A Deeper Dive Into the Book of Revelation - Part 64
In His message to the church in Thyatira, Jesus focuses much of the message on Jezebel, who represents an evil and corrupting influence in the Church.
“But I have this against you: that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess [claiming to be inspired], and who is teaching and leading astray my servants and beguiling them into practicing sexual vice and eating food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she has no desire to repent of her immorality [symbolic of idolatry] and refuses to do so.”—Revelation 2:20-21 (AMPC)
Here, Jesus gives us insight into why evil is sometimes allowed to continue for a season.
During the Thyatirean Church Age between 500 and 1500 A.D., horrible things were done by the illegitimate leaders of the Roman Catholic Church. Holiness and the Truth of Scripture were replaced with immorality, idolatry, and a religion based on man-made ideas and traditions. In His message to the church in Thyatira, Jesus reveals that He allowed this to go on because, in His mercy, He was giving the people responsible for these acts time to repent and to change their ways.
Now, after sufficient time has been given, these illegitimate church leaders have made it clear that they have no desire to repent and they refuse to do so.
Now Jesus is completely justified in pronouncing judgment upon them. The judgment that He will pronounce upon them will be thorough. It will be just, and it will be perfectly fitting for the crimes that have been committed.
It is significant that Jesus never speaks *to *Jezebel. He only speaks about her. That is because she does not belong to Him. She is not a child of God. She is of the Tares who are children of the devil. In this message to Thyatira, Jesus is only speaking to His children who are truly a part of His Church.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”—Revelation 2:29 (NKJV)
For centuries, there have been people in high positions of church leadership who never knew God. These Tares were planted in these positions by the devil to deceive, mislead, and destroy the true disciples of Christ.
But their judgment is sure. And when judgment comes, it begins with the house of God.
“For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”—1 Peter 4:17 (NASB)
The Bed of Sickness and Adultery
“Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds.”—Revelation 2:22 (NASB)
Jezebel will not be able to enjoy the life that she has chosen for herself. Her own choices will lead her to misery. She will spend her days being tormented by sickness. Because she has caused the Church to be diseased though her corruption, she herself will be diseased.
It’s important to realize that this is a judgment on the *teachers *in the Church who are misleading people and causing them to stumble in their faith. In His message, Jesus says that Jezebel was *teaching *His servants. This is a powerful reminder for anyone who is called to teach God’s people to make sure that they only teach the pure Word of God and to take care that none of our teaching is mixed with man’s ideas.
“Preach the word”—2 Timothy 4:2 (KJV)
“Not many [of you] should become teachers [serving in an official teaching capacity], my brothers and sisters, for you know that we [who are teachers] will be judged by a higher standard [because we have assumed greater accountability and more condemnation if we teach incorrectly].”—James 3:1 (AMP)
Jezebel is not a true child of God, but those who commit adultery with Jezebel by joining with her in her corrupt works *are *children of God. They are in covenant with the Lord. We know that because they are committing *adultery *with Jezebel. People must be married (in a covenant relationship) in order to commit adultery.
These Christians will be sentenced to experience great tribulation unless they repent.
Some believers will escape the Great Tribulation, as Jesus promised to the faithful disciples in Philadelphia:
“Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.”—Revelation 3:10 (NIV)
But those disciples who are in bed with Jezebel will need to go through the Great Tribulation in order to have their robes washed so that they can be prepared to meet the Lord.
The Children of Jezebel
God’s judgment does not stop with Jezebel. Her children—those who give themselves to walk in her evil ways—will also be thoroughly judged. Idolatry infects generations of people, so the judgment for idolatry must also be generational.
“You shall have no other gods before or besides Me. You shall not make yourself any graven image [to worship it] or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; You shall not bow down yourself to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, But showing mercy and steadfast love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.”—Exodus 20:3-6 (AMPC)
The judgement that Jesus pronounces upon the children of Jezebel is more than just a temporary punishment. What Jesus describes is total destruction.
“And I will kill her children (followers) with pestilence [thoroughly annihilating them], and all the churches will know [without any doubt] that I am He who searches the minds and hearts [the innermost thoughts, purposes]; and I will give to each one of you [a reward or punishment] according to your deeds.”—Revelation 2:23 (AMP)
The original language for this verse seems to include complete destruction of body and soul—the whole person is destroyed.
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”—Matthew 10:28 (NKJV)
There are many judgments mentioned in the book of Revelation, but the most thorough, destructive judgement seems to be reserved for the false church, even more than the judgment of Satan or the Antichrist.
The judgment of the false church starts in Revelation chapter 17 and continues with great detail into Revelation chapter 19. The description of her judgment ends with the servants of God rejoicing to witness the final end of the false church.
“After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, ‘Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.’ Again they said, ‘Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!’”—Revelation 19:1-3 (NKJV)
In the Old Testament, after all that she had done as the illegitimate queen of Israel, the original Jezebel’s life came to a horrible end.
“Jehu looked up and saw her at the window and shouted, ‘Who is on my side?’ And two or three eunuchs looked out at him. ‘Throw her down!’ Jehu yelled. So they threw her out the window, and her blood spattered against the wall and on the horses. And Jehu trampled her body under his horses’ hooves.
“Then Jehu went into the palace and ate and drank. Afterward he said, ‘Someone go and bury this cursed woman, for she is the daughter of a king.’ But when they went out to bury her, they found only her skull, her feet, and her hands.
