Jesus is Lord and King of his church. He will not have these kinds of behaviors muddying up the clothing of his bride and splashing dirt on her wedding gown. Can you imagine, as the groom, standing up at the altar waiting for your bride to come down the aisle? And while she approached the front, people in the pews stood up and threw waste on her, mud from the sewers, spit, and caked cow manure on her freshly made-up hair? Would you allow that? Of course not! You would go to the middle of the aisle and cast those offenders onto the streets. They had no place at the wedding. Jesus is protective of his bride. And anyone who chooses to muddy the bride will be cast out, because Jesus has the authority to do so.
Jesus will go after “her children” as well, meaning those who follower her teachings and become enamored by her idolatry. The judgment of death116 against the children can be linked to Ezekiel 33:27–31. Verse 27 says, “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in strongholds and in caves shall die by pestilence.” When the judgment of Jesus comes, it will vindicate his person as the One who knows the minds and hearts of others. This fits with the concept of his eyes as flames of fire, the eyes of judgment and discernment. In Jeremiah 17:10, the Lord says, “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” What is clear to Jesus will be clear to all the churches as well (“all the churches will know”).
Jesus knew and judged those in the church who had compromised, but he also promised reward to those in the church who refused to succumb to the false teaching. The Scripture tells us to be wise about what is good, but innocent about what is evil. The followers of Jezebel apparently thought by knowing the ways of the devil they would be able to understand the spiritual world more fully. This “freed” them from the sin of sexual immorality and idolatry even though they participated in these things. But Jesus reminded the church that the “so-called deep secrets” of Satan are just that. Satanic knowledge. This is John’s ironic way of saying this in reality was what Jezebel’s teaching led to, rather than to the deep things of God.117
The faithful were called to hold fast, or persevere, until the coming of Jesus. Authority over the nations is the reward for the overcomer, just as Jesus now has authority over the nations because of his faithfulness to the witness of the word of God, and his faithfulness as the Son of God. They will rule with a rod of iron (see Psalm 2) just as Jesus.118 Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 28:18–19, before he ascended, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” We can continue the mission of Jesus because of the authority he has given us. And as long as we remain faithful, we will be able to go on in the authority of our Lord.
The faithful are also promised the authority of the morning star. The morning star is the prophetic image of the Messiah, as is the rod of iron. Jesus promises this to the faithful, all things that were claimed by him through his faithfulness to the cross and to the word of God. Interestingly, in Numbers 24:14–20, Balaam’s prophesy concerning Israel, the people of Israel are prophesied to be these bright lights in the world. Verse 17 says, “A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel,” tying together both the idea of the star and the scepter as in Revelation 2:27–28. Daniel 12:3 as well says, “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” The glory of Jesus will become the glory of his people. He whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze, will establish the faithful as morning stars, shining in the universe.119
Conclusion
Our world needs this kind of authority. The church needs that kind of authority. We need a ruler who grants true freedom to those who serve him, a ruler who gives his life when we give it to him, and a ruler who promises us a share in his rule rather than a despotic, cruel king who serves only himself. This is the King to whom we must submit, going to war against all the powers of this spiritual world that rail against his kingdom.
Like the church in Thyatira, the church today must boldly stand against compromise and any form of idolatry, the Jezebels of the world who try to seduce us by secret knowledge and offers of security. Rather, in a crooked and depraved world, we must shine like stars (like the Morning Star) in the universe.
112. Beale, The Book of Revelation, 259.
113. Thomas and Macchia, Revelation, 105.
114. Beale, The Book of Revelation, 261–62, sees a parallel between the sins of those in the church in Thyatira to the sins of Babylon listed in chapter 18. In the Old Testament, Jezebel was a worshipper of Baal and a persecutor of God’s people.
115. Beale, The Book of Revelation, 263.
116. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 105, citing James Moffat, The Revelation of St. John the Divine, 361 believes that this phrase, “to kill with death,” is a Hebraism that means “to slay utterly.” Aune does not agree (Aune, Revelation 1–5, 198), but does see the connection with Ezekiel 33. Also see the description of the dead in chapter 19, after Jesus comes back again.
117. Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John, 53.
118. Other passages that apply Psalm 2 to Jesus are Acts 13:33, Romans 1:4, and Hebrews 1:2, 5; 5:5; 7:28.
119. See also Philippians 2:15.
Revelation 3:1–6
Jesus’ Message to the Church in Sardis
Introduction
The American people and many in the western world were shocked on September 11, 2001, as they watched and listened with the nation when two planes flew into the World Trade towers and then watched these buildings collapse onto the people of New York City. I remember my first thought: What kind of horrible problem went wrong with the plane that would make it fall in New York and why on earth didn’t the pilot do anything to miss the city? I could not believe it, and many others could not believe either, when we learned that the one piloting the plane was a terrorist. What was even more alarming was that those terrorists lived in the U.S., worked there, learned there, ate there, and were trained to fly there. They had infiltrated the nation and then struck a death blow upon the nation from the inside.
That is the worst kind of enemy, an enemy that you cannot see, that you are not expecting, an enemy that joins the ranks of your army and then turns the guns on your own, except in that case, the guns were petrol laden airplanes and the targets were not soldiers, but civilians. In the mind of the terrorists there were no civilians. To the radical terrorists of the world, all Americans are