Rev 2:18-29; Thyatira
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Prayer-
The revelation is unusual in that it is the only book of the 66 in the Bible that promises a blessing just for reading it!
3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
Tonight we will continue our journey through the seven churches with the fourth, Thyatira. By way of reminder, each letter is written by Jesus to John to a specific church. Each letter contains detail regarding each churches situation at the time of writing around 95 AD. But as we have seen in the first three, Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos, the letters can applied to all churches in all ages, as well to each individual believer. We have also seen that each church applies prophetically to the different church ages.
Thyatira- represents the period of 600 – 1500 (but still exists today and will be here through the second coming. As will Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea)
We first read of Thyatira in the Book of Acts, 16:4, where Paul was ministering in Philippi and a women named Lydia received Christ. This, Lydia, was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira. In Thyatira was known for producing different fabric dyes, most notably Purple which came from a shellfish and a color called Turkey Red from the “madder root”. This color was famous for dying fezzes.
The Phoenicians' “Tyrian purple” came from a species of sea snail now known as Bolinus brandaris, and it was so exceedingly rare that it became worth its weight in gold.
The name Thyatira is said to mean“continual sacrifice”. This will be very important to the message as we will soon show you.
THYATI'RA (thi-a-ti'ra). A city in Asia Minor, the seat of one of the seven apocalyptic churches (Rev 1:11; 2:18). It was situated in the confines of Mysia and Ionia, a little S of the river Lycus and at the northern extremity of the valley between Mt. Tmolus and the southern ridge of Temnus. It was one of the many Macedonian colonies established in Asia Minor in the sequel of the destruction of the Persian Empire by Alexander. The waters of Thyatira are said to be so well adapted for dyeing that in no place can the scarlet cloth out of which fezes are made be so brilliantly or so permanently dyed as here. So in the Acts (Acts 16:14) Lydia, the first convert of Paul at Philippi, is mentioned as "a seller of purple fabrics" from Thyatira. The principal deity of the city was Apollo, worshiped as the sun-god under the surname Tyrimnas. He was no doubt introduced by the Macedonian colonists, for the name is Macedonian. A priestess of Artemis is also mentioned in the inscriptions. The modern city of Akhisar, about 50,000 in population, marks the site of the ancient city in the territory that is now Anatolian Turkey. Nothing of the ancient city can be seen. Remains of a Byzantine church remind one that the gospel once came to this place.
Video - Intro to Thyatira
Thyatira – was seen as the most insignificant of the seven church cities. It is , however the longest of the seven letters. Interestingly, there is no historical record of suffering at Thyatira. It was known for its very active trade guilds which represented each trade, like a labor union today. Each guild had it own “deity”. So it is thought that in order to be part of a guild one would have to take part in pagan worship or rituals.
Read
18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write,
‘These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass: 19 “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. 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. 21 And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. 22 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.
24 “Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. 25 But hold fast what you have till I come. 26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—
27 ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron;
They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—
as I also have received 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.” ’
So let’s dig in and see what the spirit has for us;
V18- “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, ‘These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass:
Notice Jesus describes himself as “The son of God”, this may seem trivial but it is said for a reason. Notice who He is not saying He is, He is not the son of the Queen of Heaven. It is worth noting that the city was formerly named after Semiramis, the mother of Tammuz in the Babylonia Religion we discussed last week. This Deity was called the Queen of Heaven and of course when Constantine, brought the Church and paganism together the Roman Catholics made Mary the Queen of Heaven as well.
Who do you think he is speaking about in regard to this part of church history? Well prophetically Thyatira is referring to the middle ages where the Roman Catholic Popes had all the power.
He describes Himself as “Whose eyes are like blazing fire and feet like fine brass”- brass always speaks of judgment. His eyes penetrating all pretense cutting straight to the heart.
He continues with praise for this Church;
V19 “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.
