Revelation

Thyatira - The Corrupt Church

Revelation 2:18

Each letter was written to ‘the angel’, or messenger, of the church.  This angel to which this was written was likely the pastor of the church there in Thyatira.  The Lord would instruct John to write a letter to the man who carried the gospel to the church, who speaks God’s word to the people there.  However, the vast majority of the uses of this word speak of God’s created, supernatural beings.  To believe it is a heavenly being leaves you wondering why Jesus would have John write a letter to an angel.  And if he did, then how would you deliver it?

Even though Thyatira was small and relatively obscure, the message is one for all churches across the ages.  “These things says” is like the Old Testament idiom “This is the solemn pronouncement of.”  In this letter, the Lord is identified as the Son of God, He who has eyes like a flame of fire (1:14) and His feet like fine brass (1:15).

Jesus is the one dictating the letter to John and He identified Himself in these three ways.  These descriptors were spoken to John in chapter one.  However, the “Son of God” was not specifically used.  Instead, we saw John declare Him as “One like the Son of Man,” which we know points back to Daniel 7:9 and 10:5, seeming to create a link between Daniel’s vision and Jesus Christ.  The One like the Son of Man was, and is, none other than the Son of God and is presented here as such. 

• Jesus is the Son of God.
  • The guilds of Thyatira held the patron god Apollo Tyrimnaeus and the divine emperor.  Coins were minted in Tyratira with the image of Tyrimnaeus and Roman Emporer Domitian.  Both of these were referred to sons of the God Zeus.  As a polemic against this belief, Jesus presented Himself as the true Son of the Living God.

The most popular deity of the city was Apollo Tyrimnaeus who was the patron god of the local trade guilds. C. J. Hemer has contended that the influential prophetess was probably urging an accommodation to the beliefs and practices of the local Apollo cult (Hemer, 118). Specifically she was arguing (perhaps appealing to prophetic inspiration) that Christians could maintain their membership in the guilds and participate in the temple feasts (where meat sacrificed to Apollo would be consumed and sexual liaisons in the name of the god would be made) without compromising their faith. This syncretistic accommodation to the local cult was deemed unacceptable. Hemer concludes that in the eyes of John, trade guild membership “necessarily involved contradiction of the Apostolic Decree and the needed repentance must necessarily involve repudiation of the guilds” (Hemer, 123).

Arnold, C. E. (1997). Syncretism.

In R. P. Martin & P. H. Davids (Eds.),

Dictionary of the later New Testament and its developments (electronic ed., p. 1149).

InterVarsity Press.

• Daniel 3:25
• It is He who has eyes like the flame of fire.  
  • To a society of those who knew metal work, they would also know fire.  The fire brought the metal to temp to soften it, reshape it and remove impurities.  The smith judged the metal with fire; too hot, too cool, just right to remove the impurities and give it new shape.  The Lord does the same as the smith of the church. 
• It is the Lord whose feet are like fine brass.
  • The “fine brass” used to describe His feet is only used here and Rev 1:15.  It is found nowhere in Greek literature.  The description in 1:15 adds the phrase “as if refined in the furnace.”  This is our Lord, the one and only to have passed through His prescribed affliction.  He is the only Man to die innocent, yet take on the guilt of all of mankind and then overcome death.  He is the only one to pass through these fires of judgment.  Therefore, where He stands is a unique place, deserving of a unique word. 

The Son of God gazes with eyes that see the thoughts and intents, underlying agendas, and taint of pride in the works of the church.  Every church should know that Jesus is at the center of all that is done, the purpose upon which all others are built.  Anything that isn’t centered in, or promotion of that sole purpose is a deviation of the purpose of the church.

