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;
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.
20 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.
21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
23 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.
24 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.
25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
27 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.
28 And I will give him the morning star.
29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Consider first, verse 18:
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;
Interestingly, the Glorified Lord reserves His lengthiest remarks for the assembly at Thyatira. His specific self-revelation to them is ‘the Son of God, who hath eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass.’ It is very important to note the change the Glorified Lord made in speaking these words to the assembly at Thyatira. In chapter one the same portion of the revelation of the Glorified Lord says, ‘one like unto the Son of man… his eyes were as a flame of fire.’
In addressing the church at Thyatira, He switched the reference to Himself from ‘the Son of man’ to ‘the Son of God.’ The phrase 'Son of man' lays emphasis upon the Glorified Lord being one with fallen man.[1] The phrase 'Son of God' lays special emphasis upon the Glorified Lord being one with God. We must never forget that though the Glorified Lord became a man to be able to redeem fallen men, He is God. The LORD Who addresses the churches is NOT to be seen merely as the man that died on a cross for the sins of the world, but God the Son whose nature is to reign.
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.
He commends the assembly for its works, twice, stressing that the latter works were ‘more than the first.’ This would seem appropriate for any assembly as it matures in the Truth.[2] He then specifically details the works for which He is commending them. He speaks of their:
1. ‘charity’ [ἀγάπην, agapane], from the root agape, familiar to many
Bible students as denoting the unconditional love of God
2. ‘service’ [διακονίαν, diakonian], from the same word translated ‘let
them use the office of a deacon’ in 1 Timothy 3:10 & 13 twice[3]
3. ‘faith’ [πίστιν, pistin]
4. ‘patience’ [ὑπομονήν, hupomonane], same word as that used in
addressing the church at Ephesus, denoting patient endurance
under severe trials
20 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.
21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
23 And I will kill her children with death…
While all of these things are commendable, the Glorified Lord moves on into chastising the assembly because of its laxity in tolerating very serious false teaching, characterized by referring to its primary propagator as ‘Jezebel.’ Whoever this woman was, she put herself forward as a ‘prophetess,’ and was permitted to ‘teach,’ which resulted in a seductive form of so-called prophetic utterance that drew many into ‘fornication and…eat[ing] things sacrificed to idols.’
Once again, we are reminded of the hatred of the Glorified Lord for all forms of false teaching. His castigation of the toleration of this serious error in the assembly could hardly contain any stronger warning. He says that He has given ‘her space to repent of her fornication,’ but that ‘she repented not.’ This ‘fornication,’ whatever else it may have included, was spiritual fornication in its deepest essence, combining Truth with foundational error, and thus creating ‘another Christ.’[4] While great emphasis is placed upon sexual immorality in conservative assemblies today, far too little stress is placed upon spiritual immorality, mixing Truth with error.
The Glorified Lord makes it clear that not only will He not tolerate such spiritual harlotry in His assemblies, but that He ‘will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.’ This is sobering, indeed! Those in any assembly that embrace or tolerate false teaching will be treated as spiritual adulterers by the Glorified Lord. What would happen if this Truth were preached in assemblies all across the world today? While we strongly beseech ‘sinners’ to repent of their worldly sins, the Glorified Lord is beseeching those that claim to be His people to repent of tolerating any form of false teaching.
He closes out this strong warning by adding, ‘And I will kill her children with death…’ Her ‘children’ are those that imbibe her error so strongly that they perpetuate and propagate it.[5] Some may simply quietly acquiesce to tolerating such things. Others will vigorously promote it. These are ‘her children.’ The Glorified Lord holds the keys of death and Hell. Death is His to use for the accomplishment of His eternal redemptive purposes.[6]
…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.
In these remaining words from verse twenty-three, the Glorified Lord applies His warnings [just voiced regarding Jezebel and those that align with her at Thyatira] to all assemblies and every ‘Christian.’ He plainly says, ‘all the churches’ and ‘every one of you.’
24 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.
25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
Having completed His rebuke of those at Thyatira that tolerated or embraced the error of Jezebel, the Glorified Lord also includes those that had not done so. He says, ‘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…’ His remarks will now be addressed to all ‘church members’ and to ‘the believing remnant’ among them.[7] At this point in the ‘history’ of that assembly, the Glorified Lord asks only that they ‘hold fast…that which [they] already have.’[8]
26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
27 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.
28 And I will give him the morning star.
29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Here is what Walvoord says about verses 26 and 27.
He [Christ] promises that those who keep His works unto the end will be given a responsible position of judgment over the nations. Closely following the prediction of a second coming is this first reference in Revelation to the millennial reign of Christ. The overcoming Christians are promised places of authority. They will share the rule of Christ over the nations.[9]
The reference to the ‘morning star’ in verse 28 has something to do with granting a special closeness to the Glorified Lord.[10] Dr. Strouse provides essential instruction here.
Significantly but tragically, the NIV has rendered the classic passage identifying the person and nature of Lucifer with a confusing rendering of the Hebrew (Isa. 14:12). This translation reads “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star. Son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!” The translators of the NIV have deviated from the time-honored title of Lucifer, and replaced it with the same title given the Saviour! It is difficult to comprehend how professed believers would make such a theological gaffe. One might assume that it was deliberate, in light of the Gnostic-laced text and devious translation techniques of the NIV.[11]
I agree with Dr. Strouse’s statements and sentiments. Although the literal meaning of the name ‘Lucifer’ is ‘light bearer,’ it is at the very least seriously unwise to use the actual title that is attributed directly to Christ in Revelation 22:16 as a replacement for the name ‘Lucifer’ in the book of Isaiah. And, as Dr. Strouse pointed out, the NIV cannot be trusted as an accurate English translation for two reasons: [1] The underlying texts [Hebrew and Greek] are completely different from those that underlie the AV, and [2] The translation approach used by the NIV translators were highly questionable. We do better to use only the AV as our trustworthy English translation.[12]
The Glorified Lord closes out His remarks to the assembly at Thyatira with the same invitation He has used in addressing the other assemblies, ‘He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.’
[1] Matthew 1:23- ‘Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.’ [2] It is a sad commentary upon many churches in America and other advanced western nations that their latter works manifest no more maturity than their first works, even over a period of many years. [3] The Greek noun literally means servanthood or ministry. In the passage in 1 Timothy 3 it is in the form of a verb, meaning “to minister” or “to serve.” It is unclear what motive the translators had in mind when translating the verb phrase as “use[d]the office of a deacon.” The concept of an office is not in the Greek. [4] 2 Corinthians 11:4. [5] Here we do well to remember that all of this is part of God’s revelation of the great Conflict of the Seeds, identified first in Genesis 3:15. [6] This fact is significant when the question arises about the so-called ‘God of the Old Testament’ so willingly permitting His prople to annihilating entire groups of people. Biological life is a gift, not a ‘right.’ Those that choose to use it to oppose God’s Truth are responsible for their own demise. [7] We must never lose sight of the fact that all church members are not genuinely part of the ‘believing remnant.’ Not all in Israel were truly God’s people, and not all in the churches are truly His people either. [8] This is kind of like the admonition in Ephesus 6:13- ‘…that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.’ It is enough in this warfare that any believer remain standing in the day of Satan’s concentrated attack. [9] John F. Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1966), 77. [10] See Revelation 22:16. [11] Strouse, 140. [12] The reader is encouraged to consult Appendix B regarding the English translation.