Letter to the Church at Thyatira

[JoeCanada]

                                                                              The Letter to the Church at Thyatira

The letter opens with Jesus describing a woman who is the temptress of this end time church. Who is this Jezebel and how does she tempt the church?

Jesus is making a connection to the historic Jezebel, the Queen of Israel, the wife of Ahab, and one of the most wicked women in the bible. Based on that, how do we know this letter wasn’t meant for a historic church in the first century, but rather is mainly for a future end-time church?

Jesus tells us in Rev 2:22:

“Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness and those who commit adultery with her into Great Tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds.”

This can only be an end-time event because the GT only happens in the end-times.

To understand what Jesus meant by the woman Jezebel, it might help to understand the meaning of the name of the city Thyatira. It’s a Turkish word and the Turkish equivalent of Thyatira means “graveyard on a hill.” This fits perfectly with the 4th seal and the rider of the green (or ashen) horse signifying death and thus graveyard.

It's interesting that in this letter to the church of Thyatira, Jesus describes Himself as the Son of God. This is the only reference to this title in the entire BofRev. It reinforces the authority of Jesus.

The antichrist at the 4th seal will sit in the temple of God and proclaim himself that he is God, and speak great blasphemies against Jesus’s divinity. So this struggle of Christ vs antichrist is the key to the 4th seal.

In Psalm 2:6-9, Jesus quotes this at the conclusion of this letter to Thyatira:

“But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain. I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.”

Here we see God saying He has installed His Messiah Jesus as King upon Zion and although the antichrist will be telling the world that he is God … God the Father is saying “No you don’t, you are not king and you are not God. My Son is and His inheritance will be the entire earth and all nations.”

Jesus applies this to the church as well:

“He who overcomes and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father, and I will give him the morning star.” Rev 2:26-28

So no matter how hopeless the 4th seal looks, the church is to know and be assured how the story ends … the saints end up in control.

Authority is a very important aspect of the 4th seal from a spiritual perspective. It may be its principal defining aspect. In Rev 13:2, we see Satan giving the beast his authority:

“And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority”.

The 4th seal is one of the four horsemen. God grants the rider of the green horse authority:

“Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.” Rev 6:8

God grants the beast authority over every tribe, people and language. And God also grants the beast authority to wage war with the saints and to overcome them. So when Jesus writes:

“He who overcomes and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations …” Rev 2:26

It is this same authority that was originally granted to the beast for the short period of 42 months.

By the 4th seal, which is the midpoint of the 70th week, many lukewarm Christians will have fallen away during the first 3 seals. The church at the 4th seal, though smaller, is now stronger in their faith and in their deeds due to the refining and persecution that they have already gone through. Jesus recognizes them for this:

“I know your deeds, and your love and faith and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first.” Rev 2:19

This is the exact opposite of what Jesus said in the first letter to the church of Ephesus. The fire of trial is refining the church of Thyatira.
Jesus does rebuke the church in relation to Jezebel:

“But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.” Rev 2:20

In prophecy, women are used as symbols to represent religious systems. The woman in Rev 12 is Israel, maybe Judaism. Jezebel thinks she hears from God and teaches a mistaken theology, and she leads Christ’s bond-servants by encouraging them to eat foods sacrificed to idols and committing acts of immorality. Jezebel is herself not the adulteress but rather she encourages believers to commit adultery. This is an important distinction. What religion encourages its followers to commit adultery? We know it isn’t Judaism or apostate Christianity because if they are unfaithful to our Lord, they would be committing adultery. Is Islam the logical remaining choice? Let’s examine the account of Jezebel in the Old Testament.

1 Kings 16:29-31: “Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel in the 38th year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria 22 years. Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him. It came about, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel the daughter of the Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and worshipped him.”

Ahab began to serve the Sidonian god Baal. Baal and the Islamic god Allah and Hubal, the deity Muhhamed worshipped, are thought by numerous scholars and historians to be the same god. Jezebel is a symbol for Islam and her name means “where is the prince.” This is a ritualistic phrase called out by Baal worshippers during times of the year when he was supposedly in the underworld. The phrase would be shouted to usher him onto the earth.

Jezebel also desired the vineyard of Naboth whose name means ‘fruit producer’. She had two false witnesses accuse Naboth of blasphemy and then had him stoned to death. This is a picture of the persecution to come when the antichrist will accuse the faithful-fruit-producing believers of blasphemy against Allah and have their possessions taken, and then death to the believers ….. 1 Kings 21:1-16
I

n the Islamic system, food is sacrificed to Allah, their meat is Halah and is slaughtered by butchers facing Mecca. All food eaten under the mark of the beast can be considered food sacrificed to this idolatrous religion.

The sexual immorality may be physical as Islam is a religion that accepts sexual slavery or it may be spiritual unfaithfulness as believers fall away and commit apostacy rather than face death.

Jesus will begin to punish the false system of Islam with pestilence in the 4th year as well. Rev 2:21-23:

“I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.”

Jesus has allowed Jezebel (Islam) time to repent since the beginning of Islams writing of the Quran around 609 AD, so about 1400 years. Jesus will throw Islam onto a bed of sickness and He specifically said He will kill her children with pestilence … this will cause the church to know that Jesus is the One who searches the minds and hearts. This pestilence will probably be supernatural in origin as it will specifically target Muslims …

Psalm 91:5-10:
“You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by day; Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon…… A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand. But it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the Lord my refuge, even the Most High your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent.”

Jesus addresses those who remain true to the faith. Rev 2:24:

“But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them – I place no other burden on you. Nevertheless, what you have, hold fast until I come. He who overcomes and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority to over the nations.”

Jesus makes the promise only to those who endure until the end.

A significant trial is coming …………………………

------------

Read these letters in the same order as in Rev 2 and 3

Read the Letter to the Church of Sardis next

Edited June 7, 2024 by JoeCanada

[farouk]

On 6/5/2024 at 11:04 AM, JoeCanada said:

                                                                              The Letter to the Church at Thyatira

The letter opens with Jesus describing a woman who is the temptress of this end time church. Who is this Jezebel and how does she tempt the church?

Jesus is making a connection to the historic Jezebel, the Queen of Israel, the wife of Ahab, and one of the most wicked women in the bible. Based on that, how do we know this letter wasn’t meant for a historic church in the first century, but rather is mainly for a future end-time church?

Jesus tells us in Rev 2:22:

“Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness and those who commit adultery with her into Great Tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds.”

This can only be an end-time event because the GT only happens in the end-times.

To understand what Jesus meant by the woman Jezebel, it might help to understand the meaning of the name of the city Thyatira. It’s a Turkish word and the Turkish equivalent of Thyatira means “graveyard on a hill.” This fits perfectly with the 4th seal and the rider of the green (or ashen) horse signifying death and thus graveyard.

It's interesting that in this letter to the church of Thyatira, Jesus describes Himself as the Son of God. This is the only reference to this title in the entire BofRev. It reinforces the authority of Jesus.

The antichrist at the 4th seal will sit in the temple of God and proclaim himself that he is God, and speak great blasphemies against Jesus’s divinity. So this struggle of Christ vs antichrist is the key to the 4th seal.

In Psalm 2:6-9, Jesus quotes this at the conclusion of this letter to Thyatira:

“But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain. I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.”

Here we see God saying He has installed His Messiah Jesus as King upon Zion and although the antichrist will be telling the world that he is God … God the Father is saying “No you don’t, you are not king and you are not God. My Son is and His inheritance will be the entire earth and all nations.”

Jesus applies this to the church as well:

“He who overcomes and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father, and I will give him the morning star.” Rev 2:26-28

So no matter how hopeless the 4th seal looks, the church is to know and be assured how the story ends … the saints end up in control.

Authority is a very important aspect of the 4th seal from a spiritual perspective. It may be its principal defining aspect. In Rev 13:2, we see Satan giving the beast his authority:

“And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority”.

