Rev 2:20 | KingComments | STEP | . Prophetically, this church shows the bleakest period of church history. In Pergamum, the church was under the protection of the world. In Thyatira, the church rules over the world. This is the period in which the roman-catholic church has conquered and exercised the world power. It is generally accepted that that period started in the year of 590 with the election of Gregory the Great as the first pope and has lasted to the reformation in the beginning of the sixteenth century. The pope has had such a great influence in that period that no king or prince could resist him. In this ruling church you see what the Lord Jesus calls in “the woman Jezebel”. The Lord Jesus addresses Thyatira as the Son of God. As the Son of God He is the foundation of the church ( ). That is totally in contrast to the roman-catholic church that claims that Peter is the rock and at the same time the first pope. Every next pope is considered to be the successor of Peter. As the Son of God the Lord Jesus is also Son over His house ( ). That is in contrast to ‘the woman Jezebel’ who acts as if the church is her house. In contrast to the evil of the roman-catholic church the Son of God presents Himself as the One Who “has eyes like a flame of fire”. That indicates His Divine insight with the capability to judge the evil. He will judge everything that is in contrast to His holiness and will do so by the way of perfectly clear righteousness, to which “His feet like burnished bronze” point. You have already seen His eyes and feet in chapter 1 ( ). . Although the situation in the church in Thyatira is a low point in church history, the Lord still sees here things that are commendable. His praise is even more abundant than the praise that He has for other churches. The reason is that because in such dark times the faithfulness of the faithful ones shines clearer. In the dark Middle Ages there was a great power of faith and commitment with little light with those who wholeheartedly loved the Lord Jesus. Examples of such people are the Albigenses and Waldenses who opposed the gross errors of the powerful church of Rome. The Lord speaks of “ your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance”. He mentions each aspect of their effort and dedication separately. He pays attention to every detail of the expression of their faithfulness. He can even say to them “that your deeds of late are greater than at first”. Instead of them succumbing to the pressure, He observes increase with them. . Then He has to tell them what He has against them. They “tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess” that “she teaches and … leads astray”. She represents the strange element in the church that does not belong there, like the historical Jezebel did not belong to the people of God ( ), but who got the leading role. In addition, she moderates to be ‘a prophetess’, that is, she claims to speak words of God. This is papacy all over. The Lord Jesus blames the angel for tolerating her. That is a great sin. It is tolerating what God hates. Jezebel “teaches”. That is what the roman-catholic church does: she claims to have the authority of teaching. The church system, represented in a woman (cf. ), claims to have the true teaching and that she cannot make doctrinal mistakes. She decides the teaching and life of her professors. From the claimed infallible speaking – the so-called ex cathedra, which is the authoritative speaking from Rome by the pope – she tries to seduce the bond-servants of the Lord and makes them commit apostate deeds. You see here that the teaching of Balaam that some in Pergamum held ( ), is taught by this woman, the church as a whole , and is brought as a deception. The leaven of Pergamum penetrates further in Thyatira. . The Lord has had patience with her for a long time. That long patience made the persistence of her malice all the more apparent. There is not only blindness and ignorance, but also a will that acts in rebellion against God. “She does not want to repent of her immorality.” She does not want to abandon the world. Exercising authority ‘feels’ too good. . Because she does not want to repent the judgment is spoken out to her and it will strike her inevitably. The “bed”, as a symbol of her sexual immorality and pleasure, will be turned into a symbol of sickness and pain by God. That God will “throw her on a bed [of sickness]” means in effect that He surrenders her to her corrupt ways. The judgment of God, however, doesn’t only come on the roman-catholic church. It also comes on “those who commit adultery with her”. This concerns all churches that pursue ecumenism with her. Also several protestant churches want to share in the influence of the politics of the world and are therefore