A Deeper Dive Into the Book of Revelation - Part 63
Praise from the Lord
“I know your record and what you are doing, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your recent works are more numerous and greater than your first ones.”—Revelation 2:19 (AMPC)
The church in Thyatira received this high praise from Jesus Himself. Any church would love to receive such praise from the Lord. Their service to the Lord started off good and became even greater!
It is remarkable to realize that Church in the age of Thyatira accomplished these good works during some of the darkest times in Church history.
Jezebel in Church Leadership
“But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.”—Revelation 2:20 (ESV)
With all of the good works that are done by the church in Thyatira, they have a very serious problem. Jezebel is being tolerated in the church. Not enough action has been taken to thoroughly deal with this woman and remove her influence from the church.
In the Pergamean Church Age, there were some in the Church who followed the corrupt teachings of Balaam, but they were not in the majority, and they did not control all of the positions of authority. But in this Thyatirean Church Age, darkness has progressed. Jezebel is now actively teaching and leading the servants of God into practicing sexual immorality and idolatry! And this is tolerated in the Church!
In previous church ages, there were those in the church who followed the beliefs of the Nicolaitans and wanted to establish a man-made authority structure in the Church in order to control and dominate the common people. And now, in this Thyatirean Church Age, we see Jezebel in a position of power as she exerts her influence to corrupt and destroy the True Church of God!
Jezebel represents a powerful evil influence that gained a stranglehold on power and authority in the Church during the Thyatirean Church Age.
Jesus called this evil influence “Jezebel.” We know that Jesus did not use His words carelessly. To discover the truth of what happened to the Church during the Thyatirean church Age from 500 to 1500 AD, we need to look back at Jezebel in the days of King Ahab and the prophet Elijah.
Illegitimate Authority
Jezebel is first mentioned in 1 Kings 16. Jezebel became the wife of King Ahab who “did more evil things than all the kings of Israel who lived before him” (1 Kings 16:30 EASY).
Jezebel was not one of God’s people. She was the daughter of Ethbaal, who was a king of the Sidonians and a priest of the false god Baal. When Jezebel gained a position of power in Israel through her marriage to King Ahab, the prophets of Baal came with her. These were the same prophets of Baal that Elijah confronted on Mount Carmel.
“Now then, send word and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of [the goddess] Asherah, who eat at [Queen] Jezebel’s table.”—1 Kings 18:19 (AMP)
King Ahab became a worshiper of Baal through his relationship with Jezebel. Through Jezebel’s influence, the entire nation of Israel fell into idolatry. Israel became a deeply corrupt nation through the influence of Jezebel during Ahab’s reign.
“There certainly was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife incited him.”—1 Kings 21:25 (AMP)
“Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.”—1 Kings 16:33 (AMP)
In Jesus’ message to Thyatira, He says, “you tolerate that woman Jezebel.” Jezebel did not have to be tolerated. She did not have a legitimate position of authority over the people of God. After gaining a position of influence through marriage to the King, she manipulated him and usurped his authority illegitimately and illegally to corrupt and destroy the true people of God. We see a perfect example of this in Jezebel’s plot to steal Naboth’s vineyard.
Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard and tried to bargain with Naboth to get it legally, but Naboth would not agree.
That was no obstacle for Jezebel. To get the vineyard, Jezebel usurped the authority of the king, writing letters in the king’s name and sealing them with his seal. In these letters, Jezebel instructed the leaders of Naboth’s city to murder him, telling them in detail how it was to be done.
In this way, Jezebel used the king’s name and his authority illegitimately to kill Naboth and to steal his property.
In the same way, children of the devil usurped positions of authority within the Church during the Dark Ages and used this illegitimate authority to corrupt and destroy the true children of God.
Jesus dealt with these kinds of illegitimate religious leaders in His day, too:
“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.”—John 8:44 (NASB)
Man-Made Titles
Jesus says that Jezebel “calls herself a prophetess,” (Revelation 2:20) but God never calls her a prophetess. God never even claims her as a child of His. In the same way, during the Thyatirean Church Age, men took upon themselves lofty titles such as archbishop, cardinal, and pope, but these titles were man-made and illegitimate. God never bestowed such titles on the leaders of His Church.
