College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Revelation 2:18-29
Strauss-' Comments
SECTION 7
Text Revelation 2:18-29
18 And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like unto burnished brass: 19 I know thy works, and thy love and faith and ministry and patience, and that thy last works are more than the first. 20 But I have this against thee, that thou sufferest the woman Jezebel, who calleth herself a prophetess; and she teacheth and seduceth my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. 21 And I gave her time that she should repent; and she willeth not to repent of her fornication. 22 Behold, I cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of her works. 23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he that searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto each one of you according to your works. 24 But to you I say, to the rest that are in Thyatira, as many as have not this teaching, who know not the deep things of Satan, as they are wont to say; I cast upon you none other burden. Nevertheless that which ye have, hold fast till I come. 26 And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations: 27 and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to shivers; as I also have 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 to the churches.
Initial Questions Revelation 2:18-29
1.
What were the commendable characteristics of this congregation - Revelation 2:19?
2.
The Lord acknowledged that the Church in Thyatira was a progressing congregation. But they failed to keep the doctrine and life of the Church pure. Is there anything so insignificant that we can let it pass by when it effects the belief and life of the Church?
3.
How is the individual Christian to be judged - Revelation 2:23?
4.
Was the whole Church at Thyatira infected with deadly disease of false doctrines of Jezebel?
5.
To what event does the phrase till I come Revelation 2:25, refer?
The Church in Thyatira
Chp. Revelation 2:18-29
The next congregation to receive the analytic glance of The Lord was the Church in Thyatira. Lydia, the first Christian convert from Europe was from Thyatira (Acts 16:11-15). Pliny called this city an insignificant city. Almost nothing is known of this city, therefore it is difficult to provide background information. But we do know that Thyatira was situated at the mouth of a valley which directly connected the Caicus and Hermus Rivers. A great road from the Byzantium (or Eastern Roman Empire) to Smyrna ran through this city making it easily accessible for evangelistic purposes. The province of The Lord utilized the great road-ways in the ancient Greek world.
I am sure that the congregation in Thyatira would never have forgotten the day the postman of Patmos delivered this letter.
A new title of our Lord appears here - The Son of God. (We shall discuss the titles of our Lord in a Special Study at the close of this volume.) This is a categorical assertion of the deity of Christ. The remaining imagery of this verse is to be found also in chapter Revelation 1:14-15. There we were told that one like unto the son of man was revealing the plan of the ages to John.
The Lord highly praised this congregation. They exhibited self-less love and the faith and the service (ministry - we in the Restoration Movement need to make a serious study of The Biblical Doctrine of the Ministry immediately in this generation.) Christ declared that they were a growing congregation and they were doing more now than before. They were to be commended for not using the past as a measuring rod for what can or ought to be done for Christ. In the seventh decade of the 20th century many among us are guilty of using the past as a criterion of where we are now with respect to growth and visible success.
This highly rated Church had a surprise coming. Christ had something against them. What was it? They were not as concerned about the purity of their doctrine as they ought to have been. The one calling herself a prophetess Jezebel was seducing the saints. Christ said that you are continually permitting (apheis - sing. ind. present tense - each one of the congregation is charged with permitting this heresy to continue in the church). John's imagery takes us back to that infamous Jezebel, wife of King Ahab of Israel. She is so deceptive that she teaches (pres. tense - continuously teaches) and continuously deceives (plana could be either sing. subj. pres. or sing. ind. pres.) my slaves (lowly servants) to commit fornication (porneusai - 1st aor. inf.) or an act of fornication - the use of the aorist tense points to the fact that they had not repeatedly committed fornication) and to eat idol sacrifices. (Paul provides us with the revealed attitude toward eating idol sacrifices in 1 Corinthians 8:1 ff; 1 Corinthians 10:4 ff.)
Christ said I gave her time in order that she might repent, (hina, clause or a purpose clause) but she did not wish to repent of her fornication.
