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Churches of Revelation#3 - Thyatira
February 2006 • Chris Rowney
These messages are also available as audio podcasts at www.tcfnet.org.au/podcasts
“18 “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.
19 I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.
20 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.
21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.
22 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.
23 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.
24 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 (I will not impose any other burden on you):
25 Only hold on to what you have until I come.
26 To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations--
27 ‘He will rule them with an iron sceptre; he will dash them to pieces like pottery’--just as I have received authority from my Father.
28 I will also give him the morning star.
29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Revelation 2:18-29, NIV.
Seven Churches introduction…
Return to the first love
Endure through Suffering
Remain True to the name (character) of Christ.
Thyatira gets it all… their deeds, their love, their faith, their endurance of suffering.. and not like the ‘backsliders’ in Ephesus they have done MORE now than at first, they have deepened their relationship and activity with God.
BUT.. so often there is a but.. all is not as it should be.
The Bible you have in front of you (if you have one) probably says they ‘tolerate that woman Jezebel’. Now I am not at all certain that is the best way to word that thought… but before I get into that a sidetrack we must deal with.
JEZEBEL.
Some history.
“30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him.
31 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.
32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria.”
1 Kings 16:30-32, NIV.
Now it is hardly right to say Jezebel caused Ahab to be a wicked King, but she certainly didn’t help.. in some later events she killed as many prophets of the Lord as she could lay her hands on (1 Kings 18:4)
And threatened Elijah after he had the showdown with the Baal Prophets on Mt Carmel. (who were her ‘pet’ prophets)
“19 “Now then send and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.””
1 Kings 18:19, NAS95.
“1 Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.””
1 Kings 19:1, 2, NAS95.
NOW.. I doubt that the lady in Thyatira was actually named Jezebel.. but rather was like Jezebel in that she taught ideas openly opposed to the Gospel they had accepted at first.
Her teaching seems to have included being involved in the ceremonies that explicitly worshipped the false Gods, and also in some way teaching that compromised the ideals for sexual behaviour that Christ taught and modeled.
(i.e. Celibacy outside of, and faithfulness inside of marriage)..
BY THE WAY : - the reason God has such expectations about sex is NOT because God thinks it bad, or to be avoided (and so he ‘limits’ when it can be ‘done’.. Not because sex is somehow LOW in the things God created
But because Sex, the union, physical/spiritual/emotional that is designed to take place is very HIGH in what God created… and to treat it lightly, to treat it wrongly robs it of the holiness and beauty it is designed to create.
Anyway.. What makes all this worse is that the person, here called ‘Jezebel’ is not the leader of the prophets at an idols temple.. but attends and is involved and in some way given an opportunity to speak and teach IN THE CHURCH at THYATIRA!.
Now, her “opportunity” may not have been scheduled sermons on a Sunday morning, it may have been chatting to a group gathered over coffee at the end of the meeting, but the opportunity was there, and they “so the translation we looked at here says ;’ ‘ TOLERATED it.
NOW, I may get you confused with what I am going to say now, I may end up confusing myself but try to follow along.
As I said before, I am not convinced that ‘tolerated’ is the best translation to use here, and in trying to dig into the actual Greek word and what it ‘really’ means I have used all my thick reference books and still not been satisfied with what I find. Perhaps then, as now the ideas that attach to this word are varied…
The word comes from the idea of letting go, of leaving alone, but by the time it was being used in the first Century it could mean things like disregard, ‘forgive’ allow, permit, and even as strong an idea as ‘give permission for’ which far from the idea of disregarding implies giving approval to.
Why this issue interests me is because of the way ‘tolerance’ has assumed such a great importance as a value in today’s society.
Like my confusion about what exactly is meant here in the original Greek, is it merely the idea of ‘letting alone – not harassing – leaving to their own devices’ – or is it more, like allowing, accommodating, approving of?
For Thyatira, any of those is not good. Certainly the church should not approve of the idolatry and immorality, and BECAUSE IT IS IN THE CHURCH it should not just let it be either. The Church has a responsibility WITHIN ITS RANKS to encourage, expect and .even enforce ????? patterns of living that reflect the nature and character of God.
To look at Australia today.. ‘Tolerance’ is given a very significant place.
And to be honest that is OK with me! If we use the meaning of tolerance that is most at its root.
That of “allow the existence, occurance, or practice of (something that one does not necessarily like or agree with) without interference)
OR (from the Oxford English Dictionary…)
‘the disposition of being patient with the opinions or practices of others,
or even so far as Government policies go..
‘to allow to exist or to be done and practiced without authoritative interference’
I do not kid myself to think we live in a ‘Christian’ Country.. we live in a western democracy, with a history that owes a great deal to the church and to Christians who have steered much of the freedom and benefits we enjoy.
However, our society has many with opinions and practices that differ from mine, and I think ‘patience’is a good virtue to help in the relationship we have living together in our diverse community
BUT in the same way I am unsure from the possible USES of the word in Revelation, whether the Thyatirans went beyond that to the expressing approval of what ‘Jezebel’ taught and did.. SO I ALSO find that he USE of the word ‘tolerance’ in Australia goes beyond being patient with the opinions and practices of others, to approving them, then it moves from that to affirming them, and from that to celebrating them. And even finally from celebrating with them to participating with them in their chosen practices and opinions – ones at odds with those we now hold.
We can agree to disagree – in Romans the Bible says
““16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.
18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
Romans 12:16-18, NIV.”
Agreeing to disagree is a method of ‘living at peace with everyone’
BUT I don’t think it makes logical sense, or moral sense to somehow agree that our disagreements don’t exist!
