Hear the Spirit - Thyatira
The call to “hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches” begins to intensify after the warning about the teachings of “Jezebel” – Revelation 2:18-29.
With the letter
to the “messenger” in Thyatira, a structural change occurs. In the first
three letters, the call to heed the Spirit’s voice preceded the promises to
overcomers. From this point forward, it follows the promises and concludes each
letter. This is done to emphasize the need to “hear what the Spirit is
saying to the churches.”
The city
of Thyatira was situated
fifty-five kilometers southeast of Pergamos and eighty kilometers from the Aegean
Sea. Its proximity to Pergamos explains why the doctrines of the Nicolaitans also infiltrated this congregation. Christianity
reached Thyatira at an early stage, but the details of its establishment are
unknown. Most likely, it was an area reached by Paul’s earlier missionary
activities from Ephesus.
The city produced a dye used in the
production of the purple fabric that was highly prized around the
Mediterranean. Its economy was dominated by trade guilds for the bronze, linen,
leather, pottery, and dye industries, and it would be difficult for a tradesman
unaffiliated with a guild to conduct business in Thyatira. Each guild had its
own religious rituals, and membership would necessitate participation in them.
- (Revelation 2:18-19) - “And to the angel of the assembly in Thyatira, write: The Son of God declares these things, the one who has his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet like glowing copper: I know your works and your love and faith and ministry and endurance, and that your last works are more than the first.”
SON OF GOD
Jesus is the one with the flaming eyes and
feet “like burnished bronze.” The designation “Son of God” occurs
only here in Revelation, and it is a verbal allusion to the second Psalm - “Yahweh has said to
me: You are My son. I, today, have begotten you: Ask of me and let me give
nations as your inheritance, and as your possession, the ends of the earth.”
In the opening vision of the “one like a son of man,” Jesus is
described as having “feet like burnished brass as if it had been refined in a furnace.”
The reference to the “furnace” invokes the story of the “fiery
furnace” into which the three compatriots of Daniel were cast when they
refused to render homage to the king’s “great image.” They were delivered from death by “one
like a Son of God.”
Jesus was refined in such a “furnace”
when he endured death on behalf of his saints. But now, the “fiery furnace”
from Daniel becomes the model for the “lake of fire burning with
brimstone” into which all who render homage to the image of the “beast”
will be cast. For them, there will be no miraculous delivery - (Daniel 3:24-25, Revelation 19:20).
JEZEBEL
Jesus knows the church’s “last works are
more than the first.” This is in sharp contrast with the church at Ephesus where the earlier works of testimony were greater than the later ones.
- (Revelation 2:20-21) - “Nevertheless, I have against you that you suffer the woman Jezebel, she who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and leading astray my own servants to commit fornication and to eat idol-sacrifices; and I gave her time, that she might repent, and she wills not to repent from her fornication.”
Despite its previous faithfulness, Jesus
rebukes the church’s “messenger” for tolerating the false prophetess “Jezebel.” Her teachings parallel those
of the ‘Nicolaitans’ (“to eat idol-sacrifices and to commit fornication”). Like that
group, she promotes accommodation to the idolatrous culture of the city.
“Jezebel” was probably not her real
name. She is modeled after the Old Testament pagan queen Jezebel who promoted
the worship of Ba’al and
persecuted the prophets of Yahweh, including Elijah. Allusions to the ministry of
Elijah appear in the vision of the “two witnesses” - (1 Kings 16:31,
18:4-19, 19:1-2, Revelation 11:3-7).
“Fornication” is metaphorical for idolatry. Note the explanatory “eating meat offered to idols.” The “lovers” and “children” of Jezebel are adherents of her doctrine.
She is a “prophetess,” a verbal
link to the “false prophet”
described in chapter 13. Like Jezebel in Ancient Israel, the “false prophet”
will cause others to engage in idolatry, especially the rendering of homage to
the “image of the beast” - (Revelation
13:11-18, 16:13, 19:20, Daniel
3:1-7).
“Jezebel” is presented as a harlot-like
figure because of her seductive powers, which also link her to the “Great Harlot, Babylon” who causes the earth’s inhabitants to drink
the “wine of her fornication” - (Revelation 17:1-6,
18:3, 18:8-9).
- (Revelation 2:22-25) - “Behold, I cast her into a bed, and them who are committing adultery with her, into great tribulation, except they repent out of her works; and her children will I slay with death; and all the churches will get to know that I am he, the one who searches reins and hearts, and will give to each one according to your works. But to you, I say, to the rest who are in Thyatira, as many as have not this teaching, such as have not come to know the deep things of Satan, as they say, I do not cast upon you any other burden; nevertheless, what you have, hold fast till I come.”