Revelation 2:19

The Commendation

With eyes of fire, the Lord had looked upon the church of Thyatira and knew their works, love, service, faith, and patience.  These are the deeds that characterize this church:

• Works: (erga) toil, effort, labor.  In the wider culture, work would be associated with a guild and the patron god.  The work of the church is associated with the Lord Jesus, for His glory and purpose, prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2:26)

• Love: (Agape), Uncondiditonal love associated with the sacrificial love of Jesus.  By definition: the quality of warm regard for and interest in another, esteem, affection, regard, love (without limitation to very intimate relationships, and very seldom in general Greek of sexual attraction). (BDAG). 
• Service: (diakonian), this is a minister or person focused on ministering to others.  It is the work that naturally flows from selfless and sacrificial love.
• Faith: (pistin), a Christian virtue of trust & belief in God and His word.  Specifically, to those ministering, it is belief in the gospel’s ability to do a work in the lives of people.
• Patience: (hypomone), this is steadfast endurance.  It is to keep going, no matter what circumstance or hardship is in your face.  The capacity to hold out or bear up in the face of difficulty; patience, endurance, fortitude, steadfastness, perseverance. (BDAG)

We might see these and believe all is well.  These are the basic things of a church, are they not?  In fact, the Lord went on to say they were growing, their last works were more than the first.  Their love, service, faith, patience were growing. 

Revelation 2:20

Nevertheless/Condemnation

The critique or condemnation of certain things in light of the commendation are a stark contrast.  There were a few things that needed addressed for them to continue as a lampstand, as one holding up the light of Christ.

It is doubtful there was a woman named Jezebel, however, there is no doubt there was a Jezebel-like person in the church.  She called herself a prophetess, assuming a role and office to which she was not called.  The text leads you to believe her designation as a prophetess was for the purpose of teaching and promoting her agenda.  There is a legend that this woman was the pastor's wife there at Thyatira.  This comes from the Greek word for woman in verse 20.  It is translated to wife nearly as often as it is to woman.  The context of the verses translated to wife are very clear that that is what was meant.  The context here is seems to be a woman.

The Lord Himself refers to her as a Jezebel, one of the most evil women of the Old Testament.  She attempted to combine the worship of Israel with the worship of the idol Baal.  To call a woman Jezebel is kind of like calling a man Hitler or Judas.  Jezebel was King Ahab’s wife, found in 1 Kings 18.  She was an idolatrous, a murderess, and wicked beyond compare. She is famous for being the brazen opponent of Elijah because she murdered the prophets of God.  She also murdered Naboth when Ahab was depressed over Naboth’s refusal to sell his vineyard.  She thumbed her nose at God, His prophets, and all His ways.  She died a horrible death, fulfilling prophesy.

The idea of a Jezebel is a woman who uses men, usurping any authority they have.  This woman was presuming an authority in the church to teach and promote false doctrine.  She promoted sexual immorality and eating things sacrificed to idols.  It appears she was corrupting the church with the thought that believers should, or could, take part in the sacrifices, feasts, and activities of the pagan gods in Thyatira.  This Jezebel seems to be closely associated with the Nicolaitans and the doctrine of Balaam we’ve already seen in Ephesus and Pergamos.

Paul said this about the meat offered to idols:

 Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. (1 Corinthians 8:4)

There was nothing about the meat that was different.  It held no power or authority over a believer in any way.  The sexual immorality is joined to idea of eating meat sacrificed to idols.  This is saying she was openly leading others to worship in ways that were consistent to the pagan gods.  The pagan worship rites often started with these meals and became open sexual acts of immorality.  This seems to be the doctrine of Balaam and possibly the doctrine of the Nicolaitans advanced and present in the church.  Pergamos was guilty of compromise, allowing those holding this doctrine.  Thyatira advanced the compriomise to the point of corruption within the church.  This was the open teaching and practice of this idolatry.

