Revelation 2:18-29 (Thyatira)

Introduction

English Standard Version Chapter 2

To the Church in Thyatira

18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

19 “ ‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. 20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. 24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only hold fast what you have until I come. 26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, 27 and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. 28 And I will give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

This week we reach the end of Revelation chapter 2 to look at Jesus’ letter to the church in Thyatira. Of the seven letters to the seven churches we’ve looked at three of them, letters to the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamum. As you may recall, the order of these letters follows a Roman first century mail route in Asia Minor. These letters were given to the Apostle John while he was on the Island of Patmos just off the coast of Asia Minor about 60 miles southwest of Ephesus where the mail route began. Pergamum was the northern most city along the route and it would be have been only a 40 mile trip south to reach the city of Thyatira.

Thyatira was less prominent than the other three cities we’ve looked at so far, with a smaller population. The town was built out in the open, on flat ground, without any natural defenses. Within the modern city of Akhisar (Awk-hi-sar), Turkey the remains of Thyatira can still be seen. The two prominent figures worshipped in the city were Caesar, and the Greek god Tyrimnos (tear-em-nos), the son of Zeus.

You may also recall that Thyatira is mentioned in the Book of Acts, specifically in chapter 16, verse 14 when Luke mentions a woman by the name of Lydia. The Apostle Paul had travelled to Philippi to preach the Gospel, and while he was there Luke writes,

English Standard Version Chapter 16

14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.

Now, many have speculated that Lydia may have been the first convert in Thyatira, and ultimately instrumental in the establishment of the church there. But Luke also points out that she was a seller of purple goods. Which is interesting because history tells us that Thyatira was well known for its manufacturing and trading. In fact, one could describe it as a blue collar town.

Guilds

Inscriptions have been found describing a whole host of trading guilds present within the city. These were associations of merchants who oversaw and controlled their particular trade and related commerce in a particular territory. Many labor unions today serve a similar function as it relates to employment in certain industries. Sometimes a person cannot participate in a particular trade unless they become a part of a particular union. And in a similar fashion the trade guilds controlled the commerce in Thyatira. If you wanted to engage in commerce you had to be a part of a trade guild.

The inscriptions found in Thyatira have indicated that these guilds included wool-workers, linen-workers, makers of garments, dyers, leather workers, tanners, potters, bakers, slave-dealers, and bronze-smiths. In fact, many assume that Lydia was likely a part of a guild called the cloth dyers guild, and had travelled to Phillipi to engage in selling her purple goods, and while in town encountered the Apostle Paul.

Now, these guilds would have had an enormous impact upon the church in Thyatira. The reason being, that guild membership was deeply connected with pagan worship. For instance, guild meetings were usually conducted within pagan temples, members were expected to participate in eating meat sacrificed to idols, and even participate in illicit sexual acts that were related to pagan worship.

While we often, wrongly, think of our work as being distinct from our religious activities, as if one area were secular and the other were spiritual, people in the first century understood them as completely integrated. Guild members would have seen the success of their commercial enterprises, at least in part, contingent upon their proper worship of Caesar, and other deities. One inscription found near Pergamum, for instance, declares that a man was made mute for three months because he had failed to sacrifice meat to Zeus before eating it. Stories like this were a warning to those in places like Thyatira, that they must not forget to sacrifice to gods before eating their meat. Therefore, if anyone would have refused to participate in a guild’s pagan practices, they would have been seen as a threat to the guild and its prosperity.

So, as you can imagine, it would be difficult if not impossible, for a Christian to join a guild without compromising their conscience and willfully engaging in sin. Nor would a Christian be permitted to join a guild unless they were willing to compromise their faith and participate in pagan worship. Therefore, since the guilds controlled the vast majority of commerce in Thyatira, it would have made it extremely difficult for Christians to make a living, and to feed their families. The pervasive nature of paganism within Thyatira, and throughout the Roman Empire, made it particularly difficult for Christians seeking employment or to engage in any kind of commerce.

Mark of the Beast

Later, in chapter 13, when the Roman Empire is described as a beast we’re told that the beast “causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or number of its name.” Popular eschatology argues that this will be some kind of future computer chip that citizens would be required to have implanted under the skin in order to buy and sell. However, I don’t that’s what John means at all, rather the mark of the beast, described in chapter 13, is precisely what we see here in the letter to the church in Thyatira, that in order to engage in commerce one must also worship Caesar. The mark of the beast is to worship the emperor, that Caesar owns you rather than God.

