To the Church in Thyatira

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 2:29

Revelation 2:18–29 – The Book of Revelation: Worship. Obey. Endure.
Pentecost Sunday  – June 5, 2022 (am)

Do you remember being in the classroom when the teacher would step out for a moment? Imagine this. She’d say: Finish these questions on the reading. Then she’d glance at you and add: Keep the place in order for a few minutes until I get back. And she’d disappear out the door. There were a few seconds of deafening quite as the energy in the room invisibly began to swell. Then the silence was broken as the first spit wad splattered on the blackboard, followed by the first muffled giggle. Then from everywhere at once the room just seemed to erupt with adolescent foolishness, as if it were suddenly filled with some gaseous toxin that impedes all forms of self-control. And you were supposed to keep things in order! C’mon, you guys, settle down. You’d say it with half a voice and complete foreknowledge that it would have no effect at all, even on the few who may’ve heard. Then you said it once more with force but, nothing.

As you tried to think of what to do next, the activities started to take a bizarre twist, like you were having a bad dream. Three guys converged around one to finish off a playground dispute. A girl started flirting with the quiet guy across the aisle in a very inappropriate manner. The geeks began sabotaging IT equipment in creatively perverse ways while two thugs outright destroyed various other items, using them for purposes their designers never even imagined. Some of the activities were mindless. Some were deviant. But some were outright criminal.

And you were in charge! With a sick stomach you’d just look back to your desk and try to do some of the assigned work. And just as you did, the teacher returned to the room. Your eyes met. What were you going to say? You didn’t enter into the chaos, but you didn’t really do much to stop it either. You’d feel helpless and defensive and innocent and guilty all at the same time.

But, as it turned out, your teacher had witnessed it all by a hidden camera and microphone. She knew exactly what had taken place. And she’d captured it all on recording.

I believe this scene describes something of what the faithful believers in Thyatira may’ve been feeling as they first heard this letter from Jesus addressing the state of affairs in their church. Let’s listen in on His Word to them. Again, let’s look at this letter in four stages.

The Ascription – 18

Jesus identified Himself as the Son of God (18), a description that wasn’t used in the vision of c.1 but certainly could’ve been assumed as He was called one like a son of man (1:13). That description recalled Dan.7:13. And this one, where Jesus 18 … has eyes like a flame of fire, and… feet… like burnished bronze, recalls Dan.10:6 pretty clearly. So, these two together cause this reference to the Son of God to remind us also of Dan.3:25, where one like a son of the gods was seen in the fire with his three friends. Then these references from Daniel link in with the Messianic Psa.2 where 7 … the Lord said…, You are my Son; today I have begotten you. The primary function of the Son in Psa2 is judgment (Beale 1999 259), and v.27 here makes explicit reference to Psa.2:9. All this works together to help us understand Jesus’ introduction here (18) as that of a Judge, an all-seeing, all-knowing, just and long-promised Judge.

And this reference to feet… like burnished bronze (18) isn’t just part of the reminder of Dan.10:6. It’s also a specific point of identification with Thyatira, a bronze-smelting city. This would be like introducing Himself to Pittsburgh as having feet of steel. Jesus knows life in Thyatira. This is a commercial city with many trade guilds. Normally Rome frowned on guilds, but they allowed them in Thyatira because they were a useful supplier of different products to surrounding cities, especially to the Roman troops stationed in nearby Pergamum (Beasley-Murray 19941430). The problem was that each of these guilds had a patron deity. The feasts of the guilds were held in a temple and were viewed as religious occasions. The meat was offered to the god, so that [participants] shared it with him, and the occasions… frequently ended in debauchery (Beasley-Murray 1994 1430) of many sorts.

The Assessment – 19-21

You can imagine the problem this caused for the Christian businesspeople, like Lydia (Act.16:14-15), who was from Thyatira. All kinds of rationalizations must have gone on in their heads as they tried to figure out how they could make a living and remain faithful believers at the same time. And evidently there were some in Thyatira who were teaching that the guild activities were acceptable. After all, Paul had written to the Corinthians that, 1Co.8:4 … as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” He’d written much more than this, but what could it hurt to take part?