It is no wonder Christianity, which should be seen as a bastion of patience and forebearance, is seen as terribly intolerant. – and thus guilty of what is becoming the unforgivable sin of modern society.
We can see this in the way individuals look at ‘goodness’.. wheras once the idea of someone being ‘good’ may have entailed considerable charity work, self sacrifice, achievement and so on… Now it often boils down to the sentiment
He’s a good person -> “He’s never hurt anyone”..
“He never did anyone any harm – “
Do you see the shift of direction, the shift of emphasis?
___
What accounts for the rise of tolerance to prominence?
I think when the shift took place from regarding as most desired someone who did ‘good’ for someone else, to instead saying of someone they ‘never hurt anybody.’
It shifted from active to passive.. it’s not what you did, but what you didn’t do that becomes defining…
Probably about the same time the phrase ‘do-gooders’ came to mean someone held in contempt!
When if you think about it isn’t ‘DOING GOOD’ the only way of actually having GOOD exist?
Anyway… Back to Thyatira…
While I am sure they ‘tolerated’ the practices of the society in which they lived.. showed patience to those that did now recognize God as God, they were wrong to tolerate the situation within their church family..
You might say it is harsh to be judgemental toward someone ‘in the church’.. but read on and find that this person, and her followers had been given ‘time to repent’.. God had been kind to them, and no doubt brought gentle correction at first, and more direct correction later, but in the face of unrepentant pride there seem to be serious consequences.
(As an aside, I think ‘those who commit adultery with her’ is probably just a way of saying those that follow her ideas..
WHY IS THIS A BIG ISSUE FOR GOD?.. Because it obscures the clear message content and reality of the Gospel.. of the ‘good news; of the work of God to restore us to friendship with Himself…
There is another phrase here that reveals something behind what was happening with the woman called “Jezebel’ and the people that were influenced by her.. something that is pertinent to us today – because we can read this and think the issue is ONLY about sexual immorality – sex outside the boundaries and plans God has for its practice and enjoyment… and so if we decide WE are not sexually immoral, or worshipping an ‘IDOL’ then we MUST be the ‘good guys’ and not those being warned by Jesus.
BUT something that was underlying the wrong teaching and practice is something believers STILL need to be wary of.
The phrase I am thinking of is.. ‘have not learned the so-called deep things of Satan’..
From the distance of 2,000 years it is impossible to say with certainty what this means,, but I suspect it is that the false teacher was attracting a following offering ‘deep’ teachings.. Things not apparent on the surface. The idea that you have to ‘really dig’ to know the true meaning of things, and that the special knowledge is the key to a more spiritual life.
The same sorts of things Satan has often used as an enticement.. Pride, AND Power
pride of being part of the ‘special group’
power that the new ‘deep’ knowledge brings,
the DA VINCI CODE has been a huge seller – and it deals with ‘deep secrets’ and the idea of a deep secret knowledge fascinates some people – who feel because it is ‘secret’ it MUST BE TRUE! (as an aside the book encourages the idea of sexual freedom as part of ‘genuinly’ understanding the truth of Christ!… much like the Jezebel in Thyatira!)
Other NT passages give us similar warning.. Look at these in the letters Paul wrote to Timothy (who led the church not far from Thyatira in Ephesus)
“3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”
2 Timothy 4:3, 4, NAS95.
If anyone comes teaching something ‘deep’ something that is built on stories and traditions (MYTHS) rather than the clear experiences of the people of God described in the Bible – then be wary.
If it appeals to ‘Pride’ (most of the Christians – church don’t see it this way – don’t know this – but when you learn about it you will be in the ‘know’)
If it appeals to ‘Power’ (this will deal with the problem you have, will get you this or that that you desire) then watch out –
Heed Jesus’s words and don’t learn the ‘deep things of Satan’.. ONLY HOLD FAST TO WHAT YOU HAVE…
At times we may feel things are hard…
Things must have been quite hard in Thyatira , because Jesus says that living in such a circumstance is burden enough, so all he expects of them is to remain true (as we saw of Pergamum last week).. to persevere to hold fast until he comes.
The Bible contains a three-fold set of virtues which Christians, which believers are urged to grab hold of.
1 Corinthians 12 talks of them as Faith Hope and Love.
Here in Revelation we have seen Jesus urge the church in Ephesus to regain and continue in LOVE.
Encourage the church in Pergamum to be FAITHful – to remain True to the name and nature of Jesus.
And here in Thyatira, he encourages them to have Hope. (you might wonder where the word ‘HOPE’ appears in this letter..
Well, they are commended in the beginning for perseverance – and in verse 25 encouraged to keep persevering.
Someone once defined perseverance as the FRUIT of HOPE - it springs from having hope that what is endured comes to a conclusion.
And Jesus speaks of that conclusion
‘only hold fast what you have UNTIL I COME’
TITUS 2:13 describes the coming again of Jesus as HOPE.
“13 while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ,”
Titus 2:13, NIV.
The New Testament believers expected that Jesus would return soon to conclude history – and ever since then believers have expected him to return soon – and we are meant to think that way – but like the Thyatirans – we don’t know if the coming will be a matter of years, or a matter of centuries – but in a very real way Jesus still DID come for the Thyatirans
Their Hope was not and is not in vain - and either is the hope that we live with as believers 2000 years later.
To close today – I want to pray that we will endure – and that we will hold on to what we have in the way of our relationship with God – especially against the challenges and dangers of being diluted that the pressure to turn tolerance into approval and approval into celebration and celebration into participation..present our faith and our Christian lives.
Please Stand as we pray…
