixed with Christianity in the Pergamean Church Age are still with us today. For example, Why do we celebrate Jesus’ birth in December when it seems to be widely accepted among scholars today that Jesus was born in April? The holiday that we now celebrate on December 25th as Christmas was originally celebrated as a feast to the pagan sun god Sol Invictus. Easter was originally celebrated with rabbits and eggs as symbols of fertility to the pagan god Astarte, or Ishtar.
This moral and spiritual corruption of the Church continued with the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 AD which made Nicene Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire. This combined a religious spirit with a political spirit producing an unholy alliance. We see this in its mature form in Revelation 17 as the religious spirit known as “Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes” rides on the back of the Antichrist beast that rules the political arena.
Darkness increased rapidly in the Church during this Pergamean Age as the Truth of the Gospel was corrupted and combined with pagan beliefs and immoral practices.
The Doctrine of the Nicolaitans
“Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.”—Revelation 2:15 (NKJV)
Jesus addressed the deeds of the Nicolaitans in the message to Ephesus. In that message, He made it clear that He hates what they do. In the Pergamean Church Age, these deeds have become solidified into doctrines guiding the regular practices and protocols of the Church. At the Nicene Council of 325 AD, these doctrines began to replace the commandments of God with the traditions of men.
Jesus sharply rebuked the religious leaders of His day for doing this.
“And the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, ‘Why do Your disciples not walk in accordance with the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unholy hands?’
“But He said to them, ‘Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:
“This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. And in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.’
“He was also saying to them, ‘You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. For Moses said, “Honor your father and your mother”; and, “The one who speaks evil of father or mother, is certainly to be put to death”; but you say, “If a person says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is, given to God),” you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother; thereby invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.’”—Mark 7:5-13 (NASB)
At the Nicene Council of 325 AD, under the direction of Roman emperor Constantine, leaders of the Christian churches made decisions about acceptable protocols and practices that guided the Catholic Church. They reached these decisions, not by seeking God and receiving His revelation about how to proceed, but through debate and voting to try to reach a consensus of men’s ideas and opinions.
In this way, God’s design for the Church was replaced with a counterfeit of men’s ideas that had its roots in the Babylonian system and the Tower of Babel in which man discarded God’s ways and tried to reach Heaven through their own ideas and their own works.
In addition to replacing the Word of God with man’s ideas and traditions, the state church established a hierarchy of leadership that eventually included priests, bishops, archbishops, and cardinals. This was not a hierarchy of servant-leaders, but an authoritarian structure in which those in positions of authority ruled over those under them.
This was strictly forbidden by Jesus.
“But Jesus called them to Himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet **it shall not be so among you; **but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.’”—Matthew 20:25-28 (NKJV)
Jesus had called upon church leaders to *serve *those under them, while the counterfeit church of the Roman Empire established a hierarchy that oppressed and controlled the people under their authority. Eventually, this counterfeit church would be responsible for the murders of millions of Christians until we see this spiritual entity of Babylon the Great, The Mother of Prostitutes in Revelation 17 drunk on the blood of the martyrs of the true Church.
This hierarchy of the Nicolaitans took its full form at the end of the Pergamean Church Age in 607 AD when the Roman government declared Pope Boniface III as the “Universal Bishop” and “Head of all the Churches,” essentially replacing Jesus Christ as the Head of the Church. While Boniface was pope, he went further to make the office of the Bishop of Rome the permanent “Head of all the Churches.”
This is very similar to what happened when the elders of God’s people went to Samuel and said to him, “Now appoint us a king to judge us [and rule over us] like all the other nations” (1 Samuel 8:5 AMP).
God’s response to this request from the elders is heartbreaking:
The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being King over them. Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have abandoned (rejected) Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. So now listen to their voice; only solemnly warn them and tell them the ways of the king who will reign over them.”—1 Samuel 8:7-9 (AMP)
To this day, the hierarchy of the Nicolaitans is still alive and well in the counterfeit church. The pope claims the title of “The Holy Father,” essentially usurping the place of God on the earth. He is not commissioned by the Holy Spirit through divine revelation, but he is elected by a process of debate and voting by men in the College of Cardinals.
Jesus’ Response
Jesus’ response to those who were deceived and seduced by these doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitans is clear:
“Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.”—Revelation 2:16 (NKJV)
Jesus commands repentance. He commands all of us to turn away from any forms of immorality and from any mixture with other beliefs or religious practices.
Balaam put stumbling blocks in the way of the children of Israel to cause them to compromise and be tempted to sin. Jesus has harsh warnings for anyone who causes weak believers to stumble.
“Whoever receives and welcomes one child like this in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble and sin [by leading him away from My teaching], it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone [as large as one turned by a donkey] hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
“Woe (judgment is coming) to the world because of stumbling blocks and temptations to sin! It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person on whose account or through whom the stumbling block comes!”—Matthew 18:5-7 (AMP)
Jesus also commands anyone who holds to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans to repent of these man-made hierarchical structures of authority in which men rule over their fellow believers and oppress them into submission to their illegitimate authority.