These titles were all born out of the corrupt doctrine of the Nicolaitans for the purposes of controlling and oppressing the people of God.
The Corruption of the Church
This fourth church age of Thyatira corresponds to the fourth parable of the Kingdom in Matthew 13:33:
“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.” (NKJV)
In Jesus’ message to Thyatira, we find out who this woman is. She is Jezebel, and the leaven that she is hiding in the true bread of the Gospel message is lies, deceptions, and doctrines of devils that corrupt the Truth of the Gospel.
During the Thyatirean Church Age between 500 and 1500 AD,, the true doctrines of the Church were corrupted, twisted, and replaced with counterfeit doctrines of devils. Children of the devil within the Church focused their efforts on destroying the Gospel message, just as Jezebel had torn down the altars of the true God in the days of Elijah.
“And he repaired and rebuilt the [old] altar of the Lord that had been torn down [by Jezebel].”—1 Kings 18:30 (AMP)
True revelation from God was replaced with man’s ideas and traditions.
The operation of the true gifts of the Holy Spirit with healings, signs, and wonders was quenched, allowing that void to be filled with sorcery, witchcraft, and occult practices.
“How can there be peace as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother, Jezebel, are all around us?”—2 Kings 9:22 (NLT)
New doctrines of devils instructed believers to pray to dead people, like Mary and the saints, rather than praying to God.
Water baptism for believers was replaced with infant christening that did not require faith in Jesus.
The doctrine of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ was replaced with doctrines of devils and a gospel of works that taught that salvation must be earned through church membership and the observance of sacraments and rituals.
“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.”—Galatians 1:6-9 (NKJV)
The Bible teaches us that “it is appointed for [all] men once to die, and after that the [certain] judgment” (Hebrews 9:27 AMPC). But during the Thyatirean Church Age, this truth was replaced with the lie that church members who died went to an imaginary place called “purgatory” for “purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.” This is still the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church today. (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1030)
Family members were taught that their prayers could help to shorten a loved one’s time in purgatory.
It was also during the Thyatirean Church Age when the selling of indulgences was promoted by the false church. According to the false teaching of the church, a person could pay the church money to buy indulgences that would allow for the forgiveness of certain sins. Some teachings went so far as to claim that family members could buy indulgences that would allow their loved ones to experience shorter times in purgatory.
At the very darkest of the Dark Ages, the Bible was even lost to the church. It was only allowed to be printed and spoken in Latin, which the common people couldn’t understand, and it was only allowed to be read by the clergy.
“… the popes have endeavored to abolish Biblical Christianity in favor of a religious system of their own making. And because of this, they have seen the Bible as their chief enemy. And this is the reason why they outlawed it from being read by the common people.” (Adullam Films)
In these ways, Jezebel was able to thoroughly corrupt the Church with the leaven of lies, deceptions, and doctrines of devils.
In His message to the Thyatira church, Jesus said that Jezebel was “teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.”
True apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers who were anointed and inspired by God were replaced in the churches with children of the devil who did not know the Lord or even believe the Truth of Scripture. Tares from the enemy replaced the true children of God in many positions of church leadership.
When Bible truths were lost, the Church also lost its moral guidance and sank into gross immorality.
“Now as we have already said, this age is called the Dark Ages because it was indeed the darkest period of all history… .
“It was the age of Pornocracy, the rule of harlots. [Pope] Sagarius III had a mistress and ‘filled the papal choir with paramours and bastard sons and turned the papal palace into a den of robbers.’ [Pope] Anastasius III was smothered to death by Marozia who was mistress to [Pope] Sagarius. [Pope] John XI was Marozia’s illegitimate son. [Pope] John XII was the grandson of Marozia and he ‘violated widows and virgins and was killed while in the act of adultery by the woman’s enraged husband.’ It was the age of Papal Schism for two lines of popes (one ruling from Avignon and the other from Rome) cursed and fought each other. These popes were not only guilty of immoral sex acts (fathering scores of illegitimate children, committing sodomy, etcetera) but were guilty of selling priestly offices to the highest bidders” (Branham, p.224-225)
A Religion of Murder
The name “Thyatira” means “domineering female” or “female butcher.” It comes from the Greek verb θυω (thuo), meaning “to slaughter or to rage,” and the suffix -τειρα (-theira), meaning “she who …”. (Abarim Publications)
During the Thyatirean Church Age between 500 and 1520 A.D., the false church endeavored to destroy the Truth of Scripture by corrupting it with idolatrous pagan beliefs and doctrines of devils.
