Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel....I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.
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. 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. 2:20-23)
The Bible sometimes uses women symbolically, rather than literally. For example, on a positive note, believers in Jesus Christ are identified as the "bride of Christ." But then there is the whore (in the KJV) spoken of in the Book of Revelation who represents a false idol, one who draws men away from the Lord:
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. 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. 2:20-23)
The Bible sometimes uses women symbolically, rather than literally. For example, on a positive note, believers in Jesus Christ are identified as the "bride of Christ." But then there is the whore (in the KJV) spoken of in the Book of Revelation who represents a false idol, one who draws men away from the Lord:
And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. (Rev. 7:1-2)
It is not impossible that the woman in the passage we are studying is actually named Jezebel, but it is more likely that the Lord is calling her by the name of that infamous Jezebel who was married to King Ahab, King of Northern Israel, because of the comparisons between the two concerning the usurping of authority that did not rightly belong to either one of them.
Let's look at that Jezebel of old for a moment, and the King of Israel whom she married:
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. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him. (1 Kings 17:29-33)
The first thing against Jezebel is that she was a Baal worshipper and caused her husband, King Ahab, to turn against the God of Israel and to worship Baal instead. Not that she had to twist his arm to do so, as he was already committing "the sins of Jeroboam: (I Kings 12) in worshipping golden calves. He further added to God's anger by raising up an Asherah pole; a wooden pole carved into the image of what they thought the goddess Asherah (Caananite goddess of fertility) looked like. These poles were often placed right next to the sacred altar of the Lord. Ahab was evil enough on his own, but scripture reveals Ahab to also be a wimpy sort of king (So Ahab went home sullen and angry...he lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat. 1 Kings 21:4); a condition that Jezebel was more than happy to take advantage of.
She wrote letters in Ahab's name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles (1 Kings 21:8) falsely accusing an innocent man who was faithful to the Lord, and causing him to be stoned to death. Besides this, she is even more well-known biblically as the tormentor of Elijah, the prophet of God, in an incident involving 450 false prophets over whom she had full control. God took care of the prophets, and also Jezebel in a separate event, in ways that left no doubt as to who the true God was.
So how does all of this relate to the woman in the church at Thyatira?
The Thyatiran Jezebel considered herself to be a prophet able to teach men; Ahab's Jezebel raised up 450 men to be false prophets. The Thyatiran Jezebel assumed authority she had not been given by the head of the church (Jesus); Ahab's Jezebel took authority on the sly using her indisposed husband's name and seal. The Thyatiran Jezebel taught believers it was ok to compromise their faith with acts that were specifically and clearly against God (sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols); Ahab's Jezebel did the same as wife of the leader of God's people (Israel) when she brought Baal worship with her by her marriage to Ahab, introducing pagan practices into the nation.
Even so, the Lord was faithful to the message that can be found in every book of the bible, both Old Testament and New: He gave the Tyatiran Jezebel much time to repent, wanting to see none perish. But the one who had deceived so many was still deceived herself, and would not repent. The Lord sent this letter to the church, then, to warn them of impending judgment on this false prophetess and on all her "children" and chastisement upon His own disobedient children.
There is a distinction made between those who are seduced by Jezebel and those who are considered to be her "children." It appears that these false teachings and practices had been going on in this church long enough for her to have "birthed" some who had never believed in the Lord at all, but had come into the church through this woman and had always only followed her teachings; versus the ones who had begun in the church with faith in Jesus, and yet been lured away into these abominable practices by this woman's deceptive teachings. As always with the Lord, the harsher judgment falls to those who lead others astray, who cause His children to "stumble."
But He is warning those who are following her to separate themselves from her evil ways and repent before that judgment comes or they will face "intense suffering" (chastisement from the Lord) as well. How patient and how merciful is our Lord to give us sinners time and time again to repent!
Yet, just as with the Jezebel of old, once His judgment hits this church and those in it who are deserving of either judgment or chastisement, the world around that church will know Who He is, and that He is the one true God who is able to "search hearts and minds" and repay evil with appropriate judgment.
How appropriate, for example, that the Lord declares that He has a "bed" prepared for this Jezebel, the one who leads other into "beds" of sexual immorality.
But as was mentioned in the last posting, the "thing" that the Lord has against this church is that they "tolerated" such a thing to happen in what was to be a holy community and separate from the world.
We will get into the other characteristics of this church in the next posting.
The Thyatiran Jezebel considered herself to be a prophet able to teach men; Ahab's Jezebel raised up 450 men to be false prophets. The Thyatiran Jezebel assumed authority she had not been given by the head of the church (Jesus); Ahab's Jezebel took authority on the sly using her indisposed husband's name and seal. The Thyatiran Jezebel taught believers it was ok to compromise their faith with acts that were specifically and clearly against God (sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols); Ahab's Jezebel did the same as wife of the leader of God's people (Israel) when she brought Baal worship with her by her marriage to Ahab, introducing pagan practices into the nation.
Even so, the Lord was faithful to the message that can be found in every book of the bible, both Old Testament and New: He gave the Tyatiran Jezebel much time to repent, wanting to see none perish. But the one who had deceived so many was still deceived herself, and would not repent. The Lord sent this letter to the church, then, to warn them of impending judgment on this false prophetess and on all her "children" and chastisement upon His own disobedient children.
There is a distinction made between those who are seduced by Jezebel and those who are considered to be her "children." It appears that these false teachings and practices had been going on in this church long enough for her to have "birthed" some who had never believed in the Lord at all, but had come into the church through this woman and had always only followed her teachings; versus the ones who had begun in the church with faith in Jesus, and yet been lured away into these abominable practices by this woman's deceptive teachings. As always with the Lord, the harsher judgment falls to those who lead others astray, who cause His children to "stumble."
But He is warning those who are following her to separate themselves from her evil ways and repent before that judgment comes or they will face "intense suffering" (chastisement from the Lord) as well. How patient and how merciful is our Lord to give us sinners time and time again to repent!
Yet, just as with the Jezebel of old, once His judgment hits this church and those in it who are deserving of either judgment or chastisement, the world around that church will know Who He is, and that He is the one true God who is able to "search hearts and minds" and repay evil with appropriate judgment.
How appropriate, for example, that the Lord declares that He has a "bed" prepared for this Jezebel, the one who leads other into "beds" of sexual immorality.
But as was mentioned in the last posting, the "thing" that the Lord has against this church is that they "tolerated" such a thing to happen in what was to be a holy community and separate from the world.
We will get into the other characteristics of this church in the next posting.
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