Mid-week Prayer Focus - Thyatira
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Beginning in Revelation 2:18 we have written the letter to the church in Thyatira. The passage begins by reminding us again, who it is that is saying these words: “The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this…”
And here’s what Jesus, the Son of God who has eyes like fire and feet of bronze, says “I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first.”
What an awesome compliment! I hope that Jesus could say to all of us, I see you Glady Branch- I see your love, faith, service, perseverance, and that your deeds are better now than they were before.” This concept of “deeds of late greater than at first” is interesting. We as believers should always be moving forward, always growing, always building onto- in our spiritual journey. Actually- if you aren’t moving forward, growing, building, learning more, trusting more, even being convicted more, then you might actually be moving backwards in your walk with the Lord.
Jesus goes on to say in verse 20 that one thing He has against the church is that they “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.” And because she hasn’t repented, she will become sick, and those who follower her will experience great tribulation unless they repent. Now what on earth is Jesus talking about here?
Well, Jezebel was a woman from the Old Testament, the book of 1 Kings gives us some glimpses into her life. She was married to King Ahab. She and her family served Baal, and she was most likely the reason King Ahab begun worshipping Baal instead of Yaweh, the one, true, creator God. She is probably the main reason why King Ahab built an altar and temple for Baal. The worship of Baal included sacrificing their own children and cultic prostitution- it was a very evil religion.
We read about the kind of woman Jezebel was after Elijah did the showdown on mount Carmel against the 450 prophets of Baal, in 1 Kings 18. After fire came down from heaven and consumed the offering, the wood, stones and water around the altar, proving God was God and Baal was not, right after that powerful miracle, and after the 450 prophets of Baal were killed, Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying “So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life…” (1 Kings 19:2-3a) This is one bad woman.
Elijah walked close with the Lord- He had seen God hold back rain, he had been fed by ravens God sent- bringing him food. Through God’s power he had given a miracle of never-ending flour and oil to a widow, and through him God rose back to life that widow’s son who had died. Elijah wasn’t frightened by evil King Ahab or by the 450 “prophets” of Baal or by fire flying through the air. No that didn’t scare him, but this woman Jezebel was who scared him and freaked him out. God later encouraged Elijah, and brought him out of his fear, but that’s another story. Right now we’re learning about this evil woman Jezebel. A few chapters later, in 1 Kings chapter 21, we see her writing letters on behalf of King Ahab, in order to bring in an owner of land whose land King Ahab wanted. She got 2 people to lie and testify against this land owner, and the punishment of the crime he didn’t commit was his death. Upon his murder, Jezebel told her husband, king Ahab, that the land was now free to take, and so he then took the land.
You see, Jezebel was a follower of a false religion. She was cruel, manipulating, controlling, threatening, power abusing, and there was someone within the Church in Thyatira that was following in her footsteps, and teaching and leading others to do the same.
God’s patience put up with Jezebel from the old testament only a short time. He decreed that she would die and dogs would eat her remains. (1 Kings 21:23) Which is what happened, and this type of death was one that showed an incredible amount of dishonor to the one who had died. Instead of a nice funeral or memorial service, instead of a gravesite or tomb that would forever testify to the life of the one who had passed- to have one’s corpse just eaten by dogs in the streets was an incredible insult and judgment against the one who had died. And here in Revelation 2 Jesus proclaims as just of a judgement against a Jezebel type spirit or teaching. To one who teaches, leads, commits the same type acts of Jezebel (following/promoting a false gospel, being cruel, manipulating, controlling, threatening, power abusing)- Jesus says unless they repent, He will bring sickness to them. And to the ones who follow this Jezebel, unless they repent, they will be put into great tribulation.
In verse 24 Jesus says that He knows there are those in the church who don’t hold onto this Satanic teaching, and for them, verse 25, they are to hold fast until He comes. Then there’s a promise, verse 26 “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 and I will give him the morning star.” We don’t know exactly what ruling the nations with Christ-like authority looks like, we don’t know exactly what receiving the morning star means- the morning star is a biblical reference to Jesus, Him being bright and shining even during the morning light hours when all the other stars visually fade from the sky- like the planets Venus or Mars that can still be seen in the sky as the sun is rising. Is he saying He will give Himself to the ones who overcome? I would think the ones who overcome already have Him, and that’s why they are able to overcome. Perhaps then it makes more sense that Jesus wants to bless His overcomers with a reward equaled to the beauty of a morning star- some sort of bright adornment to be given as reward to those who overcome. When you read these letters to the churches, the language used to describe the rewards of those who follow Jesus no matter what, is really grand language, seemingly describing things that are of highest greatness, things difficult to describe and express with ordinary words.
Now what does all this mean for us right now, today? Obviously, there is a warning to those who are following a false religion, or who are cruel, manipulating, controlling, threatening, or power abusing. Right now, I can’t think of anyone in our fellowship that fits that description, (and thank God for that!) but I’m sure that all of us in other circles have experienced other people following a false religion, who are cruel, manipulating, controlling, threatening, or power abusing. Actually, right now, COVID 19 seems to be pretty cruel, manipulating, controlling, and threatening. And I don’t know about you, but interactions with Jezebel type people or situations- the thought of the injustice and the wrongness- makes me angry, and makes my stomach turn, my heart rate spike, and my temperament become a little anxious. And if you’ve ever felt like that, then I believe this letter can be of encouragement to you and I.
Here in the letter to Thyatira, we are reminded that God sees the injustice, the cruelty, the unfairness, the abuse- and those who hold fast and overcome in the midst of such injustice, cruelty, unfairness, abuse- will be rewarded in ways that are greater than a greatness we can even currently understand. Hold fast church, we will overcome this!