Revelation - The Church at Thyatira

History Thyatira stood at the junction of 3 main roads leading to Pergamos, Sardis and Smyrna. It was originally called Semiramis and then changed to Euhippa. It initially was controlled by the Persians and then by Alexander. In 301 BC it became part of Syria and renamed Thyatira. Named after the Strain ruler’s daughter ‘Thygater’. In Hebrew it is the same as Jezebel and can mean ‘continual sacrifice’. It was converted into a frontier fortress to guard the way to Pergamos. It became a centre for trade guilds. These were like trade unions. Membership was compulsory if you wanted to have a trade. They were well organised. Each guild had a pagan god as it’s patron and there were many feasts paying homage to these gods. The Christian tradesman had a difficult time, worship the god or not have a trade. Thyatira was well known for it’s production of dyes, particularly purple. It portrays the medieval papacy from 600 to 1500 AD.

Verse 18 “And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;” Title of Jesus This is the only mention in Revelation of the title ‘Son of God’ This is the centre letter of the 7 and here He asserts His power and authority. Brass and fire are symbols of judgement. Verse 19 “I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.” Good News Again God knows their works. Here is mentioned 5 things, works, charity, service, faith and patience, with works mentioned again. They are told that they are improving in His eyes. Verse 20-23 “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.”

Criticism Apparently there was a woman tempting the church to partake in the worship of idols and to eat food offered to idols. Notice, that their chief sin was to not protest against this. We hear the name Jezebel and think of a woman of the same name mentioned in 1 Kings. Married to Ahab. If we look at Jezebel we see that she was a worshipper of Baal. She sought to kill all the prophets of God. She was very cunning and obtained lands through ‘inquisition’. One particular story showing this is Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 21). He was falsely accused and put to death to obtain his property. This story ia a very vivid picture of the Medieval Church. In 378AD Damasus, the Bishop of Rome, took on the office of Pontifex Maximus (high priest) of the Babylonian religion, combining the Christian church with the pagan religion, which has never been separated. In verse 21 we see that there was an intimacy with false gods, instead of the One True God. We also see here the first promise of the Great Tribulation. Notice that unless they repent they will go through the tribulation, in other words, repent and you don’t go through it. There are 3 beliefs with regards to the rapture. 1) Those that believe the rapture occurs before the tribulation 2) Those who believe it occurs in the middle of the tribulation - 3 ½ years 3) Those who believe it is at the end. Verse 24,25 “But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.” Exhortation We get the impression that there are a few in the church that have not fell and that a few (remnant) will survive. We have here the first promise of His Second Coming. This is expressed only in the last 4 letters. In the first 3 letters we had the ‘Phrase’, then the ‘Promise to the Overcomer’, but in this and the next 3 letters it is the other way around. Was this because the first 3 are complete and finished, but the last 4 have still to be completed in history. Verse 26-28 “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star.” It was Jezebel’s wish to have power over all the nations, but here we see a contrast in that it is God who will give the power. The term “rule them with a rod of iron” takes us back to Psalm 2, where God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, are having a conversation with each other. The “morning star” is a New Testament title of Jesus, the morning star always shows just before sunrise, signalling a new beginning.

Verse 29 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” Phrase Here we have our phrase, but as mentioned earlier it is in a different place in the letter.