Look here, I am casting her into a bed, and the ones committing adultery (moicheuontas - adultery, this is not the same word as is found in Revelation 2:20 - porneusai - fornication) with her into great affliction. This reveals the two actions of the Lord in Judgment casting her into bed and those guilty of immorality with her - into great affliction. This act of judgment was conditional. Unless (ean mç) they-' shall repent out of her works (out of - ek; antçs - her, not their). Clearly repentance is not merely being sorry for some deed; true repentance results in changed behavior.
Note: The present author is preparing an exhaustive analysis of the vocabulary and theology of repentance for a work on Biblical Theology which he is writing at present. The basic Hebrew word, Teshubah does not mean precisely what the Greek Metanoia does. The Roman Catholic Church has finished the task, which was started by early Church Fathers, that of distorting the Biblical doctrine of repentance into the sacramental theology of penance. For a history of the doctrine of Penance see Oscar R. Watkins, A History of Penance from the Whole Church to 1215. This two volume work begins with the N.T. literature and moves up to 1215 A.D. Burt Franklin, New York 25, N.Y. reprinted 1961, originally printed in London in 1920.
Repentance was one of the great Biblical doctrines which caused Luther to revolt against the Roman system of works and mere penance. For his heated discussion see his letter to Stanpitz, May 30, 1518.
All the Churches (plural - not merely the seven churches but all congregations) will know of Christ's righteous indignation. He continues with an emphatic declaration that I am the one searching (continually searching) the reins (literally nephrons - kidneys) and hearts, and will give to each one of you - according to your works. The organs of the body were used in Hebrew Psychology to refer to the seat or place of thoughts, feelings, etc.
Christ raised His voice in warning those in Thyatira who had not committed the acts of immorality which are under his judgment. Those who were still pure did not know about (had not personally experienced the deep things of Satan. This is probably another reference to evil Gnostic cults which dominated the Spiritual lives of so many in that congregation. They had apparently paid no heed to Christ's words to be in but not of the world.
Christ said that their burdens were so great that I am not casting on you another burden. That great little word nevertheless (plçn) what you have at this present time hold (kratçsate - 1st aor. act. imperative - they plural were commanded to hold on to it at all costs - do not surrender it) until I shall come (the particle an shows that the time of his coming is not certain). Christ promised that He was coming again - so hold on. The suffering will not compare with the glory which shall be those that love His appearing. This also applies to the persecuted Christians on all far-flung mission fields today.
Christ's immutable promises are here set forth - only for the faithful. The person who used to be a good church member will receive the wrath of God, not the crown of life. To whom are the promises given? The one continually overcoming and the one continually keeping my works until the purpose of God has matured or been fulfilled. (telous, the end or that which is fulfilled or matured.) Christ will give the faithful servant power or authority over the nations (ethnôn - literally the Gentiles and probably in contrast to true spiritual Israel - see Romans chp. 9-11).
The great Shepherd of the sheep will shepherd them with an iron staff, as the clay vessels (or vessels of the potter) are broken (suntribetai, sing. pass. present ind.). The 1901 translation is not exactly correct.
The morning star is probably Christ. (See Revelation 22:16 - Christ says ho astçer ho lampros ho prôinos - the bright morning star.)
The conclusion to this letter is the same as the others.
Review Questions
1.
What new title for Christ appears in Revelation 2:18? What does it mean or imply about the person of Jesus?
2.
Would most contemporary N.T. congregations feel satisfied with the commendations given to Thyatira by our Lord - Revelation 2:19?
3.
Was the doctrine of this congregation orthodox or right teaching - Revelation 2:20?
4.
What does Paul tell us about eating idol sacrifices in 1 Corinthians 8:1 ff? What does it say about the condition of the Church in Thyatira?
5.
Name and discuss the two acts of the Lord's judgment mentioned in Revelation 2:22?
6.
What will the basis of judgment be - according to Revelation 2:23?
7.
What does Christ promise the faithful Christian - Revelation 2:26?
8.
Who is the morning star - Revelation 2:28?
Special Study
The Word of God and Death!
Hebrews 9:27 (Greek Text) - And as it is reserved (or appointed) to men once to die and after this judgment - (there is no verb cometh in the text.)
What is the Hebrew view of man? How does Hebrew anthropology relate to the Old Testament view of death?
