“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze:
I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things. But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality. Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.
But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them—depths of Satan, actually). I will ask nothing more of you except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come. To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, To them I will give authority over all the nations. They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots. They will have the same authority I received from my Father, and I will also give them the morning star!
Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.”
Revelation 2:18-29
Several of you have asked me why I use the segment related to Thyatira only as the text before us at the moment. For two reasons:
- Because I still have to explain my thoughts on why Thyatira was chosen when it was supposedly so insignificant.
- To save you from adding the whole text of the Introductions to the each church (Rev 2:1-3:22) each time I include the text.
I am using Thyatira, the mid-point of the chiastic structure, to stand in for the whole. Otherwise the length of each Gem would be even longer. However I tag each Gem with two references. Revelation 2:18-29 and Revelation 2:1 – 3:22. I am allowing the extended introduction for the central church of the Seven to represent the whole.
Often when I embark on one of these long Gem Series I find myself inundated with new resource material. There are times when the LORD sends resources my way and there are times when my readers or those attending a God’s Awesome Book seminar or a Deeper Bible session put me on to valuable new resources. I try to sift through the material to determine what is useful or not. I now have four shelves of Revelation related resources on my book shelves as well as eleven digital resources (Kindle books, pdfs and links) which I have added to my set of resources. At times I feel overwhelmed and struggle to cope with such blessings. I have commented before that I have the sense of taking on more than I can handle, but I will press on.
I left you with the following closing comment at the end of the last Gem: ‘I believe I have one more Gem to write to sum it all up. And yes I will comment on what I think the message of the Seven combined, including what Thyatira has to tell us. Phew, at last we are nearing the end of The Letter to the Seven Churches.’ But in looking back over what I have covered I will have to take two more Gems to close off Revelation Chapter 2 and 3 before we move on to Chapter 4. As you will see in the content below unexpected input has been added along the way, I trust in the providence of God. I have tried as I write these Gems to give you all the relevant information you need. At times that makes these Gems long, but I like to keep relevant material together in one Gem so we can refer to it later. As I have said before, I am writing these Gems for me as well as for you. Enough of the preamble; let’s get on with it!
A couple of queries from readers encouraged me to clarify some things.
“What actually constitutes this Letter to the Seven Churches?” The best way to answer that question is to consider: what did each church receive in the letter? Did it include Chapters 2 and 3 for each church? So each church got to read what Christ had to say to the others as well? Yes! Did it include all the rest of the Book of Revelation, in other words Chapters 4 to 22 as well? The answer once again is “Yes! As John wrote down what Jesus said, all of the above was included. John told them (and us who also read the letter in this day and age) that he was told to:
“Write down what you have seen [and heard] – both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen.”
Revelation 1:19
My first clarification is the letter as it was sent included Revelation 1-22. My second clarification concerns the nature of letters written back then. Were they reliable? Were they really letters as such or were they some hybrid form of sermons, treatises or homilies rather than real letters about real situations, as some commentators suggest? I commented in paragraph 7 of Gem 2217 that Prof Ramsay suggests Caesar Augustus had realised the value of letters in preserving the unity of Christianity, with possible application to the unity of the Roman Empire if they could use the same form of communication to hold the Empire together. The letters written by the Church Fathers to one another and to churches contain 98% of the New Testament. The point being, the volume and the thoroughness was impressive. The letters in total were written out of concern to keep the church unified. It was also impressive to realise the lengths the Church Fathers and Christ’s disciples were willing to go to ensure the unity of the church. During my research into all this I discovered their willingness to travel to the cutting edge of Christianity (the Eastern extremity of Christianity) as seen in the map in Gem 2219.
What is also impressive and puzzling at the same time is this collection of letters to Seven Churches. The number seven and the churches chosen were selected to convey a message. I have told you before ‘7’ is symbolic of perfection, completeness or the essence of that which is being communicated. It is certainly true in this case. It hints at the fact that this message was intended for all churches everywhere, not just in the First Century AD but for all time. I believe it is that symbolism which had led some to posit the idea that these seven churches represent systematic stages in the spread of Christianity over time – Dispensationalism. (See Bible Gem 2214) I don’t agree. The dispensations suggested over the years are too random and inconsistent to be believable. But on the other hand I do think the fact that Seven Churches were chosen actually hints at the fact that the Letter to the Churches includes all churches for all time. Perfection / completion – i.e. this message is for all churches everywhere.
Before I embarked on a thorough investigation of the Seven Cities and the Seven Churches I had the impression that there were just seven cities in the interior of the region eligible to be chosen, let alone being those cities where there was a church. But I was shocked to find there were 500 cities in this region; some say 1,000. This fact increased my curiosity as to why these seven, especially when Thyatira is referred to as ‘being insignificant’. Why then choose that city and church? Then I noticed the chiastic pattern between them with Thyatira being the central church of the Seven. I also saw the symbolism of the Menorah, the seven branched candle stick. Jesus had already made clear to the John that these lamp stands symbolise the churches.
