Revelation: Unveiling Reality “Sex, Money and Jezebel” Revelation 2:18-29 Kevin Haah April 17, 2016 Turn on Timer! [Slide 1] We are in a middle of a series entitled, “Revelation: Unveiling Reality.” Revelation was written to show us that reality is more than what we see with our eyes. That’s the thesis of the book: things are not as they seem. This book unveils reality not just of the future, but also of the present. There is more to this present moment then we can know with our unaided senses. The more we see this, the more our perspective toward life changes. We see the world differently. We see the pressures and stresses of our lives differently. So, this is a practical book. It helps us be faithful even during hardships! Today, we are going to look at one of the letters to the seven churches, the letter to the church in Thyatira. [Slide 2] Today’s sermon is entitled, “Sex, Money and Jezebel.” [Slide 3] Let’s go to Revelation 2:18-29: 18 “To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. 19 I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. [Slide 4] 20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. [Slide 5] 24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, 25 except to hold on to what you have until I come.’ 26 To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—27 that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’ —just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will also give that one the morning star. 29 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 1 Revelation: Unveiling Reality “Sex, Money and Jezebel” Revelation 2:18-29 Kevin Haah April 17, 2016 This sounds pretty rough, and at first reading, not relevant to us. But, as you might be able to tell from the title of this sermon, we will see that this is very relevant to us. I. [Slide 6] Background on the City of Thyatira. The City of Thyatira [Slide 7] is one of the smaller cities of Asia Minor where all seven churches are located. This city still exists, and it is now called Akhisar in Turkey. Here are two things that we know from archeological evidence about Thyatira. They worshipped [Slide 8] Apollo, a god of music, truth and prophecy, healing, the sun and light, plague, poetry, and more. Apollo is the son of Zeus, and has a twin sister, Artemis. He was worshipped as the divine guardian of the city. We also know that the people of this city worshipped Caesar as “son of Zeus” or “son of the most high god.” Emperor Domitian, Caesar, named his son “son of god” and [Slide 9] on his coins, Domitian’s son is portrayed with seven stars. It is to this city, Jesus speaks: “These are the words of the Son of God.” We have to remember that the vision of the glorified Jesus, the one holding seven stars, is the one speaking to them. Jesus is saying that I am the Son of God, not Apollo, Domitian or his son. I hold the seven stars, not Domitian or his son. This is the only place where Jesus calls himself the Son of God. This city is also famous for having trade guilds. Archeologists have found evidence of a lot of different trade guilds that came together not only for business but also for worship and pleasure. They found evidence of trade guilds for wool, leather, linen, bronzesmiths, shoemakers, bakers, robemakers, purple dye makers, etc. Remember, Lydia, a dealer in purple linen who became the first convert in Philippi through Apostle Paul is from Thyatira. In fact, this purple dye is famous. They still make it there and it is now called Turkish Red. It seems that almost all trades were organized into a guild. The problem was that these guilds were not religiously neutral. The guilds had patron deities, and guild members were expected to worship, offer sacrifices, and eat meat sacrificed to these pagan idols, and engage in sexual activities as a part of the fellowship. That’s the way the world was at that time for these people. So, Christians faced a dilemma: If you 2 Revelation: Unveiling Reality “Sex, Money and Jezebel” Revelation 2:18-29 Kevin Haah April 17, 2016 didn’t join the guild and go with the flow, it was impossible to climb the social and economic ladder. That’s the context of the letter to Thyatira. II. [Slide 10] What does Jesus say to this church? Jesus said, I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. These are great commendations. It means that there are a lot of faithful people in this church. In contrast to the City of Ephesus, where Jesus chastised them for leaving the love they had at first, this church is commended for their love. In fact, they are commended for doing more than they did at first. Yet, Jesus chastised them. You can’t tolerate idolatry in the name of love. [Slide 11] Jesus said: “Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.” We don’t know for sure if this was literally a woman, but Jesus refers to her as Jazebel, a woman. The story of Jezebel is in the Old Testament; she was an evil and manipulative woman who married Ahab, the King of Israel, and led the quest to get Israel to worship Baal, the storm and fertility god. Although she knew that Israel believed in one God, Yahweh, her strategy was to get people to worship Baal and Yahweh. If anyone spoke against Baal worship, she had them killed. While the people of Israel were under the influence and deception of Jezebel, Elijah, [Slide 12] the prophet told the people: “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” (1 Kings 18:21) A person Jesus called Jezebel was at work in the church of Thyatira advocating this both/and approach to God. You can participate in the guilds and their pagan activities and follow Jesus. You can eat food sacrificed to idols and follow Jesus. By-the-way, I know some of you are thinking, didn’t Paul say that it is okay to eat food sacrificed to idols? You have to interpret this in the context of what’s going on in Thyatira. Paul was most likely talking about food sacrificed to idols and later sold at meat market; but, given 3 Revelation: Unveiling Reality “Sex, Money and Jezebel” Revelation 2:18-29 Kevin Haah April 17, 2016 the context here of the meals at the guild meetings, it is about participating in the sacrifice. That, we cannot do as followers of Jesus Christ. The church in Thyatira faced real issues. Jezebel spoke as one with authority. That’s why she is called a prophet. The text said that she spoke of “deep secrets” that swayed people. No one is sure what this deep secret refers to, but whatever it was it led people to participate in the idol sacrifices and sexual immorality. Because this teaching was tolerated, it probably means that it sounded somewhat Christian. “You can participate in the economic and pagan life of the community and follow Jesus at the same time. Why make this a big issue? Would God really want to lose your guild membership and lose your trade and become poor? Doesn’t he love you? Did God really want you to not associate the pagans? Didn’t he tell us to love them? How would that help the mission of God?” Jezebel was deceptively getting people to participate in idol worship and activities but in a way that sounded Christian. The Bible is clear. God command us to worship him only. The first of two Ten Commandments are against idolatry. And idols are not just about stone gods. They are anything you put equal to or above God. Yet, it is really difficult even in modern life to actually do this. The teaching of Jezebel is very tempting. We are constantly looking for a way to serve both our idols and God.