"But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which works I also hate. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there those holding the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the sons of Israel and to eat the things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication. So thou also hast those holding the teachings of the Nicolaitans in like manner which thing I hate."
-Revelation 2:6,14-15
What were the Nicolaitans and why did God the Word not only hate them but tell others that they were right for hating them and their actions? Who was their leader, Nicholas of Antioch, one of the first deacons of the Church? And why are they mentioned in Revelation, a book about the end times?
To answer that question first we need to continue reading and learn that Prophetess Jezebel and her followers (Revelation 2:20-24) were also a group of Nicolaitans in Thyatira. The way God the Son speaks of their Prophetess Jezebel mirrors another ancient figure of independence and spiritual rebellion. In the Jewish midrashic text known as the Alphabet of Ben Sira (or the Alphabet of Jesus ben Sirach), God speaks through his three angels, Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof, warning Lilith of the severe consequences—specifically regarding the death of her children—for refusing to submit to the established order. Notice the exact same thematic threat leveled against Prophetess Jezebel of Thyatira here in Revelation:
"But I have a few things against thee, because thou didst let be thy wife Jezebel, who calleth herself a prophetess, and she teacheth and leadeth astray My slaves to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols, And I gave her time in order that she might repent, and she doth not wish to repent of her fornication. Behold I do cast her into a bed and those who commit adultery with her into great affliction, unless they should repent of her works. And I will kill her children with death...."
-Revelation 2:20-23
But what was the sin of the Nicolaitans that would drive God to kill the sons and daughters of Jezebel? Here's what some of the Early Church Fathers said about Deacon Nicholas of Antioch, Prophetess Jezebel of Thyatira, and the Apostolic Age Nicolaitans:
"The Nicolaitans are the followers of that Nicolaos (Nicholas) who was one of the seven first ordained to the diaconate by the apostles. They lead lives of unrestrained indulgence. The character of these men is very plainly pointed out in the Apocalypse of John, when they are represented as teaching that it is a matter of indifference to practice adultery, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. Wherefore the Word has also spoken of them thus: 'But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.'"
-Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies (Adversus Haereses), Book I, Chapter 26, §3
"Next I shall introduce the Nicolaitans, Nicolaus (Nicholas) was one of the seven deacons whom the apostles originally ordained. He was a native of Antioch but was later taken captive by his own lusts. For though he had a beautiful wife, he abstained from intercourse with her for a time in imitation of those whom he saw devoted to God. But because he could not contain his incontinence, he fell into the abyss of debauchery. Ashamed of his own fall, and realizing that his deceit had been exposed, he made up a doctrine to excuse his weakness, teaching his followers that it was necessary to yield to the flesh and 'abuse' it. For from this Nicolaus the falsely so-called 'Gnostics' took their start, as well as the Phibionites, and other related sects. And this is the sect that the Apocalypse of John speaks of: 'Thou hast this, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.'"
-Epiphanius of Salamis, The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Book I, Chapter 25, §1
"For the angel of the Thyatirene Church was secretly introducing into the Church, and urging justly to repentance, a heretical woman, who had taken upon herself to teach what she had learned from the Nicolaitans."
-Tertullian of Carthage, On Modesty (De Pudicitia), Chapter 19
"Jezebel applies to the doctrine and heresy of the Nicolaitans. For the practices of that doctrine are associated with the name of Jezebel, since it attempts to drag men into fornication and the use of meat offered to idols."
-Cassian the Sabaite a.k.a. Pseudo-Origen of Alexandria, Scholia in Apocalypsin
"By the name of Jezebel he understands the heresy of the Nicolaitans. Therefore, since she considers herself a prophetess, because she speaks with demonic inspiration, she teaches the unwary to commit fornication and to eat food sacrificed to idols."
-Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, Discourse 2, Chapter 6
So Deacon Nicholas of Antioch, Prophetess Jezebel of Thyatira, and the Apostolic Age Nicolaitans did not fast from sexual intercourse whether married or not, nor did they fast from food offered to idols, demons, demonesses, or other gods and goddesses, believing they could be eaten without harm befalling those who partook of pagan-blessed or cursed food and drink. The orthodox bishops and priests of the church would not let this stand and labeled him a heretic who was hated by even the Son of God himself.
Why is this mentioned in the apocalyptic Book of Revelation, a book about the end-times? Because things that happened in the Apostolic age will have mirrors in the last days like Christ and the Antichrist. They will be anti-types of the types from the time that Jesus was on Earth and the following Apostolic Age. I and this blog have always been interested in typology (the study of how historical events or figures in the Old and New Testaments serve as blueprints or prophetic symbols for the future) because the past predicts the future. Much like the true saying, "as above, so below", also true is "as before, so again". Thus is the apostolic era mystery of Deacon Nicholas, Prophetess Jezebel, and the Nicolaitans.
But what of my fear? Somehow shortly before my Metropolitan Archbishop decreed that I was to be ordained a deacon of the Orthodox Church, I had completely forgot this lifelong fear. On the Saturday evening before my ordination to the Subdiaconate and then Diaconate during the Sunday morning Divine Liturgy, when I was ordained a Reader at the Vespers portion of the All-Night Vigil services. During the service of Vespers, I was handed the Apostolos (Epistle Lectionary) book by the ordaining Metropolitan Archbishop, and it was randomly opened to Acts 6. Because of this, I was literally chanting out loud about the Nicolaitan leader, Deacon Nicholas of Antioch, who was ordained by the Apostles. Nerves being what they are, I did not even realize what I had read until my parish priest mentioned it to me afterwards, stating that it was fitting that I read of Deacon Nicholas being ordained and he also instructed me that tradition says that the Apostolos is opened randomly at ordination, and it always truthfully foretells something about the future of the newly ordained Reader. However, I didn't realize exactly what fate was revealing to me at that moment...
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