Disciples of Christ who defied the false church and defended the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ could expect to be severely persecuted by the false church. Thousands of believers were murdered by the false church for their faith in Jesus Christ and their refusal to compromise with evil.
“It was the age of Pope Innocent III who claimed that he was the ‘vicar of Christ _ supreme sovereign over the church and the world,’ who instituted the INQUISITION which under his direction shed more blood than at any other time except in the Reformation.” (Branham, p.224)
Jezebel never shrank from murder as a tactic to get what she wanted. Jezebel’s father, Ethbaal had stolen the throne of the Sidonians by murdering his own brother. As the daughter of a murderer, Jezebel continued in her father’s footsteps. Her main targets were the prophets of the Lord.
“Jezebel was trying to destroy the Lord’s prophets”—1 Kings 18:4 (ISV)
“Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord”—1 Kings 18:13 (NKJV)
“Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets [of Baal] with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ‘So may the gods do to me, and even more, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like the life of one of them.’”—1 Kings 19:1-2 (AMP)
The strategy that the false church used to murder thousands of believers during the Thyatirean Church Age was the same strategy that Jezebel had used to murder Naboth and to steal his property. True disciples of Jesus Christ were falsely accused of heresy or blasphemy. Then the false church used these false accusations to justify the murders of thousands of true disciples of Jesus Christ.
We see how this strategy played out in the murder of Naboth.
“Then Jezebel wrote some letters. She signed Ahab’s name to them and used his seal to seal the letters. Then she sent them to the elders and important men who lived in the same town as Naboth. This is what the letter said:
“Announce that there will be a day of fasting when the people will eat nothing. Then call all the people of the town together for a meeting. At the meeting we will talk about Naboth. Find some men who will tell lies about Naboth. They should say that they heard Naboth speak against the king and against God. Then take Naboth out of the city and kill him with stones.”
“So the elders and important men of Jezreel obeyed the command. The leaders announced that there would be a day when all the people would eat nothing. On that day they called all the people together for a meeting. They put Naboth in a special place before the people. Then two men told the people that they heard Naboth speak against God and the king. So the people carried Naboth out of the city and killed him with stones.”—1 Kings 21:8-13 (ERV)
The murderous campaign of persecution from this false church will continue until the very end of Church Age when she will be drunk on the blood of the faithful martyrs of Jesus Christ, as we see in Revelation chapter 17.
**References: **
Abarim Publications. (n.d.). The Amazing Name Thyatira: Meaning and Etymology. Abarim Publications. https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Thyatira.html
Adullam Films. (n.d.). Tares Among the Wheat: Sequel to a Lamp in the Dark. Retrieved August 1, 2025, from https://www.adullamfilms.com/TaresAmongTheWheat.html.
Branham, W. M. (2005). An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages. Voice of God Recordings. (PDF)
Catholic Answers. (2025, June 18). What is Purgatory?. Catholic Answers. https://www.catholic.com/tract/purgatory
Davis, P. K. (2017a, April 5). Paul Keith Davis | Webinar 67 | “Thyatira—The Jezebel Church”. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq6XP6cF9h4
Davis, P. K. (2017b, May 10). *Paul Keith Davis | Webinar 68 | “Thyatira—Iron Mixed with Clay”. *YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOCRoBuJA_E
Davis, P. K. (2017c, June 7). Paul Keith Davis | Webinar 69 | Ruling & Reigning. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoQocDiv4iQ
Got Questions Ministries. (2010, January 1). Who was Jezebel in the Bible?. Got Questions. https://www.gotquestions.org/life-Jezebel.html
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (n.d.). Catechism of the Catholic Church. https://usccb.cld.bz/Catechism-of-the-Catholic-Church/288/
