The 7 Churches of Revelation: Thyatira
18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;
19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.
20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.
25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
28 And I will give him the morning star.
29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. — Revelation 2:18-29
I will do my best here. There is a lot to cover. When it comes to Pergamos and Thyatira, my mind becomes awhirl with several ideas that include present-day events and speculation about the future. There are heretical teachings that I watch closely, and if these take a turn in the manner I suspect they will, I will be ready to refute them. Meanwhile I endure accusations as I wait on the Lord’s timing, and that is okay too, though it does affect the quality of my work and I am sorry for that.
I will try to filter my messy mind and emotions so that I can present useful information here that isn’t overwhelming or boorish for you readers. I so appreciate you!
Without further ado. Let’s give it a go.
In this opening, Jesus is presented as He who has “eyes like a flame of fire and feet like fine brass.” How beautifully terrifying. It is comforting to know that Jesus sees right through us, so He knows our sincere struggles and love for Him. Yet, if our hearts are far from Him and if we are merely playing Christian or using His name for worldly gain, we should be terrified. What do brass feet mean? I see this as strength of character. He is strong and unshakable. No one can move Him from His place of authority.
We will consider why this matters in a bit.
Thyatira is known for their love (charity), service, faith, patience, and many good works—even more towards their end than at the beginning. This sounds good, right? Perhaps so, but there is something corrupt about this church.
They endure that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce the Lord’s servants to commit fornication and eat things sacrificed unto idols.
What did Jezebel of the Old Testament do?
She was the wife of Ahab. She brought the practice of Baal worship to the people of God. She persecuted the prophets of God who stood against her. She also falsely charged a man with blasphemy so that she could take a vineyard that belonged to him, and she used Ahab’s signet ring to sign the order to have the man killed.
This sounds very much like end-times foreshadowing to me. It sounds like something connected to the dispersal of the mark of the beast, a counterfeit to the seal of God, meant to rob the vineyard of the Lord and make it the vineyard of Satan. Pair this with Baal worship, and I think there is something to this in the future.
This could be a prominent figure in the future. I don’t know for certain. For now, I want to consider this in symbolic terms.
We could consider Jezebel in a few ways. We could consider this to be a corrupt female influence in the church, or we could consider this in the broader context of a spirit that encourages sin and spiritual fornication with spirits of devils and Satan.
This makes me think of New Age Christianity and all its variants, which are popular among televangelists these days—both male and female. These ideas have invaded many small-time churches too. New Age teachings take many forms, but the general theme can be summarized as this: “We are immortal. We are gods.” These are also Pagan in nature.
There are teachings that do not focus on the naturally sinful and degraded state of man—man who needs a savior and the blood of Jesus—but instead encourages vain pursuits of power. This can include things like the Word of Faith movement, which basically says that we control our environment through positive words and thinking. Therefore, if we suffer, we caused it or we deserved it because of Karma. There are ideas about cultivating power from the “universe,” whatever that means. There are ideas about using imagery of light and meditation to heal yourself and to have “balanced chacras” which is Buddhism, I believe. There are those who think that the Pineal Gland is the “third eye” and the Seal of God—which we can activate through meditation and psychedelic drugs.
All forms of pagan ideas are becoming common place among some of the big-name mega preachers out there, and as is true of the Great Whore, there is a trickle-down effect as the filth of her fornication corrupts those under her. Gross imagery, but I say this because it is true. Small ministries have been invaded by these ideas also.
And all in the name of love.
(I speak as a fool.) Jesus loves you. He wants nothing but worldly prosperity for you and there are no conditions or strings attached. You can be just as you are because who you really are is a little god who just needs to remember that their Daddy loves them. You are a child of the Most High. Tap into the abundant resources of the Spirit of Satan—I mean the Spirit of God.
I thank the Lord that I have been such a huge fool. Fool enough to know all about this nonsense. I was immersed in these ideas before I became suicidally depressed, called out to Jesus, and He answered by sending me to a good teacher. I’ve sense been exposed to other insane ideas, tested in them, and made ready to fight when the time is right. Lord willing.
