Revelation

Thyatira, the Corrupt Church

Thyatira" means "the castle of Thya."  As with all these cities, the city of Thyatira was an important ancient city; which made the church all the more important.  This city was considerably smaller and less populated than the others.  The city appears to be a place to stop when traveling between Pergamum and Sardis.  It appears most people didn't go the Thyatira, they just stopped there on the way to somewhere else.  Not a lot is known of the early city.  It had several names all associated with Greek mythology.  At one point it was a holy city for the Lydian Sun God, Tyrimnos, son of Zeus.  This god shows up on early coins of Thyatira as a horseman with a double-headed battle-ax.  This is very similar to sculptures of the Hittites. Some scholars see a Hittite presence in this area.

The city was repurposed and rebuilt about 300_BC by Seleucus, one of Alexander the Great's generals.  It was originally known as Pelopia and it became known for it's commerce and industry.  It was known to have tanners, leatherworkers, potters, bakers, and slave-dealers; but it is most famous for its purple dye industry.  The dye was rare, making it expensive.  Previously made from shellfish in Phoenicia.  Thyatira began to make if from madder root.  It is said that clothes of this color were only worn by the wealthy.  Lydia, a prominent Christian convert in Philippi and friend of Paul's, was a seller of purple from Thyatira (Acts 16:14). 

The trading of wool was closely linked to the purple dye industry.  They were known for manufacturing garments there and the purple dye made them fine garments.  An inscription was found referring to the guild of wool workers.

In addition, Thyatira had an important metalworking trade there.  They were smiths who did metal working, including making armor for Rome.  The Roman emperor Claudius allowed the city to mint their own coins around 50_AD.  One of the coins is that of a smith hammering out the metal of a helmet on an anvil.  Some see an association between the Lord's title as "The One who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze" (seen as white-hot metal) and the metal working trade.  We are left to our own thoughts around this because there is no evidence to make it more than speculation.  This was one of the strongest craft guilds.

The craft guilds played a important role in Thyatira during the prominence of Rome.  They wielded much political and social power.  The guilds were dedicated to the service of a god.  To be part of a guild may have required some consecration or dedication to that god or goddess.  The guilds periodically held festivals with lots of food, all offered to idols.  It wasn't unusual for it to be accompanied by licentiousness; a mixture of religion and sex.  This apparently caused the church there a few problems. 

And so, we see that Thyatira was just as religious as these other nearby cities.  It was full of temples and other religions sites.   Honoring and worshiping all these false gods and idols was a prominent presence in the life of the average citizen.  To work, eat or socialize meant that at a minimum you were exposed to these gods but it many cases it brought you to a place of requiring compromise.  As with any culture, in any age, believers were forced to make decisions about how to live their life. 

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 the 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:

1. Son of God
2. He who has eyes like a flame of fire (1:14)
3. And His feet like fine brass (1:15)

Jesus is the one dictating the letter to John and He identifies Himself in these three ways.  Most of these identifiers 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.  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 is the church-smith.  The 'fine brass' used to describe His feet is only used here and Rev 1:15.  It is found no where 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.  As the Son of Man, from where He stands, He gazes with eyes that see the thoughts and intents, the underlying agendas and taint of pride in the works of the church.  Every church should have the belief that Jesus is at the center of all that is done, the purpose upon which all others is 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 and knew their works, love, service, faith and patience.  These are the deeds that characterize this church:

• Love: (Agape), 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 was growing. 

Revelation 2:20

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.  This 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.  There is a legend that this woman was the pastor's wife there at Thyatira.  This comes from the word 'woman' in verse 20.  The word is used generally as a woman, but also to refer to a wife.  The possibly is:

"you allow your wife, Jezebel"

Jezebel is the name of the wife of King Ahab, found in 1 Kings 18.  She was an idolatrous, murderess and wicked beyond compare. She is famous for being the brazen opponent of Elijah who 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.  If this woman was the wife of the pastor, she was usurping his authority as a pastor to teach and promote a false doctrine.  Whether she was or wasn't the pastor's wife, we know she promoted sexual immorality and eating things sacrificed to idols.  Paul said this about the meat offered to idols:

⁴ 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 you in any way.  The statement here isn't that she was leading people astray, causing them to eat this meat.  The sexual immorality is joined to idea of meat.  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 is advanced to the level of a compromised church in allowing the open teaching and practice of this. 

They simply accepted her as a prophetess and thereby accepted her teaching without question.  How can this happen in the church?  She may have been 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 may have simply been teaching that this corruption was acceptable so they could live.  That seems to be the best possible thought.  The worst is that she brought this 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 was 'New' and 'exciting'.  These new and exciting ways to worship come around often and people fall into many different traps. 

This brings to mind the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balak how to stumble the Israelites when he was restricted from cursing them.  They compromised themselves when brought into the worship practice of the Midianites, involving sacrificing meat to other gods and sexual immorality.  Then in Numbers 25:6 we see:

⁶ And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 

As the people of God were weeping over their sin of worshiping to these other gods, one man brings in a woman, one of which led them to sin.  It wasn't that she was a Midianite, but that she was one of those who brought a plague on Israel killing 24,000.  She represented the presence of this sin in the community of people and even in the tabernacle of God.  Phinehas killed them with a spear, both at once.  There is at least some thought that they were taking part in this pagan worship acts in the courtyard of the tabernacle.  The plague stopped when these two were killed.

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 is 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.  The Lord went on to say He would kill her children.  This same thing was done to the offspring of Ahab and Jezebel.  They were killed by Jehu (2 Kings 10:1-11).  The offspring here are probably those who followed her.  The death by which they will be killed might be as much a manner of death, the kind of sickbed they will have in common.  The death of these followers will give clear indication to all the churches that Jesus is the 'Examiner of Hearts and Minds'.  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.  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. 

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

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.  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").^[1]

The doctrine disregards any moral and ethical boundary as if it were a legalism.  It essentially says that 'anything goes' in the church. It believes you 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 secret knowledge that Jezebel claimed. 

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 later works are 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.

Revelation 2:26-28

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 them, it was the guilds.  Every aspect of 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.

As they held fast, the day draws ever near of the Lord's coming.  This is the day when the Lord's kingdom would come and His will would be done.  This is the time when he will rule with a rod of iron.  Those who stand fast he promises a part in this authority over the nations.  This "rule them with a rod of iron" is a quote from Psalm 2.  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, bowing only to Jesus, will be rewarded with the morning star.  The morning star is Venus, visible as the night passes and the sun rises.  It is symbolic of a new day, a new hope, of encouragement coming out of the darkness and into the light.  Jesus is the morning star.  He is the gift to the overcomer.

Revelation 2:29

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

1. Purity is possible while living in a cultural cesspool.
   1. ¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:12-14)
      1. There's always a Jezebel to seduce.
      2. Always a Nicolas trying to stumble
      3. Always a Balaam teaching compromise
   2. ¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. (Romans 1:18-19)

2. Stop compromise in its tracks before it becomes corruption.
   1. A Little leaven, levens the whole loaf.
   2. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. ⁷ You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? ⁸ This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. ⁹ A little leaven leavens the whole lump. ¹⁰ 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)

3. Hold fast, these days won't go on forever.
   1. We often get caught up in the day-to-day turmoil of life, pursuing it as though it were the only thing that mattered.
      1. The work God created us to do can't be done excluding Him, doing so removes the purpose.
   2. ¹⁶ 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)
   3. ¹² Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. ¹³ 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)
   4. 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."  ⁵ Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new."

 (Rev 21:4-5)

©2021 Doug Ford