Thyatira, though not a major city, nevertheless sat on a major Roman road. After commending this ekklesia, the Lord rebukes the believers there for their tolerance of Jezebel. I seriously doubt that there was a woman in the fellowship named Jezebel. Instead, the Jezebel of the Old Testament is invoked as a symbol of the cancerous philosophy being tolerated by the folks in Thyatira. It is possible that a woman in the assembly there was the central purveyor of this false doctrine. And, by the way, this is the same philosophy found in Pergamum that had been rooted out in Ephesus. But the manifestation of it in Thyatira was a bit different and the Lord deals with it uniquely. My take is that a woman in the congregation brought the practice of pagan temple prostitution into the fellowship and was practicing it and encouraging it with anyone who would participate. The harsh rebuke from the Lord convinces me of this. She probably claimed special revelation of “deep secrets” in order to make her diabolical teaching more palatable.
So, the lesson here is that the early Church was not idyllic. Naïve notions about the perfect church government model, the ideal church size, the correct doctrinal tenets, are just that – naïve! All local assemblies of believers will have problems. Serious ones! As long as we live in this fallen world, Satan will infiltrate all fellowships and attempt to destroy them. Believers cannot stick their heads in the sand and wait for it to go away. It must be dealt with. The Lord requires it of us.
So, the lesson here is that the early Church was not idyllic. Naïve notions about the perfect church government model, the ideal church size, the correct doctrinal tenets, are just that – naïve! All local assemblies of believers will have problems. Serious ones! As long as we live in this fallen world, Satan will infiltrate all fellowships and attempt to destroy them. Believers cannot stick their heads in the sand and wait for it to go away. It must be dealt with. The Lord requires it of us.
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