Now we’ll look at the message to the church in Thyatira. This is the longest message of the seven found in Revelation 2:18-29. As in the others, Christ identifies Himself as the one speaking. I haven’t mentioned this in the other lessons, but this is worth mentioning. In the message to Ephesus He is the One Who “holds the seven stars in His right hand, Who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands”; to Smyrna, He is “the First and Last, Who died and came to life again”; in the message to Pergamos He is “The One with the sharp sword with two edges”; and now to the church in Thyatira, He’s “the Son of God, Who has eyes that flash like fire and feet that glow like white-hot brass”. These descriptions, and the ones that follow, all give authority to the message.
As in the others, Christ starts with some commendations. Here, there are six: works, love, faith, ministry, endurance and increased works. A short explanation of these is in order. “Works” is ta erga, used several places in these messages to describe who a person is and what he does. It’s a way to describe either good, Godly character and behavior, or bad – depending on the context (an example is Romans 2:6-8). Who we are determines what we do.
The next is “charity” or “love”. This is agape, best described in John 3:16, where “God so loved the world that He gave His uniquely born Son”. This love is shown by giving a person what they need, not what they want. The world didn’t want Christ, but He is the One they need. “Faith” is pistis, a word used to illustrate firm conviction. As I have explained before, this firm conviction can only be a result of real experiences with God. Firm conviction is the product of a true reality in God. It’s not based on what you think, what you have been taught and happen to agree with; it’s not a doctrinal statement of belief.
Then there is “service” or “ministry”. Diakonia is used to describe compassion towards the needy within the community of believers (as in II Corinthians 8:4). This is not just feeling sympathy for those in need, but acting to meet the need. “Endurance” is hupomone, sometimes translated longsuffering or patience. This is the quality that allows one to continue in his faith regardless of any circumstances or trials. The sixth one is ta erga again, but with “the last more than the first”. In other words, who they were and what they did have increased over time. This was a way to describe growth. As they became more like Christ, their actions became more like His.
This brings us to verses 20-21 and the condemnations. There are two: there was a woman named Jezebel teaching and seducing believers to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols and they allowed her to continue even after she refused to repent. Let’s expand these a little. “To commit fornication” is from porneuo; a word used to describe active participation in idolatry and includes illicit sex acts (adultery and incest). Again, idolatry from the beginning was never a simple matter of idol worship. It was designed to draw those who participated in it into destructive behavior specifically designed to gratify their flesh and separate them from God.
And we have to look at this issue of eating things sacrificed to idols. This was also mentioned in the previous message to the church in Pergamos. To some there may be a seeming contradiction here. But, as I have probably mentioned before, there are no contradictions in scripture, only misunderstandings. If you read what Paul says in Romans 14:1-3, 14; Colossians 2:16 or I Timothy 4:1-5, you can easily come to the conclusion that it is OK for the believer to eat anything he chooses – as long as his conscience is clear, he’s not overtly offending anyone by it, he is thankful to God for it and so on.
However, this is a different matter and Paul had something to say about it too, as it was a problem in the church in Corinth. I’ll not take the time or space to present his complete argument (found in I Corinthians 10:15-31), you can read it for yourself. But it boils down to this: the things sacrificed to idols are actually sacrificed to devils (verse 20), and you can’t drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons, nor eat at the Lord’s table and at the table of demons (verse 21). In other words, you can’t willingly and knowingly have fellowship with demons and be sincere and loyal in your fellowship with Christ through Communion. This double mindedness can only provoke the Lord to jealousy and move Him to judgment (verse 22).
Then, if you remember from above, they evidently allowed this woman to continue to influence believers after she had refused to repent of her fornication. This tells me there must have been some in this assembly that refused to follow this wrong teaching and had confronted her with the truth. But, when she refused to repent, they simply tolerated her and she was allowed to continue corrupting others.
Now the reality of I Corinthians 10:22 becomes evident. You cannot provoke God without consequences. This brings us to Revelation 2:22-23. Since this woman refused to repent, His judgment would be felt in three ways: she would be “cast into a bed” (a metaphor signifying a debilitating disease); those who follow her teaching would be experience “tribulation” (thlipsis, from thlibo, meaning, “to crush”, used to describe a grievous affliction, or again, a disease); and He would kill her “children” (a reference to her followers, not children she may have borne). Their judgment would not be seen as a random circumstance. This woman would be stricken with a condition that would not kill her immediately, but would prevent her from continuing to do what she had been doing. And at the same time she would be able to see the consequences her wrong teaching had brought to those who followed her. And the news of this judgment would spread to all the churches and they would know that God does not tolerate disloyalty.
There’s an interesting reference in verse 24 to “those who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they say”. I always smile when the Lord gets sarcastic. His sarcasm is always directed at religion. I suppose it makes me feel better when I do the same. Gnostics called their teaching “the depths of God”. Here, the Lord calls it “the depths of Satan”, what it really is. This is something that started with idolatrous cults and has continued down through time with other cults, groups, secret societies, etc. The claim was always that certain, secret wisdom could only be revealed to the few, the initiated or to those who attained certain levels of the inner circle. This was the Lord’s way of mocking this practice.
Then the Lord tells those who have not followed this wrong teaching that nothing new would be expected of them and that they should simply remain faithful to what they already had (verses 24-25). And then He ends the message with a promise to those who overcome. It has four parts and has been discussed in previous lessons. They will be given authority over the nations (the Millennium); they will rule with a rod of iron; they will crush all resistance to the rule of Christ; and they will be given the Morning Star (Christ).