Thus, “Jezebel” is a version of end-time
“Babylon,” the seductress that is already at work even in the
church. The threatened judgment on her and her “children”
anticipates God’s final judgment on the “Great Harlot.” Anyone who partakes
of her sins will also receive “her plagues” - (Revelation 18:1-6).
OPPORTUNITY TO REPENT
The prophetess “deceives” Christ’s
servants, which is another link to the visions about “Babylon the Great.”
Note the parallels:
- Satan deceives the whole world - (12:9, 20:3, 20:8-10).
- False Prophet deceives the inhabitants of the earth - (13:14).
- Babylon deceives all the nations by her sorceries - (18:23).
- The False Prophet deceives those who receive the mark of the Beast - (19:20).
Jesus allows her time to repent. If she
refuses, he will “cast her into a couch along with them who fornicate with
her.” The “couch” refers to a sickbed, and this is indicated by her
punishment with “great tribulation” and “plagues.” Christ will “kill
her children with death” (apoktenō en thanatō), a verbal link
to the first four seal
openings when the four horsemen are
authorized “to kill…with death” - (apokteinai en thanatō - Revelation
6:1-8).
“He who searches reins and hearts”
is an expansion of the phrase “his eyes like a flaming fire.”
Nothing is hidden from his eyes. The phrase alludes to the passage from Jeremiah
when Yahweh pronounced judgment on the Israelites who committed idolatry for
economic gain:
- (Jeremiah 17:10-13) – “I, Yahweh, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings… O Yahweh, the hope of Israel, all that forsake You shall be put to shame. They that depart from me shall be written in the earth because they have forsaken Yahweh, the fountain of living waters.”
“The rest” or “remnant”
are the believers in Thyatira who have not been corrupted by Jezebel. This
may link to the vision of the “woman clothed with the sun” and the “remnant
of her seed” that are persecuted by the “Dragon,” a group identified
as those who “have the testimony of Jesus.” Likewise, faithful saints must
“hold fast what you have till I come”
– (Revelation 12:17).
DEEP THINGS OF SATAN
The prophetess claims it is permissible to “know
the deep things of Satan.” Possibly, this is the slogan propagated by her
supporters (“as they say”). More likely, in her mind, she is teaching
the “deep things of God,” deeper spiritual insight that supposedly protects
initiates from harm during idolatrous religious rites.
Jesus exposes this doctrine for what it truly is - the “deep things of Satan.” As Paul taught, idolatry is communion with demons - (1 Corinthians 10:20).
The “deep things of Satan” is a
link to the “Abyss,” the deep pit from which the “beast,”
demons, and Satan ascend to deceive men and “wage war against the saints”-
(Revelation 9:1-2, 11:7, 13:1, 17:8, 20:1-3).
- (Revelation 2:26-29) - “And he that overcomes and keeps throughout my works, I will give to him authority over the nations; and he will shepherd them with a scepter of iron, as vessels of earthenware are dashed in pieces: as I also have received from my Father. And I will give to him the morning star. He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”
Jesus received his authority to rule the
nations through his death and resurrection. He now shares that authority with his
faithful disciples - (Psalm
2:8-9, Revelation 1:5, 12:1-5).
OVERCOMERS
Revelation follows the text of the
Greek Septuagint where the Hebrew term for “smite them” has been
changed to “shepherd.” Jesus reigns in paradoxical ways. Just as he “overcame”
by dying for others, so believers overcome Satan and participate in his reign
by laying down their lives for the “Lamb” and his “testimony” - (Revelation 12:10-11).
The “morning star” symbolizes the
reign of Christ, an image from the prophecy by Balaam. Jezebel’s
deceptions parallel the false doctrines of the Nicolaitans and Balaam. His prophecy
referred to the “star from Jacob and a scepter from Israel that shall crush”
- (Numbers 24:17, Psalm 2:8-9, 2 Peter 1:17-19).
“He that has an ear, Hear what the
Spirit is saying to the churches.” Once more, the pronoun switches to
the singular and the noun to the plural number. The message is applicable to a much
larger audience than the marginalized congregation in Thyatira.
Moreover, the Greek verb rendered “saying”
is a progressive present, portraying continuous action. The Spirit continues to
declare this to all the churches and every believer who has “ears to hear.”
The message remains applicable from the time these words were spoken until
the arrival of Jesus on the last day.