Terrifying introduction

And it was these circumstances put the church in Thyatira in a difficult position, forcing them to make very difficult decisions, and unfortunately, we’re told that this eventually led to moral compromise within the church. In many respects this letter is absolutely terrifying as Jesus confronts the church in Thyatira, and we can see this right at the outset of the letter starting there in verse 18,

English Standard Version Chapter 2

18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

The imagery here, like many of the letters to the churches, is drawn from the imagery from back in chapter 1. If you recall, in chapter 1 the Apostle John saw Jesus in all his glory and writes in verses 12-17,

English Standard Version Chapter 1

12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.

John rightly, and understandably, fell at his feet, but the text goes on to comfort him and ultimately the church. However, the primary emphasis of chapter one was to set the table. To comfort the church by reminding them that Jesus was coming very soon to bring wrath upon those who had pierced him, that he was coming to vindicate himself and his church in just a few short years, that the time of vengeance was near.

Whereas, the wrath pictured here in his letter to the church in Thyatira as directed at them, that they too will suffer his wrath if they don’t repent of their compromise. This is why, in his letter, he describes himself as “one who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze”. The imagery is meant to convey the threat of judgment. Later, in Revelation 19:11 when Jesus is pictured as riding on a white horse he is described again in this way, we read,

English Standard Version Chapter 19

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

The imagery of Jesus’ feet, pictured as burnished bronze, is taken from the Book of Daniel and probably meant to convey the idea of war and trampling his enemies under his feet.

Commendations

However, despite the ominous imagery at the beginning of his letter, and before he we’re told what he has against them, he praises them for several things. We read there in verse 19,

English Standard Version Chapter 2

19 “ ‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.

In many respects, their works, their love, faith, service, and patient endurance would give anyone the impression that they were a healthy church. They seemed to have excelled, for instance, where Ephesus had failed. In Jesus’ letter to the church in Ephesus he said,

English Standard Version Chapter 2

4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.

However, the church in Thyatira is praised for their love and their works, even that their latter works have exceeded the works they did at first. Their labors had grown, over time, in volume and intensity.

Jezebel

But their commendations are quickly overshadowed by their moral failures and doctrinal neglect in the verses that follow. The elders had allowed false teaching to take root in the church, which was leading it’s members into idolatry and sexual immorality. We read there starting in verse 20,

English Standard Version Chapter 2

20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.

If you remember the letters to the churches in Ephesus and Pergamum you’ll recall that these churches faced similar circumstances. In Ephesus it was the Nicolaitans and in Pergamum it those who held the teaching of Balaam, and now, in Thyatira it was a woman who, like Jezebel, called herself a prophetess and was teaching and seducing members of the church to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. All three of these parties were fundamentally teaching the same doctrines and seeking to corrupt the churches in these cities.

In Thyatira this corruption is attributed to woman who is described as Jezebel. Which is intended to shock Thyatira out of its stupor. I doubt the woman’s name was Jezebel, but according to Jesus it might as well be, because her teaching was equally dangerous and wicked.

If you know your OT at all the stories of Ahab and his wife Jezebel are hard to miss, because both of them were notably wicked. Ahab was the king of Israel’s northern ten tribes, and he had decided to take a wife for himself from the Sidonians (a pagan nation to the north), who’s name was Jezebel. The story begins in 1 Kings 16:30, and I’ll read just a few verses,

English Standard Version Chapter 16

30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. 31 And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

One of the reasons the Israelites were forbidden from marrying foreign women was because it would usually result in worshipping foreign gods. And so it was in Ahab’s case, he married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and we’re immediately told that he went and served Baal and worshiped him, and that he erected an alter in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria, and that he also made an Asherah. All of which, we’re told, did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings before him!

Now, Baal was a Canaanite fertility god, and Asherah was supposedly the mother of Baal, the fertility goddess of both the Canaanites and the Phoenicians, sometimes referred to as “Lady Asherah of the Sea.” And because of Ahab’s marriage to Jezebel he built an alter to Baal in Samaria and erected a pole to worship the goddess Asherah. The we read later in 1 Kings 21:25, that,

English Standard Version Chapter 21

25 (There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited.

