Thyatira
THERE were those who were truly devoted and earnest even in the darkness of the Middle Ages. “But,” He says, “I have against thee that thou sufferest that woman, Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.” The best copies leave out the words at the beginning of verse 20, “a few things,” for it was not something trivial He had against them, but an exceedingly solemn state. It was not here, as in the Church at Pergamos, those who held the doctrine of Balaam, laying a snare for the people of God; but it was Jezebel— a woman assuming to be a prophetess, to have the oracles of God. The figure used, that of a woman, indicates a settled system — it was a system of seduction of the servants of God. This seduction took the form of complicity with the world on the one hand, and religious corruption and idolatry on the other. Jezebel was characterized by avarice and love of worldly gain as well as religious iniquity. She it was who urged on Ahab to idolatry; she was also the bitter persecutor of the true servants of God. She it was who slew the prophets of the Lord, and of whom it is written, “That I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel.”
This state of the Church was a decided advance in evil. Historically we see it in the system which we know as Romanism, which grew to such proportions and consolidated its power in the Middle Ages. The roots of the evil came out very early in the Church, the state described in Pergamos prepared the way for it; but it was not till about the ninth or tenth century that it was really consolidated into a powerfully organized system. Not only was Jezebel corrupt herself, but she was a source and parent of corruption. These were “her children,” the offspring and perpetuation of her evil ways. God bore with long patience, He gave space for repentance; but when the light of the Reformation shone forth, and Rome definitely rejected it, and again asserted her false doctrines in a systematic manner, as she did at the Council of Trent (1545-1563), she became as apostate as any professedly Christian system could become, and there remained nothing but judgment.
Nevertheless, even in the darkness of the Middle Ages, there were those whom God preserved as a witness for Himself. The professing Church, as such, had gone hopelessly into the world and got under the power of Jezebel; and here the Lord distinguishes a remnant: “But unto you I say, the rest (or remnant) in Thyatira.” The “and unto” is left out by the best translators; for the Lord here formally distinguishes this remnant of faithful ones, and addresses them — they had not known this doctrine or the depths of Satan — and He lays upon them no other burden than that which they had, — “Hold fast till I come.” It is not recovery of the Church as a whole which is to be looked for here, but the Lord sets apart this remnant in the Church and the promise of His coming as the hope is set before them. And this is peculiarly in place here, because nothing is more powerful to diver from the world than the hope of His coming.
If Jezebel sought to rule and persecute the true saints of God, the Lord promises to the overcomer here identification with Himself in the place He will take, according to chapter 19:15, of power over the nations in the millennial day. He will also give him “the morning star.” It is Christ Himself, risen and glorified, presented to the heart of the Christian, before the “day” of millennial glory shines out. At the end of the book, after presenting Himself to the Churches in the most personal manner possible “I, Jesus,” He says — He again speaks of Himself as the morning star. There he adds the word “bright”: “I am... the bright and morning star.” Let the night be ever so dark, let the state of the professing Church be ever so corrupt, nothing changes the brightness of the “bright morning star.” What an encouraging promise to the overcomer; yea, to all who are truly watching for Him during His absence!