- Destination is Thyatira
- Means "continual or perpetual sacrifice" (Fruchtenbaum) or "odor of affliction" (Enhanced Strong's Lexicon)
- Note: modern name is Ak-hissar, i.e., "white castle"
- Longest message and probably the smallest church
- The town boasted a special temple to Apollos, the "sun god," son of Zeus
- The local god was Tyrimnas who worshippers said was a son of the gods. He is pictured in coins as a warrior riding a horse and wielding a double-edged battle axe in judgment
- A military town and a commercial trade center
- A lot of trades guilds which usually also meant idolatry and immorality … more guilds are known in Thyatira than any other contemporary city in the Roman province of Asia (inscriptions mention the following: wool-workers, linen-workers, makers of outer garments, dyers, leather-workers, tanners, potters, bakers, slave-dealers, and bronze-smiths)
- Required to sacrifice to the patron god of the guild
- Required to participate in the pagan practices (orgies)
- Refusal to participate in guild, could not work there (not a right-to-work area)
- Lydia, a business woman who was a dealer in purple cloth, was from Thyatira. The city was known for dying cloth. Paul met Lydia in Philippi. She was the first convert in Europe. Lydia was a Jewish proselyte. Her ability to put up Paul in her home suggested she was wealthy as well
- What is the point of the description of Jesus, the Son of God, eyes like blazing fire, and feet like burnished bronze?
- Use of title "Son of God" conveys the idea of Jesus' deity (and in direct contrast to the sons of gods in Thyatira) and right to Judge
- Blazing eyes suggest discernment and severe judgment (God can see our sins, we cannot fool him)
- Burnished bronze suggests steadfastness (We have to remain steadfast with truth; local culture does not override truth. Especially true in regard to homosexuality today)
- What do we learn about the church from the commendations?
- Love and faith -- care for others; trust in God
- Service and perseverance -- works despite the results
- Doing more now than before -- good works were increasing
- What do we learn from the condemnation?
- It is very lengthy (also longest period of time) in comparison to the others (only Laodicea is worse), so this would not be a high point in church history
- Emphasis is on Jezebel, who is she and why?
- Some scholars do not think there was a real person Jezebel. The name is Phoenician and the people has disappeared
- Some think the unlikelihood of a specific person gives more weight to the historical-prophetic interpretation
- When a woman is used symbolically in scripture, she represents a religious entity, positive or negative
- True of Israel as wife of Jehovah, Church as bride of the Messiah, and the Great Harlot
- Other possibility is Jezebel of the OT
- While Jeroboam brought back the calf worship, he corrupted the true religion
- Jezebel brought an entirely new system with new gods and system of worship
- Therefore, someone was encouraging the believers to add the local ideas of worship and guild practices to their Christian worship
- Warning is that God will strike her children dead
- The exhortation is to whom and about what?
- To those not a part of Jezebel (this religion) and not an adherent to Satan's so-called deep secrets
- There is only one obligation, to hold fast (to what is true). Which was apparently quite difficult during the dark ages
- The promise is "authority over the nations and the bright morning star" and what does it mean "do my will to the end?"
- To continue to do God's will even when it is not popular, even religiously popular
- Authority denotes positions of responsibility in the millennial kingdom
- The bright morning star is Jesus. They will possess Jesus, which is true faith
- For the purpose of the historical-prophetic interpretation, Thyatira is the "Church of the Dark Ages" and covers the period of AD 600-1517
- Meaning of word is reflective of the Roman Catholic doctrine of continual sacrifice in Mass (transubstantiation where the bread and wine become the real body and blood of Jesus Christ)
- For a long time, the laity was only given the bread for fear that they would spill the blood
- Consequently, there was a distinction between the clergy and the laity
- Church was known for good works, but good works began to drive the church
- Like Jezebel introducing false worship. Roman Catholic church mixed paganism in to create a new system
- Justification by works -- not simply by grace through faith
- Baptismal regeneration -- saved by baptism
- Worship of images
- Celibacy
- Confessionals
- Purgatory
- Transubstantiation
- Indulgences
- Penance
- Mariolatry
- Being thrown into the great tribulation could mean that the church (as a majority) will not escape the tribulation, or that something will incapacitate her
- This church age ended with repeated attacks of the black plague, beginning in the mid 1400's and continuing through the 1500's
- Usually "deep secrets" refer to Gnosticism. There are some Catholic orders that might fall into this bin
- APPLICATION: Don't mix modern cultural norms and worldly wisdom with the truth of God's word. Living together before marriage, homosexual marriage, rudeness and incivility as a way of life (think TV show "House")
- Be wary of people who talked about secret things of God
- Be wary of doctrine that has no basis in scripture, especially if it is only based on tradition
- Destination is Sardis and means "remnant" or "those escaping"
- City was built on a mountain, and it was an impenetrable fortress (acropolis)
- Patron god of the city was Cybele, an Asian mother-goddess
- She could raise the dead
- She was worshipped as the mother of all life and gods
- Worship included immoral practices
- A very luxurious city
- Apparently, the story goes that the city was impenetrable
- A slave notice a soldier lose his helmet over the side
- A little later he say the soldier appear out of nowhere and retrieve the helmet
- He saw the soldier climb up the mountain and disappear into the rocks
- Then he saw the soldier back on the top with his helmet in hand
- When Antiochus lay siege to the city, the slave was capture, and exchanged his safety for the secret of the city
- What is the point of the description of Jesus?
