Killing False Teaching at the Root: What the Revelation Has to Say

If you‘ve never heard the word, chiasm (or, chiasmus), it is a literary device to help people remember the subject material written in literature. It is like an outline that forms an “X.” with the first point being related to the last, and the second being related to the second to the last, and so on, until you reach the pinnacle, which is the very center of the X. Matthew 19:30 is a small example of a chiasm:

 

“But many who are first will be last, 

and many who are last will be first.”

 

These clauses above would be the top left and the bottom left of the letter “X,” which is where the word, Chiasm, comes from: The Greek letter, “Chi” (pronounced like "key").

The three churches in the center of the chiasm of the seven letters to the churches in the Revelation are the main focus of this article (and perhaps in the seven churches themselves). This is what we are really supposed to examine in the chiasm. The first two churches in Revelation 2 are from the top left of the X, and then when we work our way down through the churches in Revelation 2-3, we find that there is a progression (A, B, C) for the three center churches. 

Chiasmic outline examples below. The latter is what we will be focusing on:

1

2

3

4

3

2

1

1

2

A

B

C

2

1

 

The First Church in the Progression (Revelation 2:12-16) is Pergamum (A)

 

12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13 I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.

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. 16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.

 

The sharp two-edged sword is an image of judgment. Jesus says to the church in Pergamum that He knows what it like where they live, which is where Satan’s throne is. This makes me think of many modern local churches, how we are surrounded by beautiful sights, but what goes on behind closed doors is sometimes a different story. We are surrounded by religions no matter where we find ourselves in the world, which some people have adapted many different aspects of them and they creep into our lives. 

Jesus acknowledges that Pergamum lives in enemy territory, yet they are strong. So strong that even Antipas was killed because he thought faith in Jesus was better than life itself. He frames in the idea that Satan lives there among them. 

Jesus then says, “But I have a few things against you”: Read about Balaam in Numbers 25:1-9. The Nicolaitans are much like the teachings of Balaam. There are some who hold to idolatry and sexual immorality.

What Jesus is saying in this first church is that there is a seed which was planted that grew into a sapling. The progression in the chiasm here, is the boxed in idea of the churchs’ growing problem of false teaching. The church in Pergamum is tolerating some false teaching. Particularly false teaching concerning idolatry and sexual immorality. Jesus is telling Pergamum to get rid of those. Repent! Kill the sapling that is growing before it takes over and destroys your congregation. 

What does this mean for us? Well, some of us try to mesh other false teachings with what we are learning in the Bible. Some Christians seek to mesh Buddhism with the Christianity, Buddhist ideas at the least, and there are also Mormon ideas that some seek to mesh with Christianity. The list goes on. 

Some people want their cake and eat it too. When some are in a relationship and dating, they throw their morality to the wind and do what they think doesn’t matter. Perhaps by premarital sex or even promiscuity. Just because our moral compass is not calibrated does not mean that an act is not immoral in the eyes of God. God is never desensitized to sin. We see sin every day and we watch it on TV, our friends live together before marriage, some friends might even brag about how promiscuous they are. No wonder we are desensitized. No wonder we tolerate such things. This is not the problem. The problem is that God is never desensitized. He never sees immorality as less badly than before. 

In either case, whether we try to mesh false teachings of Mormons or Buddhists with Christianity, or we are promiscuous or postmodern in any way, the point is that we tolerate such things. We are letting this small sapling grow in the midst of us and no one is killing it at the root. This is what Jesus has against the church at Pergamum, and perhaps with many of us. 

The thing is, if we do not fix this and speak out against it, Jesus says that He will war against them with the sword of his mouth. What this means is that Jesus will execute judgment if people do not repent and obey the Lord. The idea here is that we are mixing drinks, but Jesus just wants water. We are mixing things that we think are interesting or cool with other religions, but Jesus is saying have no part with them. We should strive for purity. Like drinking reversed osmosis purified water through a life straw and a coffee filter. Strive for Christian purity. Let nothing touch it. 

He finally says, “to the one who conquers, He will give some of the hidden manna. What this means is that the way in which people seek idols is because they think it can give them something. This is what it boils down to. I once was living in sin while being in the darkest part of my life. I was trying to get provision from the wrong things. It was idolatry. 

I had acquired this motorcycle a few decades ago, and thought very highly of myself because of it. I had to have it at any cost. When the engine blew up shortly after it was in my possession, after being devastated, my eyes were opened. I realized that I worshiped this silly motorcycle and repented. I now see this picture with broken heartedness/hatred. Not because I am bitter, but because I know the truth about it. I was placing this motorcycle before God in my life. I wanted provision from idols that could not produce what I needed. This is what Jesus is saying when He says that He will give some of the hidden manna. Manna was the only thing the Israelites needed in the Exodus. He is saying that He is the provision for our needs. We do not need to go to idols. Jesus has everything we need, which is why we are free to attack false teaching at the root, and why we do not need it in our lives.

