Elders, Bishops, Head Pastors, etc. Are they biblical? Part One

One the continuing problems within the Body of Christ is the establishment of a hierarchy from which men attempt to rule over the flock. They do this even though Y’shua says in Rev 2:6:

“… thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”

And in Rev 2:15:

“So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.”

Here in these two verses, we have Y’shua stating that he hates the deeds and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. But who are the Nicolaitans? Let’s look at what the word actually means as quoted from the Schofield Reference Bible.

"From Nakao, to conquer and Laos, the people or laity. There is however, no ancient authority for a sect of Nicolaitans. If the word is symbolic, it refers to the earliest form of the notion of a priestly order, or clergy, which later divided an equal brotherhood into priests and laity. What in Ephesus were deeds (Rev. 2:6) had become in Pergamos, a doctrine (Rev. 2:15)."

The Nicolaitans were and are those who divide the flock into the laity and those who rule over them with unbiblical principles and/or doctines.