seeking rapprochement with the roman-catholic church. This church will absorb them. The church system that will then arise is called ‘Babylon the great’ and will be judged by God ( ). However, for those who have joined her, without being considered to belong to them, there still seems to be an opportunity to repent of her deeds. . The “children” of Jezebel are the unbelievers who participate in the system and who are also responsible for it. They are the kindred spirits, people of whom Jezebel is the spiritual mother. They will be killed by the Lord. Each life will be taken away by Him. Through this judgment all other churches, that is the rest of professing Christianity, will know that it comes from God and that He acts with perfect knowledge. Possibly they may have been attracted to her teachings. Through the death the Lord brings there, they will see how depraved it was. The judgment of the Lord will be exercised by Him to the extent of the responsibility that each class had that belonged to Thyatira. That applies to the angel, to Jezebel, to her children and to those who have committed adultery with Jezebel. . Now the Lord addresses a remnant in Thyatira. As characteristics He mentions that they have not accepted the false teachings of the roman-catholic church and that they “have not known the deep things of Satan”, which refers to the occultism of that church. The Lord will “place no other burden on” them. He does not yet say here that they have to leave that place. In Sardis He will give them that opportunity. In the end time, in which we live, the call sounds: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues” ( ). It indicates that until the coming of the Lord there will be faithful ones in the roman-catholic church. . What the faithful ones have is not that much. Still, the Lord calls them to hold fast what they have until He comes. Thyatira, or roman-catholicism, will exist until the coming of the Lord, which is in contrast to the previous three churches that have had their time in the prophetical history and passed away. Thyatira will not be replaced by Sardis, but Sardis will emerge from it and develop alongside Thyatira. Sardis is protestantism that will continue to coexist with roman-catholicism. . Also in Thyatira the Lord has a promise for the overcomers. However, He not only speaks about overcomers, but also about keeping His deeds. His deeds are the deeds that were ordered by Him and are done in His power. Therefore there is mention of a twofold condition here. To those who meet that condition He promises that they will share in His government over the nations. Thyatira has ruled and they have not participated in it. Now they are allowed to rule with the Lord. Those who have refused to rule over the world during the absence of the Lord Jesus, will receive from Him the power to rule in the day of His glory (cf. ). . He who overcomes will reign “with a rod of iron”, which is a rod that cannot be broken. His reign consists of “rule”, that is guiding, keeping and protecting the nations that have entered the millennial kingdom of peace. His kingdom will also consist of breaking the ungodly pagans to pieces. The execution of that judgment is ascribed to the Lord Jesus ( ), but is also declared to be of application to those who have overcome in Thyatira. Each authorization of power granted by the Lord Jesus is the authorization of power that He Himself has received from His Father (cf. ; ). . As an extra reward the conqueror receives out of the hands of the Lord Jesus “the morning star”. The morning star is the Lord Jesus Himself ( ). It means that as an encouragement He presents Himself to them in a special way as the One Who comes for His church ( ). Before He rises as “the sun of righteousness” ( ), He will rise as ‘the morning star’ to bring His church into heaven, including the faithful in Thyatira. They will not perish in the judgment on Babylon. . The message to Thyatira closes with a call to the individual who has an ear to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. In this case this has extra significance, for it is totally in contrast to what the roman-catholic church says: ‘Hear what the church says.’ Here this call appears for the first time after the promise to the one who overcomes. In the previous churches each church was called as a whole. Now this call is addressed only to those who overcome. They hear the voice of the Spirit to the churches. The whole of professing Christianity cannot repent anymore. The Spirit is still speaking to the churches, but only of a faithful remnant, not of the whole, is expected that they will hear. Now read Revelation 2:18-29 again. Reflection: Which characteristics of ‘that woman Jezebel’ do you recognize in professing Christianity?

