Jesus’ message to the Church at Thyatira is as relevant today as it was to that local body of Christ over 1,930 years ago. The Lord lauded their love, faith, service, and perseverance, and even remarked that their deeds of late were greater than at first. So far, so good.
Then the Son of God turned His eyes like a flame of fire toward a corrosive influence within their body and said, “But I have this against you, that you tolerate…” (Revelation 2:20).
To be clear, the fellowship of believers at Thyatira were tolerating a woman He called Jezebel—a self-proclaimed prophetess who was leading His flock astray. Like King Ahab’s foreign wife who brought in her pagan deities and false religion to corrupt and mislead Israel, this woman encouraged followers of Christ to commit acts of immorality and eat food sacrificed to idols—two of the specific outrages James and the Apostles forbade the growing Gentile church from allowing (Acts 15:19-20).
Three critical lessons can be gleaned from this brief passage in Revelation:
- In our inclination to be tactful and accepting, we can pitch over into abject sin.
- The Lord will discipline those He loves—subjecting them to “little-t” tribulations as a natural consequence of sin.
- Even as God’s wrath is aroused by both sin and toleration of sin, His ultimate purpose is repentance.
Oh, Be Careful…
The children’s Sunday School song warns little eyes to be careful what they see, little ears to be careful what they hear, little tongues to be careful what they say, little hands to be careful what they do, little minds to be careful what they think, and little hearts to be careful what or who they trust. Why? Because “the Father up above is looking down in love.”
Hillary Morgan Ferrer of Mama Bear Apologetics puts it this way: “What you tolerate today, you accept tomorrow. What you accept today, you embrace tomorrow.” Toleration is a slippery slope that leads inevitably downward—and away from the straight and narrow path we have been called to walk with the Lord.
Scholars disagree on the identity of the woman referred to as Jezebel in Revelation 2:20. Whoever she was, she was clearly guiding people into sin. But while Jesus calls her out individually, His grievance with the Church at large was its unwillingness to criticize, confront, and condemn her false teaching and immorality. It was like letting a wolf live among the sheep and then wondering why they were disappearing one-by-one.
Our modern culture has elevated “toleration” to a mantra that eliminates all discretion. And discretion itself—or the more outdated word, discrimination—has come to be regarded as judgmental and inappropriate. According to some officials, parents do not even retain the right to choose what is best for their own children.
Scripture is clear, however. Parents are expected to be discerning about what their children are allowed to ingest—whether physically, intellectually, or spiritually. The same sound judgment exercised on behalf of children should be applied within the church in order to guard the flock.
If this is true for the Church, it is also true for each individual Christian. We must guard our own hearts.
The Father’s Discipline
Proverbs 3:11-12 says, “My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD or loathe His rebuke, for whom the LORD loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.”
The writer of Hebrews observed, “all discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11). The previous verse explains God’s Fatherly motive: “He disciplines us for our benefit, so that we may share His holiness.”
What an upside-down world we live in where students deride teachers and children rule over parents. The misguided experts who made parental discipline unpopular have bequeathed us a nation of unruly, self-absorbed tyrants. But God will not be constrained to follow such foolishness.
Sometimes the Lord subjects His children to corrective judgment—and sometimes He allows us to suffer the natural consequences of sin. He is not vindictive in either case, but determined to reprove and correct. As my own son once confessed as a little boy, sometimes you just need a good spanking.
Repentance—It’s Not Just for the Unsaved
One of the false teachings that has crept into the Church in recent years is that repentance is a one-time occurrence. By this logic, a person who recognizes their own need of a Savior confesses to the Lord, repenting for their sin and their sinfulness. They trust in Christ and receive forgiveness for their sins—past, present, and future. From that point on, as Romans 8:1 affirms, there is then NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
But that is the Gospel, you say. How can there be any false teaching in what I’ve just written?!?
The error comes in believing that having believed I will never need to repent again. This presents a tragically wrong understanding of the word “repent,” for at times, even committed Christians need to turn back.
There is clearly a repentance unto salvation—when we accept the shed blood of Jesus Christ as the only and all-sufficient means of washing us clean and bringing us into relationship with God the Father.
But repentance is also rightly understood as a turning around—a change in behavior or thinking or heart attitude. On occasion, I find myself driving down the road when suddenly the landmarks are unfamiliar or the signs are all wrong. Unwittingly, I’ve taken a wrong turn. The only thing to do is to turn around and get back on track. That is the idea behind repenting as it appears in Revelation. Like sheep, we are all “prone to wander, prone to leave the Lord [we] love.”
Jesus is addressing professing Christians in real churches, and He calls them to repent, turn around, and follow where He leads. Our Lord even foretells calamity that will befall Jezebel “and those who commit adultery with her… unless they repent of her deeds” (Revelation 2:22). Even in wrath, the Lord always remembers mercy (Habakkuk 3:2). His goal is always to motivate repentance so we can be in a right relationship with Him.
Hold Fast
Even as Jesus pulls no punches in His condemnation of Jezebel and those who she led astray, He commends those who “do not hold to her teaching.” Regardless of how misguided the crowd is (and that includes many within confessing churches today), Scripture tells us that there is always a faithful remnant.
This was true when Elijah bemoaned that he was the only faithful person left in Israel. Satan likes to whisper that discouraging message in the ear of every faithful follower of Christ: “You’re the only one even trying to be faithful. What’s the point?”
Jesus words to the faithful few at Thyatira was: “hold fast until I come” (Revelation 2:25). In fact, He pointedly did not place any other burden on them. These bruised and battered saints simply got a word of encouragement and an appeal to persevere. So, those of us who are longing for Jesus’ arrival must do just that: endeavor to persevere.
Soon, that long anticipation will be fulfilled, and we will see Him with our own eyes. He will give us authority over the nations along with our Morning Star–Jesus Christ Himself.
I’d say that is worth holding on for, wouldn’t you?