I want to think more about the “love” of Thyatira.
Love is corrupted in many ways among Christians. Love, when it is twisted, is not real love. It is self-pleasing and man-pleasing. It is not love to call sin righteous and to call righteousness sin. If the bible says something is a sin, it is a sin whether people call it love or not.
That does not mean that we should forget patience and compassion. Being overly hard and “losing our first love” is not the way to go either. However, never sacrifice truth and what the love of God really means in order to seem to be more loving to a wicked and deceived world.
What is the “fornication of Jezebel” and the “adultery” that those commit with her?
I think this is an acceptance and praise of fornication in the literal sense and also fornication with Satan and spirits of devils.
Since she does not repent, all who follow her (her children) are cast into a marriage bed of adultery with Satan and sent through great tribulation.
What is the difference in the tribulation of those who commit adultery with Jezebel and the tribulation of the saints? I don’t believe in a rapture. I believe that we all endure the great tribulation and we are raised or transfigured at the coming of Jesus at the 7th trumpet.
We see in Revelation that the beast will turn on the Great Whore and “burn her with fire.” Those who “come out of her” will also go through tribulation. However, with patience as one who knows that their redeemer is coming. I need to think more about this. Maybe I will have clarity about it in the next post.
“I will give unto every one of you according to your works.”
What does this mean? As a Christian, we know that faith creates many good works. Paul the apostle also says that the works we do in Jesus’s name will be tried by fire, but we ourselves are spared if our works are seen to be lacking. In the sense of soul judgment, we want to be judged by grace and mercy, based on the blood of the Lamb, and not works.
Could this church have fallen away to such an extent that they are not longer judged by grace? That is a scary thought.
It does not say that Jesus will judge their works, but they are going to be judged according to their works. Maybe they think their works will save them and they do not trust in the blood of the Lamb anymore. After-all, they are not sinful humans, but divine gods. Could be. The Lord is judge and I am just speculating on this point.
And now some words from our exceedingly merciful and gracious God.
“As many as have not this doctrine and have not known the depths of Satan as they speak; I will put upon you no other burden. But that which you have, hold fast until I come.”
There are some, even in Thyatira, who have not committed fornication with Satan. Perhaps they did not bring forth much fruit in the faith because of their exposure to corruption within this church, but Jesus is dealing graciously with them. “Hold on to what you have until I come.” He will not burden you with anything more because your resistance to Satanism is itself a great burden. Jesus is so merciful and good!
However, as the intro shows us, Jesus is not going to be usurped. He sees our hearts. He knows our intentions. He is not movable and He will not stand for spiritual fornication in His church that is done in His name and creates all sorts of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit of God, the true Church, and the real seal of the promise we are given in Christ.
Now for the promise!
“And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star.”
Those who overcome by keeping the works of Jesus—and not the works of Satan—will receive real power. Satan and his whores promise power, but not the real power that Jesus offers. If we overcome in Him, we will rule all nations when Jesus comes to overthrow the false prophet, beast, and whore.
He will give those who overcome the Morning Star. That is interesting because Satan calls himself the “morning star” or “bright star, son of the dawn,” or as it is translated in the King James, Lucifer. Jesus is the real Morning Star, and as it is written of the Holy Spirt, He is as a “day star” rising in our hearts.
We can overcome the deceit and false power and promises of Thyatira!
We are sinners in need of a savior. We are created in our mother’s womb. We are of the dust and to the dust we will go. We have no goodness in us apart from the blood of the Lamb of God and no power to overcome except by the true Holy Spirt of God—not a counterfeit that is of the spirits of devils—working many miracles, signs, and wonders of vanity that make man feel as if they are gods. The real power we want is power to know Jesus, to overcome sin in the flesh, and the do our part to bring about His Kingdom.
There is power in the Holy Spirit given to the two witnesses, but this is not a power of vain glory, but a call to repentance in my opinion.
I somewhat understand the appeal to the ways of Thyatira. I will do my best to write about this, Lord willing.