They simply accepted her as a prophetess and thereby accepted her teaching without question.  How can this happen in the church?  She was telling folks it was okay to take part in the worship at trade guilds to maintain a job.  One ancient Christian named Tertullian wrote about Christians who made their living in trades connected to pagan idolatry.  A painter might find work in pagan temples or a sculptor might be hired to make a statue of a pagan god.  They would justify this by saying, “This is my living, and I must live.”   Tertullian replied. “Must you live?”  It’s like saying I must compromise, and I must be corrupt.  The Thyatira Jezebel was teaching that corruption was acceptable so they could live comfortably.  This is the best possible thought.  The worst is that she brought the idolatry right into the church and incorporated it with the worship of the Lord.  Can you not hear the arguments?

• Everyone else was doing it, it can’t be that bad.
• It was fun, pleasing to the flesh.
• It made life easy.
• It eased the pressure of the culture and kept them from suffering.
• It was ‘New’ and ‘exciting’.  These new and exciting ways to worship come around often and people fall into many different traps. 

Revelation 2:21-23

We probably shouldn’t assume the best in considering what these acts looked like in the church of Thyatira.  Every indication is that Jezebel was capable of acts that are brazen and unthinkable.  If that’s true to us, how much more to the Lord?  Yet, we see the Grace of our Lord in the face of this.  He gave her time to repent, to agree with Him in regards to her sin and turn away from it and turn back to Him.  She rejected the offer.

The eyes of the Lord were like flames of fire and they were now looking at this Jezebel and determined to purify His church.  She would be cast on a sickbed along with all those who committed adultery with her.  The idiom is literally that she would be “thrown on a bed” of sickness. 

In fact, the Lord threatened to use this assembly as a solemn example to “all the churches” not to tolerate evil. Jezebel and her children (followers) would be sentenced to tribulation and death! Idolatry and compromise are, in the Bible, pictured as fornication and unfaithfulness to the marriage vows (Jer. 3:6ff; Hosea 9:1ff). Jezebel’s bed of sin would become a bed of sickness! To kill with death means “to kill with pestilence” (see nasb). God would judge the false prophetess and her followers once and for all.

Wiersbe, W. W. (1996).

The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 575).

Victor Books.

To cast her on a bed was to bring her to judgment.  It was to cast her into a bed of severe illness, a sickbed, to suffer terribly.  It was a picture of her sin and the effects it would bring.  Those who join with her in her spiritual adultery wouls suffer with her unless they repent.  He would kill her and her spiritual offspring as an example to all the churches.  It appears the Lord’s hand of grace and protection will be removed, and she and her followers will be turned over to sin, to have its way with them.  It’s probably not a stretch to see the Lord turning her over to the demons she worshiped, to have their way with her. 

All the churches would know that Jesus searches the minds and hearts.  This passage literally means that searches our kidneys and heart.  It is the idea of our innermost being, feelings and emotions, the place of decisions and moral and ethical boundaries.  They could not be a healthy church with a Jezebel in their midst pollluting and corrupting them.  The corruption sown would be seen in the reaping.

This judgment on Jezebel may allude to (2 Kings 10:1-11) Jehu killing the 70 sons of Ahab, along with Jezebel’s prophets of Baal. 

The Lord said He would give according to works, which flow from the heart, indicating the status of it. 

See Romans 2.

Revelation 2:24-25

Command

This was a church that could not go on this way.  It had a solid foundation and basis of the gospel.  There was a ministry based in love, faith and perseverance.  The people were growing in their faith.  Yet, the compromise had become a corruption that would consume the entire church and bring it down.  This heresy is known as antinomianism.

ANTINOMIANISM. The conviction that believers are freed from the demands of God’s law by depending upon God’s grace for their salvation (thus anti “against” + nomos “law”).

 Wall, R. W. (1992). Antinomianism.

In D. N. Freedman (Ed.),

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol. 1, p. 263).

New York: Doubleday.

This heresy disregards any moral and ethical boundary as if it were a legalism.  It essentially says anything goes in the church.  It teaches believers can live like the devil and be saved by grace.

