Teaching of the Nicolaitans
Revelation 2:6 (NIV)
6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Revelation 2:14 (HCSB)
14 But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites: to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality.
The practices and teaching of the Nicolaitans are mentioned only twice in the entire bible and both references are found within the book of Revelation chapter two. If the Lord Jesus hates the deeds of the Nicolaitans, then it is very important that believers know what these abdominal practices are and also know what the teaching of the Nicolaitans is so that they can avoid it at all costs!
Church at Ephesus – Hated the Doctrine of the Nicolaitans
Revelation 2:1–2 (HCSB)
1 “Write to the angel of the church in Ephesus: “The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and who walks among the seven gold lampstands says:
2 I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars.
The church of Ephesus describes the type of Christians who cannot tolerate wicked people. These believers actively resisted those who are evil and resisted those who taught false doctrines.
Revelation 2:6 (HCSB)
6 Yet you do have this: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
It was to this group of believers at Ephesus that the Lord said, “You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans” which the Lord also hates. Again, it is important to know (what the practices of the Nicolaitans are) so that the believers can also hate the same thing that the Lord hates.
Church at Pergamum and Teaching of the Nicolaitans
Revelation 2:12–15 (HCSB)
12 “Write to the angel of the church in Pergamum: “The One who has the sharp, double-edged sword says:
13 I know where you live—where Satan’s throne is! And you are holding on to My name and did not deny your faith in Me, even in the days of Antipas, My faithful witness who was killed among you, where Satan lives.
14 But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites: to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality.
15 In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
The church located at Pergamum also had members present who embraced the false teaching of the Nicolaitans. It is Revelation 2:15 which reveals the key to understanding what this false doctrine was. In verse 15 above, it says, “In the same way” or “likewise” they had members who held the teaching of the Nicolaitans. This means that the previous verse 14 reveals what this false teaching was all about. Verse 14 speaks of the teaching of Balaam who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites and to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. So in the “Same Way” the teaching of the Nicolaitans was related to the teaching of Balaam.
Understanding the Teaching of the Nicolaitans and Why It Is So Bad
Joshua 24:9 (NASB95)
9 ‘Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel, and he sent and summoned Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.
The King of Moab tried to hired Balak to come and curse Israel so that he could defeat them in battle. But God would not permit Balaam to curse Israel but he was forced to bless God’s people instead.
Numbers 31:16 (NASB95)
16 “Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, so the plague was among the congregation of the LORD.
Since Balaam could not curse Israel then he taught Balak to send pagan women into the Israelite camp to cause the Israelite men to eat food offered to idols and to practice idol worship and engage in sexual immorality. When the Israelite men engaged in these sins then the curse of God came upon the camp of Israel and thousands perished in a plague! Thus because Balaam could not curse Israel directly he then taught Balak how he could get Israel to curse themselves (by tempting them to engage in sin).
Revelation 2:14–15 (NIV)
14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality.
15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
The teaching of Balaam was to entice the Israelites to sin in the area of eating food offered to idols (and idol worship) and committing sexual immorality. Likewise or “in the same manner” there were members in the church at Pergamum who held to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. This teaching was the same as the teaching of Balaam and was revived by a man named Nicolai who held one of the leadership positions in the early church.
Nicolas the Architect of the Doctrine of the Nicolaitans
Acts 6:5 (NASB95)
5 The statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.
The early church at Jerusalem appointed the first seven deacons comprised of men (who were reported to be men of faith and who were full of the Holy Spirit). One of these seven deacons was named Nicolas who was a proselyte from Antioch. Being a proselyte from Antioch means that Nicolas was a Gentile who converted to Judaism. He was once a godless pagan (engaging in idol worship and pagan culture) but he converted to the religious system of the Jews which was full of legalism and religious rituals. Later Nicolas become saved and displayed godly character and was chosen as a deacon within the early church at Jerusalem.
Some might wonder how a guy who served within a leadership role in the early church and was noted as being full of faith and also full of the Holy Spirit could later end up becoming the founder of false doctrines? But this is not the first time that a religious man became the founder of a false religion and who created false doctrines.
Creating a False Religion and False Doctrines
Exodus 32:1–6 (NASB95)
1 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
2 Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
3 Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.
4 He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
5 Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.”
6 So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
Aaron was the elder brother of Moses and he was chosen by God to become the first high priest that served within God’s tabernacle in the wilderness. It is shocking that such a man would create an idol and that he also instituted a new “false religion” and a new form of worship designed to replace the worship of the one true God -the God of Israel.
