Revelation 2:18 - Meaning and Application

The form of each letter is much the same, and here, as in the others, we should notice the address, the message, and the close. First, the address tells us who the letter is for and who sends it. It is sent to the angel, or leader, of the church in Thyatira, a trade city in the province of Asia, where Lydia came from, the woman who sold purple cloth and later believed Paul’s message at Philippi.

Whether Lydia helped bring the gospel to Thyatira is not certain, but the fact is clear: the church was there, and Christ was speaking to it. The sender is the Son of God, Jesus Christ, here described as having eyes like a flame of fire and feet like fine brass. “Son of God” means the eternal, only-begotten Son, sharing the Father’s nature, yet distinct in his person.

His eyes like fire show his piercing and perfect knowledge. He sees through every person and every matter, and he searches hearts and tests hidden motives (Rev 2:23). His feet like fine brass show that his rule and judgments are firm, serious, and perfectly holy. He judges with full wisdom, and he acts with full strength and steady purpose.

Christ first gives this church a warm commendation. He speaks as one who knows them well, not as a stranger. He praises their love, their service, their faith, their patience, and the fact that their later works were better than their earlier ones.

Their love may mean a broad kindness toward all people, or a special care for fellow believers. Either way, there is no true religion where there is no love. Their service likely refers especially to the church workers who labored in teaching and ministry. Their faith was the grace that supported all the rest, and their patience was needed because faithful people still meet trouble and pressure.

Their growth is especially worthy of notice: their last works were better than the first. This is a fine character. Many lose their first zeal and love, but these believers were becoming wiser and better. Every Christian should long for this, to grow better day by day and to finish well.

Christ then gives a faithful rebuke for what was wrong. The fault is not laid mainly on the whole church, but on certain wicked deceivers within it. The church is blamed because it tolerated them too long and did not deal with them as it should have.

These deceivers are compared to Jezebel, the evil queen who persecuted the Lord’s prophets and supported idol worship and false prophets. Their sin was trying to lead God’s servants into sexual immorality and idol sacrifices. They called themselves prophets, which made their claim even bolder, since they wanted greater authority and attention than the church’s true ministers.

Their sin was made worse in two ways. First, they used God’s name against God’s truth and worship. Second, they abused God’s patience and stayed in their evil ways even after he gave them time to repent. Repentance is needed to keep a sinner from ruin, and it often takes time, because it is a serious work. When God grants time to repent, he expects real fruits that show repentance. If that time is wasted, the sinner falls under a heavier judgment.

Why, then, is Jezebel’s wickedness charged against the church in Thyatira? Because the church allowed her to mislead the people. The church may not have had civil power to drive her out or imprison her, but it did have church authority to rebuke her and remove her from fellowship. By failing to use the authority they had, they likely shared in her guilt.

Christ then speaks of Jezebel’s punishment (Rev 2:22, Rev 2:23), and in it there is also a warning picture of Babylon’s fall. He says, “I will throw her onto a bed,” meaning a bed of pain, not pleasure, a place of suffering and judgment. Those who sinned with her would suffer with her, unless they repented.

He also says, “I will strike her children with death.” This means the second death, the final judgment that brings no hope of future life. Those who are killed by that death have no resurrection to life, only shame and everlasting contempt.

Christ’s purpose in judging these deceivers was to teach others, especially his churches. “All the churches will know,” he says, “that I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your works.” God is made known by the judgments he carries out. In this act of judgment, he shows two things: his perfect knowledge of human hearts, and his fair justice in rewarding each person according to his deeds. Being called a Christian will not protect a person, and being in a church will not turn the church into a shelter for sin.

Finally, Christ gives comfort to those who keep themselves clean from these errors. He says, “To you and to the rest” (Rev 2:24). The deceivers called their teachings “deep things,” as if they were profound secrets and the people’s own ministers lacked understanding. But Christ calls them “the deep things of Satan,” that is, Satan’s tricks, lies, and evil secrets. There is a mystery of sin, just as there is a great mystery of godliness, and it is dangerous both to reject God’s truth and to accept Satan’s secrets.

Christ shows great tenderness toward his faithful servants. He says, in effect, “I will put on you no other burden.” He will not weigh them down with new hidden doctrines or new laws. He only requires them to hold firmly to what they already have until he comes (Rev 2:24, Rev 2:25).

I ask only that you keep what you have already received. Hold it firmly until I come, and I ask no more. Christ is coming to end all the trials of his people. If they keep hold of faith and a clear conscience until he comes, all trouble and danger will be over.

We now come to the close of this message, in Revelation 2:26-29. Here we see the promise of a rich reward for the believer who keeps going and wins the victory, in two parts. First, there is great power and rule over the rest of the world. This may point either to the time when the empire became Christian and the world came under a Christian emperor, as in Constantine’s day, or to the life to come, when believers will sit with Christ on his throne of judgment and join him in judging, condemning, and handing over Christ’s enemies and the church’s enemies to punishment. The upright will rule in the morning.

Second, there is knowledge and wisdom fit for such power and rule: “I will give him the morning star.” Christ himself is the morning star. He brings day into the soul, the light of grace and glory. He will give his people the full light and wisdom needed for the honor and rule they will have in the morning of the resurrection.

This letter ends with the usual call to pay attention: “He who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” In the earlier letters, this call comes before the final promise. Here, and in the letters that follow, it comes after. This reminds us that we should listen to Christ’s promises as well as his commands to the churches.