The fourth church: Thyatira. Longest letter. Near the modern city of Aksaray. It was a busy trade center full of trade guilds (unions). To work, one had to be a member of an union. To be a member of an union one had to attend meetings containing pagan rituals and sexual immoralities.
Thyatira is the home of Lydia who was a seller of purple (actually closer to red in color than purple).
Thyatira is representative of the dark ages (606-1520). This was a time where there was no missionary outreach, the truth was persecuted, the crusades were carrying out atrocities in the name of Christ, the Bible was kept from the people (limited access and only available in Latin), the clergy used 2 Pet 1:20 to say that only the clergy could interpret the Bible, and great monuments were built to the church (the great cathedrals). The cathedrals may be examples of the later works exceeding the former. A key event to the end of this age was the advent of the printing press in 1450 A. D..
The wickedness of the leadership of the church seemed to reach its zenith of Pope Alexander Borgia (1492-1503) who was reputed to have bought the Papacy, twice arranged the marriage of his daughter for political reasons, annulling the first marriage when the politics fell through, having the second husband put to death, killing political enemies, and supporting his ruthless son’s ascension to power.
Verse 18
: Notice the description of Christ is one of judgment: the flaming eyes and the feet like fine brass.Verse 19
: Thyatira’s good points: works (labors), service (same root that we get our word deacon from), charity (love), faith (loyalty, reliability), and patience. Note that the works at the end are greater than when they started. Note also that Ephesus lost its love but would not endure false doctrine. Thyatira has love but we will see that they do accept (endure) false doctrine. Christ let’s us know that both are wrong.Verse 20-23
: Here we see the new testament completion of the doctrine of Balaam. In the old testament, the doctrine of Balaam eventually led to the Jezebel marrying a king of Israel and leading the nation into pagan bondage. From 1 Kings 16 and 2 Kings 9 we see that Jezebel persecuted, hunted and killed God’s true prophets. She caused the nation to worship strange gods (particularly Baal). She stirred Ahab (her husband) to do that which was evil. She was eventually cut off and the dogs ate her. She was never buried. The new testament fulfillment of the doctrine of Balaam sees many Christians going against Acts 15. Notice she is allowed to teach which suggests that her doctrine is taught as ‘gospel’. God gives her time to repent (compare to 2 Pet 3:8-11) but will eventually be forced to judge and those who commit adultery with her if there is no repentance. Spiritual adultery is the worship of any god other than God himself (I am of Exodus). Notice that not only God destroy this pagan worship but also any offspring it produces which could be any other variations of idol worship regardless of its name and form. God searcheth our hearts in judgment and will reward each of us accordingly.Verse 24-25
: For those who are not participating in this perversion, God puts no further burden except to continue doing what they are currently doing. In other words, to hold fast.Verse 26
: Again we see the battle of service. We are to fight the good fight (1 Tim 6:12) and we have a promise for overcoming in these battles. The promise is that we will rule over nations (compare with Mat. 25).Verse 27
: This entire statement is a prophetic reference to Christ found in Psa 2:9. We see the fulfillment of this in Rev 19:15. Compare with Isa 30:14, Isa 41:25, Jer 18-19.Verse 28
: What is the morning star? From Rev. 22:16, it is Jesus Christ.[ Peramum ] [ Church Age ] [ Overview ] [ Sardis ]