“When they returned and told Jehu, he stated, ‘This fulfills the message from the Lord, which he spoke through his servant Elijah from Tishbe: “At the plot of land in Jezreel, dogs will eat Jezebel’s body. Her remains will be scattered like dung on the plot of land in Jezreel, so that no one will be able to recognize her.”’”—2 Kings 9:32-37 (NLT)
The end of the false church will be very much like the end of the original Jezebel. The beasts will eat her flesh, and there will not be enough left of her to identify her as what she had been.
“And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will [be the very ones to] hate the harlot (the idolatrous woman); they will make her cheerless (bereaved, desolate), and they will strip her and eat up her flesh and utterly consume her with fire.”—Revelation 17:16 (AMPC)
According to Your Works
In the last part of this verse, Jesus gives us some insight into how each one of us will be judged by God.
“And all the assemblies (churches) shall recognize and understand that I am He Who searches minds (the thoughts, feelings, and purposes) and the [inmost] hearts, and I will give to each of you [the reward for what you have done] as your work deserves.”—Revelation 2:23 (AMPC)
The final judgment for believers will be a judgment to determine our eternal rewards, not punishments. For those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ and have our names written in the Book of Life, we have passed from death to life. Our sins have been forgiven.
The final judgment for believers will not be a time of punishments, because there will be nothing to punish. Our sins have been washed away in the blood of Jesus Christ, and God no longer even remembers our past sins. There is no longer any record in Heaven of our sins, faults, or failures.
“And I will forgive the wrongs they have done, and I will not remember their sins.”—Hebrews 8:12 (ERV)
Roland Buck received a profound revelation about this when he was taken to Heaven in January, 1977. In his experience, he was allowed to look into the books that recorded the life works of some of the believers. As he looked through Abraham’s book, he read some of the righteous acts that he was familiar with the book of Genesis, but some things were missing. Here is how Pastor Buck described that experience:
“One thing I could not find was the places where Abraham stumbled. When Abraham lied to the king of Egypt, saying that his wife was his sister, it was not recorded there! The time his faith was weak and he laughed because of unbelief in God’s promise that a man of his age could be a father, was not recorded there.”
“God, where is the other book?”
“I have no other book for the believers.”
“Where did you write about the failures of Abraham which I have seen recorded in your own words in the Bible?”
“I have no other book. I DO NOT RECORD FAILURE IN HEAVEN!” (See Hebrews 10:17-18). (Buck)
The final judgment for believers will be a time when God rewards His true disciples for the good works they had done in this life. Paul describes this judgment in 1 Corinthians 3:9-15:
“For we are God’s fellow workers [His servants working together]; you are God’s cultivated field [His garden, His vineyard], God’s building.
“According to the [remarkable] grace of God which was given to me [to prepare me for my task], like a skillful master builder I laid a foundation, and now another is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds on it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is [already] laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will be clearly shown [for what it is]; for the day [of judgment] will disclose it, because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality and character and worth of each person’s work. If any person’s work which he has built [on this foundation, that is, any outcome of his effort] remains [and survives this test], he will receive a reward. But if any person’s work is burned up [by the test], he will suffer the loss [of his reward]; yet he himself will be saved, but only as [one who has barely escaped] through fire.” (AMP)
In Revelation 2:23, Jesus reveals to us that He doesn’t just look at the things that we do, but he looks deeper. He looks into our hearts to understand our inner motivations to know why we do the things that we do.
“And all the assemblies (churches) shall recognize and understand that I am He Who searches minds (the thoughts, feelings, and purposes) and the [inmost] hearts, and I will give to each of you [the reward for what you have done] as your work deserves.”—Revelation 2:23 (AMPC)
We can rest assured that in the final judgement, we will be judged by a God who truly understands us and our motivations behind every action that we took in this life.
The “Deep Things” of Satan
“But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not explored and known the depths of Satan, as they call them—I place no other burden on you, except to hold tightly to what you have until I come.”—Revelation 2:24-25 (AMP)
This verse reveals the two churches that existed during the Dark Ages between 500 and 1520 A.D.
Jesus is speaking here to the true church of Thyatira. These are the true disciples of Christ who have kept themselves morally and doctrinally pure. These are the true disciples who have clung to the Truth of Scripture in the face of intense pressure. Here, Jesus instructs them to continue to hold tightly to those truths without compromise.
The other church is the false church. These are not true children of God. They are children of the devil. Jesus speaks *about *them and *about *Jezebel, but He never speaks *to *them in His message to Thyatira, because they are none of His. These are the Tares who have been sown into the true Church by the enemy. And during this Thyatirean Church Age from 500 to 1520 A.D., we see that they have taken over leadership positions in the Church and are leading people into idolatry, immorality, and doctrines of devils.
What Jesus says about these false Tares in the Church is shocking. These false believers are actually seeking to explore and to experience greater depths of Satan! They have given themselves over to pursuing evil!
And these children of the devil are in leadership positions in the Church!
These evil people were used by Satan to steal, to kill, and to destroy the true disciples of Christ during the Dark Ages represented in the message to the church in Thyatira, but in the next message to the church in Sardis, we will begin to see restoration as the Church enters the time of the Reformation.
**References: **
Branham, W. M. (2005). An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages. Voice of God Recordings. (PDF)
Buck, R. (n.d.). My Visit to the Throne Room. Angels on Assignment. https://angelsonassignment.org/throne_room.html
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
