Seven Letters to Seven Churches - Pt 6

 

[Jesus said] “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. I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. 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. gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 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, 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. 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. Only hold fast what you have until I come. The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, 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. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” (Revelation 2:18–29 ESV)

 

The letter we see today is addressed to the Church in Thyatira. Some background is important for our understanding. Cyprian of Carthage, who was one of the most important leaders in the third-century church, gives us a clue into the judgment of this church. He was well known for his stress on the importance of the Church and his refusal to give any one bishop in the early church higher authority than others. In commenting on the letters to the seven churches of Revelation, Cyprian wrote: “The Lord certainly would not exhort to repentance if it were not because he promises to pardon the penitent.” This is an important principle to remember whenever we see a church or individual caught in sin. No matter how heinous the transgression is, there is always hope for the repentant. Jesus will by no means refuse to forgive and restore anyone who comes to Him in faith, turning away from sin (cf. John 6:37).

 

God never promises that any one congregation or denomination is guaranteed to persevere in faith and orthodoxy unto the end. His promise that the church will prevail over the gates of hell is a promise that the church universal, consisting of all those with true faith, will never pass away and not a pledge that any single visible expression of the true church will persevere. Thus, any call to repent must be taken seriously. If we as individuals or any of our churches are guilty of the same sins identified in the seven churches of Revelation, we must repent or meet the same end that Jesus warns about.

 

In our reading today, Jesus speaks to the church at Thyatira, although it could be applicable to many churches throughout the ages. Thyatira was a center of commerce in the first century, Thyatira had many trade guilds for textiles and other industries. Thus, most commentators believe that Jesus’ warning about sexual immorality and food sacrificed to idols is related to Christian participation in these guilds (v. 20). One had to be a member of one of these guilds to participate in commerce, and these guilds often held pagan sacrificial meals at their meetings. To not participate in these meals was to endanger one’s membership in the guild and thus one’s ability to make a living. In the church at Thyatira, a false prophetess was apparently encouraging such participation. Jesus calls her “Jezebel”—this was not her real name but a comparison with the famously wicked queen of ancient Israel (v. 20). The designation is apt given Jezebel’s well-known support of idolatry (cf. 1 Kings 18:19).

 

Jesus warns that if this false teacher does not repent, He will strike her with illness and kill her children—her disciples (vv. 21–23). Idolatry has deadly consequences. Of course God does not strike every false teacher with illness or strike dead his or her disciples. Yet, the warning in today’s passage gives us reason not to deal lightly with error and false teachers in the church. There may be grave consequences if we do not put away false teaching. We should be vigilant not to tolerate false teaching in the church.