‏ Revelation of John 2:20

Message for Thyatira

Rev 2:18. Prophetically, this church shows the bleakest period of church history. In Pergamum, the church was under the protection of the world. In Thyatira, the church rules over the world. This is the period in which the roman-catholic church has conquered and exercised the world power. It is generally accepted that that period started in the year of 590 with the election of Gregory the Great as the first pope and has lasted to the reformation in the beginning of the sixteenth century. The pope has had such a great influence in that period that no king or prince could resist him. In this ruling church you see what the Lord Jesus calls in Rev 2:20 “the woman Jezebel”.

The Lord Jesus addresses Thyatira as the Son of God. As the Son of God He is the foundation of the church (Mt 16:16-18). That is totally in contrast to the roman-catholic church that claims that Peter is the rock and at the same time the first pope. Every next pope is considered to be the successor of Peter.

As the Son of God the Lord Jesus is also Son over His house (Heb 3:6). That is in contrast to ‘the woman Jezebel’ who acts as if the church is her house. In contrast to the evil of the roman-catholic church the Son of God presents Himself as the One Who “has eyes like a flame of fire”. That indicates His Divine insight with the capability to judge the evil. He will judge everything that is in contrast to His holiness and will do so by the way of perfectly clear righteousness, to which “His feet like burnished bronze” point. You have already seen His eyes and feet in chapter 1 (Rev 1:14-15).

Rev 2:19. Although the situation in the church in Thyatira is a low point in church history, the Lord still sees here things that are commendable. His praise is even more abundant than the praise that He has for other churches. The reason is that because in such dark times the faithfulness of the faithful ones shines clearer. In the dark Middle Ages there was a great power of faith and commitment with little light with those who wholeheartedly loved the Lord Jesus. Examples of such people are the Albigenses and Waldenses who opposed the gross errors of the powerful church of Rome.

The Lord speaks of “your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance”. He mentions each aspect of their effort and dedication separately. He pays attention to every detail of the expression of their faithfulness. He can even say to them “that your deeds of late are greater than at first”. Instead of them succumbing to the pressure, He observes increase with them.

Rev 2:20. Then He has to tell them what He has against them. They “tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess” that “she teaches and … leads astray”. She represents the strange element in the church that does not belong there, like the historical Jezebel did not belong to the people of God (1Kgs 16:31), but who got the leading role. In addition, she moderates to be ‘a prophetess’, that is, she claims to speak words of God. This is papacy all over. The Lord Jesus blames the angel for tolerating her. That is a great sin. It is tolerating what God hates.

Jezebel “teaches”. That is what the roman-catholic church does: she claims to have the authority of teaching. The church system, represented in a woman (cf. Zec 5:5-11), claims to have the true teaching and that she cannot make doctrinal mistakes. She decides the teaching and life of her professors. From the claimed infallible speaking – the so-called ex cathedra, which is the authoritative speaking from Rome by the pope – she tries to seduce the bond-servants of the Lord and makes them commit apostate deeds. You see here that the teaching of Balaam that some in Pergamum held (Rev 2:14), is taught by this woman, the church as a whole, and is brought as a deception. The leaven of Pergamum penetrates further in Thyatira.

Rev 2:21. The Lord has had patience with her for a long time. That long patience made the persistence of her malice all the more apparent. There is not only blindness and ignorance, but also a will that acts in rebellion against God. “She does not want to repent of her immorality.” She does not want to abandon the world. Exercising authority ‘feels’ too good.

Rev 2:22. Because she does not want to repent the judgment is spoken out to her and it will strike her inevitably. The “bed”, as a symbol of her sexual immorality and pleasure, will be turned into a symbol of sickness and pain by God. That God will “throw her on a bed [of sickness]” means in effect that He surrenders her to her corrupt ways.

The judgment of God, however, doesn’t only come on the roman-catholic church. It also comes on “those who commit adultery with her”. This concerns all churches that pursue ecumenism with her. Also several protestant churches want to share in the influence of the politics of the world and are therefore seeking rapprochement with the roman-catholic church. This church will absorb them. The church system that will then arise is called ‘Babylon the great’ and will be judged by God (Rev 17:1-18 ; Rev 18:1-24). However, for those who have joined her, without being considered to belong to them, there still seems to be an opportunity to repent of her deeds.