The Old Testament view of a wholistic man antedates the contemporary views of man by over 3000 years. Faculty Psychology has fallen; and the dynamic view of man has prevailed since Freud. There is an inrefutable interaction between body and spirit. H. Wheeler Robinson's essay on Hebrew Psychology (see The People and The Book, ed. A. S. Peake, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1925) clearly states the Old Testament case for a dynamic view of man as interpretation of body and spirit. (See for an exhaustive study of Hebrew Psychology J. Pedersen's Israel, Its Life and Culture, Oxford, 1946-47, 2 volumes - These are indespensible volumes.)
The Old Testament doctrine of corporate personality is an essential aspect of biblical anthropology. The Old Testament view of the relation of sin (Adams and the individuals) to death is crystal clear. This view stands in irreconcilable contradiction with the naturalistic notion of death as a natural phenomenon. The scholarly works of R. H. Charles (A Critical History of The Doctrine of A Future Life, 2nd edition, 1913) (not the 1899 edition); L. B. Paton (Spiritism and the Cult of the Dead in Antiquity, MacMillan, 1921); Edmund F. Sutcliffe, (The Old Testament and Future Life - London, Burns Oates and Washbourne, LTD, 1946); Robert Mortin-Achard (De la Mort, A la resurrection de-' apres l-'Ancien Testament - Neuchatel et Paris Delachaiux et Niestle, 1956) all agree in their critical evaluation of the available Old Testament materials. The classic work of Charles, and the work of the Catholic scholar Sutcliffe, and the protestant scholar Nortin-Achard concur in a negative critical attitude to the biblical literature. Those of us who believe that the Scriptures are the Word of God can readily learn the biblical view of death by a perusal of its pages.
The Hebrew term nephesh and its derivatives communicate the spiritual aspects of man. Another vital term which speaks of man's spiritual life is ruach. Ezekiel's valley of dry bones was inanimate until the four winds (ruachoth) brought ruach and life returned. Ruach and nephesh over lap in speaking of the volitional and emotional range of human existence. Neshamah (Genesis 2:7) is the God breathed factor of human life. There is no mind/body dualism in the Hebrew view of man. Other Hebrew terms which would require examination, if our study was to be thorough, are dam (blood), basar (flesh), geviyyah which is the basic term for body, living or dead, occurs only fourteen times in the Old Testament.
Greek influence is apparent in the doctrine of man in Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. In this extra biblical literature the soul becomes mortal and it is pre-existent. This is strict Platonism! Rabbinic Judaism perpetrates the two views mentioned above in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. The major difference between the above two bodies of Literature is found in the Rabbinic emphasis upon the heart as the battle ground between good and evil.
The New Testament view of death stands firm upon its Old Testament foundation. The New Testament doctrine of man and the resurrection includes the biblical teaching concerning the use of psuche (soul), pneuma (spirit), sarks (flesh), soma (body), suniodesis (conscience), nous (mind), esu anthropos (the inward man). Dr. S. D. F. Salmond's The Christian Doctrine of Immortality is still the best single source for study. Dr. Wilbur M. Smith's article on resurrection, found in Baker's Dictionary of Theology, 1960, pp. 448-456 is an excellent survey of the issues regarding the biblical doctrine of the resurrection. The New Testament teaching about man and the resurrection of the dead through the work of Jesus Christ is a unique phenomenon in the world of the apostolic church.
The Hebrew word for death - maweth and the Greek Thanatos both expresses observable, physical death.
From Genesis to Jesus the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Paul declares (1 Corinthians 3:21-22) that death is a human possession. This is one possession that men would gladly surrender! Paul asserts that unbelievers are dead because of sin (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13). Jesus declared that the Prodigal was dead, but is alive forevermore (Luke 15:24; Luke 15:32). John saw Jesus open the fourth seal (Revelation 6:8) and he saw Death on a pale horse and he had authority over one quarter of the earth. Sin is inseparably related to the biblical doctrine of death. Christian hope is grounded on the atonement of Christ and His victory over death the reigning monarch. Death has been dethroned by the work of Christ. Paul makes this apparent in Romans 6:9, Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death no more hath dominion over him.
