Love Without Discernment (Rev 2:18-29): To the Church in Thyatira

Revelation 2:18-29; Key Verse: Rev 2:25, 28 (1 Kings 16:29-33)

"...hold on to what you have until I come." "I will also give the morning star."


Loving more but tolerating false teaching. In his letter to the church in Ephesus, Jesus commends the Ephesians for persevering in sound doctrine (Rev 2:2-3). But Jesus also rebukes the Ephesian church for losing their first love (Rev 2:4)–their love for the brethren. The church in Thyatira has the opposite problem. Indeed, Jesus commends the congregation in Thyatira because their love for their fellow Christians has increased (Rev 2:19). But Jesus also rebukes this church for tolerating false teaching within their midst (Rev 2:20). Unlike Ephesus that shows discernment without love, the Christians of Thyatira are loving but not discerning.
Costly to confess Christ. The city of Thyatira is quite unlike the earlier cities we have seen–Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamum--which were all large cities and important centers of commerce. Thyatira was not. All three of the former cities were dominated by various forms of paganism. The Christians of Ephesus lived in the shadow of the temple of Diana and were immersed in a culture which was dominated by the worship of Diana. The cities of Smyrna and Pergamum were not only filed with pagan temples of every sort, but were also centers of emperor worship. Christians found themselves facing death and imprisonment at the hands of the beast–the Satanically empowered Roman government–which attempted to force Christians to confess that "Caesar is Lord" (at the point of a sword), which is to take the mark of the beast. Otherwise, they were not allowed to buy and sell or to participate in the commercial and cultural life of the city (Rev 13:7, 16-17). It truly cost Christians living in Smyrna and Pergamum something to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and that Caesar is not.

Confessing both Christ and Caesar as Lord. In addition to living under such difficult circumstances because of the paganism which was rampant in these cities, Christians were slandered by certain Jews who were secularized to the point that while they continued to worship YHWH, they also were willing to confess the divinity of Caesar in order to conduct their business and participate in the cultural affairs of the city. As a result of all of this persecution and slander, the Christians in Smyrna were forced to live in abject poverty. Many were arrested and imprisoned. And even though Satan persecuted them to the point of death, Jesus promises to give them the crown of life (Rev 2:10).

Resisting Caesar but not pagan influences. The Christians in Pergamum likewise refused to abandon Jesus Christ and confess the divinity of Caesar. One Christian who lived in Pergamum, a certain Antipas, had already been put to death (Rev 2:13b). But the Christians in Pergamum also faced another, more subtle enemy in addition to the persecution of the Beast. Members of the Pergamum church were taken in by false teachers, the Nicolaitans, who followed the example of the secularized Jews and had managed to seduce a number of Christians into thinking that they could confess Jesus as Lord and then participate in various pagan practices which were so prevalent throughout the city–a city which was so filled with pagan influences that Jesus identifies Pergamum as that place where Satan lives and has established his throne (Rev 2:13a).

To the victor go the spoils. For tolerating these Nicolaitans, the Pergamum church was rebuked by Jesus, who threatens to come to them in judgment using his two-edged sword of truth (Rev 2:12, 16). For all those who overcome, Christ promises them the hidden manna–the promise of the gospel signed and sealed in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper–as well as a white stone which links believers to Jesus Christ who rides the white horse of judgment. To possess the white stone with one's hidden name is to be known by Christ and to receive eternal life from him who judges all men (Rev 2:17).

Facing the temptation of paganism. But the situation in Thyatira is different from that facing Christians elsewhere. Now known as Akhisar, Thyatira was a very insignificant place when compared with the wealth and status of other three cities. Dennis Johnson says, "the longest and most difficult of the seven letters is addressed to the least known, least important, and least remarkable of the cities." Although the city of Thyatira was insignificant in many ways, the church there was not. What Jesus says to the Christians in Thyatira, he also says to us. The same temptation to make peace with paganism that these Christians faced, is same temptation Christians elsewhere face.
Using the template and pattern for all 7 churches, an overview of the church in Thyatira may be:

1. The Church: Immoral (Rev 2:20).
   
2. The Christ: The Heart Searcher "whose eyes are like blazing fire" (Rev 2:18) and "who searches hearts and minds" (Rev 2:23).
3. The Commendation: Loving more now than before (Rev 2:19).
   
4. The Condemnation: Embracing false teaching regarding sexual immorality and idolatry (Rev 2:20).
5. The Command: Hold on (Rev 2:25).
   
6. The Consummation: "I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule" (Rev 2:26-27).

Transcendent glory and purifying power. "To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze" (Rev 2:18). Why the reference to our Lord's eyes of blazing fire and to his feet of burnished bronze? The most obvious reason to refer to the appearance of our Lord's feet as though they were bronze is probably the presence of a thriving bronze industry in the city. The Greek word for bronze used here is unique to the NT–it appears no where else in Greek literature. Those who gazed into a bronze smelter and saw the molten metal inside may understand a great deal about the glory of the risen Christ who is the Son of God. The image points us to Christ's transcendent glory and purifying power.