This is the meaning of the mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Revelation 1:20
I am sure I don’t need to spell out why the Church is symbolised as a lampstand. It is clear, isn’t it? Jesus is the Light of the World and therefore the Church is His chosen way of making that Light known, and we as individuals in the church are ‘little lights’ which carry the light of the church which in turn totality displays His Light to the world.
God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 3:10
This is not just a New Testament concept. It is found also in the Old Testament.
He [the LORD] says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
Isaiah 49:6
The perfect illustration is the Menorah, the seven branched candlestick, which sat in the tabernacle in front of the curtain which kept the people and all but the High Priest from entering the Presence except once a year. (Exodus 25:31-40) Look at the way the menorah was made, with the lampstands arrayed like the diagram below. What is remarkable is that I have been holding back introducing the connection to the Menorah because of the obvious chiastic arrangement of it. I intended to bring it in at end of what I covered. But a Wycliffe friend of mine from Indonesia days, Michael Martens, sent me a scan of two pages from Dr. Kenneth H. Maahs book, Of Angels, Beasts, and Plagues: The Message of Revelation for a New Millennium. Included in it was the image below, which is better than the image I had constructed to show the chiastic structure of the menorah.
The letters on the top of the image match the Seven Churches of Revelation:
Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. I switched the image I had constructed for Dr Maahs’ simply because he has the lampstand for Thyatira set above the others. Normally the seven lampstands are set at the same height but this one is like the Hannukiah where the central lampstand is higher, which highlights the chiastic pattern. Notice the pairing involved with the other churches, i.e. Ephesus paired with Laodicea, Smyrna paired with Philadelphia and Pergamum paired with Sardis. Ephesus and Laodicea are the only two threatened with expulsion, having their lampstand removed in the case of the former and being spat out in the case of the latter. Smyrna and Philadelphia are the two churches which are commended and not castigated. That leaves the inner three, Pergamum, Thyatira and Sardis hanging in the balance and awaiting judgement. There is more to come on that point but you will have to wait for my final summation in the last Gem I will write on the Letter to the Seven Churches.
I was intrigued by the way Christ described Himself to each individual church in a way which perfectly matched their specific situation which Christ knew. As you well know by now, I wanted to find out the details related to each of the seven churches. So I looked into the background of each city and church. When I found that Thyatira was ‘the runt of the litter’, it made me think about the selection of the Seven. Hence Bible Gem 2215 – Why was Thyatira Chosen Among the Seven? I knew from past knowledge that the Seven churches were located on a circular route from Ephesus finishing with Laodicea. But was surprised to realise there were so many other churches which could have been chosen. I then got thinking about the track record of the church in each city and what happened in the end? How did they end up? In the process of all this I noticed the expanded text of the introduction to the Thyatirans along with the content of that expansion which made it stand out. The clear signs of chiastic structure and the link to the menorah.
I wanted to know did the positive churches have a strong lineage of Christian belief and did they have good outcomes? Did they survive to the end as the continuing refrain in Revelation reminds us? Having found what I did about the churches listed in Revelation I got thinking it is obvious the Roman Province of Asia was in focus because it was on the cutting edge of the spread of Christianity. I then wanted to find out about the other churches in this part of the world so populated with cities. The outcome of which I put into Gem 2215 above. Seeing the mixed bag of disappointing reports and positive reports, I had no way of telling what Christ would have said to them other than guess work. Another question in the back of my mind was, did the region they were located in have an influence on the outcome? That possibility made me think of Berea and Thessalonica. Both in a different region of the world, close to one another, and having a favourable report from Paul. If Paul had good things to say about them, it was likely that Jesus would commend them rather than criticise them. The outcome of that investigation I gave you in Gem 2218 and Gem 2219.
All of the above has led me to the conclusion I will share with you in the next Gem, the last of The Letter to the Seven Churches series. And yes, I will tell you my conclusions related to Thyatira and why it fits perfectly with the Seven and why I think it was the centre point of the chiastic structure John recorded. Was it John who came up with this structure and its hidden message? I don’t think so. I think the brilliance comes from Jesus, and yes I am aware we could debate that one for a long time. Suffice to say the whole passage is filled with depth almost in every word. But that is what the Scriptures are like. It shouldn’t surprise us.
Next Gem I will draw these Gems on The Letter to the Seven Churches to a fitting conclusion.
Jesus always tells you the truth about anything, especially the personal things about yourself. He will never condemn you but He always gives you an honest diagnosis.
Ian
I correct and discipline everyone I love. Jesus
Revelation 3:19
An America pastor, who upon hearing of the persecution of the house church in China, said boldly, “Pastor, we in America pray for the believers in China because you are going through persecution.” The Chinese pastor said to the American, “And we pray for you because you are not.”
Ian
It is more normal to embrace the religion of the conqueror than to steadfastly hold to your own religious views.
Ian
If you were put on trial for being a follower of Jesus would there be enough evidence to convict you?
Ian