This story is what would have come to mind when Jesus told the church in Thyatira that they were tolerating that woman Jezebel, the woman who was calling herself a prophetess and teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. Whoever this woman was, she had apparently made it her mission to promote and teach within the church of Thyatira an idolatrous form of worship, just as Jezebel had found it her mission to teach Israel pagan worship.

Leveraging economic pressures

Now, I doubt she just walked into the church and convinced them that idolatry and sexual immorality were good Christian ideas, no, she undoubtedly leveraged the social and economic pressures that the Christians in Thyatira were facing, in order to lead them into compromise. Don’t forget, because of the trade guilds, most Christians would have faced hunger and even starvation if they refused to participate in the pagan customs of their day, therefore these pressures would have made them particularly vulnerable to compromise, and their vulnerability had obviously given this woman room to teach and seduce, at least some, within the congregation of the church, to compromise. We have to understand that there were those in the church who were going without a meal in order to avoid participating in idolatry, that the external pressures were very real, not to mention, that there would be no glamorous appeal to martyrdom by starvation.

Seducing them

So, this woman was encouraging them to go ahead and join the guilds, even if you they had to engage in a little idolatry and sexual immorality. No doubt, her teaching was subtle and convincing, maybe even pious sounding. Like, “God knows that you don’t really mean it, that you’re just going through the motions, because, don’t forget, God looks at the heart. He knows you don’t have any choice. He knows that you’re only trying to feed your family,” or “We know there’s only one God, so you’re not really offering to false gods if they don’t actually exist,” or “That by joining their religious services you might be able to witness to them!” or “All religions have something to teach us, so we shouldn’t be so arrogant to think that only Christians have the corner on the truth,” or “What harm could come from burning a little incense and eating food from an alter, and engaging in a little consensual sex if it means that I can feed my family. I mean I’m just playing along to appease them.”

Deep things of Satan

We also read, later, in verse 24, that Jesus describes her teaching as the deep things of Satan. Now, this probably wasn’t how she referred to her own teaching (as the deep things of Satan), but rather as the deep things of God, just as the Apostle Paul had written in 1 Cor. 2:10, that, “the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” However, Jesus intended to make it clear that what she was teaching was certainly not deep spiritual truths from God, but instead they were the deep things of Satan!

Her teaching may very well have been an early form of what the church later called gnosticism, where some would pursue secret knowledge or spiritual enlightenment by purposefully engaging in sinful activities so as to reach greater levels of sanctification, or as the Apostle Paul would describe it, “sinning that grace would abound.” And don’t forget these forms of compromise were also appealing to the flesh, including both food and sex. Participating in pagan worship gave the people access to sensual pleasures.

But, whatever her approach was, it was working, and members of the church in Thyatira were being seduced, and the elders were apparently nowhere to be found to stop her, which had put the entire church in jeopardy, for a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Notice that little but important word, translated tolerate there in verse 20, “But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel.” Now, don’t forget that when Jesus is addressing these churches, that he’s first addressing it’s elders, the church’s government, those who are responsible for teaching sound doctrine, yet in Thyatira they have permitted a woman to teach and seduce the congregation.

Do not tolerate sin

And in our day not much has changed, make no mistake, when talking heads, authors, celebrities, and others demand that Christians be more tolerant, what they mean is that Christian’s ought to be more tolerant of sin. But, unfortunately, Christians often waiver at this point because we don’t want to be portrayed as intolerant, so we’re tempted to call evil good and good evil in order to avoid being labeled intolerant. Or maybe we restrain how we speak of God, salvation, and the Bible so as not to offend the sinful sensibilities of our culture, and risk being called intolerant or mean. But we must not fear such scare tactics, for the world will always attempt to use our own Christian sensibilities against us, so as to cause us to compromise. They use words like tolerate, love, and celebrate to demand that we tolerate, love, and celebrate sin, and when we won’t we’re labeled intolerant, unloving, and bigoted. As Christians, we naturally want to be tolerant and loving, however, we’re never to tolerate, love, or celebrate sin. Orthodox, Biblical Christianity is fundamentally intolerant of sin. We must not be deceived, any church that tolerates sin or false teaching is under God’s judgement, and God will not long tolerate her. Our desire should always be to please God, not man.

