In Hosea 9 and 10 God speaks of the fact that the people continue to bring Him sacrifices. But He rejects them because they are not following His commandment to worship Him alone. God continues to exhort the people to seek the Lord and turn back to living righteous lives.

Revelation 2 contains a series of letters from Jesus to churches. Each of these churches represents situations found in churches throughout history and even in churches today. We can learn from these letters and remember what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ.

The church in Ephesus does good works. They are not led astray by false teachings. They remain steadfast. But they have lost their zeal for doing the Lord’s work. They are going through the motions without the enthusiasm they felt in earlier days. A church, or an individual for that matter, cannot thrive if it focuses solely on the work and not on the relationship with Christ. Eventually things become stale and the church will fade. We must constantly be working on retaining our love for Jesus, remembering what it was like in the beginning and being a church that is excited for the Lord.

The church in Smyrna is struggling in a dangerous place. They are remaining faithful and bold even though it could cause them harm. Jesus praises this church and encourages them to remain faithful.

The church in Pergamum was faithful in times of persecution but has let false teaching come into the church. They are listening to outsiders and those whose faith is not as strong and are not practicing a pure faith. This will only lead to conflict.

The church in Thyatira is doing great work for the Lord. They show love and faithful service but, like Pergamum, they have let a false teacher have authority in the church. They are being told that they as long as they do the Lord’s work they can continue to do things that are against God’s teachings. We cannot serve two masters. The teacher has been given a chance to repent and refused. She and any who follow her will be punished.