I know your works…he lists 6 great things. The Roman Catholic church has been responsible for much good and that is not overlooked by Jesus. Think of all the hospitals and schools not to mention care for the poor throughout the last 1400 years. He even says the work has increased.
Now He continues with correction;
V20 ‘But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
Never the less – despite all the good, I have this against you..
You tolerate that woman Jezebel. Calls herself a prophetess. Not really a prophet.
Who is she and what is she doing? Jezebel is probably not her real name, it’s a “code” name that should give us a clue as to what she was about.
He says she is teaching and leading his servants into sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols (idolatry). The word used for sexual immorality is porneuō, where we get our word pornography. The word is used of both physical and spiritual immorality.
To that church it might mean this person is telling believers its Ok with God if you practice sexually immorality or involve yourself with idolatry, especially if it was to keep your job.
What if your employment required you to do something like that or be fired? Maybe your job requires that you do something that you know is wrong and you have to make a living but stuck between a rock and a hard place. Jesus knows.
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.
What do we know about Jezebel? What kind of person was she?
She was King Ahab’s wife, one of the most evil kings of Israel. Her father was a priest of Ashtorah, Canaanite version of Semiramis. She was know as the Queen of Heaven. Have you heard that title before?
Jezebel was known for slaughtering the priests in Israel and attempting to combine Baal worship with worship in Israel.
4 For so it was, while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water.)
She was known as being power and treasure hungry. To that the point that she set up false charges to still a man’s vineyard. What we might call an inquisition. We pick up the story as Ahab is sulking over not getting the vineyard he wanted. She has just asked him what was wrong;
6 He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”
7 Then Jezebel his wife said to him, “You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
8 And she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. 9 She wrote in the letters, saying,
Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among the people; 10 and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, You have blasphemed God and the king. Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die.
11 So the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. 12 They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. 13 And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!” Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died. 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”
15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.”
In a historical sense during the period of 600 through 1500 the Roman Catholic Church held countless inquisitions in order to take land and property and gain power.
During this period: the selling of indulgences, doctrine of purgatory, only a priest can forgive sin, the bible was chained to the altar and kept away from the people, Icons were introduced- images of Jesus, Mary , and saints.
As earlier mentioned, Thyatira, means continual sacrifice. This is most important as each Sunday, Catholic priests celebrate the mass, meaning that Christ is sacrificed again and again in order to obtain grace to cover our sins. In fact the believe that the wafer and wine literally become Christ body and blood, called transubstantiation. This is in direct opposition to Jesus’ words on the cross “it is finished”.
Heb 10:10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Heb 7:27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
Article - papacy- Haleys Bible Handbook
V21 –‘I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality.
He gave her time to repent – we don’t have forever, today is the day of salvation. That’s what the message of the Return and the day of Prayer and Repentance is all about. We are in a space of time where we could return to God and He would heal our land but that time window is closing.
Video-The return
V22-23 – ‘Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. ‘And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.
I believe that this means they will go through the Great Tribulation. Note the bad doctrine effects the children to come. The word here for pestilence here is thanatos. Literally death. This could be physical or spiritual or both.
As parents and grand parents we most be careful of how we live our lives. Little eyes are watching.
V24 –‘But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them—I place no other burden on you.
to the rest , that is to the true believers.
“so called deep secrets” – mystery religions always have secrets. Some were teaching they must learn the secrets to preach the gospel to them, NOT SO.
The true gospel is simple and easy to understand.
V25 ‘Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come.
This is interesting as only in the last 4 letters does He mention Hid second coming. Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos have no mention of His Return.
V26 - 27 ‘He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS;
AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father;
Overcomers will rule the nations with Christ, as opposed to Jezebel who wanted power but got ruin.
This is a reference to Ps2.
1 Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
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 break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
6 “Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”
7 “I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8 Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”
10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
And finally a closing promise;
V28-29 and I will give him the morning star. ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
the morning star is Jesus.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”
In closing its all about Jesus. Nothing else matters. I pray you know Him. That you really know Him. If you are not sure or want to be sure, pray with me now.