Now, this isn’t to say that Christians shouldn’t be charitable toward one another, forgiving and loving one another, or that we should squabble over mistakes and differences that are non-essential, but as it relates to clear, orthodox Biblical teaching the elders of the church are to put a stop to it before it destroys the church. And in Thyatira their tolerating of Jezebel had led to some in the church to commit idolatry and sexual immorality.

Judgment

And so Jesus threatens them with judgment, picking up there in verse 21, we read,

English Standard Version Chapter 2

21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.

Apparently, this problem had been going on for some time, maybe even suggesting that there had been attempts made to have her repent, but she had refused, and yet continued to teach and seduce. That the elders recognized the problem but had neglected to remove her. Much like what the Apostle Paul dealt with at the church in Corinth went he wrote in 1 Corinthians 5:1-2,

English Standard Version Chapter 5

5 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

Sickbed

Then in verse 22 Jesus says that he will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her he will throw into great tribulation. In other words, what Jesus is saying to this woman, Jezebel, is, “You want to jump in bed and commit adultery? Very well, I’ll give you a bed, I’ll give you a sick bed, in fact, a death bed.”

Great tribulation

And for anyone who commits adultery with her, Jesus will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, he will strike her children dead. And the churches will know that he is one who searches mind and heart, and he will give to each of them according to their works. You see, those who sought to avoid economic hardship by committing adultery with her, if they do not repent, they will face far worse hardship than those who refuse to be a part of the guilds. In fact, Jesus tells them that he will strike her children dead. Now, he’s not referring to her children of natural birth, but those who were following her teaching.

Nothing hidden

And God’s perfect judgment is intended to demonstrate to the churches that he is the one who searches the mind and heart, that he will give to each of them according to their works. That nothing flies under radar, or is hidden from his sight. That the churches should take his warnings seriously. And as the church in Thyatira is warned, so should the churches everywhere, in every generation, be warned. And God warns us not to destroy us, but gives us time to repent, he is both holy and merciful. Therefore, let us avail ourselves of his mercy while he still extends it. For if we repent he promises to forgive us our sin, but if we refuse to repent, God will not be mocked, he will give to each according to their works.

Host fast

Then Jesus concludes his letter to Thyatira with some words of hope, picking up there in verse 24,

English Standard Version Chapter 2

24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only hold fast what you have until I come. 26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, 27 and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. 28 And I will give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Jesus tells those who have not been seduced by Jezebel’s teaching to stay the course, to hold fast, and to overcome, to conquer. The idea here isn’t that they’ll conquer by the sword, but by their faithful witness to the end, by holding fast to God’s word, by standing firm against compromise, and by withstanding temptation. Later in chapters 5-6 we’ll see Jesus standing before the throne of God as a lamb who was slain, but not because he had been defeated, but by his death he had conquered, by his death he had overcome. Revelation 12:11 describes it this way,

English Standard Version Chapter 12

they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

Conclusion

And more than that, Jesus tells Thyatira that if they hold fast, that he will give them authority over the nations, and that he will rule the nations with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, and that he will give them the morning star. Now, this language might sound strange to us at first, but Jesus is quoting from Psalm 2, and his intention is that they would recall the promise of Psalm 2, that God had promised to set his King on Zion, that his Son would inherit the nations. Listen to Psalm 2,

English Standard Version Psalm 2

2 Why do the nations rage

and the peoples plot in vain?

2  The kings of the earth set themselves,

and the rulers take counsel together,

against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,

3  “Let us burst their bonds apart

and cast away their cords from us.”

4  He who sits in the heavens laughs;

the Lord holds them in derision.

5  Then he will speak to them in his wrath,

and terrify them in his fury, saying,

6  “As for me, I have set my King

on Zion, my holy hill.”

7  I will tell of the decree:

The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;

today I have begotten you.

8  Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,

and the ends of the earth your possession.

9  You shall break them with a rod of iron

and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

In short, Jesus is reminding the church in Thyatira, that though the nations rage, and take counsel together to destroy the Lord’s Anointed, God has set his King on Mount Zion, and that he is the king of kings and the Lord of lords. That Psalm 2 is coming to pass, that Jesus sits enthroned in heaven at the Father’s right hand, and that the Father has given the Son the nations as an inheritance, and the ends of the earth as a possession, and that he will break them with a rod of iron and dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel. Therefore, if they hold fast to their confession they too will rule with him, and be given authority over the nations.

That they will be given the morning star, who is Christ himself.

Prayer