Sermon Tone Analysis

*Thyatira*

 

Rev 2:18-29  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.

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*The Commission (vrs.

18)*

#. “…to the angel of the church, which is at Thyatira”

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The angel is the one who has responsibility for the well-being of the church.

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A leader, an elder, a guardian angel

#. *The City - Thyatira (vrs.

18)*

#. a small but significant city that is Situated on the confines of Mysia and Ionia.

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Thyatira is an amalgamation of various ethnic groups and different gods.

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It is interesting to speculate that the church at Thyatira was founded by a woman who heard the gospel in Philippi.

Her name, of course, was Lydia.

It was from Thyatira that Lydia the purple-seller of Philippi came, Paul's first European convert.

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She was a seller of fabric.

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The city's commerce revolved around fabric production, and copper.

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The city contained a number of corporate guilds, as potters, tanners, weavers, robe-makers, and dyers.

With the guilds came the worship of guild gods.

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As a member of the guilds.

You would be expected to make sacrifice or participate in the feast of the guilds.

This naturally presented a problem for the Christians in Thyatira.

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The association and participation with guild functions presented a conflict of interest for Christians.

How could they continue to be involved in a social structure that was primarily anti-christ.

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There were numerous streams of the adjacent country were full of leeches.

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The principal deity of the city was Apollo, worshipped as the Sun-God under the surname Tyrimnas.

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A shrine outside the walls was dedicated to Sambatha, a sibyl.

The place was never of paramount political importance.

#. *The Author*

#. *Son of God *- this letter is not from someone that the Christians in Thyatira could take or leave, it was from someone who has authority over them.

Compare /Son/ /of/ /man/, Rev_1:13; Psa_2:7; Rev_19:13.

#. *Who hath His eyes, etc. -*without a doubt, the bears witness to the omniscience of Jesus Christ.

The all knowing, who who is able with his eyes to penetrate the hearts of the Christians at Thyatira.

You cannot lie to me, or deceive me, your whole life is an open book to Jesus Christ*.

*See on Rev_1:14, Rev_1:15.

#. *His feet were like brass - *this suggests his role as the universal judge.

Brass is always a biblical symbol of judgment.

i.

The brazen serpent

                                                              ii.      the brazen altar

                                                            iii.

all speak of judgment

 

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*The Commendation (verse 19)*

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Thy works, and the last, etc. –

                                                               i.

what a wonderful commendation, the Lord gives to his children, which live in a very pagan society.

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*The Complaint (verses 20-23)*

#. *A few things*

#. *Thou sufferest (**ε**̓**α**͂**ς**) -*Used absolutely.

/Toleratest/.

#. *That woman - *Rev., /the/ /woman/.

Some translate /thy/ /wife/.

#. *Jezebel – *

                                                               i.

Expositors are divided as to the symbolic import of the name in this passage, some referring it to a single person - “some single wicked woman in the Church of Thyatira inheriting this name of infamy in the Church of God,” giving herself out as a prophetess, and seducing the servants of Christ to commit fornication and to eat things offered to idols.

ii.

One expositor views Jezebel here, as the wife of the pastor.

iii.

Others interpret the name as designating an influential heretical party in the Church: a group of women who behaved as the Old Testament Jezebel did.

iv.

” It is clear, at any rate, that Thyatira, like the Church of old, had sinned by her alliance with a corrupt faith and practice.

v.

*Historically – *Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of Sidon (1Ki_16:31 ,     1 Kings 21:25, 2 Kings 9:7), formerly a priest of Astarte, and who had made his way to the throne by the murder of his predecessor Pheles.

1.        Ahab's marriage with her was the first instance of a marriage with a heathen princess of a king of the northern kingdom of Israel.

This alliance was a turning-point in the moral history of the kingdom

2.       Jezebel looked down with perverse pride upon a people whose religion she neither understood nor respected.

3.        Though the ten tribes had yielded to idolatry in the worship of the calves, the true God was still worshipped and the law of Moses acknowledged.

4.       From the time of Ahab's marriage the apostasy of Israel became more decided and deadly.

She was “a woman in whom, with the reckless and licentious habits of an Oriental queen, were united the fiercest and sternest qualities inherent in the old Semitic race.

5.        Her husband, in whom generous and gentle feelings were not wanting, was yet of a weak and yielding character which soon made him a tool in her hands....

The wild license of her life and the magical fascination of her arts or her character became a proverb in the nation.

Round her and from her, in different degrees of nearness, is evolved the awful drama of the most eventful crisis of this portion of the Israelite history” (Stanley, “Jewish Church”).

6.

She sought to exterminate the prophets of Jehovah (1Ki_18:13), and inaugurated the worship of Baal the Sun-God on a magnificent scale.

7.        Two sanctuaries were established, one for each of the great Phoenician deities, at each of the two new capitals of the kingdom, Samaria and Jezreel.

The sanctuary of Astarte or Ashtaroth (the Phoenician Venus) at Jezreel was under Jezebel's special sanction, and there is reason to suppose that she ministered as a priestess in that licentious worship.

8.       Four hundred priests or prophets were attached to this sanctuary and were supported at her table.

The sanctuary to Baal at Samaria was large enough to contain all the worshippers of the northern kingdom.

Its staff consisted of four hundred and fifty priests, and the interior contained representations of the Sun-God on small pillars, while a large statue of the same deity was set up in front.

At these sanctuaries Ahab in person offered sacrifices.

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*Which calleth herself a prophetess*, - she claimed to have revelation from God.

#. *To teach and to seduce (**διδάσκειν καὶ πλανα**͂**σθαι**) *The word πλανᾶν /to/ /seduce/ is found oftener in Revelation than elsewhere in the New Testament.

It never means mere error as such, but /fundamental/ /departure/ /from/ /the/ /truth/.

#. *To commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols - *Both sins of the historical Jezebel.

See 2Ki_9:22, 2Ki_9:30; Jer_4:30; Nah_3:4.

#. *Time to repent  - Rev 2:21 - Space (**χρόνον**) *Lit., /time/, as Rev. *Repent (**μετανοήση**ͅ**) *See on Mat_3:2; see on Mat_21:29.

#. *Of her fornication (**ε**̓**κ**) *Lit., /out/ /of/; i.e., so as to come out of and escape from her sin.

See on Rev_2:7.

i.

*Not physical adultery*

                                                              ii.

*not mental adultery*

                                                            iii.

*But spiritual adultery - unfaithfulness of our commitment and worship of God.

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#. *Into a bed - Rev 2:22 - Of anguish.