The biblical teaching is grounded in the resurrection of Christ which assures every Christian of the resurrection of the dead. The New Testament does not teach the immortality of the soul, in the Platonic sense, but rather the resurrection of the body.
Death be not Proud - for Thou art overcome! All the forged fetters of darkness could not hold its prey! The power of death has been dissipated; its strength has been spent. Paul says - But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. (2 Timothy 1:10)
Contemporary Man is pre-occupied with death, and a repudiation of the Christian view of man, hope, death, resurrection. The Postman of Patmos was pre-occupied with declaring that because of Christ - death shall be no more (Revelation 21:4)!
Tomlinson's Comments
The Church in Thyatira
Text (Revelation 2:18-29)
18 And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like unto burnished brass: 19 I know thy works, and thy love and faith and ministry and patience, and that thy last works are more than the first. 20 But I have this against thee, that thou sufferest the woman Jezebel, who calleth herself a prophetess; and she teacheth and seduceth my servants to commit fornication; and to eat things sacrificed to idols. 21 And I gave her time that she should repent; and she willeth not to repent of her fornication. 22 Behold, I cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of her works. 23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he that searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto each one of you according to your works. 24 But to you I say, to the rest that are in Thyatira, as many as have not this teaching, who know not the deep things of Satan, as they are wont to say; I cast upon you none other burden. 25 Nevertheless that which ye have, hold fast till I come. 26 And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations: 27 and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to shivers; as I also have 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 to the churches.
INTRODUCTION
While we have no account of the establishing of the church in Thyatira, it is likely it began when Lydia and her household returned from Philippi, for certainly she was considered faithful by Paul. So she certainly would be expected to establish the church, in her home city Thyatira.
The Salutation
This is the longest of the seven letters. It reveals further the methods employed by the great Adversary, exposing the depth of Satan.
Revelation 2:18 In this salutation it is noteworthy as being the only time in the apocalypse that Christ is presented as the Son of God. He, as the Son of God, is also described as He, who hath his eyes like a flame of fire and his feet are like unto burnished brass.
The combination of these two symbols is very significant. The symbols strikingly present the Lord as the One whose eyes search out every evil deed, and whose feet trample in judgment upon the wicked deeds of men.
There is a special reason, why He introduces Himself to this church period as the Son of God. It is because of the peculiar conditions found in the Thyatira period.
We must remember always that each of these seven churches is but a type of a succeeding church period, each revealing something in the affairs and history of the church through the ages.
Here in this letter we are given to see the inception of that masterpiece of Satan's deception, that monstrous heresy, which reached fruition in what we know today as Romanism.
Revelation 2:19 Christ begins with the statement: 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. All these are peculiarly characteristic of the Roman Church. But you will note that her works are mentioned twice. While works are mentioned of other church periods, this is the only double reference to works. There is a reason.
A prominent feature of Romanism is its insistence upon works, and works that are wholly unlike those required of the New Testament church.
The works of the Roman church are derived mainly from pagan sources. This is not surprising when we remember our study under the Pergamos period how Constantine, the pagan Roman Emperor, embraced Christianity, not because of conversion, but because of a victory at Milvian Bridge. The unregenerated pagan flooded the church with pagan ceremonies and practices. In proof of this we quote from the Externals of the Catholic Church, Her government, ceremonies, festivals, sacramentais, and devotions, by Rev. John F, Sullivan of the Diocese of Providence, second edition, Revised to conform to the new code of Canon Law. This is published by P. J. Kenedy & Sons New York 1918, It bears the approving names of Arthur J. Scanlan, S.I.D. Censor Librorum, and John Cardinal Farley, D. D. Archbishop of New York. March 27, 1918.
Just a few quotations to show the works of Romanism are pagan.
The RosaryPage 186.
The use of some means of counting prayers is not restricted to Catholics. The Brahmin of India or Tibet has his long rosary which he uses to measure his eternal repetitions of the praise of Buddha. The Mohammedan votary has his chaplet of ninety-nine beads to count his fervent invocations of Allah.
