The church in Thyatira--tolerating the intolerable

Reference Scripture:

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; 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. 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. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. 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. 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. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 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. And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Revelation of John 2:18-29)

It is interesting how history cycles or as the common phrase, “history repeats itself”.  In many cases the present is an image of the past.  You find people doing things in the present that mirror things of the past.  Some do it involuntarily out of ignorance and some operate in a spirit of emulation. We saw Saddam Hussein attempting to emulate Nebuchadnezzar, we see Putin attempting to emulate Ivan the terrible, we see the Iranians wanting to be seen as the historical Persian empire.  In the text there was a woman who had the spirit of Jezebel leading some of the Church members into apostasy.  We don’t find the term “apostasy” in the Bible but it is clear that the meaning of apostasy is an abandonment from the Faith as in  1 Timothy 4:1 “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; . Plainly speaking, those who intentionally and non intentionally teach false doctrine leading people away from the teaching of our Lord Yeshua Ha Mashiach . False leaders, fake Christians can creep into the church and lead the saints astray by false doctrine.  Many creep in saying things are alright and acceptable when they are not.  The enemy operates strongly through deception, perverting  perception blinding the spiritual eyes of the saints.  The scripture reminds us “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. (II Corinthians 11:13-15)”

John describes Yeshua as he saw him in the Spirit in a Messianic state in the first chapter.  Here Yeshua  expounds upon 3 of his physical characteristics and exclaims the  prophetic symbolism , a message for the hearing/listening soul.  

His head and hair-were white as wool white as snow.  This shows his glory and purity and the image of the Father in Heaven being the Head of the body.   

Eyes like unto a flame- his eyes are piercing seeing through to the soul of men searching their hearts. His eyes are in every place beholding the evil and the good, He sees and knows of the hypocrisy and the patience. The feet of him as burnished metal (brass) as in a furnace having been fired means his judgment will come swiftly upon the unsuspecting soul.  

Apostasy can be described as spiritual fornication or spiritual adultery. It is a yielding of your worship, which is your lifestyle as well as praise, to someone or something other than YHWH. The Jezebel in the Book of Kings was married to King Ahab who was considered one of the worst Kings in Israels history. She brought her idolatrous ways over into Israel and the King allowed it to seep into the kingdom and the people.  Instead of tearing the work of the enemy down he helped promote it. We should not allow evil false teachings and practices into our fellowship. It is on each member of the Church to call it out when he or she sees it regardless of who is doing it.  Paul describes in the 5th chapter of 1 Corinthians how to deal with fleshly fornicators in the Church we should be more adamant about spiritual fornication.  The scripture explains how correction should be carried out. If the perpetrator does not hear the one corrector then a second witness is to be brought in and if he does not hear the two then he is to be brought to the whole congregation. I think it is safe to say that that doesn’t happen much these days which is why the power in many churches is diluted or non existent.  

Yeshua knows what is going on in the midst of his Church. His mercy endures forever but his Spirit will not always strive with men.  He gave the New Jezebel an opportunity to repent but when individuals throw away the grace that YHWH gives them so many times he gives them over to a reprobate mind and they will be found as the original Jezebel in the end.  He tells the faithful to remain patient and their patience will bring many rewards.  YHWH knows that life can make you feel like you are in a furnace of fire but he is there with you if you just hold on to your faith, he will reward you for your trouble. Elijah the Prophet thought he was the only holy warrior left but YHWH had to tell him that he was not the only one. YHWH always fulfills his promises and his word will accomplish what he sends it out to do.  Just stay in the Faith and rebuke evil, doubt, trouble and temptation and you will see your rewards both here and when you get to the other side.

Question of the day “What do the Apostles mean when they said “have the same mind” ?

Romans 12:16 -------------How to present yourself, how to conduct yourself (The Father/The Saints/The world)

1 Corinthians 1:10

Philippians 2:2-5

Philippians 3:16-19

1 Peter 4:1-4