Rev 2:23. The “children” of Jezebel are the unbelievers who participate in the system and who are also responsible for it. They are the kindred spirits, people of whom Jezebel is the spiritual mother. They will be killed by the Lord. Each life will be taken away by Him.

Through this judgment all other churches, that is the rest of professing Christianity, will know that it comes from God and that He acts with perfect knowledge. Possibly they may have been attracted to her teachings. Through the death the Lord brings there, they will see how depraved it was. The judgment of the Lord will be exercised by Him to the extent of the responsibility that each class had that belonged to Thyatira. That applies to the angel, to Jezebel, to her children and to those who have committed adultery with Jezebel.

Rev 2:24. Now the Lord addresses a remnant in Thyatira. As characteristics He mentions that they have not accepted the false teachings of the roman-catholic church and that they “have not known the deep things of Satan”, which refers to the occultism of that church.

The Lord will “place no other burden on” them. He does not yet say here that they have to leave that place. In Sardis He will give them that opportunity. In the end time, in which we live, the call sounds: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues” (Rev 18:4). It indicates that until the coming of the Lord there will be faithful ones in the roman-catholic church.

Rev 2:25. What the faithful ones have is not that much. Still, the Lord calls them to hold fast what they have until He comes. Thyatira, or roman-catholicism, will exist until the coming of the Lord, which is in contrast to the previous three churches that have had their time in the prophetical history and passed away. Thyatira will not be replaced by Sardis, but Sardis will emerge from it and develop alongside Thyatira. Sardis is protestantism that will continue to coexist with roman-catholicism.

Rev 2:26. Also in Thyatira the Lord has a promise for the overcomers. However, He not only speaks about overcomers, but also about keeping His deeds. His deeds are the deeds that were ordered by Him and are done in His power. Therefore there is mention of a twofold condition here. To those who meet that condition He promises that they will share in His government over the nations. Thyatira has ruled and they have not participated in it. Now they are allowed to rule with the Lord. Those who have refused to rule over the world during the absence of the Lord Jesus, will receive from Him the power to rule in the day of His glory (cf. 1Cor 4:8-9).

Rev 2:27. He who overcomes will reign “with a rod of iron”, which is a rod that cannot be broken. His reign consists of “rule”, that is guiding, keeping and protecting the nations that have entered the millennial kingdom of peace.

His kingdom will also consist of breaking the ungodly pagans to pieces. The execution of that judgment is ascribed to the Lord Jesus (Psa 2:9), but is also declared to be of application to those who have overcome in Thyatira. Each authorization of power granted by the Lord Jesus is the authorization of power that He Himself has received from His Father (cf. Mt 11:27 ; Mt 28:18; Jn 3:35 ; Jn 5:22 ; 27 ; Jn 13:3).

Rev 2:28. As an extra reward the conqueror receives out of the hands of the Lord Jesus “the morning star”. The morning star is the Lord Jesus Himself (Rev 22:16). It means that as an encouragement He presents Himself to them in a special way as the One Who comes for His church (2Pet 1:19). Before He rises as “the sun of righteousness” (Mal 4:2), He will rise as ‘the morning star’ to bring His church into heaven, including the faithful in Thyatira. They will not perish in the judgment on Babylon.

Rev 2:29. The message to Thyatira closes with a call to the individual who has an ear to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. In this case this has extra significance, for it is totally in contrast to what the roman-catholic church says: ‘Hear what the church says.’

Here this call appears for the first time after the promise to the one who overcomes. In the previous churches each church was called as a whole. Now this call is addressed only to those who overcome. They hear the voice of the Spirit to the churches. The whole of professing Christianity cannot repent anymore. The Spirit is still speaking to the churches, but only of a faithful remnant, not of the whole, is expected that they will hear.

Now read Revelation 2:18-29 again.

Reflection: Which characteristics of ‘that woman Jezebel’ do you recognize in professing Christianity?