- It is the seven spirits of God and the seven stars
- The seven spirits, seven meaning completeness, refer to the Holy spirit
- The seven stars are the seven churches
- For some reason, God repeats part of the name that he used in the first letter. It could be that this is a sort of new beginning for the church coming out of the dark ages
- What do we learn about the church from the commendations?
- The church is really not commended
- It has a reputation for being alive, but it is dead
- What is the exhortation?
- They are told to wake-up. Because they are dead
- Their deeds are not complete (in some way they are superficial)
- As a result, they will be surprised when Jesus comes. They will not be ready. They will not be ready because the majority aren't true believers
- Religious people and people who call themselves Christians will not all be saved from the Great Tribulation
- They are exhorted to repent (one could argue both ways what it means to repent--it could be the big "R" for the religious, and the little "r" for the sleeping believer)
- The promise is those escaping and what does it mean "to walk with Jesus dressed in white"
- There are a few people who have not soiled their clothes
- They will be saved. They will have real life. Their sins will really be taken away
- Their names can never be blotted out from the book of life
- For the purpose of the historical-prophetic interpretation, Sardis is the "Church of the Reformation" and covers the period of AD 1517-1648 (or 1700)
- It begins with Martin Luther's posting of his Ninety-Five Theses and ends in 1648 with the signing of the Peace of Westphalia (or 1700)
- What do we learn from the condemnation?
- While the reformation fixed a lot of doctrine, it did not solve the other Nicolatian problem, the separation of the church from the state
- The reputation comes from the doctrine corrections
- The church is dead because it is spiritually not alive
- During this time
- The Lutheran church became the state church in Germany and Scandinavia
- The Anglican church became the church of England
- The Presbyterian church became the state church in Scotland
- In Switzerland, two churches separated the land, the Calvinists or Reformed church and the Zwinglian church
- All people born in these countries were baptized into the church as part of citizenship
- The majority of these churches were unbelievers
- They had good doctrine but spiritually dead bodies
- A lot of denominations were created, but the protestant church was just as dead
- The pastors were gov't jobs
- The religious leaders didn't even believe truth
- APPLICATION: Be wary of mixing religion and state but also understand the difference
- Citizenship was tied to religious identity
- Religion was controlled by the state and dead
- Nowadays people see the separation as protecting government, but it was to protect true faith
Revelation
2:18–29 (ESV) “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘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 and faith and service and patient endurance, and
that your latter works exceed the first. 20 But I have this against you,
that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is
teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat
food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses
to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her onto a
sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great
tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23 and I will strike her
children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind
and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. 24 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 what you have until I come.
26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I
will give authority over the nations, 27 and he will rule them with a rod
of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have
received authority from my Father. 28 And I will give him the morning
star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.’
DESCRIPTION
LITERAL / PROPHETIC
PROPHETIC
Revelation
3:1–6 (ESV) “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words
of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
“ ‘I
know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have
not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then,
what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I
will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against
you. 4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not
soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are
worthy. 5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments,
and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his
name before my Father and before his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
DESCRIPTION
LITERAL / UNIVERSAL
PROPHETIC
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