The use of the rosary was established by St. Dominic, the famous founder of the order of Preachers, and he testifies in his writings that he acted under the direction of the Blessed Mother of God.
The Agnus DeiPages 204, 205, 206
In every form of religion, even in the grossest paganism, it has been customary to consider certain objects as holy and to use them as means of supposed protection from evil.
The origin of this sacramental is a matter of great obscurity. When the people of Italy and other countries had been converted from idolatry, they retained some of their belief in charms and amulets; and it is probable that the Agnus Dei was devised as a substitute for these relics of paganism. The church in many instances took the religious customs with which the people were familiar, and made these customs christian.
They were first used in Rome, and it is possible that they go back as far as the final overthrow of pagan worship in that city, about the fifth century. Indeed, there is some evidence that they were in use even a little earlier, for in the tomb of Maria Augusta, wife of the Emperor Honorius, who died in the fourth century, was found an object made of wax and much like our Agnus Deis of the present time.
Holy WaterChapter 27 entitled Holy Water
It is interesting to note how often our church has availed herself of practices which were in common use among pagans. The church and her clergy are all things to all men, that they may gain all for Christ, and she has often found that it is well to take what was praiseworthy in other forms of worship and adopt it to her own purposes, for the sanctification of her children. Thus it is true, in a certain sense, that some catholic rites and ceremonies are a reproduction of those of pagan creeds, but they are the taking of the best in paganism, etc.
Then follows a detailed description of the use of holy water.
PilgrimagesChapter LV
The pious practice of making journeys to distant shrines,. is by no means exclusively catholic. The Romans had their shrines of Jupiter Capitolinus at Rome, of Apollo at Delphi, of Diana at Ephesus. To visit Mecca at least once in his lifetime is the ambition of the pius Mussulman. The great temples of India have their countless throngs of worshippers who have come to offer their homage to the Hindoo gods and to pray at the shrines of Buddha. In encouraging the making of pilgrimages our church has made use of a practice which has produced good results in other creeds, pp. 300, 302
These are only a few quotations of many that could be made.
Revelation 2:20 The introduction of the name of Jezebel, as a symbol of evil seen by those flaming eyes, is very enlightening. Jezebel, a name meaning unchaste was the daughter of Ethbaal (with Baal). She became the wife of Ahab, King of Israel. Through her influence the pagan worship of Baal became the state religion of the ten tribes.
Baalism was a licentious religion; and hence it fitly symbolized that monstrous apostasy of the church, whose essential characteristic is spiritual unfaithfulness to Christ.
In this church period the one great aim of this enemy of Christ, which is called the depths of Satan is to degrade the Lord Jesus Christ from his place as the Son of God.
As the Son of God He is presented in the Scriptures as the only way of access to the Father. He himself said: I am the way, the truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me! (John 14:6)
In complete opposition of this, though such opposition is cleverly disguised with almost diabolical cleverness, the Roman church systematically present Jesus Christ, not as the Son of God, but as the son of Mary.
In its doctrine, ceremonies, liturgy, pictures and images, this Jezebel church, with consumate and satanic craft, exalts Mary, making her the compassionate one, the efficacious intercessor in behalf of sinners, the mediatrix between God and man. Her devotees are led to put their trust in Mary instead of the Son of God. You can see why He presents Himself, as to no other church period as the Son of God.
Steadfastly, Mary is presented by the Roman Catholic church as the Mediatrix between God and man. The title given her is Mary Mediatrix.
In the Marian Congress held in Ottawa in June, 1947, a one hundred foot statue of her was displayed in fireworks. She was pictured standing on a new moon, wearing a crown of stars, with a caption beneath the figure which read, Ad Jesumper Marian which translated reads: To Jesus through Mary.
This is pure paganism to present Mary as Mediatrix. In Babylon they had a goddess which bore the name Myletta, that is The Mediatrix.
