Thyatira, The Church Of Compromise

Revelation 2:20

"Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou

sufferest that women Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess,

to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication,

and to eat things sacrificed unto idols." 

        The longest of the seven letters is written to the least important of the seven cities. The problem which faced Thyatira, and the danger which threatened it were those which were universally involved in the position of the Christians in Asia. Thyatira lay on the road which connected Pergamos with Sardis and went on to Philadelphia and to Laodicea, than linking up with Smyrna. That was the road by which the imperial post traveled; and it was crowded with the commerce of Asia, and to the east of Asia. Therefore, first and foremost Thyatira was a great commercial town. Thyatira lies in the long valley connecting the valleys of the Hermus and the Caicus rivers through which the railway runs today; and it was its geographical position which gave it its importance.
        Thyatira had no special religious significance. It was not a center of either Caesar or of Greek worship. What, then, was the problem in Thyatira? We know less about Thyatira than about any other of the seven cities and are, therefore, seriously handicapped in trying to reconstruct it's situation. The one thing we do know is that it was a great commercial center, specially of the dyeing industry and of the trade in woolen goods. It was from Thyatira that Lydia, the seller of purple, came (Act. 16:14). Here was the problem at Thyatira; the threat came from inside the Church. There was a strong movement, led by the woman addressed as Jezebel, which plead for compromise with the world's standards in the interests of business and commercial prosperity, maintaining, no doubt, that the Holy Spirit could preserve them from any harm, from such things which the Christian must have nothing to do with.
        The letter opens with a description of The Risen Christ which has a threat in it. His eyes are like a flame of fire and his feet like burnished bronze. The description is taken from that of the angelic messenger in Dan. 10:6 ; "His face was like the appearance of lightning, and his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze." The flaming eyes must stand for two things, blazing anger against sin and the awful penetration of that gaze which strips the disguises away and sees into a man's inmost heart. The brazen feet must stand for the immovable power of The Risen Christ. A message which begins like that will certainly be no soothing tranquilizer. The letter goes on to terms of the highest praise. The love and loyalty and service and endurance of the Church at Thyatira are matters for congratulation. We must note how these great qualities go in pairs. Service is the outcome of love and patient endurance the product of loyalty.
        Then comes the condemnation of the woman Jezebel and all her ways and teaching; and one can hardly avoid the conclusion that she had very considerable influence in the Church at Thyatira. This woman is called Jezebel and, therefore, her character must be discovered in the original Jezebel than whom few women have acquired such a reputation for wickedness. She was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of Sidon, and the wife of Ahab (1 Kgs. 16:31). When she came from Sidon, she brought her own gods and caused Ahab and his people to worship Baal, and she left behind her a name for "harlot's and sorceress" (2 Kgs .9:22).
         All this must mean that Jezebel of Thyatira was an evil influence on the life and worship of the Christian Church. It must be clearly understood that she had no wish to destroy the Church; but she wished to bring into it new ways which were, in fact, destructive of the faith. The letter to Thyatira finishes with a series of great threats and great promises. Jezebel has been given all the latitude the divine mercy can give her. If she does not repent, she will be cast into a bed of sickness and her 
lovers, and followers will share her fate. This will prove to all men that indeed The Risen Christ,  "triest the reins and the heart." (Jer. 11:20). In Jeremiah the prerogative of searching the inmost thoughts of men belongs to God; but in the Revelation, as so often, the prerogatives of God have become the prerogatives of the Risen Christ.
        The promise from Christ; "I will give him the morning star. Could that be; that the morning star is the glory which will come to those who are righteous and have helped others to walk in the paths of righteousness? That is a soul stirring thought, and there is probably more involved in this promise; but we are quite certain that the correct interpretation is this. The Revelation itself calls Jesus "the bright morning star" (Rev. 22:16). The promise of the morning star is the promise of Christ himself. If the Christian is true, when life comes to an end he will belong to The Risen Christ forevermore.
        Amen!! 

Reading: (Rev: 2:18-29)
Ref: (BSB; HGSB)

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry