The Revelation to Thyatira - Jezebel in the Church.
As with all the other churches that we have studied, Christ’s letter to this church had four elements 1) an introduction from Christ 2) commendations 3) condemnations 4) promise to those who overcome.
THE CITY OF THYATIRA
Before having a look at what Christ is saying to the church in Thyatira, let’s go on a whirlwind tour of the city itself. Thyatira was situated in a valley that connected two other valleys. It had no natural fortification at all and although at this time a Roman garrison was stationed there, their aim was not to defend Thyatira, but to delay the invaders long enough for Pergamum, the capital up the road to be prepared for the coming attack. Thyatira was dispensible in the economy of the day.
Though not easily fortified, Thyatira was on a major trade route and was well known for its trade guilds - there were carpenters, dyers, sellers of goods, tanners, weavers, tent makers, etc all making a living from their trade. You might remember Lydia in Philippi. She was a trader of fine cloth and came from Thyatira. She was infact one of Paul’s first converts when he visited Thyatira on his second missionary journey (Acts 16).
Now these guilds were somewhat similar to our trade unions 15 to 20 years ago. It was very difficult for the blue collar tradesmen and women to make a living unless they were a part of one of these guilds. They differed from trade unions, however, in that they were linked with the worship of other gods. Each guild had its particular guardian god and as a member, you would be expected to attend all its functions and participate in its activities which included offerings, feasts and often immoral behaviour. The members of the church in Thyatira weres torn between making a living on the one hand which meant having to be part of the guilds and on the other hand staying faithful to Christ and his standards.
Lets read the passage and see what God had to say to those living in Thyatira and what God wants to say to us today.
Read Rev 2:18-29
THE PICTURE OF CHRIST (vs 18)
As always, Christ reveals himself in a special way to the church being addressed. We have seen in the past that the description used is always relevant to the situation they are in. Here, Christ’s description of himself has 2 parts.
“Son of God”
In verse 18 he describes himself as the “Son of God.” This is the only place in Revelation that this title is given to Christ, though it is used often through out the gospels. It comes straight out of Psalm 2:7
“I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
The context of this Psalm is that kings and rulers of the earth plot against the Lord and his annointed. It is nothing short of Satanic rebellion against God. However God promises that God’s Son has authority over the world. God will make all nations His inheritance and the ends of the earth His possession. When the church in Thyatira heard the name “Son of God”, they would be reminded that Christ has ultimate authority in a world which is hostile to him. Matt 28:18 Christ states “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Christ has authority whether we like it or not.
“has eyes like a flame of fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze”
The second part of his revelation is in a description about his appearance. We are told in vs 18 that He has “eyes like a flame of fire, and feet like burnished bronze.” The image is again straight out of the Old Testament - from Dan 10:6. Here Daniel sees a vision of a man who tells him of kings and nations that would terrorise and persecute the people of God. But Daniel was not to fear - why? Because although kings and people of the earth are hostile to God and his church, Christ is sovereign - even over the hostile rulers.
The images of flaming eyes also reminds us that God’s eyes are penetrating, seeing everything, knowing everything. -
Jer 16:17 - “For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity hidden from My eyes.
Heb 4:13 - And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Christ sees everything and here his eyes are flaming - He is angry with what he sees.
His feet are also of bronze. Bronze was the hardest metal known of at that thime and is often used of to speak of judgment. Christ was therefore angry - so angry that he was preparing for judgment? We’ll talk of this more in a minute , but before we do, God recognised that there were some good things in this church.
COMMENDATIONS FOR THE CHURCH (vs 19)
Christ says that this church was to be commended for they
1) were a loving church
2) they were a serving church
3) they were a faithful church
4) they were a growing church - their patience and works were more now than ever.
Sounds good doesn’t it. Sounds like an ideal church - what could Jesus have been angry with? What could have prompted the use of the name “Son of God” and the images of fiery eyes and feet of bronze?
The answer is in the next verse (vs 20) “Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
CONDEMNATION OF THE CHURCH (vs 20-23)
Despite the growth and the apparent faithfulness, love and ministry seen in the church, they were being misled doctrinally. There was a woman who Jesus called Jezebel who was calling herself a prophetess, but was misleading the people.
A farmer once walked into a restuarant and asked the owner if he could use a million frog legs. Desirous of putting frog legs on the menu more frequently, the owner asked the farmer where he could get so many. The farmer said, "My pond is overflowing with them. Their croaking is driving me up the wall and I’d love to get rid of them." The owner told the farmer to bring him as many as he could. A week later the farmer returned with an embarassed look on his face. He held up two scrawny frogs and said, "I was wrong about a million frog legs. These two frogs were making all the racket. I never knew two frogs could cause so much noise." Just one person was corrupting the whole church in Thyatira - but one is all that it takes.
