Seven Letters: Thyatira Revelation 2:18-29 “To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations ...” (Revelation 2:26)

The Wicked Bible (1631) Little things sometimes make big differences.

"To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead.

Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets (I will not impose any other burden on you): Only hold on to what you have until I come. To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— 'He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery - just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (Revelation 2:18-29)

Thyatira Thyatira, a very small, but busy commercial center and a seemingly prosperous city, was located about 55 kilometers southeast of Pergamum. It is known as a center of the indigo trade and home to many trade unions - it was difficult to make a living as a Christian in Thyatira without belonging to one of these unions.

The principal god of Thyatira was Apollo, known as the 'son of God' or the sun-god. Thyatira was a centre for making the image of the all-seeing eye of Apollo. Many scholars believe that it is through Lydia, mentioned by Paul in Acts 16, that the church at Thyatira began. Though Thyatira is the smallest of the cities mentioned in Revelation, the message to Thyatira is the longest of the seven messages.

Christ is revealed as the Son of God (the only usage of this title in Revelation), in direct challenge to the commonly accepted cultural view of Apollo as the son of god. If Apollo was believed to be infused with the power of the sun, the blazing eyes and glowing feet of Jesus Christ reveal to the people of Thyatira who is truly the Son of God. Christ is first letting the Thyatiran church know that their deeds have been seen - there is nothing, no matter how expertly hidden or secretly shared, that escapes the eyes of Jesus Christ.

The fact that Christ’s feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace connects us with the result of this impurity being exposed and stomped out. “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God … For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:26-31)  To the church of Thyatira, Christ comes as an agent of judgment, exposing sinful deeds and issuing judgment for those deeds and shapes how we read the rest of the letter.

Comparing the churches of Thyatira and Ephesus Ephesus: their activity has ceased to be motivated out of a deep love for God and for others, but they had remained pure in their teaching. Thyatira: growing in deeds motivated by love and faith, but they tolerated false teaching. Whereas the church of Ephesus was weakening in love, but faithful in uprooting false teaching, Thyatira was growing in love, but too tolerant of false teaching. Unloving orthodoxy and loving compromise are both offensive to God.

Like the Nicolaitans at Ephesus and Pergamum, Jezebel was urging sexual immorality and the eating of foods sacrificed to idols. In order to make a living in Thyatira, people had to belong to a trade union, but to attend the union was to become involved, or to be pressured to become involved, with the worship of idols and with sexual immorality. It was a choice between temporal wealth or poverty, earthly power or powerlessness, and eternal blessing or judgment. Apparently, Jezebel taught that it was OK to engage with the unions and that God would understand and overlook this. They began to minimize sin and their responsibility to address it, while at the same time individualizing their faith.

Christ’s command to the Thyatiran church is very straightforward. To those swayed by the teachings of Jezebel, repentance is the only recourse. Christ’s strongest language is not in regard to sin, but in regard to a reluctance to repent. To those who have not been swayed by Jezebel’s teaching, hold on to what you have understanding that it will require a distinct effort to hold firm.

Those who remain faithful will share authority on earth with Christ. Regardless of whether they chose to repent or not, the reality was that Christ was coming. Their choice however, affected the way in which Christ came: Repentance would bring about eternal blessing, shared authority and Christ’s presence. Refusal to repent would result in loss of witness and separation from Christ.

Some questions for reflection: Have we, as a church, erred too much in love that we have compromised in purity? To what, do we cling as a congregation? What are our non-negotiables? If Christ were to come today, would we be able to present ourselves to him as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless? How much a part of our lives as followers of Jesus is compromise?