After
John the apostle saw the vision of Jesus in chapter one of
“Revelation”,
he began to write to the “seven
churches in Asia”. He
started with the church located in “Ephesus”,
then the “church
of Smyrna”,
the “church
in Pergamos” and
the “church
in Thyatira” where
He told them,
“And
unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things says the
Son of God, who has his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet
are
like fine brass;” He
added, “I
know your works, and charity, and service, and faith, and your
patience, and your works; and the last to
be
more than the first.” In
chapter
two and verse twenty of Revelation, John shared how Jesus told “the
church in Thyatira”, “I have a few things against you” where
we read:
Notwithstanding
I have a few things against you, because you suffer that woman
Jezebel, which calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my
servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto
idols.
The
verse begins, “Notwithstanding
I have a few things against you, because you suffer that woman
Jezebel, which calls herself a prophetess, ...”
John
began with the word, “notwithstanding”
which means “nevertheless, with an exception, yes and moreover”
“I have a few
things”
or “Jesus owned, possessed and held a small amount of things”
“against you”
which means “toward the church
in Thyatira”,
“because”
which means “since”
“you suffer” or
“the church in
Thyatira”
“that woman”
which means “that female human being” “Jezebel”
which refers to “the wife of Ahab who was an impious and cruel
queen who protected idolatry and persecuted the prophets and means
chaste”, “which
calls herself”
or “who affirms, maintains and names her own self” “a
prophetess”
which means “a woman to whom future events or things hidden from
others are at times revealed either by inspiration or by dreams and
visions”. Jesus had “things against” the “church
in Thyatira”
which included allowing the spirit of “Jezebel”
to
enter in among them.
The
verse continues,
“...
to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat
things sacrificed unto idols.”
John
added the words, “to
teach”
or “to hold discourse with others in order to instruct them and
deliver didactic discourses” “and
to seduce”
which means “and to cause to stray, wander, roam about or lead
astray and aside from the right way” “my
servants”
or “Jesus' bondmen and men of servile condition” “to
commit fornication”
which means “to prostitute one's body to the lust of another or
give one's self to unlawful sexual intercourse or idolatry or worship
of idols”, “and
to eat things” which
refers to “things consumed or devoured” “sacrificed
unto idols” which
refers to “flesh left over from the heathen sacrifices which was
eaten at the feasts or sold in the market”. The “church
in Thyatira” allowed
the “teaching”
and “seducing”
of “spiritual worship of idol and things offered to them” within
their fellowship.
When
we think through John's words in this verse, we see how the
“church in Thyatira” was
recognized by Jesus for following the “teaching”
and “seduction”
of “Jezebel”
who
was the pagan wife of wicked Ahab. Worship of “idols”
and
the “eating of meats” “sacrificed”
to them was practiced by the “church
in Thyatira”,
and for this Jesus was not pleased. Worship of God and His Son Jesus
Christ is the only adoration that should be “sacrificed”.
This is the will of God, and those who align with Him and His plan of
“salvation” shall never accept or receive any “seduction”
or “teaching”
of worship toward anything else.
Next
time
John writes how Jesus tells the “church of
“I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she repented
not”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
No comments:
Post a Comment