In accordance with this role of Mediatrix, she was called Aphroditethat is the wraths of Douerwho by her charms could soothe the breast of angry Jove. In Athens she was called Amarusia, that is the mother of gracious acceptance! In Rome she was called -Bona Dea,-'the -good goddess!-'
All this is sufficient to prove the pagan character which is ascribed to the Virgin Mary. It is an extraordinary thing that throughout history across the lives of the people of the pagan world is the figure of a woman which closely resembles the Virgin Mary of today. In ancient Babylon she was Semiramis; in Assyria she was Astarte; in Egypt, Isis, in Greece, Aphrodite; in Rome, Venus. Many of the titles which have been given to the Virgin Mary by the Roman Catholic church have been taken directly from paganism. Hesiod, one of the earliest Greek writers describes her as the mother of the gods. Catholics call Mary the mother of God!
And this introduction of rank paganism traced back to the Thyatira period of church history which began in the fourth century.
Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople set himself against this. Quoting him, Has God, said he, a mother? Then is paganism to be pardoned for introducing a mother of the gods, and St. Paul is a liar, who said in speaking of Christ's god-head that it is without father or mother or descent. Let us cease to call Mary, her who bore God, that we be not tempted to become pagans. At this point the sermon was interrupted by the shout That is atheisam!
From third chapter, 2nd volume of his Handbook to the Controversy with Rome by Karl Von Hase, professor of Theology in the University of Jena for 53 years, 1830 to 1883.
And this in the light of Mary's declaration (Luke 1:47) that she needed a savior! If she needed a Savior, how could she become a savior? Also this in the light of Paul's statement, For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Jesus Christ. (1 Timothy 2:5). How then can Mary be called Mediatrix?
Not until 1854 was she declared Immaculate, on December 8th of that year. After the question had been considered by a special commission of cardinals and theologians, and after consulting with the entire college of cardinals, Pope Pius IX solemnly declared the dogma in Peter's church in Rome in the presence of more than two hundred cardinals, bishops and others, who had been invited to the assembly. After mass and singing he read as follows:
That the most blessed Virgin Mary, in the first moment of her conception, by a special grace and privilege of Almighty God, in virtue of the merits of Christ, was preserved immaculate from all stain of original sin.
He decreed this to be a divinely revealed fact and dogma which must be believed constantly and firmly by the faithful. Those who refuse to accept it must be cut off from the church.
It was not until the end of the so called holy year of 1950 did the present pope declare the doctrine of her assumption. This then reached the fullness of paganism to deify her as ascending directly to heaven in bodily form. No wonder Christ spoke of the Thyatira church as the depths of Satan.
In Biblical symbology, and particularly in the apocalypse, a woman is the symbol of an elaborate religious system. In this instance Jezebel stands for a system of doctrine, in that she is referred to as a prophetess one who taught Christ's servants to commit fornicationspiritual unchastity.
Revelation 2:21 She was given time to repent for this spiritual fornication but she refused to repent. History has shown how she has only grown worse.
Revelation 2:22 Sickness and a bed are scriptural symbols of affliction and punishment. Even today we have a saying; He made his own bed, let him lie in it.
Her adultery was like the adultery of Israel. (Jeremiah 3:6-11) (Ezekiel 16:23-42)
Revelation 2:23 The words, I will kill her children with death is significant as she teaches that she is the mother of all churches. Rome delights in the name mother.
Her children are her adherents and Christ said he would kill them with death. This visitation of judgment would cause all the churches to know that Christ searcheth the reins and hearts of men and will reward every man according to his works. This word works calls up the idolatrous works of the Thyatira church, into which Christ looks with eyes like unto flames of fire. (Revelation 2:18)
Revelation 2:24 Evidently not all in Thyatira were involved in this paganism, because Christ has a special word of encouragement for them, 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.
Revelation 2:25 The only burden he would lay upon them was to hold fast until I come.
Revelation 2:26 A prominent feature of Romanism is its settled purpose, from which it has never deviated in all the centuries of existence, to exercise power over the nations. She has always advocated union of church and state and the power to crown and uncrown kings.
How appropriate, then, is this promise to those of Thyatira who overcome this pagan doctrinethe depths of satan. I will give him power over the nations! In the coming period when Christ shall rule all kingdoms the saints which have endured shall reign with him.
