The Nicolaitans were heretical sect in the early church (a group that taught false things). The book of Revelation mentions them by name twice. Jesus praised the church at Ephesus for hating the works of the Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:6). And Jesus criticized the church at Pergamum for having some members who followed the teaching of the Nicolaitans (verse 15).
The Sins of the Nicolaitans
The specific sins condemned at Pergamum were the eating of food sacrificed to idols and the practice of immorality. These were also present at Thyatira (Revelation 2:20). Many people think that the woman called Jezebel was a leader of the Nicolaitans in Thyatira. In the letter to Pergamum, Christ equates their sins with the teaching of Balaam (Revelation 2:14; compare Numbers 25:1–2; 31:16; 2 Peter 2:15; Jude 1:11). Balaam advised Balak, the king of the Moabites, on how to make Israel fall. Balaam told Blaak to invite the Israelites to worship Moabite gods and marry Moabite women. These marriages led to sexual immorality connected with Moabite religious practices. Then the Jews would have separated themselves from God and his protection. In Jewish thought, Balaam was a symbol of all that led people to bad behavior and turning away from God. The ungodly practices at Thyatira are called the“deep things of Satan” (Revelation 2:24).
The early church faced threats from idol worship and sexual immorality that were common in the world at that time. The New Testament gives many warnings about these problems. The Jerusalem Council told Gentile believers to avoid eating food offered to idols and to avoid sexual immorality (Acts 15:20). The apostle Paul called for a voluntary avoidance of this kind of food. This was for the sake of those who were weak or immature in the faith (1 Corinthians 8). He strongly condemned actual participation in idol feasts (1 Corinthians 10:14–22). He also condemned sexual immorality in general and temple prostitution specifically (6:12–20).
Who Were the Nicolaitans?
It is more difficult to know exactly who the Nicolaitans were. The early church fathers often identified them as followers of Nicolaus of Antioch. Nicolaus was a gentile (non-Jewish person) who had converted to the Jewish faith. He then became a Christian and was chosen as one of the first seven deacons (Acts 6:5). Both Irenaeus and Hippolytus (early church leaders) believed that Nicolaus had fallen away from the faith. Clement (another church leader) claimed that the false teaching and immoral Nicolaitans were not actual followers of Nicolaus but falsely claimed him as their teacher. However, there is no direct evidence available.
many scholars have thought the name "Nicolaitans" might be a Greek translation of the Hebrew name "Balaam." This fits with the symbolic nature of Revelation and the apparent connection between the two names in the letter to Pergamum (Revelation 2:14–15).