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The Book of Revelation 2:18-29To the Church in Thyatira Revelation 2:18-1918. "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze: 19. "I know your works – your love, faith, service, and patient endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first. Thyatira was a relatively small town known for various trade guilds, "including associations of clothiers, bakers, tanners, potters, linen workers, wool merchants, slave traders, shoemakers, dyers, and copper smiths." -1- Lydia, Paul's first convert on the European continent, lived in Philippi but was originally from Thyatira. She was "a worshiper of God," meaning that she was gentile who had converted to the Jewish faith, "and a dealer in purple cloth" (Acts 16:14). Christ's message to the church in Thyatira is the longest of the seven messages to the churches. The title Son of God, found only here in Revelation, describes Christ who is speaking to this church. This title is not even in the description of the exalted Christ in John's vision in chapter 1. There may be several reasons for its use here. First, it registers a protest against Roman emperors who often used such a title to introduce themselves in official letters as sons of their deified fathers. Caesar Augustus, for example, called himself son of the god Julius. Also, the local guild deity Apollo Tyrimnaeus was referred to as son of the god Zeus. John is saying that no one but Christ is the Son of God. Another reason is that it anticipates the quote from Psalm 2 at the end of Christ's message to this church. Psalm 2, a royal and messianic psalm, presents Israel's king as God's son (v. 7). The New Testament frequently applies this psalm to Christ. The additional description of Christ as having eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze comes from John's vision of Christ in chapter 1 (vv. 14-15). It is taken from Daniel 10:6, one of many references to the book of Daniel in Revelation. It is significant that Revelation makes heavy use of Daniel in view of the fact that both books contend with the issue of survival of the faith community in the midst of unsympathetic empires. In Thyatira, there would be a lot of economic pressure on Christians to conform to the accepted norms of the merchants. Christ praises this church for her love, faith, service, and patient endurance and because her works are greater than the first. This is the exact opposite of the word spoken to the church in Ephesus which had abandoned the love it had at first (2:4). The church in Thyatira was commended for its increasing works of love and service. Revelation 2:20-2320. But I have this against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet and is teaching and beguiling my servants to practice fornication and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her fornication. 22. Beware, I am throwing her on a bed, and those who commit adultery with her I am throwing into great distress, unless they repent of her doings; 23. and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve. In spite of the high praise that Christ had for this church, he also sounds a word of warning. In many ways the error here is similar to the error in Pergamum (2:14-15), even though different names are used. Whereas the church in Pergamum tolerated the teaching of Balaam and the Nicolaitans, the church in Thyatira tolerated that woman Jezebel. John loves to use unsavory characters from the Old Testament to denounce deviant teachings and practices that they represent. Jezebel in the Old Testament was the infamous non-Israelite queen married to the notorious Israelite king Ahab. To please Jezebel, Ahab adopted his queen's Baal worship and mixed it with the worship of Yahweh (1 Kings 16:31). The prophet Elijah persistently pointed out to Ahab and Jezebel their abominations and insisted on the exclusive worship of Yahweh. The story of Jezebel is narrated in 1 Kings 18-21 and 2 Kings 9. The contest that Elijah set up on Mount Carmel to see whether Baal or Yahweh was the true God is familiar to most of us. Elijah's question to Ahab and Jezebel, to all Israelites, and to all of us is memorable. He asked, "How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him" (1 Kings 18:21). John in Revelation was undoubtedly asking the same question when he brought up the name Jezebel. Except that now in John's case the contest was between the true God and Father of Jesus Christ and the idols that captured the loyalty of the vast masses of the Roman Empire. John uses the name Jezebel to refer to a woman prophet whose teaching he abhors. The issue was not that she was a woman. The presence of women prophets in the early church was not a problem. The issue was rather that this woman was teaching and beguiling my [Christ's] servants to practice fornication and to eat food sacrificed to idols, which is what the church in Pergamum was accused of tolerating. Apparently, this woman prophet in Thyatira had a leadership role among the Nicolaitans. We have already considered some possible ways that they practiced their understanding of Christianity in the context of a pagan society. John accuses the Nicolaitans, and now "that woman Jezebel," of accommodating the pagan culture of their world and in effect denying their Christian commitments. This is much like Jezebel and Ahab mixing the worship of Yahweh with Baal worship. This is religious syncretism, which means that bits and pieces are taken from different religions and mixed together to create one's own faith. The prophet "Jezebel" might call her interpretation of Christianity an enlightened approach to the issue of living as Christians within the context of a pagan, imperial society. John calls it fornication. Christ's warning to "Jezebel" in verses 22-23 is not actually directed to her but to two groups that were in some way entangled in her teaching and way of life. The first group seems to be those outside the Christian community who found her teaching attractive. To these people Christ says that he was throwing her on a bed, and those who commit adultery with her I am throwing into great distress, unless they repent of her doings. In other words, the bed of adultery will become a sickbed of affliction and stress. There may have been some pagan people in Thyatira who found the teaching of the prophet "Jezebel" attractive because she was not like other Christians, such as John, who wanted to draw clear lines of demarcation between Christian and pagan practices. They liked her idea of "let's all try to get along." But Christ's warning is that this way of thinking is not a sign of health but a sign of illness that will have grave consequences. Yet, there is still hope if they repent of her doings. The second group consisted of Christians who adopted her way of thinking. That's why they are called her children. She conceived and gave birth to sons and daughters, figuratively speaking. These people have completely adopted her ways. To these people the warning is even more severe and a bit difficult to interpret. Christ says, I will strike her children dead. Will Christ kill these people in the same way that Elijah slaughtered the 400 prophets of Baal? Here are three considerations in attempting to understand how Christ kills. First, in earlier passages