2:18-29

NT

Revelation 2:18-29

esv

Jesus Is a Holy, All-Seeing Judge

“And to the angel

Destination

of the church

Descriptive

in Thyatira

Locative

write:

‘The words

Content #1

of the Son

Producer

of God,

Relationship

who has eyes

like a flame

Comparison

of fire,

Material

and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

Jesus Speaks Words of Praise and Condemnation

Praise

“‘I know your works,

Content #2

your love

Explanation

and faith

and service

and patient endurance,

and that your latter works exceed the first.

Condemnation

But I have this

Content #3

against you,

Disadvantage

that you tolerate that woman Jezebel,

Content

who calls herself a prophetess

and is teaching and seducing my servants

to practice sexual immorality

Content #1

and to eat food sacrificed to idols.

Content #2

I gave her time

Concessive

to repent,

Purpose

but she refuses

to repent

of her sexual immorality.

Separation

Behold, I will throw her

Result #1

onto a sickbed,

and those ... I will throw

Result #2

who commit adultery

with her

Accompaniment

into great tribulation,

unless they repent

Condition

of her works,

and I will strike her children dead.

Result #3

And all the churches will know

Result #1

that I am he

who searches mind

and heart,

and I will give

Result #2

to each

of you

Partitive

according to your works.

Standard

Jesus Encourages the Faithful to Remain So until He Returns

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,

Possessive

to you

I say,

Content #4

I do not lay ... any other burden.

on you

Only hold fast

what you have

until I come.

Temporal

Jesus Promises Eternal Enjoyment of Union with Him to Those Who Do This

The one

who conquers

and who keeps my works

until the end,

to him

Advantage

I will give authority

Content #5a

over the nations,

Reference

and he will rule them

Result

with a rod

Agency

of iron,

as when earthen pots are broken

in pieces,

even as I myself have received authority

from my Father.

Source

And I will give him the morning star.

Content #5b

He

who has an ear,

let him hear

Content #6

what the Spirit says

to the churches.’