The 4th seal is one of the four horsemen. God grants the rider of the green horse authority:

“Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.” Rev 6:8

God grants the beast authority over every tribe, people and language. And God also grants the beast authority to wage war with the saints and to overcome them. So when Jesus writes:

“He who overcomes and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations …” Rev 2:26

It is this same authority that was originally granted to the beast for the short period of 42 months.

By the 4th seal, which is the midpoint of the 70th week, many lukewarm Christians will have fallen away during the first 3 seals. The church at the 4th seal, though smaller, is now stronger in their faith and in their deeds due to the refining and persecution that they have already gone through. Jesus recognizes them for this:

“I know your deeds, and your love and faith and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first.” Rev 2:19

This is the exact opposite of what Jesus said in the first letter to the church of Ephesus. The fire of trial is refining the church of Thyatira.
Jesus does rebuke the church in relation to Jezebel:

“But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.” Rev 2:20

In prophecy, women are used as symbols to represent religious systems. The woman in Rev 12 is Israel, maybe Judaism. Jezebel thinks she hears from God and teaches a mistaken theology, and she leads Christ’s bond-servants by encouraging them to eat foods sacrificed to idols and committing acts of immorality. Jezebel is herself not the adulteress but rather she encourages believers to commit adultery. This is an important distinction. What religion encourages its followers to commit adultery? We know it isn’t Judaism or apostate Christianity because if they are unfaithful to our Lord, they would be committing adultery. Is Islam the logical remaining choice? Let’s examine the account of Jezebel in the Old Testament.

1 Kings 16:29-31: “Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel in the 38th year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria 22 years. Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him. It came about, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel the daughter of the Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and worshipped him.”

Ahab began to serve the Sidonian god Baal. Baal and the Islamic god Allah and Hubal, the deity Muhhamed worshipped, are thought by numerous scholars and historians to be the same god. Jezebel is a symbol for Islam and her name means “where is the prince.” This is a ritualistic phrase called out by Baal worshippers during times of the year when he was supposedly in the underworld. The phrase would be shouted to usher him onto the earth.

Jezebel also desired the vineyard of Naboth whose name means ‘fruit producer’. She had two false witnesses accuse Naboth of blasphemy and then had him stoned to death. This is a picture of the persecution to come when the antichrist will accuse the faithful-fruit-producing believers of blasphemy against Allah and have their possessions taken, and then death to the believers ….. 1 Kings 21:1-16
I

n the Islamic system, food is sacrificed to Allah, their meat is Halah and is slaughtered by butchers facing Mecca. All food eaten under the mark of the beast can be considered food sacrificed to this idolatrous religion.

The sexual immorality may be physical as Islam is a religion that accepts sexual slavery or it may be spiritual unfaithfulness as believers fall away and commit apostacy rather than face death.

Jesus will begin to punish the false system of Islam with pestilence in the 4th year as well. Rev 2:21-23:

“I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.”

Jesus has allowed Jezebel (Islam) time to repent since the beginning of Islams writing of the Quran around 609 AD, so about 1400 years. Jesus will throw Islam onto a bed of sickness and He specifically said He will kill her children with pestilence … this will cause the church to know that Jesus is the One who searches the minds and hearts. This pestilence will probably be supernatural in origin as it will specifically target Muslims …

Psalm 91:5-10:
“You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by day; Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon…… A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand. But it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the Lord my refuge, even the Most High your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent.”

Jesus addresses those who remain true to the faith. Rev 2:24:

“But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them – I place no other burden on you. Nevertheless, what you have, hold fast until I come. He who overcomes and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority to over the nations.”

Jesus makes the promise only to those who endure until the end.

A significant trial is coming …………………………

------------

Read these letters in the same order as in Rev 2 and 3

Read the Letter to the Church of Sardis next

Hi @JoeCanada I alwasys think it's interesting that 'Lydia, whose heart the Lord opened' (Acts 16) was from Thyatira.