There were many who didn’t hold this doctrine and didn’t know the depths of Satan.  What are these “depths?”  They were likely the heretical doctrines this Jezebel-like teacher considered secret knowledge.  She claimed to possess secrets that to lead Christian to a more comfortable life.  They could hold faith in one hand and ways of the world in the other.  She called herself a prophet, so she may have even claimed special knowledge from God.  She taught that feasting, worship, celebrating, and immorality associated with the worship of false gods was acceptable.  It’s possible she was blending that into church worship.  Jesus considered this knowledge of the depths of Satan.

No burden would be put on the faithful church because of the apostate acts of others.  They were encouraged to hold fast.  What did they have?  They had the gospel, the Lord, and His word present in their lives.  They had their work of ministry founded in love, grounded in faith, and maintained by steadfast endurance.  They needed to hold fast and continue to grow so that their latter works were always more than their first.  They were not to be discouraged by the idolatry and immorality around them.  The Lord wouldn’t impose laws where grace prevails.  Those abandoning grace would receive what they sought, the application of the law.  They would receive according to their works.

Revelation 2:26-28

Overcomers

The Christians in Thyatira were on the outside of the culture.  They felt powerless.  If it wasn’t Rome it was the local government.  If it wasn’t the local governent, it was the guilds.  Every aspect of the Christian life seemed to be challenged by the culture.  We can imagine how these committed Christians might have felt like they were on a losing team.  The power over the nations was held by Rome.  They ruled with a rod of iron.

Jesus promised those who remain steadfast to the end.  To those who overcome this struggle he would give power over the nations.  They will know the ultimate ruler of nations when Christ is on the throne.  Overcomers will rule and reign with Him.  The scripture quote is from Psalm 2.

Ask of Me, and I will give You

The nations for Your inheritance,

And the ends of the earth for Your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron;

You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel. (Psalm 2:8-9)

As they held fast, the day drew ever near of the Lord’s coming.  This is the day when the Lord’s kingdom will come, and His will will be done.  This is the time when he will rule with a rod of iron – this is perfect righteousness.  Those who rebel against Jesus will be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels.  The clay pot doesn't stand a chance against a rod of iron.

Those who overcome are His disciples that bow only to Him.  They will be rewarded with the Morning Star.  To the world, the morning star is Venus, visible as the night passes and the sun begins to rise.  It is symbolic of a new day, a new hope, of encouragement coming out of the darkness and into the light.

Those who trust Christ know that He is our morning star.  He is the gift to the overcomer.

Balaam could only speak what the Lord allowed.  He prophesied over God’s people.  In the fourth prophecy he said:

“I see Him, but not now;

I behold Him, but not near;

A Star shall come out of Jacob;

A Scepter shall rise out of Israel,

And batter the brow of Moab,

And destroy all the sons of tumult. (Numbers 24:17)

Daniel saw the depths of Satan destroyed.  All the dominion of the anti-Christ would be stripped away.

Then the kingdom and dominion,

And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven,

Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High.

His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

And all dominions shall serve and obey Him. (Daniel 7:27)

Revelation 2:29

What does the Spirit say?  Among other things, I believe we see the following:

1. Our love can be increasing, yet lacking in the descernment necessary to keep the church pure.

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, ¹¹ being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Phil 1:9-11)

2. Purity is possible while living in a cultural cesspool.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:12-14)

3. There’s always a Jezebel to seduce.  No one is immune to deception.
   1. There’s always a Nicolaitan trying to stumble
   2. There’s always a Balaam teaching compromise

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. (Romans 1:18-19)

4. Stop compromise in its tracks before it becomes corruption.A Little leaven, levens the whole loaf.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.  I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.  (Galatians 5:6-10)

5. Hold fast, these days won’t go on forever. 
   3. We often get caught up in the day-to-day turmoil of life, pursuing it as though it were the only thing that mattered. 
   4. The work God created us to do can’t be done excluding Him, doing so removes the purpose.

Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. (1 Tim 4:16)

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.  No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (1 Cor 10:12-13)

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”  Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”  (Rev 21:4-5)