phrasing

Notes

Head: Focus: The focus of this section is the life of the mind . We want to think accurately according to the truth of God’s Word we’ve phrased. Questions: How should I think differently about God/myself/others because of what I’ve just phrased? What doctrines are taught in this passage? What specific contribution to those doctrines does this passage make? What other Scripture texts add to the truths taught in this passage? v. 18: Who is Jesus? He sees and knows all (fiery eyes), and is a perfect judge (bronze feet). Also, it is interesting that Jesus then says that He has “eyes like unto a flame of fire,” and “feet … like fine brass,” which were a part of John’s vision, and which are similar to language used in description of the fiery furnace in Daniel 3. Remember what happened there? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship an idol , and so were thrown into a burning fiery furnace – but they didn’t die! Remember who Nebuchadnezzar saw walking around in the fire? The three young men, and the king said that “the appearnace of the fourth is like a son of the gods ” (Dan. 3:25). And the same one who kept those believers safe would also protect those in Thyatira who refused to worship idols. But Jesus’ fiery eyes and burning bronze feet are also a description of Jesus as a judge – an ominous picture for some in this church. Jesus’ feet like bronze show His utter stability, His unshakeable holiness. He will judge with perfect justice every person who ever lived. v. 20: W hy does Jesus use the name “Jezebel”? It could be that there was a literal woman teaching in the church, claiming to be called by God, to be preaching the message of God, but her name probably wasn’t actually Jezebel, because the woman by that name in the OT was despised. How many Jewish people would name their child “Adolph”? And the fact that this woman’s “children” are mentioned in verse 23 hint to us that this wasn’t a literal woman at all. In II John, the apostle writes to “the elect lady and her children” (v. 1), which describes the church. So there was a clique, a mini-group, inside the church, led by a teacher or teachers, who believed false doctrine and tried to spread it through the church. v. 24: What is "any other burden"? Jesus could be referring back to the decision of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, when the apostles gathered to discuss what to tell Gentiles, who had gotten saved for the first time after Christ’s resurrection, how they ought to live in relationship to the law of Moses. See Acts 15:28-29. v. 26-28: What do these promises of "rule" and "the morning star" mean? See Psalm 2:7-8. Jesus Christ is God’s Son – remember, back in verse 18, Jesus called Himself “the Son of God”! How fitting when Psalm 2 is central to the promise at the end of the letter. So this prophecy has begun to be fulfilled ! Jesus Christ died, rose again in victory, and ascended in power to Heaven, where right now He reigns over the nations, having received “all authority in Heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18). And since we are in Christ as believers, united with Him, partaking in sonship with Him, we too will share in the rule of the nations! He grants us a share in His authority! We too are royalty now, in Him , and we will enjoy the pleasures this for ever – if we live faithful to Him, and are not turned away from the hope of the gospel to immorality, or to putting other things ahead of Him in idolatry. The promise about the morning star is a reaffirmation of the same promise as verse 27 – of a shared identity , of union with Jesus Christ, who is the morning star, according to His own words in Revelation 22:16: “ I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright and morning star .” Eternal fellowship with the one in whose presence are pleasures forevermore is our reward for faithfulness on earth. Heart: Focus: The focus of this section is the life of the emotions . We want to feel accurately according to the truth of God’s Word we’ve phrased. Questions: How should I feel differently about God/myself/etc. because of what I’ve just phrased? What emotions are expressed in this passage? What emotions does this passage exhort me to feel? The description of Jezebel (v. 20ff) should make us feel revulsion . See 1 Kings 16:29-33; 19:2; 21:22, 25. v. 22: The word “throw” is significant here. For how did Jezebel die? Elijah anointed a man named Jehu, and named him as God’s avenger upon Ahab and Jezebel. See 2 Kings 9:32-35. Then, after satisfying his hunger and thirst inside, he told servants to bury her, but all they could find of her body was her “skull and the feet and the palms of her hands” (v. 35). From a proud queen to dog food – and then to dog poop. I didn’t say that – God did in verse 37 of II Kings 9! God’s judgment is severe and crushing and permanent. And so will God’s judgment be on all who teach perversions of God’s truth in His church. We should fear Jesus if we are living sinfully! v. 23: What happened to Ahab's children? See 2 Kings 10:1-10. Hands: Focus: The focus of this section is the life of the will . We want to act accurately according to the truth of God’s Word we’ve phrased. Questions: How should I act differently because of what I’ve just phrased? What motivations does this passage give for acting differently? What sins do I need to repent of and put off? What good works do I need to put on? v. 19: Their service for Jesus, their faithful bearing witness to the gospel, had increased and improved with time, not decreased – as had happened to the church at Ephesus, who needed to repent and “do the works you did at first ” (2:5). May Jesus be able to say the same thing to us : that our passion to share the gospel, our love for Him, our daily slogging away at doing right no matter what, has improved in our church and not gotten worse and worse as it so often does in churches. v. 22: Verse 22 should make us feel hope as well as fear because of the word "unless." Jesus’ judgment is crushing, but His mercy is long ! If you are living in sin today, claiming to be a Christian, oh repent now , before it is too late! Turn away from the sin you love, for it will kill you in the end, and turn to Jesus, confessing your sin, trusting Him as your Lord . v. 23: See Rev 21:7-8. And Jesus says to us today, through these verses, “That is what I will do to all who teach immorality is God’s will, and who practice idolatry.” God’s judgment will be complete . Every single pastor who says homosexuality is OK; every single “Christian” who embraces sex outside of marriage and doesn’t repent will be destroyed – not just with the first death, but with the second death. So if the people in this church didn’t want to be destroyed with a worse fate than Ahab’s 70 sons, suffering eternity in Hell, they needed to repent! Do you love Jesus? Do you resist sin in your life? Do you repent of it over and over, and seek to follow Jesus? Or do you bow to the culture? Do you live according to your own desires instead of Jesus’ will day after day? Then you need to repent or suffer the horrible fate of Revelation 21:8! v. 29: And Jesus’ description of judgment here shows that dealing with sin is serious business ; this is life and death , Heaven and Hell. So Jesus calls us in verse 29, "Listen!" Do you want to live forever? Do you want life and joy for eternity instead of death and physical and mental agony for eternity? Then here is Jesus’ call: kill your sin.

notes