This and other verses, carefully twisted, may’ve caused them to become more comfortable participating in the guild feasts. But Jesus wasn’t buying it. His eyes… of fire saw right through it! He called the chief proponent in Thyatira, Jezebel (20), and He called her teaching, seduction—similar to that in Pergamum. This may have been a literal woman and her name may well have been Jezebel, but the image is more reflective of the wicked and ruthless wife of King Ahab (1Ki.16:29-22:40) who pressed Israel into the idolatry of Baal worship. And this had been going on for some time in Thyatira; Jesus said, 21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses…. He’s been patient. And like a Christian salesman today who might participate fully with his colleagues on the incentive trip to Las Vegas, allegedly just to keep his job, evidently such was life for many there in Thyatira.

Alongside these, however, were others. 19 I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. So, others in Thyatira were living, loving, serving, and faithfully enduring. In fact, they were growing! They were making it in this toughest of places! God bless these folk! May we be like them!

The Assignment – 22-25

22 Behold, said Jesus. Look! See here! I know what it used to mean to me when someone in authority said this! It means the same thing here! 22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works. This is probably talking about the ringleader along with the others who are advancing her teaching (20).

The sickbed indicates some form of physical suffering (Ladd 53) which is part and parcel of the great tribulation also mentioned here (22), an outpouring of judgment. If we take this in light of the other descriptions in this book, this is the wrath of God from which His people will be spared (cf. 3:10; 7:14). So, it seems here that these are, in fact, unbelievers. And further description is given in v.23: those who follow her will be [struck] dead, just like Jezebel’s children, the seventy sons of Ahab, were struck down (2Ki.10) in fulfillment of the Lord’s prophecy (1Ki.21:21). So, some will get sick and some will die (cf. 1Co.11:30). You just can’t delve into the deep things of Satan (24) without consequence! We don’t know exactly what this means, but it sounds much like the sort of secret, insider knowledge that blossomed into full flower with the rise of Gnosticism in the second century.

This is the same sort of so-called secret-insight, insider-standing with God, that lives on in what we know as New Age-type spirituality today. I’m really okay even if I’m living solely to please myself. After all, I’m God, really, and that’s the secret knowledge! I can do whatever seems right in my own eyes and claim it’s God Who’s drawn me into such privileged freedom, such insider knowledge.

Some may have called this the deep things of [God], but Jesus here calls it the deep things of Satan (cf. Ladd 53).

These are the ones who’ll be thrown… onto a sickbed (22), thrown into great tribulation, rather than [kept] from it (cf. 3:10). These are the ones whose followers will be [struck] dead (23). And the precision of Jesus’ outpouring of judgment will prove with clarity that He sees all, knows all, and is meticulously just (18, 19, 23). He searches mind and heart, and… will give to each… according to [their] works (23).

24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, and to all of us today, who do not hold this teaching, who steer clear of all this mess, to [all of us Jesus said], I do not lay on you any other burden, possibly meaning beyond the principles identified at the Jerusalem Council (Act.15:20). 25 Only hold fast what you have until I come. Endure until you’re safe with Me, by My calling you home or by My coming in glory, and you’ll receive all the blessing I’m about to mention using vivid imagery!

The Assurance – 26-29

The conquerors will be given authority over the nations (26), to rule them, lit. to shepherd them, with a rod of iron (27). They won’t be left out of secret knowledge (cf. 24). They’ll be identified with the Messiah, the One promised in Psa.2. They’ll reign with Christ (cf. 20:4, 6). The One with eyes of fire (19:12) will rule the nations with a rod of iron (not a tenuous rule [19:15; cf. Psa.2:9]) and these conquerors here (27) will rule right along with Him! He received authority from [His] Father and has purposed to share it with them. And conquering is defined for us here: it’s enduring until the end in the works (26) of Jesus, not the works (22) of Jezebel. It’s pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phi.3:14) until He returns.