What is a prophet? .... The simplest definition of a prophet is one who speaks for God. This can either be foretelling the future or forthtelling the Word of God. A true prophet has authority because their words come from God either through direct revelation or straight from the Word of God. A false prophet has mislaid authority which does not come from God. This so called prophetess in Thyatira was not a prophet at all. Why? Because what she was proclaiming as coming from God was contrary to God’s word.
Like an apple with a worm in it. This church looked good on the outside, but inside it was rotten. We often look at other churches and say - God is really doing something in their midst - they are loving. Look at all the people flocking to their services. They are reaching out to the community and really making an impact. People are changing. But you can’t judge a book by a cover .... We rush to hear speakers of big churches thinking that they must have it all together because their church is growing. We soak up everything they say and accept it because they must know what they are talking about. Thyatira, was a growing church - a thriving church, filled with love and faithfulness - but they were rotten on the inside because they were following wrong doctrine.
What was this wrong doctrine that this prophetess was teaching? We read in Vs 20 that it led people to practice fornication and eat food sacrificed to idols - both of which were clearly condemned in the Word of God. It is likely that this prophetess was teaching that it was alright to be part of the trade guilds - “After all,” she’d say “you need to make a living and God doesn’t expect you to starve. Don’t be worried, - God has told me its alright - It is alright to go and be a part of the guilds and participate in the immoral and idolatrous worship that occurs in their meetings - after all we live by grace and are not under the law any more.” And who were the rest of the church to disagree with what was being said - they weren’t prophets were they?
Further indication of what was going on is indicated in the fact that Christ called her Jezebel. The name Jezebel conjures up thoughts of a very seductive women using her flair to entice men into her bed. The real Jezebel was nothing like this. She was a queen of Israel at the time Elijah was a prophet. She was a wicked woman and was the pagan daughter of a pagan king and had no business being married to Ahab, the King of Israel. When she became queen, she turned first the heart of her husband, then the hearts of Israel, to the worship of Baal. Her first official act, as recorded in Scripture, was to kill the prophets of the Lord (1 Ki 17:4). She was no seductrous - her ways were blatantly against God. She did away with God’s spiritual leaders and replaced them with the prophets of Baal. She was definitely not to be trifled with. While Elijah was happy to face up to 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mt Carmel, you might remember that he fled when he heard Jezebel was after him.
Jezebel replaced God’s word as given through his appointed prophets with a counterfeit one given by the prophets of Baal and Asherah. She sought to replace the worship of God completely with the worship of other gods and introduced idolatry once again to the people of Israel.
Do you see the similarities here between the Jezebel of Old Testament times and the prophetess in Thyatira? Both tried to replace God’s authoritative word with a poor substitute. How often do we do a similar thing?
There are some other similarities between the two. Both were given opportunity to repent. Jezebel had Elijah proclaiming the truth about God, but she refused to listen. The prophetess of Thyatira also was given the chance to repent, but she refused. God is a gracious God, even when it comes to such vile offenders who do so much damage.
Another similarity exists in their judgements. Jezebel of the Old Testament was condemned by God - listen to it in 1 Ki 22:23-24
And also concerning Jezebel the LORD says: ‘Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’ “Dogs will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the birds of the air will feed on those who die in the country.”
She was sentanced to death and those who followed her and her husband were also condemned to die. Compare the judgements pronounced on the Jezebel of Thyatira (Rev 2:22-23) .
“Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. 23“I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.
The prophetess is condemned to sickness - some interpret this as death. Her children - those who grew up following this doctrine would eventually find punishment and death because they were following a false gospel. Serious stuff isn’t it?
It reminds me of a little ditty ...
A sailor on duty got frantic
when he fell into the briny Atlantic
After hours in the sea,
He was saved Yes-sirree
And was hoisted aboard the Titanic
It is no good getting saved by a ship that is bound to sink and it is no good following teachers whose doctrines are bound to be condemned..
How can we tell whether a teaching or a doctrine is from God or from a Jezebel? Here are some things we can look for ...
Firstly Jezebel doctrines teach that something evil can be good. Homosexual marriages are okay as long as they are based on love. Seeking after material posessions is okay as this is a sign of God’s blessing. Doing away with the bible is okay as long as you are in communion with God and relying on his spirit’s revelation. All these are evil, but seem to be good. Paul warned the Ephesian elders against such false teaching
29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. Acts 20:29
Secondly, the doctrine of Jezebel hates God’s true Word. Jezebel hated Elijah and tried to destroy all the true prophets who faithfully spoke God’s word. Christians who are bound by Jezebel’s doctrine similarly have no regard for God’s word. They would rather experience God rather than study his word. They would rather worship God or fellowship with other believers than sit under biblical teaching. They are unmoved by proclamations of God’s judgment and poo poo any such teaching as gloom and doom. Ahab said about Micaiah, God’s faithful prophetin 1Ki 22:8 “I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad”. Jezebel prophets prophesy only good things - peace and prosperity (Jer 23:14-17). They never prophesy judgement. It is unbalanced, unbiblical and wrong.
