B. The Teaching and Practice of Jezebel
1. The Persistent Teaching of Balaam. Someone in this church was teaching the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, the doctrine of Balaam. Jesus does not name this doctrine here, but He does describe the contents of that teaching. It is the same old problem that invaded so many churches in the idolatrous province of Asia, It involved committing fornication and worshiping idols. One big difference here is that the one who was teaching this to the Christians was herself a member of the church, or at least she was allowed to come into the church to teach her abominable practices. Was she given an active role in the church? Was she a Bible class teacher? Was she recognized by the church as a prophetess? I don't know, but I doubt that she was any of these things. The letter says that she called herself a prophetess. This seems to indicate that she was not officially recognized as a prophetess by the church. I have known women like that, self styled prophetesses who stirred up trouble in the congregation.
2. The Woman in Thyatira Called Jezebel. This self-styled prophetess was called Jezebel. I doubt that this was her real name. It is used in much the same way that we use it today. People often call a woman a Jezebel who makes a practice of seducing men, especially the husbands of other women. That is what this woman did in Thyatira. She seduced the men in that congregation to commit fornication with her, and to eat the sacrifices made to idols. She may have been one of the priestesses or temple prostitutes at one of the local idolatrous temples. In any case, she was a tool of Satan to corrupt the church in Thyatira.
The original Jezebel was the queen of the northern kingdom of Israel, the wife of King Ahab. This kingdom had worshiped idols from its beginning. Jezebel, being a high priestess of Baal, was the main influence in idol worship in the days of King Ahab. She seduced people to commit fornication and worship idols. Read the story of Ahab and Jezebel in 1 and 2 Kings. Jezebel was an appropriate name to call this woman in Thyatira.
C. Applicaction of the Descripion of Jeus to This Church
1. The Flaming Eyes of Jesus. Jesus ties the letter to the description of the vision of Christ in the first chapter. He begins this letter by saying, "These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass." Why does he refer to these characteristics? Because they needed to know of His ability to see into their hearts and know its condition. He has eyes that can pierce into the very secret places and know the intents and motivations of each person's heart.
Jesus wants all the churches to know that He is the one who searches the minds and hearts. He is able to give to each one punishments or rewards according to the works of each. There is no miscarriage of justice with Him because He knows exactly what is what. In chapter 5 Jesus is pictured as a Lamb with seven eyes. The seven eyes stand for perfect sight or perfect knowledge and understanding. There is nothing He does not see or know.
2. The Gleaming Feet of Jesus. Secondly, He refers to His feet which are like highly polished bronze, the symbol of His beauty and glory. He will be glorified in His church, either through the righteous deeds of the saints, or else through His righteous judgments upon them.
D. The Judgment of Jezebel and Her Consorts
Notice the righteous judgments of Christ upon Jezebel and upon those she has seduced. The God of all mercy even gave the woman called Jezebel time to repent, but she refused.
1. Jezebel to be Cast into a Sickbed. This is a play upon the fact that the tool of a prostitute is a bed. Her bed was to be turned against her. It was to become a bed of sickness and suffering for her.
2. Her Children to be Killed with Death. Death is probably a reference to pestilence, such as the black death or bubonic plague. This term (death) was often used to indicate death-dealing pestilence. The children of Jezebel, possibly the offspring of her abominable practices, would suffer death, perhaps from the same sickness that was to afflict the woman herself.
3. Great Tribulation and Suffering upon Her Consorts. Those who participated with her were to suffer tribulation unless they repented. What was the tribulation? I don't know. Maybe they would suffer from some dreadful venereal disease which they caught from the woman. Whatever it was, it was a just judgment.
4. Destruction from God's Presence (2 Thess. 1:8-9). There would also be eternal consequences-eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of God. There was only one way for them to escape these consequences. That is through genuine repentance. This is something often accompanied by weeping and loud cries of pleading. It takes a strong emotional upheaval to affect a true change of life. God loves a broken and contrite heart. He is always willing to hear and have mercy on the truly penitent. There is forgiveness in abundance because of the blood shed by Christ on the cross, but, "except you repent you will perish" (Luke 13:3, 5).
E. Rewards of the Faithful
1. Not Everyone in this Church under Condemnation. Like Pergamum, the majority of the church was not involved with this practice; many were faithful-so faithful, in fact, that Jesus commended them for their works, love, faith, service and patience. Not only that, but their works were increasing. The latter were more than the former. The works here were not a mere formality, the result of legalistic duty. Their works were the service of love. Service is another term related to works. I think it is interesting that Jesus refers to their works in these three ways-works, service, and more or greater works.
2. Admonition to the Faithful. Jesus has words of admonition for these faithful also. They are the ones who were not drawn into this doctrine of Balaam. They had not participated in the fornication or idol worship. They had not even tacitly approved of it. They were the ones who haven't become acquainted with the depths of such Satanic evil, but had kept themselves separate from such things. These were the ones holding fast to Christ and His work until He returns. He would not put any greater burdens upon them than what they were already bearing. Instead they would share in the rewards of faithfulness. Two things are mentioned as rewards for the faithful:
First, they will receive great power to rule over nations. The passage does not say exactly how this will play out. There are many ideas that people have about this. I have my own, but that remains for the examination of later passages.
Second, they will be given the Morning Star. I have capitalized Morning Star, because in Rev. 22:16 Jesus calls Himself the Bright and Morning Star. What greater reward could a lover of Jesus have than to possess Him as an ever present friend and companion, to be able to look upon and embrace Him who loves us and redeemed us with His own precious blood?
F. Words for You and Me
In this letter, Jesus addresses you and me, i.e., whoever has an ear to hear. Do you see how you and your church might fit into this picture? Is Jesus addressing "the things that exist" in your church? Are there idolatrous practices among the members, such as covetousness and materialism? Are there sexually immoral practices? There are churches which condone or put up with such things in our day. Is yours one of them? For many of us there is a lot to think about and to repent of. There are three more letters written to the churches, including yours. Will they help us to realize a greater burden of repentance? We will see as we read the rest of the letters.
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