Aaron blasphemously said of the idol he had made, “This is the god which brought you out of the land of Egypt!” Thus Aaron ascribed to this idol all of the great signs and wonders and miracles God had done when he brought the children of Israel out of Egypt by a mighty hand! This is what the doctrine of the Nicolaitans was all about. The followers of Nicolas (the deacon of the early church in Jerusalem) adhered to the false doctrines created by Nicolas. It is for this reason that those who practice these false doctrines are referred to as being Nicolaitans.
The sin of the Nicolaitans is the fact that they recreate God into their own image. This means they create their own god according to their own imaginations instead of following and obeying the real God – the God of Israel.
This is evidenced in the fact that those deceived by such false doctrines engage in behavior which they love.
Revelation 2:14 (NASB95)
14 ‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.
Eating things offered to idols speaks of idol worship and becoming “one” in unity together with the idol. An idol is nothing but when people worship an idol then demons come to receive that misplaced worship (that belongs to God alone).
1 Corinthians 10:20–22 (NASB95)
20 No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons.
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?
Eating food offered to idols is in fact partaking in the table of demons and becoming one in fellowship with demons. To eat this forbidden food is to ingest it and digest it and this contaminated food then becomes part of their body. In the same way, false doctrines also become part of those people who swallow it.
This has relation to this topic of the doctrine and practices of the Nicolaitans. Aaron created a golden calf for the people to worship in the desert and falsely claimed that this was the god which brought them out of Egypt. So, this sin is ascribing to idols that what which God has done for the people.
Ascribing to an Idol That Which God Has Done
So, the early church was corrupted and a whole group of people followed after the doctrines created by Nicolas and his doctrines were called the teaching of the Nicolaitans (which were followed by a group of people who embraced these false doctrines). Nicolas was a Jewish proselyte so he adopted the Jewish religious rituals in appeasing God and he was previously a pagan before being saved so he adopted the indulgence of heathens also. Nicolas thus created a religion like the false religion created by Aaron in the wilderness. Nicolas provided a god that could be appeased by religious rituals but this same god also condoned rampant sin and self-indulgence. These practices were extremely popular for all those who love self-deception.
There is a wide application in our present time. New religions are invented every day and the devil has a flavor for everyone. All of these man-made religions will cause people to end up in hell.
See the link “Raped by Religion” for more details.
See also the link “Escape from Christendom” for more details.
Idol of Human Self-Sufficiency
Psalm 106:19–22 (NASB95)
19 They made a calf in Horeb And worshiped a molten image.
20 Thus they exchanged their glory For the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt,
22 Wonders in the land of Ham And awesome things by the Red Sea.
The Israelites exchanged the glory of the living God for an image of a cow that eats grass! They forgot their true God and Savior who had done great things for them (when he wrought great miracles during their deliverance from Egypt). This is the sin of the Nicolaitans who forget about the real God and go about serving an false god within their own vain imaginations!
It should be noted that owning a cow speaks of “self-sufficiency” because if they have a cow they can live off of dairy products like cheese and yogurt and curds and milk produced by the cow. This is why a cow was chosen by Aaron as a symbol of his new religion (which is based upon human (self-sufficiency). A person who is self-sufficient falsely imagines that they have no need of God and even ascribe all of God’s blessings to something else (besides God).
See the link “Sin of Self-Sufficiency” for more details.
The key to understanding false religions is that these doctrines give people what they want to hear and typically the false cult leader will enrich himself by telling lies to his followers. But in the end, both the cult leader and his followers will experience eternal damnation. Demons are the instigators of such false religions (which are created for the sole purpose of ensnaring humans into hell).
1 Timothy 4:1 (NASB95)
1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
The scripture above refers to “doctrines of demons” and it is these doctrines (which are invented by people like Nicolas and Aaron) who were inspired by demons as they served as spiritual leaders. It is obvious that even believers can fall away from their faith in the Lord just as the people under Aaron also fell away from the real God and began to worship their own manmade idols.
Manmade False Religions
Genesis 11:3–4 (NASB95)
3 They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
4 They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
The tower of Babel was made of hundreds of millions of earthen bricks. This tower was designed to reach into the heavens and represents mankind’s attempts to attain salvation (enter heaven) without God’s help. The hundreds of millions of bricks are symbolic of the hundreds of millions of false religions invented by mankind over the centuries and until now there are new false religions invented every day.