The Second Church in the Progression (Revelation 2:18-29) is Thyatira (B)

The very center of the seven churches (B), which normally, this would be the pinnacle of the X in the chiasm, but here is the second in the line of the progression of the center three churches of the seven churches (Revelation 2:18-29):

 

To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. 19 I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.

20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, 25 except to hold on to what you have until I come.’

26 To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— 27 that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will also give that one the morning star. 29 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

 

 

We discussed the first church in this escalating pattern of churches in the Chiasm. We discussed that the church of Pergamum was a juvenile sapling growing in the midst of the people, and no one was even noticing it, and if they did, they did not do anything about it. Now, the church in Thyatira is the second in the center of the chiasm, and likely is the central focus of the picture. John records Jesus’ words that describe Him as having eyes like a flame of fire and feet like bronze. Eyes of fire is a symbolic description meaning omniscient, able at a glance to see, comprehend, and judge even the most hidden mysteries. Feet of bronze is symbolic because this material boasted greater hardness than copper, while retaining some of the latter’s characteristic gold color. His feet, which The Son of God stands on are pure like gold, but strong like iron. These qualities together that Jesus sees all, that He is King, and that He is pure not only enable worship, but encourage it. The ancient church in Thyatira would definitely worship Jesus because of this word picture. It reminded them who He was. 

With His eyes of fire, Jesus says that He knows their works. Love, faith, service, patient endurance, and that they are growing in these. Also, with his eyes of fire, Jesus says that He has something against them. In Pergamum, we saw a little sexual immorality and idolatry in the church, and now we see that elevated. Not only do we see the same thing in Revelation 2:18-29, but we see more of it, and even further, we see that the church is tolerating a false teacher. 

We have already discussed the marriage bed and how it is so defiled in today’s world. We are desensitized so much because we see it all the time, but God is never desensitized. I think this text shows us that it is bad when we say that it is ok how people are living, when they live in sin. A key word in this passage is “tolerate.” When parents have kids that live together unmarried, they do not know how to respond to something like this. They want to support them and such. I once knew someone who had a daughter that was a lesbian who told me of her excitement because this lesbian daughter was now living with a man (unmarried) and is pregnant. She told me that I need to keep praying about it because it was a good thing that she was now living with a man. But the problem is, it is just moving from one sin to the next. Parents seem to let sleeping dogs lie because their love for their children can soften harsh reality. But it also seems to me that one way we can combat this as parents is by not letting sleeping dogs lie. Imagine that when you hug them and send them off, remind them how much you love them, squeeze them tight and whisper to them that they are living in disobedience. What might that do? Bare minimum, it would open a hard conversation, but perhaps a necessary one. 

Jezebel, in the text above, is likely not the actual name of the person doing this. It is more likely a reference to Jezebel in the Old Testament. She led her husband king to idolatry (1 Kings 21). As an apologist, I am continually amazed to see how frequently the Bible discusses false teaching, which is what the center three churches in the chiasm I argue, are all about. Jesus is saying cut this poisonous juvenile tree down that is growing in the midst of you while it is still manageable. 

 

I used to have an arborist business, cutting down trees that were too close to houses, etc., and it frequently blew my mind how some people would let trees just keep getting bigger and bigger, that were only inches away from their homes. I believe this is an exact picture of what the three churches in the center of the seven letters are addressing. 

 

Is it possible that many Christians are pushover Christians, who don’t speak up against false teaching enough in the 21^st century? It is a shame how weak the present church seems to be in this regard. The letters to the seven churches are for us today.

The Bible explains that the church is the body of Christ. We are the body, and Jesus is the head of the church. I think that by preaching messages like these to the seven churches, Christ is hopeful that His body will repent and come to a habit of obedience. 

The Revelation begins with the promise of a blessing. “Blessed is he who hears the words of this book and who obeys what it says” (Revelation 1:3). A two-fold requirement for blessing. If you want to receive this blessing, then you can’t just do one of them. 

Jesus says that He will put this woman on a sick bed, and all of those who commit adultery with her. Everyone who holds on to this adultery and seduction will be counted as her children and they will die if they do not change their ways. The point here is that we should not think that we are any different. Jesus is the Judge, and He does not show favoritism. It does not matter how rich, good looking, popular, “holy,” or smart someone is, Jesus will deal out the cards evenly. Remember that this is all due to false teaching.

“The rest of you in Thyatira,” Jesus says in V. 24, “I do not lay on you any other burden.” In other words, this is heavy enough to deal with. GET RID OF JEZEBEL! Hold fast what you have… The good things, in other words. 

Jesus is saying to cut this tree down. Burn it up. Do not tolerate sin in your midst because it is a false teacher. Like the blessing that we already discussed from the first chapter above, Jesus is commanding us to hear and obey, and the main point is that what He wants from us is that we expel false teaching from our midst. 

