[Chapter 2-8] Letter to The Church of Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29)
(Revelation 2:18-29)
“And
to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, ‘These things says the
Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine
brass: ‘I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and
as for your works, the last are more than the first. Nevertheless I have
a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who
calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit
sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her
time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I
will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her
into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill
her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He
who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you
according to your works. Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira,
as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of
Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. But hold fast
what you have till I come. And he who overcomes, and keeps My works
until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—
‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron;
They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—
as
I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning
star.’ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.’”
Exegesis
Verse
18: “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, ‘These things
says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet
like fine brass:’”
The
wrongdoing of the Church of Thyatira was allowing the teachings of
Jezebel into the church. Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab, brought
idolatry to Israel and seduced its people to commit sexual immorality
and eat the sacrificial offerings to idols. By the description of Jesus
as having “eyes like a flame of fire,” God is warning that He will
rebuke and judge those who have wrong faith in His churches.
Verse 19: “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.”
But
at the same time, God said to His servant of the Church of Thyatira and
its saints that their works were better now than before.
Verse
20: “Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow
that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce
My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to
idols."
The
problem for the Church of Thyatira was that it accepted the teachings
of a false prophetess. By allowing a harlot, Jezebel-like false
prophetess into the church and by following her teachings, the hearts of
its saints ended up seeking after the lust of their flesh. As a result,
God’s fearful wrath was to be laid on them.
The
true church of God does not call those who do not believe in the gospel
of the water and the Spirit as saints. Nor does it put people who have
no Holy Spirit in their hearts in leadership positions of the church.
Because those without the Holy Spirit seek after their flesh and the
world instead of God, they can never be allowed and tolerated in the
true church of God.
Verse 21: “And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.”
This
tells us that those of the flesh who have not received the Holy Spirit
cannot recognize and hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. This is why the
false prophetess could not repent from her sexual immorality. As a
result, she was struck by the sword of the Holy Spirit and became doomed
both in the flesh and the spirit.
In
the true church of God, only those who believe in the Word of the
gospel of the water and the Spirit can be established as the servants of
God. Those who do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit
cannot, regardless of how excellent a pastor they might have been in
this world, become the faithful leaders who lead God’s children to Him.
We must therefore discern the false prophets and drive them out of our
churches. Only by doing so can the church of God survive all the
trickeries of Satan and follow Him spiritually.
Verse
22: “Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit
adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their
deeds.”
This
passage tells us that if a servant of God does not discern and expose
the liars, God Himself will find those who commit spiritual adultery and
cast them into great tribulation. The saints and servants of God must
realize that God Himself keeps His churches clean and leads them to the
right path.
There
is no room for false prophets in the true church of God. If there were
false prophets, God Himself would find and judge them. When confusion is
brought to the church of God by these false prophets, God will
certainly punish them with great tribulations.
Verse
23: “I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall
know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to
each one of you according to your works.”
God
casts out the false prophets from His church, so that everyone would
know that He guards His own church. The saints will find out that God
takes care of their church, and that He rewards their deeds of good
faith.
Verse
24: “Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not
have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say,
I will put on you no other burden.”
This
means that those who already have become the saints of God by believing
in His gospel of the water and the Spirit must hold onto their faith
until the end of the world. Those who believe in this gospel have no
other way but to live their lives by uniting their hearts with the
church and saints of God and defending their faith until the end. The
true church of God must not only always preach the gospel of the water
and the Spirit, but it must also expose the liars with the faith in this
gospel.
Verse 25: “But hold fast what you have till I come.”
Believers
must never lose their faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit
and hold onto it until the day of our Lord’s return. There is great
power and authority in their gospel of the water and the Spirit that are
more than sufficient to overcome Satan. The saints can please God with
this faith. If the saints live by their faith in the gospel of the water
and the Spirit and remain within the true church of God, they can
overcome and triumph even in the end times.
Verse 26: “And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—”
The
saints can overcome all their enemies by believing in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit that God has given to them. This battle of faith
is a battle that always gives us victory. All the saints will thus fight
against the Antichrist and be martyred in the end times, and as a
result, they will be given the power to reign with the Lord.
Verse
27: “‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to
pieces like the potter's vessels’—as I also have received from My
Father;”
The
Lord will give the martyred saints His authority of kingship. Those who
thus overcome will reign with a power that, as the passage describes,
is as strong as a rod of iron that can dash to pieces the potter’s
vessels.
Verse 28: “and I will give him the morning star.”
Those
who fight against the enemies by believing in the gospel of the water
and the Spirit will be given the blessing of realizing the truth of the
Word of God.
Verse 29: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
All
the saints can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit coming through the
church of God, because the Spirit speaks to all the saints through the
servants of God. The saints must recognize what they hear through God’s
church as His voice.
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