Thirdly, the doctrine of Jezebel deludes people completely that they are right. Ahab, when he was trying to determine whether to go to war against Ramoth Gilead consulted God’s prophet Micaiah and all the other prophets in the land who were led by Zedekiah. We read what Zedekiah said in 1 Ki 22:11 -
“This is what the LORD says: ‘With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.’” 12 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. “Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious,” they said, “for the LORD will give it into the king’s hand.”
These false prophets said they spoke from God. Did you hear their words ... “This is what the Lord says” and Ahab believed them completely. But they were wrong as Ahab found out. Their prophesies did not come from God and they did not come true at Ramoth Gilead for there Ahab was killed and his army routed. Ahab should have listended to Micaiah.
Christians bound by the Jezebel doctrine believe they are 100% right. They cannot see the deception at all. It is like members of other cults or religions - they believe sincerely that they are right - but this doesn’t make them any closer to the truth. Scary isn’t it!!!! It is scary, because how do we know what is right and wrong. Who is telling us the truth and probably more critical to us individually is how do we tell what is the truth?
There is really only one answer to this and it is to discover what is found in this book. This book is God’s word no other special revelation is needed. No other insight or special word from God is required. We’ve got all we need in this book right here. It is God’s word - complete and finished. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16)
How many times do we accept at face value teaching and not check it to see whether it is right or wrong. Do you hear something on Rhema FM and trust it or do you go and check it out for yourself in the book? How many times do you check out what Pastor Roger is saying and see whether it lines up with the Word of God? Those of you who came along to the seminar the other week on Spiritual Gifts - how many of you believed all that was said at face value. Have you checked what was said. This is a bit of an issue for me - the whole tongues and charasmatic gifts thing. Many evangelical scholars say that tongues, prophecy and the other charasmatic gifts are not for today - Chuck Swindoll, John MacArthur and many others say this. Many other godly leaders in the church today disagree completely and maintain that these gifts are for today. JI Packer for example takes this view. They both can’t be right so who is right? What do you think? How have you formed your opinion? Have you checked out Scripture for yourself to see which viewpoint is right or are you relying on what someone says? If you are doing this, you probably have about a 50% percent chance of being misled. Me - I don’t know and am doing some study to see which view lines up best with Scripture. Don’t trust what any man woman or child tells you - look to the book for answers. Reputation and size of congregation just doesn’t matter when we are trying to determine the truth. If it did, some of the sects and cults would be worth a second look.
PROMISES TO THOSE THAT OVERCOME (vs 24-29)
Let’s wrap this up. We have seen that Christ has condemned false prophets or teachers and those that follow them. But for those who overcome God has some promises
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 Only hold on to what you have until I come.
26 To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— 27 ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery’— just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will also give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches
To the overcomer, those who don’t get misled by false teaching, God promises two things ..
1) He says that he will give authority over the nations. This is significant because remember the introduction and description of Christ as the Son of Man and having traits of the Man Daniel saw. Both images remind us that God has given Christ ultimate authority over all nations and now he says that he will give this authority to the church and we will reign with him. We don’t have to be worried about the world as it presses in on us. We have authority over it.
2) He says that he will give them the Morning Star. The Morning Star is Venus, the brightest star in the sky and the precurser to the new day. In Rev 22:16, the morning star is identified as Christ himself. The overcomers are therefore promised Christ himself. This will be the greatest reward of all.
So where are we, will we be overcomers or are we part of Jezebel’s following. Do we need to confess our accepting of false teaching? Do we need to search the scriptures to confirm everything that we hear. God expects us to be students of the word. That is the only way we will not be deceived by false teaching.
Some years ago, musicians noted that errand boys in a certain part of London all whistled out of tune as they went about their work. It was talked about and someone suggested that it was because the bells of Westminster were slightly out of tune. Something had gone wrong with the chimes and they were discordant. The boys did not know there was anything wrong with the peals, and quite unconsciously they had copied their pitch.
We tend to copy the people with whom we associate; we borrow thoughts from the books we read and the programs to which we listen, almost without knowing it. God has given us His Word which is the absolute pitch of life and living. If we learn to sing by it, we shall easily detect the false in all of the music of the world.