God can preserve his people. While our Lord's words here echo Psalm 2 and Daniel 7, there is also another important echo here from the OT. When we add the image of a furnace with molten metal to the image of our Lord's eyes like blazing fire, there is a strong allusion to Daniel 3, when Daniel tells us of one who looked like a "son of the gods" walking in the blazing furnace with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo. This should remind the Thyatirans that even as Jesus preserved these three young Hebrew men in the midst of a Babylonian furnace, so too, he will preserve the Thyatirans in the midst of their troubles as well. Jesus is a Savior who knows full well how to preserve his people when they suffer persecution at the hands of God's enemies.

I love your love, but... Jesus first commends this congregation for a number of good things: "I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first" (Rev 219). They were doing the very things the Ephesian church was not. Their deeds of love are self-evident and through these deeds they manifest their great faith in the son of God. Over time, their works of mercy and charity for the brethren have actually grown. Unlike the Ephesians who needed to do those things they did at the beginning (Rev 2:5), the Christians in Thyatira were actually doing more now than they did at first. They were growing in their love for each other. For this, Jesus commends them. But a rebuke will now follow. It were as though Jesus were saying to this church, "I love your love, but hate your tolerance."

Provoking God to anger. "Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols" (Rev 2:20). As in Pergamum, Jesus refers to an incident in the OT to inform this church about the precise nature of their sins. Jezebel was the princess of Sidon and the wife of Ahab during the time the people of Israel were seduced into the worship of Baal. "In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him" (1 Ki 16:29-33).

Leading Christians to idolatry. Jezebel is barely mentioned in 1 Kings with Ahab receiving all the blame. But 2 Ki 9:22, 30-37 says that Jezebel was the source of the "witchcraft and idolatry" present in Ahab's family. Her fate is spelled out. She was killed when her servants threw her down from a window and her body was eaten by dogs. Therefore, the story of Jezebel is symbolic of what someone, a woman, was actually teaching in the Thyatiran congregation. This woman was leading Christ's people into the arms of the harlot, even as the original Jezebel deceived Israel into the worship of Baal.

Satan's subtle seduction. The Jezebel of Thyatira fancied herself as a prophetess of sorts–claiming to reveal the secret things of God through means of predictive prophecy. Likely, she was actively encouraging the Thyatirans to participate in paganism, probably that associated with the local trade guilds. These pagan practices involved sexual immorality and eating meat sacrificed to idols, which is probably a reference to eating certain foods within the context of pagan feasts. If Satan cannot conquer Christ's church through the sheer power of the Beast, he will attempt to do so through the introduction of destructive false teaching, depicted throughout Revelation as seduction by the harlot, whose end is depicted in Rev 18:9-11 when Babylon the Great is destroyed.

God's kindness and patience spurned. But even the midst of Jezebel's grievous sin, we still see God's graciousness on display. Jesus says "I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling" (Rev 2:21). Through whatever means–perhaps the preaching of the word, or through the leadership of the church–Jesus warned this woman Jezebel about the consequences of her actions. But Jezebel had not seen that God's patience and kindness should produce not complacency but repentance (Rom 2:4; 2 Pet 3:9). Yet she will not repent. She is still encouraging Christians to compromise. Not only will Jezebel not repent, the Thyatiran church has not cast her out, or spoke hard truth to her in love (Eph 4:15). Therefore, Christ warns this congregation in no uncertain terms that he will come to them in judgment.

Punishment to all who commit adultery. Jesus declares, "So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead" (Rev 2:22). As the harlot's fall would cast her llovers into grief (Rev 18:9-11), so Jezebel's fall will entail tribulation for her paramours. Not only does Jesus threaten to bring sickness and suffering upon this woman, he will also punish all those who commit spiritual adultery with her as well. Just as the original Jezebel was cast from her own window and killed, so too, Jesus threatens to bring death upon this woman and upon all those who continue to follow her now that they have been duly warned.

God searches hearts and minds. This threat of temporal punishment is not an isolated case in the NT. There are other such warnings. God struck Ananias and his wife Sapphira dead, because they lied to the Holy Spirit (Ac 5:1-11). In 1 Corinthians 11, we are warned of God's judgment upon all those who do not discern Christ's body in the Lord's Supper. Here there is the threat of temporal punishment for disobedient Christians who commit spiritual adultery. God does not do this because he is cruel or because he is a tyrant. He does it to protect the purity and sanctity of his church. Jesus himself says to the Thyatirans: "Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds" (Rev 2:23). This echoes God's word to Jeremiah: "I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve" (Jer 17:10). God will do what it takes to prepare a spotless and radiant bride for his Son. He will protect the church by whatever means he deems appropriate.