The consequence for refusing to repent is judgment. Jesus says that He will “fight against them with the sword of My mouth” (Revelation 2:16 NKJV). Refusing to repent of these issues will result in people being judged by the Word of God, just as the people of God were judged in Balaam’s time when 24,000 of God’s people died as a result of the consequences of their sins. (See Numbers 25:1-9.)
To the Overcomer
“The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows except the one who receives it.”—Revelation 2:17 (NASB)
This entire message to the church in Pergamum was about the Truth of the Word of God and the conflict between the true and the false. For the individual who overcomes all of these issues and deceptions, Jesus promises hidden manna.
This is an amazing promise because hidden manna refers to the manna in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle.
“Behind the second veil there was another tabernacle [the inner one or second section] known as the Holy of Holies, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered entirely with gold. This contained a golden jar which held the manna, and the rod of Aaron that sprouted, and the [two stone] tablets of the covenant [inscribed with the Ten Commandments]; and above the ark were the [golden] cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat; but we cannot now go into detail about these things.”—Hebrews 9:3-5 (AMP)
This promise is amazing because it gives the overcomer access to things beyond the veil in the holiest place of all!
There were three types of bread in the Tabernacle of Moses. There was manna that appeared in the Outer Court and throughout the camp which was available to all of the people of God. Then there was the showbread, or the Bread of His Presence, in the Holy Place which was only available to the priests, and finally there was the manna that was hidden in the golden pot within the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies. This manna was kept hidden in the Ark of the Covenant and was not accessible, even for the High Priest!
This is the manna that Jesus promises to the overcomer! These are the things that have been kept secret in the heart of God, maybe since before the foundation of the world! He does not share these things with very many.
This is what Paul is talking about in Colossians 2:2-3, when he writes, “that they may become progressively more intimately acquainted with and may know more definitely and accurately and thoroughly that mystic secret of God, [which is] Christ (the Anointed One). In Him all the treasures of [divine] wisdom (comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God) and [all the riches of spiritual] knowledge and enlightenment are stored up and lie hidden.” (AMPC)
These are the true “treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places” spoken of in Isaiah 45:3! (AMPC)
This is the hidden wisdom that Paul spoke about in 1 Corinthians 2:6-10:
“However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written:
‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’
But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.” (NKJV)
This hidden wisdom of God is priceless. There is nothing we can seek that is more valuable than this wisdom that is hidden in the heart of God!
“For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies. Nothing you desire can compare with it.”—Proverbs 8:11 (NLT)
“It is much better to get wisdom than gold. It is much better to choose understanding than silver.”—Proverbs 16:16 (NIRV)
Jesus also promised the overcomer “a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”
In ancient times, white stones were sometimes awarded to athletic champions. These white stones were personalized with the victor’s name inscribed in the stone. The champion who had earned this white stone was granted exclusive access to events such as celebration banquets that other competitors were not allowed to attend.
This reminds us of the exclusive access that will be granted to the wise virgins to enter into the wedding celebration with the Heavenly Bridegroom while the foolish virgins are locked out.
The name inscribed in the stone will be a new name “which no one knows except him who receives it.”
God renamed several people in Scripture. With the new name often came a higher calling into greater authority, responsibility, and blessings.
Jacob received a new name when he overcame. This new name opened up a future for him and for his descendants that he could never have imagined!
“Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”—Genesis 32:28 (NIV)
This new name will contain the fullness of all that God has for you. It will be the perfect package of blessings containing everything you could ever desire in this life or the next! It will be better than you could ever imagine!
**References: **
Branham, W. M. (2005). An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages. Voice of God Recordings. (PDF)
Constantine : Compromise & Controversy. Lineage Journey. (n.d.). https://lineagejourney.com/read/constantine-compromise-controversy/
Davis, P. K. (2017a, January 4). Paul Keith Davis - Webinar 64 -“Revelation 2: 12-17 — “Satan’s Throne.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PICVBFv1JGU&t=260s
Davis, P. K. (2017b, February 8). Paul Keith Davis - Webinar 65 -“Revelation 2:12-17 — “Beyond the Veil.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x0aF3-o6_Y
Davis, P. K. (2017c, March 8). Paul Keith Davis - Webinar 66 -“Hidden Manna & the White Stone” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bYOHJxw7Sk
Got Questions Ministries. (2012, January 10). Why is God going to give us a white stone with a new name?. Got Questions. https://www.gotquestions.org/white-stone-new-name.html
The Holy Father. The Holy See. (n.d.). https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/index.htm
Wikimedia Foundation. (2025, June 22). History of Papal Primacy. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_papal_primacy