This has application to this subject of the teaching and practices of the Nicolaitans because false religions are based upon doctrines of demons and such doctrines affect the actions and behavior of those deceived by these falsehoods.
Golden Calves of Jeroboam
Just like the golden calf image created by Aaron during the time of the Exodus from Egypt, so also this same practice was revied again during the time of Jeroboam after the reign of King Solomon came to an end.
1 Kings 12:20 (NASB95)
20 It came about when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. None but the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.
The nation was divided after the death of King Solomon and the northern kingdom (comprising ten of the twelve tribes) was ruled by Jeroboam.
1 Kings 12:26–29 (NASB95)
26 Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David.
27 “If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”
28 So the king consulted, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
29 He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
Jeroboam manufactured two golden calves just like the one that Aaron had previously made during the wilderness journey of Israel – centuries before. These idols were placed at Bethel and Dan and a new religion was instituted. Again, this was a situation where they gave the people whatever they wanted regardless of what God’s laws commanded.
Giving People What They Want to Hear
There are a multitude of false doctrines (inspired by demons) which are designed to send people to hell who are deceived by these things. One such doctrine is that of eternal security that says someone only has to repeat a sinner’s prayer and then they are sealed up for heaven eternally (regardless of their moral behavior or if they obey God’s laws or not). Those deceived by this false doctrine simply repeat a salvation prayer then they imagine that they are free to sin with abandon and can do anything they want (and still go to heaven). But nothing can be farther from the truth!
See the link “Christians in Hell” for more details.
Pagan Religion Mixed With Sodomy
For perverted people who lust for homosexual relations, there were pagan religions invented that required homosexual sex as a means of worship.
2 Kings 23:6–7 (NASB95)
6 He brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.
7 He also broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the LORD, where the women were weaving hangings for the Asherah.
The nation of Israel had completely fallen away from God and placed articles of idols worship within the temple of God at Jerusalem. They were worshipping God while engaging in idol worship which is an abomination to God. They also had houses for male cult prostitutes built within the house of the Lord were perverts would offer homosexual sex as a form of worship of God.
It is obvious that these false religions gave the people whatever they wanted (including sodomy). It was King Josiah who purged his nation from idols and broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes during his time of reform.
1 Corinthians 6:9–10 (NASB95)
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,
10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
The bible clearly states that no unrepentant homosexual will enter the kingdom of God but yet false religions even adopt sodomy as a means of worship!
1 Timothy 1:9–10 (NASB95)
9 realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers
10 and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching,
No immoral people (including homosexuals) will enter thing kingdom of God. Yet false religions will typically offer people whatever they want regardless of God’s standards for holiness (clearly portrayed in the bible).
During the time of Jeroboam he made two golden calves and this means “double” the same deception created during the time of Aaron the high priest. So as time passes, the number of false religions and false doctrines multiply greatly.
Ideology and Contamination from the World
When Jeroboam created the golden calves at Dan and Bethel this was done to distract the people from going to Jerusalem to worship the real God of Israel. But this calf-worship cult lasted for many generations after the death of its founder Jeroboam.
Until today there are numerous false doctrines that serve only to ensnare people to hell. Another such doctrine is the feminist movement of the world’s system which has infiltrated the church. This false doctrine causes Christian women deceived by it to rebel against all male authority. The fruit of this false doctrine is divorce and the highest divorce rate on earth is found within the “bible-belt” in the USA where Tulsa, Oklahoma leads the way for feminine equality of the adaption of world’s system to fit into the Christian churches.
See the link “Recreating God into Their Own Image” for more details.
Creating a License to Sin
It all boils down to giving themselves a license to sin by recreating God into their own image (falsely imagining God to be something that he is not). But those engaged in this self-deception will not enter the kingdom of God. When these deceived people face the judgment seat of Christ they will have to give an account for all of their lawless deeds. These duped people will be eternally damned for their sins.
God hates all lies and deception and that is why God hates the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which is the same as the false religion of Aaron and the false religion of Jeroboam and of all those who reinvent God within their own minds.
The doctrine of the Nicolaitans can be defeated by giving the “full-counsel” of God’s word. This will serve to disprove all of the false gods created by humans (which were created to replace the real God). Teaching the real unadulterated word of God will dispel all darkness and expose them as being “sinners” so that they can still have opportunity to repent before is too late and before they face eternal judgment for their sins.