Satan's so-called deep secrets of sexual and spiritual adultery. There is yet another theological problem mentioned in this church stemming from Jezebel's influence. Jesus says, "Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets" (Rev 2:24), With these words Jesus acknowledges that there are faithful people in this church who have not listened to this woman and because they have not listened to her have not learned Satan's deep secrets. This so-called "deep secrets of Satan" is probably a metaphor playing upon the familiar phrase the "deep things of God," which this Jezebel probably claimed to be revealing to the Thyatirans through her self-proclaimed prophetic office. Perhaps among the deep things disseminated was the insight that bodily behavior is spiritually insignificant, so that those in the know could participate in idolatrous feasts, and even their sensual excesses, with spiritual impunity. They need not suffer loss by refraining from the guilds' immoral and idolatrous celebrations! She advocated an adultery that was sexual and spiritual. Her siren song sounds sweet, but in her chalice is the blood of Jesus' witnesses (Rev 17:6). Such a Jezebel was more dangerous to Jesus' servants that a military oppressor, because her secrets drive a wedge between God's people and the Lord. She was practicing a kind of proto-gnosticism and was revealing "secret knowledge" to people through her prophecies. But in actuality she was not revealing the deep things of God–she was revealing the deep things of Satan that led people astray, hence John's reference to the Satan's so-called deep secrets. But to those who have not been taken in by this woman's deception, Jesus says: "I will not impose any other burden on you. Only hold on to what you have until I come" (Rev 2:24b-25). Jesus' yoke is easy and his burden is light. All he now asks of his faithful is to hold on to the gospel until he comes at the end of the age.

One day those who overcome will rule with Christ. As in each of these letters, Jesus ends this letter with a final word of exhortation: "To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations–`He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery'– just as I have received authority from my Father" (Rev 2:26-27; 19:15). To those who persevere in the faith, they are now promised that Christ himself will share with them his messianic authority. Just as Jesus rules over the nations, so too, all those who are his will reign with him. To those Christians who lived in this small backwater town, and who may have felt powerless in the face of such deeply entrenched paganism, they should be greatly encouraged with the promise that they will receive one of the greatest privileges of all–ruling with Christ.

The greatest treasure of all. Not only to rule with Jesus, for he gives them something much better. "I will also give him the morning star" (Rev 2:28). In Num 24:17, Balaam saw a star emerging from Jacob, one who would ride forth from Israel and crush the Moabites. This star pointed ahead to a warrior-king, who will identify himself later in Revelation. In Rev 22:16, Jesus says, "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star." Therefore, Jesus not only promises this struggling church that they will reign with him, but that they will be given a deeper joy, the greatest treasure of all, himself.

Application. Jesus warns us not to tolerate people who claim to reveal secret things, and attempt to lead us into making unholy compromises with paganism, whether it be to get a job or because of a desire to participate in cultural and civic activities. While we must always be willing to make sacrifices in such situations and be willing to receive the scorn for being followers of Christ, let us never forget what Jesus promises us. Jesus alone possesses all authority. He will crush his enemies and all who hate him and persecute his church. He also gives us nothing less than himself as the morning star. We need no secret knowledge or prophecies. With Christ in our midst through word and Spirit we have everything that we need. "Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Rev 2:29). Amen!

Do you long for the morning star more than for any other "deep secrets"?

Questions:

1. How might this vision of Jesus alter your perspective of who He is (Rev 2:18)?
2. Is "love" something you feel or do (Rev 2:19)? Can you feel without doing and call it love? Can you do without feeling and call it love? What is "faith?" An attitude? A belief? A feeling? Is our "service" to each other or service to the world? How are you doing in the discipline of "perseverance?" How would God rate us in these four areas (1 to 10)? How could we do better in our weakest area and our strongest area?
3. Who was "Jezebel" (1 Ki 16:31-33; 2 Ki 9:22)? What sins did Jezebel's false teaching lead people into (Rev 2:20-21)? What are examples of false beliefs or teachings today? How important is orthodox teaching? Does God care that we believe and behave right?
4. Why does God blame the church for this woman's false teaching (Rev 2:20)? What should they have done? What would you do if your pastor (elder) started teaching things you knew were not congruent with the Bible? What did God threaten to do about Jezebel (Rev 2:22-23)? What did He do first (Rev 2:21)? What does this teach us about God? Was God gracious forever? Should you always be Mister Nice Guy? When should you not be Mister Nice Guy?
5. What are "Satan's so-called deep secrets" (Rev 2:24)? What does it mean to "hold fast" (Rev 2:25)? Are your small group members holding fast to what they possess? What are you doing to ensure that each member perseveres until Jesus comes?
6. What does Rev 2:26-27 teach about what we will be doing in heaven? How is this different from the notion of playing harps and singing in the choir? What does "I will give him the morning star" mean (Rev 2:28; 22:16; 2 Pet 1:19)?
   

References:

1. Johnson, Dennis E. Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation. Pillipsburg: P&R Publishing Company. 2001.
2. Sermons on the Book of Revelation. Kim Riddlebarger, Sr. Pastor, Christ Reformed Church. Anaheim.
3. The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Rev 1:1-20).
4. Christian, Listen Up! (Rev 2:1-3:22).
5. Discernment Without Love (Rev 2:1-7): To the Church in Ephesus.
6. The Riches of Poverty (Rev 2:8-11): To the Church in Smyrna.
7. Remaining True to Jesus Yet Compromising and Defiled (Rev 2:12-17): To the Church in Pergamum.
8. Keeping God's Word With Little Strength (Rev 3:7-13): To the Church in Philadelphia.
9. The Poverty of Riches (Rev 3:14-22): To the Church in Laodicea.