 

The Third Church in the Progression (Revelation 3:1-6 is Sardis (C)

In the order of our chiasm, the church in Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6) is experiencing the final state of the progression (C). Jesus describes Himself as the one who has the seven spirits of God and who has the seven stars. This is meaning that John sees the complete picture of God, and sees that Jesus is this complete picture (Jesus is YHWH). The seven stars are the seven churches in this list of churches, and in a roundabout numerical manner, this list is a complete list of all churches everywhere and in every time. 

 

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. 6 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

 

 

He says to Sardis, “I know your works,” which is because He has Sardis in His hand. He knows that they look like they are alive, but they are dead. They look filled, but in reality, they are hollow. Jesus charges them to “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Ephesians 5:14). 

Notice how in this progression, Sardis is not condemned because of any sexual immorality or idolatry. This makes the reader question what exactly it is that makes them dead. What are they doing or not doing that makes them dead? It seems that the secret to this riddle is in the blessing: Jesus says, “I will confess his name before my Father and before His angels.” I think this is the answer to the question of what it is that makes them dead. 

Sardis historically had a huge Jewish synagogue. This synagogue existed because it was under Roman protection. If I remember correctly, in 133 BC, Sardis was incorporated into the Roman Empire. The Jews were given a place that they could worship, and there was a synagogue which is the result of such. Now, if the Christians were once Jews, they would have had the protection of the Roman government, but once they confessed Christianity, they no longer had the protection of the Roman Government. This is why it seems that the secret to the riddle of why they are dead is found in the blessing. If the Christians in Sardis were not confessing Christ, then they were as good as dead. This echoes what Matthew records Jesus saying in Matthew 10:32-33,

 

Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

 

I think what Jesus is saying to the church in Sardis is that “you might think it is worse in some situations to say that you are a Christian,” but Jesus is essentially saying that “it is worse if you don’t!” Jesus, coming like a thief, uninvited and unannounced, is worse than what would happen if you did not confess Him before men. This is what kind of conquering Jesus is referring to in this context. This helps us see the answer to the question, what is it that makes the church in Sardis dead? The answer is that they have not been confessing and professing Christ.

Jesus therefore gives them these two things: if you don’t change, you will be punished more severely than you would if you did profess and confess my name. Second, if you do confess and profess my name to other people, you will wear white garments, and your name will be found in the book of life. 

 

How do we apply all this?

 

First, and arguably, through obedience. As mentioned, the Bible is filled with statements warning against false teaching, and how we should respond to it: https://www.openbible.info/topics/false_teaching.

 

Second, through the years, I have developed a personal formula to not only profess that I am a Christian, but also to inquire what others are, that I might help them see the error in their ways through reason and logic, witness Christ to them on their level, and eventually invite them to church. 

The secret is in asking questions. When you are asking a question, you are essentially withdrawing in the flow of conversation. Police officers know this, that when you ask a question, people can’t help but answer. There is a lot of power in asking questions. The question is, which are the right questions? Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 9:20-22, that “to the Jews I become as a Jew to with the Jews… I become all things to all people that I might win some.” He is arguably revealing one of his strategies for evangelism. This is what I personalized for myself. When I meet someone, I ask them easy, and non-threatening questions. People love to talk about themselves. Use this to the advantage of the Kingdom. “So, what do you do for fun around here?” “What kind of hobbies do you have?” This can help with finding common ground. Next, you might ask, “Do you go to church anywhere?” 

I think the problem with many of us is that we are afraid to fail. When they say that the church is filled with a bunch of hypocrites, or that they think it is silly to believe in a book that is over 2000 years old, or that religion is for the weak... people get lost in how to reply. We are afraid to fail. What is it that drives you to become an expert? 

The good thing is, folks, if you are guilty of a superficial, unconfessed faith, Jesus is able to revive the dead. Let us saturate ourselves in His Word so it will naturally come out. Your questions will get answered, you will get more questions, they will be answered, and you will grow in your relationship with the King of all that exists. Go and confess and profess Christ to all the world, starting with those who are closest to you, both in relationship and location. 

Christianity is not a magical recipe for people to feel better. We are Christians because Christianity is the truth. Our belief is founded on historical fact. We have a relationship with God because Jesus is real. 

As I briefly mentioned above, the three churches in the center of the text are like a small tree that is growing in the center of the place of worship where the body of Christ gathers, and no one is doing anything about it. Then in the second and center progression of the chiasm, the tree got much bigger, and disrupts worship and truth, and finally, the tree got so big in Sardis that it literally made worship impossible, like a giant sequoia growing in the middle of the body of Christ, demanding all of the attention. Jesus tells us to recognize and kill the tree at the roots while it is small, because it will grow eventually to something that challenges management, and might kill all that is around it. This is one of many passages that discuss false teaching in the Bible and may be one of the strongest charges to respond against such. Kill false teaching at the root!

 

Written by Nace Howell through the grace of the Lord Jesus

© Nace Howell, 2026