we have seen that Christ's weapon is the sword of his mouth, meaning the word of truth that Christ speaks. Metaphorically speaking, Christ puts to death those who adapt to the ways of emperor worship, pagan idols, and the social and economic realities of the Roman Empire and consequently compromise their Christian convictions. Christ will see to it that this way of living will have no future. Christ kills a life of compromise so that a life of faithfulness to God's empire can become a reality. Second, in view of John's protest throughout Revelation against the violence that the Roman Empire practiced, as we will see in these studies, it is difficult to imagine that he portrays Christ as equally violent. In fact, it is Christ himself who has suffered violence on the cross at the hands of Roman authorities and therefore has become a slaughtered Lamb, as John will demonstrate in Revelation 5. Third, according to the statement in 2:23, Christ says, And all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve. Christ examines the thoughts and intentions of people in the church and brings them out in the open so that all the churches will know the truth. Christ seeks authenticity and integrity in one's innermost being. This sort of transparency cannot be obtained by wielding a sword and threatening a violent death but by the word of truth in Christ's mouth. Revelation 2:2:24-2924. But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call ‘the deep things of Satan,' to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden; 25. only hold fast to what you have until I come. 26. To everyone who conquers and continues to do my works to the end, I will give authority over the nations; 27. to rule them with an iron rod, as when clay pots are shattered – 28. even as I also received authority from my Father. To the one who conquers I will also give the morning star. 29. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches." Christ does not wish to make other demands on those who are faithful and have not been misled by the followers of "Jezebel," who apparently were claiming to have learned the deep things of Satan. There are two possible ways to interpret this phrase. It may be that Jezebel's followers have decided to participate in civic, social, religious, economic and political events of Thyatira in order to gain a platform to understand how Satan works and thereby make their Christian influence count for something. Perhaps they were claiming to be in the world but not of the world. How would Christians engage the evil structures of the world, they may have asked, if they retreated into a safe haven and isolated themselves from the world? John would agree that Christians are called to live out the gospel in the world, but in a much more countercultural way than the way Balaam-types, Jezebel-types, or Nicolaitans have accommodated themselves to the world of the Roman Empire and have thereby diluted the rigorous demands of the gospel. Another way to interpret "the deep things of Satan" is that John was using it sarcastically. It may well be that the followers of "Jezebel" were claiming to have learned the deep things of God, but John was using irony to refer to their learning as nothing other than the deep things of Satan. Now Christ makes a promise to those who persist in their faithfulness to him. They will have a share in Christ's authority over the nations, to rule them with an iron rod, as when clay pots are shattered. It is not easy to make sense of the images used here. What does it mean to rule the nations with an iron rod, and what does that have to do with clay pots shattering? There is somewhat of a complex literary history behind it all. Let us first note that these lines come from Psalm 2:8-9, which originally was a royal psalm. In this psalm God says to the king of Israel, "Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." The imagery in the psalm is that of Israel's king destroying other nations. One can readily understand breaking nations with an iron rod like the shattering of pottery. But how is it that in Revelation the verb has been changed from break to rule (this is also the case in Rev. 12:5 and 19:15)? In fact, the Greek word translated rule can also be translated shepherd. The change from break to rule goes back to the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures that was completed a couple centuries before Christ. Since the Hebrew verb could be read either as break or as rule/shepherd, the Septuagint translators decided to adopt the latter meaning, possibly because there was no longer an Israelite king or kingdom, with the result that Psalm 2 was by this time interpreted as a messianic psalm. The messiah will not break or shatter nations but will rule them as a shepherd. This change to rule/shepherd creates awkwardness when placed with the next statement about the shattering of pottery. John, then, was quoting from the Greek Septuagint rather than the Hebrew Scriptures. Christ will rule the nations as a shepherd. The word translated iron rod can also mean an iron scepter, a symbol of authority and power. But the power of Christ does not smash enemies into pieces. He rules as a good shepherd who has given his life for the sheep. As we will see in the final chapters of Revelation, John's vision is not necessarily that of destruction of empires and annihilation of nations but their redemption. One more promise that Christ offers: To the one who conquers I will also give the morning star. Christ is called "the bright morning star" in Revelation 22:16 (cf. 2 Peter 1:19). If that is the meaning here in chapter 2 also, it implies that Christ promises to give himself to the one who conquers. But the morning star may have another connotation here. To the Romans, the morning star was Venus, which symbolized Rome's victory as it conquered the nations of the world. "Roman emperors claimed to be descended from the goddess Venus. Roman generals built temples dedicated to the star, and it was a sign carried on the standards of Roman legions … Christ is the true world sovereign in contrast to the claims of evil world empires like Rome." -2- The morning star that Christ promises to the Christian who conquers is a sharing in Christ's victory over nations through self-sacrificing love. Discussion Questions1. Are there any idols in American society, seen or unseen, that might lure Christians away from an exclusive worship of God? 2. Should Christians run for political office for the purpose of penetrating the circles of power for the cause of Christ, even if it means having to do some "mud-slinging" in order to win a race? 3. If a nation decides to go to war, is the first duty of a Christian citizen to the nation or to Christ? Would you say that Christians who are pacifists (opposed to all wars) are the ones who most faithfully adhere to the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, particularly Matthew 5:38-48? What should we do if we sense a conflict between our loyalty to our nation and our obedience to Christ? Notes1. David E. Aune, Revelation 1-5. Word Biblical Commentary, Word Books, 1997, p. 201. 2. G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation. New International Greek Testament Commentary, Eerdmans, 1999, p. 269. |
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