Revelation 2:27 A sceptre of iron means a firm and enduring power. The word rule in the original means to rule as a shepherd. It will not be the cruel rule of a dictator, but the gentle guardianship of a shepherd, even Christ, the good shepherd, who laid down his life for the sheep.
Christ will break the nations in pieces and all shall become one under the rule of Him.
Revelation 2:28. The promise of the Morning Star points to the possession of Christ in some special way. It is one of the titles of Christ. In Revelation 22:16 He says of Himself, I AM the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star. Christ will give to those who overcome the depths of satan, a fellowship with Himself in that they shall share his dominion.
Summary Thus we have traced Paul's mystery of iniquity (which) doth already work (2 Thessalonians 2:7), called in the Ephesian period, the deeds of the Nicolaitanes; in the Smyrna period, the synagogue of satan; in the Pergamos period, the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, where Satan's seat is, and in the Thyatira period, the doctrine of Jezebel, the depths of satan.
Here in the Thyatira period the doctrine of the Nicolaitanesthe doctrine of overlordshipreached the depths of satan.
We traced briefly in the Pergamos period how the simplicity of the policy of the New Testament church was surplanted by a rising ecclesiastical hierarchy in the elevation of men in authority over the churches. The depths of Satan was reached in the Thyatira period when the bishop of Romecalled papa or pope gradually assumed supreme authority over the churches.
There began the growth of an empire within an empire. Quoting from Myer's Ancient History, pages 582, 583 we read:
Long before the fall of Rome there had begun to grow up within the Roman Empire an ecclesiastical state, which was shaping itself into the imperial model. This spiritual empire, like the secular one, possessed a hierarchy of officers, of which deacons, priests or presbyters, and bishops were the most important. These bishops collectively formed what is known as the Episcopate. There were four grades of bishops, metropolitans or archbishops, and patriarchs. At the end of the fourth century there were five patriarchs, that is, regions ruled by patriarchs. These centered in the great cities of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem.
Among the patriarchs, the patriarchs of Rome were accorded almost universally a precedence in honor and dignity. They claimed further a precedence in authority and jurisdiction. Before the close of the eighth century there was firmly established over a great part of christendom what we may call an ecclesiastical monarchy.
This ecclesiastical monarchy reached the depths of satan when, after centuries of argument, the doctrine of the infallibility of the pope was made a canon law in the year 1870 A. D. by the council called for that purpose by Pius IX.
With the growth of the papal state spiritually there was also a parallel development of the temporal power of the popes.
In the dispute about the use of images in worship, known in history as the war of the Iconoclasts, which broke out in the eighth century between the Greek churches of the East and the Latin churches of the West, drew after it far-reaching consequences as respects the growing power of the Roman Pontiffs. In this quarrel with the Eastern Emperors the Roman bishops formed an alliance with the Frankish princes of the Carolingian house. The popes consecrated the Frankish chieftains as kings and emperors; the grateful Frankish kings defended the popes against all their enemies. Such in broad outline was the way in which grew up the papacy.
Myers Ancient History pages 585, 586.
Thus for centuries we behold union of church and state until July 2, 1871 when Victor Emmanuel entered Rome and took up his residence there.
The occupation of Rome by the Italian government marked the end of the temporal power of the pope, and the end of an ecclesiastical state, the last in Europe, which from long before Charlemagne had held a place among the temporal powers of Europe. the papal troops, with the exception of a few guardsmen, were disbanded.. By a statute known as the Law of the papal guarantees (1871), the pope was assured in the exercise of his spiritual functions.
Thus, finally, as a result of the reformation the doctrine of the Nicoliatanes, which thing I hate said Christ, was refuted, both in its spiritual and temporal functions. However, it must be said in the interest of truth that the doctrine still holds sway, spiritually, in the overlordship of the papacy over the Roman church, and, temporally, in the eternal struggle of the pope to regain his power over the nations.
In these letters we have revealed or uncovered to us those tactics the great adversary, the devil, employs against the church of Christ.
Revelation 2:29 Again we meet with the statement which indicates that Thyatira, like the three churches before it, represents not just one church, but the churches of a period. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches.