A Compromising Tolerance: Revelation 2:18-29

By Thomas Schreiner

It has often been pointed out that the church at Thyatira has the opposite problem of the church at Ephesus. The church at Ephesus was doctrinally pure but had abandoned its first love. The church at Thyatira was growing in many ways, but it had sacrificed doctrinal purity. G. K. Chesterton rightly said about our own day,

Modesty [i.e., humility] has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction — where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth: this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert — himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt — the Divine Reason.

In other words, society has shifted, so many think it is humble and tolerant to doubt God’s word. But they don’t think it is proud to trust their own reason and intellect. Many people see themselves as compassionate and caring and sophisticated because they doubt whether there is a hell. They congratulate themselves about their conviction on hell, because they are convinced that people who believe in hell are rigid, harsh, and rather mean. But their view is only loving if hell isn’t real. But if hell is real, then those who teach that it doesn’t exist are actually unloving, and even though this would shock them, they are the ones who are truly cruel.

Think of it this way. Imagine someone comes along and says, “The idea that taking cocaine destroys you is wrong. Those who say this are just trying to rob you of a good time. It doesn’t destroy you but it fulfills you.” Such a person may seem to be loving, but actually his words are the opposite of love since they are immensely destructive. In Revelation 2:18 – 3:1 we see a church that was tolerating false teaching.

 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. ‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.  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.  I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.  Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.  But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden.  Only hold fast what you have until I come.  The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations,  and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father.  And I will give him the morning star.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ 

1. The fearsome Son of God.

These are the words here of the Son of God, Jesus the Christ (incidentally they are also the words of the Holy Spirit—v. 29—a hint of his deity). Jesus is a loving Savior, but he is also to be feared. Our Lord is not to be trifled with. He roars like a mighty lion. In verse 18 we read that His eyes burn like a flame of fire. He knows what is happening in every church. He knows what Jezebel and her children are doing in Thyatira and he knows that the church is tolerating such teaching and behavior. We get a commentary on what having eyes like a flame of fire means in v. 24. Jesus is the one who searches the mind and heart. He doesn’t punish evil immediately, but don’t think he doesn’t know what is going on. He sees all the motives of our hearts. He knows, as v. 24 says, all the works we do. And he will repay us according to our works. We may con many people in this life. Part of our con game may even involve going to church. But Jesus will judge us for what we really do and what we really are.

Who are you really? Are you playing a game? You can fool me and many other people too, but you can’t fool him! Indeed, his feet are like burnished bronze. He will crush his enemies underneath his feet. All his enemies will be subjugated to him. We tend to think there is no final judgment because we haven’t experienced the judgment yet. But it is coming. How many will be shocked when the judgment comes. Will you be shocked? Are you ready? Are you trusting your own goodness? Or, are you looking to Jesus’ death as the true payment for your sins? The only thing that will stop his feet from crushing you in judgment is his cross. This wooden cross can stop those bronze feet from trampling you to death, if you put your faith in Christ and him crucified.

2. Look for signs of grace in those struggling with sin.

Jesus says, (v. 19) I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.  Even though the church in Thyatira had serious problems, the Lord still found some positive signs of growth. They were growing in love and faith, in service to others and in endurance. They were becoming more like Christ. They had grown since they first became believers.

One sign that you are growing (we learn from this text) is if you spend your time serving and helping others, especially those in the body of Christ. We serve one another in different ways since we have different gifts, but one mark that we are becoming like Christ is when we come to our church, and say, “What can I do to help this body?” At Clifton Baptist Church, where I minister, we have so many at who have served in this way. They have come to Clifton and have asked what they can do to strengthen the church. How thankful I am for such love for the saints.

Also, notice that the Lord does not say that Jezebel and her disciples are growing spiritually here. There is no word of encouragement for her and her disciples. No, the believers spoken to here are not doing what Jezebel teaches. They are wrongly tolerating what Jezebel teaches and does, but they are not doing these things themselves. So, they are growing in love and service, but they are weak theologically and in discernment.  We learn from this that Christians can be growing in one area and lacking in other. We should, therefore, be nuanced and careful in thinking about the growth of others. Their spiritual growth may be quite complex. And the same may be true in our life. Our lives are not always a black and white situation. We may be growing in some areas and struggling in others. So, there is room both for thankfulness and repentance in our lives.

3. Tolerating Evil is not Love: 2:20-25

The text could not be clearer. The church has fallen short because they are tolerating evil. In verse 20 we read, “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.”  Clearly, John is using the name Jezebel symbolically. She was the wicked wife of Ahab in the Old Testament. It was Jezebel who moved Ahab to adopt Baal worship. The woman in Revelation was not literally named Jezebel, but was like her, because of her false teaching, because she was turning God’s people away from the Lord. This Jezebel claims to speak God’s word as a prophet, but she actually teaches the “deep things of Satan” (see v. 24). Jezebel and her disciples probably called these things the “deep things of God,” claiming superior spiritual insight, but John ironically comments on their so-called depth. They are not “the deep things of God” but “the deep things of Satan.” Jezebel taught that it was okay to commit sexual sin and to worship in pagan temples. She probably taught that nothing can touch a child of God. She said, “You are safe now since you belong to God.” You are above ordinary rules.

Some in Thyatira would be happy to hear this, for it would be hard to be part of the trade guilds without being involved in temple worship. And how does this apply to today? How appealing it is to say to people: “It doesn’t matter what religion you belong to. As long as you are a moral person, you can go to heaven as a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Muslim, a Mormon, or a Jehovah Witness.” But such words are the “deep things of Satan.” They seem like loving words, but they are deeply destructive.

I heard recently of one pastor who said that Islamic believers are our brothers. Such words are part of the deep things of Satan. Don’t misinterpret such statements as lack of love for Muslims. I am not saying we should start conversations with them with such words! Remember, Paul uses some diplomacy in talking to unbelievers in Athens in Acts 17, and he speaks more frankly and directly about them when writing to believers in Romans 1.

Notice also in our passage the mercy of God. He gives Jezebel and her children (i.e., her disciples) time to repent. He does not judge them immediately. The kindness of God is intended to lead you to repentance. But they have hardened their hearts and refuse to back down. They stubbornly insist they are right. We read in 2:21 that Jezebel and her disciples continue to commit sexual immorality. They are not grieved about what they are doing. They are not humbled to the dust. They do not blush over their sin but exult in it. I heard recently a person on NPR bragging about her sexual sin. She clearly thought it was a sign of her liberation since she boasted about it on the radio. Well, I presume that at least this person was an unbeliever. But Jezebel and her disciples claimed to be believers, and refused to turn from their sin. So Jesus promises that he will put Jezebel into bed and those who commit adultery with her. Jesus says to Jezebel: do you like bed? I will put you there to stay!

And he will strike dead those who follow such teaching. We see anticipations in this life of the judgment to come. The famous Nelson Rockefeller died of a heart attack while committing adultery. Of course, such things don’t happen to everyone, but they remind us that there is a judgment coming. Jesus reminded his hearers that the tower of Siloam falling on and killing 18 people was a forecast of the judgment to come.

And what is the lesson for the believers who are growing in Thyatira? Revelation 2:24-25 says, “But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden.  Only hold fast what you have until I come.” Jesus says to the rest of those in Thyatira. Hold on! Don’t contaminate yourself with those who are straying from me. Don’t tolerate this false teaching in the church. Those who teach and live in such a way need loving discipline. If a player mouths off against a coach in practice, the coach should discipline him by not starting him or benching him for the next game. Otherwise, the team loses its cohesion and order. And this is even more true in the body of Christ. Because we love Christ and the church, we lovingly remove cancers that threaten to destroy the body. And we earnestly pray that the cancerous part of the body will be healed by turning from their sin. Young people (and all of us): beware of forming deep friendships with those who draw you away from the Lord. If the friendship is such that they have more influence on you, than you do on them, then that friendship is no good for you. Stay true to Jesus and to the truth. Pray you will be a godly influence on them instead of vice-versa.

4. The promise of reward: 2:26-29

We read in verses 26 to 29, “The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations,  and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” There is a great reward for one who conquers, for one who overcomes, for one who perseveres until the end. Jesus uses the language of Psalm 2 to describe the reward. In Psalm 2 God promises the Christ that he will rule over the nations. But we learn here in Revelation that those who belong to Jesus will share this rule with him. The reward is that in some sense we will rule the world with Jesus. This fits with Daniel 7 where the rule over the world is promised to the Son of Man and the saints. I don’t think this is a reward above and beyond eternal life, as if this is a reward only some Christians will receive. It would be easy to think this way since the reward that is promised is rule over the nations. We might think, “Oh, this is a rule for Christians that have been specially faithful, so that some Christians will get to heaven but they won’t rule with Christ in this way.” But I think this is a mistake. Why? Because we have seen in the previous letters that the reward for those who overcome and conquer is always eternal life: remember, the reward for those in Ephesus was the tree of life in paradise and the reward for the Smyrnans was that they would not be injured by the second death. John just uses various pictures and illustrations of what eternal life looks like. We saw in my last article that it is like getting a ticket to the end time banquet with manna. So, here is another picture of the reward that awaits all Christians.

What will we do in the future? We are not given details, but we will rule with Jesus. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6, we will judge angels. All of us who know Jesus will shine like stars in the kingdom of God. I think my interpretation is supported by v. 28 where Jesus says he will give the one who conquers the morning star. But what is the morning star? We read in Revelation 22:16, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” The bright morning star is Jesus himself. The reward given to all those who conquer is Jesus himself. And that is just another way of saying that they will gain eternal life because they have Jesus.

Thomas Schreiner joined the Southern Seminary faculty in 1997 after serving 11 years on the faculty at Bethel Theological Seminary. He also taught New Testament at Azusa Pacific University. Dr. Schreiner, a Pauline scholar, is the author or editor of several books including, Romans, in the Baker Exegetical Commentary Series on the New Testament; Interpreting the Pauline Epistles; The Law and Its Fulfillment: A Pauline Theology of Law; The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance and Assurance; Still Sovereign: Contemporary Perspectives of Election, Foreknowledge, and Grace, co-edited with Bruce A. Ware; Women in the Church: A Fresh Analysis of I Timothy 2:9-15; Paul, Apostle of God’s Glory in Christ: A Pauline Theology, 1 and 2 Peter, Jude, New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ, Magnifying God in Christ: A Summary of New Testament Theology, and Galatians.

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