These conquerors will also receive the morning star (28), another image tough to understand. But it’s likely related to Jesus’ announcing the dawning of the Kingdom. Later, He calls Himself the morning star (22:16), causing some to believe He’s referring to Himself here; He’s their reward (Morris 78). But more help might come from a lesser-known prophecy in Num.24, the final oracle of Balaam (cf. 14). 17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. This is the coming Messiah. He’ll rule over the nations, not just Moab but all the nations. When this star rises out of Jacob, the new age will have dawned; God’s Kingdom will have come (Beale 1999 268-269).

Also, though, the morning star is Venus. For the Romans that star was a symbol of victory and sovereignty; Roman generals built temples in honour of Venus, and Caesar’s armies had its sign inscribed on their standards (Beasley-Murray 1994 1430).

So, this also fits in with the image here. The truly sovereign One—not the Roman Emperor or Apollo (the chief deity of the trade guilds), both of whom were allegedly sons of Zeus, but the unique Son of the true and living God (18)—will grant Himself and His Kingdom to His faithful ones, and will share His rule with them!

O friends, 29 [You who have] an ear, [do you] hear what the Spirit says to the churches? Would you rather lose your life here and gain this one, or forfeit this life Jesus describes just to hold on to all that you’re tempted to value here and now?

Conclusion

This calling to the faithful is the same today as it was when Jesus first wrote this letter to Thyatira. Hold fast what you have until [He] comes (25). One thing is sure: Jesus’ coming is nearer today than it was then! Endure in faithful obedience; keep [His] works until the end (26b). Oh, yes, we say, I’m all about keeping [Jesus’] works until the end. But let me ask you—not to heap guilt or to doubt your honesty or your sincerity—what were, what are, the inclinations of your heart when the teacher is out of the room?

How did you act back then? How would you act today? Is it faithful endurance in the works for which you’re in the classroom in the first place? Or is it to seize upon a moment of freedom to indulge the flesh, or to blow off steam, or just to have a little fun?

Galatians 5 (cf. 5:1), among other passages, speaks of this gloriously rich and refreshing freedom that we receive in Christ. Do we use it advance the gospel or to satisfy self? Particular expressions of freedom that we can actually point to, did we engage in that freedom to proclaim the gospel or to enter into some level of recreation or self-gratification? Better yet, who is refreshed by our expressions of freedom? Is it others around us, or is it only we ourselves?

If we’re in the habit of using our freedom exclusively or primarily for our own satisfaction, rather than for loving like Jesus and proclaiming His liberating truth, then we’re already straying toward the seduction of Jezebel in Thyatira.

Right now, the Teacher is out of the room. But He’s not unaware of all that’s happening. He’s watching with eyes of fire! He sees all and knows all. And when [He] comes, will he find faith on earth? (Luk.18:8) Will he find us faithfully enduring in His works? Let me put the words of 1Jo.2 in Jesus’ mouth and deliver them as a charge: 1Jo.2:28 And now, little children, abide in [me], so that when [I] appear [you] may have confidence and not shrink from [me] in shame at [my] coming. 29 If you know that [I am] righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of [me]. Hold on—endure in faithful obedience!

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Resources

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Beale, G. K., with David H. Campbell. 2015. Revelation: A Shorter Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

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Carson, D. A. 1995. Personal Notes from 20-Part Lecture Series on Revelation. Waukesha, WI: Elmbrook Church.

                  , R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, and G. J. Wenham, eds. 1994. New Bible Commentary 21st Century Edition. Revelation, by George R. Beasley-Murray, 1421-1455. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.

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Hendriksen, William. 1940. More than Conquerors. Grand Rapids: Baker.

Ladd, George Eldon. 1972. A Commentary on the Revelation of John. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

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MacArthur, John. 1999. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary. Revelation, 2 vols. Chicago: Moody.

Marshall, I. Howard, and Donald A. Hagner, eds. 1999. The New International Greek Testament Commentary. The Book of Revelation, by G. K. Beale. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Morris, Leon, ed. 1987. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Vol. 20, Revelation, by Leon Morris. Downers Grove: InterVarsity.

Walvoord, John F. 1966. The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Chicago: Moody.

                  , and Roy B. Zuck, eds. 1983. The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Revelation, by John F. Walvoord, 925-991. Wheaton: Victor.

NEXT WEEK’S SERMON: To the Church in Sardis, Revelation 3:1–6