7 Churches of Revelation: Thyatira   

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe 

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 beguile My servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat things sacrificed to idols. 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. And 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. But to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, and who have not known the depths of Satan, as they call them, 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; as the potter's vessels shall be broken to pieces' 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.'' '  

Thyatira was a wealthy trading town. The temple to the god Apollo (son of Zeus). Apollo was the god of the sun, healing and music. The city was famous for its purple dye. Lydia was from Thyatira. Acts 16: 14-15: “Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.'' And she constrained us.” 

God criticizes this church in the city for allowing a woman, who is given the symbolic name Jezebel, to teach false doctrine to believers (Revelation 2:20 - 23).  Thyatira was famous for its textiles, especially the production of purple dye and its trade guilds. Every worker in the textile industry was supposed to join a trade guild.  Each trade guild was dedicated to a pagan god. Joining meant participation in the guild feasts that included eating food dedicated to the various gods, immoral acts and the worship of idols. 

 The real life Jezebel was the wife of King Ahab, considered the most evil king of ancient Israel. Jezebel herself is considered one of the most evil people in all of Scripture. Her sins ultimately caught up with her when, years after her husband's death, King Jehu of Israel commanded that she be killed by being tossed out of a window (2Kings 9:30 -33)! Her notorious life earned her the spot as the fifth most mentioned woman in the entirety of the Bible and symbolic of the sins committed in Thyatira! 

Sometimes the pressure of “fitting in” with the world is overwhelming, but we are to stand firm in our faith, trusting God to provide and to take care of us. We are also to stand firm on the truth of God’s Word and not tolerate those who disregard and distort it. The weapon the distorters most often use is fear. 

We see the mercy of God in this passage.  God gives the one who is teaching false doctrine time to repent.  If the false teacher does not repent, he or she and all those who are following the false doctrine will suffer the consequences of the false teaching. 

 

The spirit of Jezebel is not confined to women. Among the idols of today are: money, popularity, possessions, the universe, nature, Buddhism, Hinduism, self. 

 

Revelation 22: 16.  "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.'' 

When we hold fast to truth, all the promises of God are ours through the covenant we have with the Father through the sacrifice of His Son. 

 7 Fruits of Israel: Figs 

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe  

Deuteronomy 8: 7-8 "For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and date honey.”  

The fig tree is a symbol of God’s people. First, it is a symbol of Israel and because we Christians are grafted in (Romans 11), the message applies to us as well. 

The fig tree ripens three or four times a year. Therefore, it becomes a symbol of persistence.

Jesus said that He would build His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)

In Luke 13, Jesus told a parable concerning the fig tree. Luke 13: 6. “He also spoke this parable: "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. "Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, `Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?'  But he answered and said to him, `Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.  `And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.' '' 

This parable of a barren fig tree illustrates a God’s patience, mercy and encouragement in enabling us to bear spiritual truth. He is patient and grants us time to change, to repent and bear fruit. If we are not fruit bearers, we are doing nothing to advance the Kingdom. 

Many are confused by Jesus' action in Matthew 21:18-19: “Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again.'' And immediately the fig tree withered away.” The incident illustrates what James shared in James 2:17: “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”  

 God has spoken the same truth through the prophet Jeremiah. Though the message was specifically given to Israel before the Babylonian captivity, it resonates with us today. Jeremiah 24:1-10: “The Lord showed me, and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten, they were so bad.''  Then the Lord said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?'' And I said, "Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad.''  

“Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: `Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good, into the land of the Chaldeans.  `For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. `Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.  `And as the bad figs which cannot be eaten, they are so bad' surely thus says the Lord `so will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, the residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt.  `I will deliver them to trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth, for their harm, to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them. `And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they are consumed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.' “ 

This is a time for honest self-reflection. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:31 “1.  For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.” Each of us must ask the question, in which basket am I?” 

 7 Churches of Revelation:  Pergamum

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe 

Revelation 2: 12-17:  "And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, `These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword:  "I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.   `Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.''  

Pergamum was an important city in the ancient world.  Parchment was first developed in Pergamum.  Two of the most prominent pagan temples were built for Zeus, the king of the gods and Athena, the goddess of wisdom.  Satan’s throne refers to the people's practice of ungodly activities.  The Christians in Pergamum had, for the most part resisted those practices even in the face of the martyrdom of the faithful Antipas.   

However, the Pergamum Christians had, like the Nicolaitans, accepted some worldly practices under the assumption that since we are under grace rather than the law, we can do whatever we want.  Sex outside of marriage, divorce and alternate life styles are three that are widely accepted in Christian circles today.  While we are aware of these things, some have come into our lives more subtlety. 

Idolatry is always selfworship. Idolatry is the practice of trying to get God, the gods, nature, and/or the universe to arrange things in our favor.  It is the practice of trying to place ourselves in control. Consider good luck charms, horoscopes, looking for signs, reading of cards, rituals, etc.  

 

We must repent (change our way of thinking) about these things.  God comes against these things with the sword of His mouth, with His word.  The word of God is our most powerful weapon against the things of Satan. We must know the Word, both to know what God wants for us because what He wants will prosper us and to know what God wants us to avoid because those things will cause us misery, pain and defeat. 

John 10:10-11:  "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”