To the Church at Thyatira
History
Thyatira means carries the meaning of “continual sacrifice”. Thyatira was a Macedonian colony, founded by Alexander the Great after the Persian Empire was overthrown. The people who lived in Thyatira introduced Apollo, who was honored as the Sun-god, and went by the name of Tyrimnas. Some theologians have speculated that the description of Christ (“the eyes of flame”), was selected in allusion to this worship of the sun-god. Thyatira was a very important city because it was positioned in such a way that it connected Pergamum with the city of Sardis. In addition, the road continued to Philadelphia and Laodicea, which linked them with both Smyrna and Byzantium. Thyatira was a great commercial town as well because it connected all the cities listed above, and it was always heavily traveled by merchants from Asia and the east. Thyatira was also a very strategic town because it lay in a long valley that connected the Hermus and Caicus river valleys. Thyatira was known as the gateway to Pergamos, and it was manned by Macedonian troops. The leaders of Pergamos knew that Thyatira would never hold in the event of an attack (because it was in an open valley) so in case of attack it would be used as a delaying position so that Pergamos could prepare to counterattack. Thyatira today is located in the modern day city of Akhisar Turkey.
Thyatira at the time of the John’s letters to the churches was not a big pagan city. It did have one local “hero-god” known as Tyrimnus who was on the cities coins. From a religious point of view it did have a shrine for fortune-telling that was presided over by a female oracle called Sambathe. Not much more is known about Thyatira, however Lydia (Acts 16:14) who was saved and baptized was from Thyatira. From history we do know that it was a great commercial center and that were many trade guilds there. There were many guilds there that included people who worked in leather, bronze, wool, pottery, linen, bakers, and even slave traders. So what message did Christ have for the Church at Thyatira?
To the Church at Thyatira Write: Revelation 2:18-29
18) And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;
19) I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.
20) Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
21) And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
22) Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
23) And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
24) But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. 25) But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
26) And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
27) And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
28) And I will give him the morning star.
29) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Chapter 2 Verse 18
In this verse Jesus says that he has eyes like a flame of fire, and feet like fine brass. If we remember Revelations 1:14-15 we remember it describing Jesus as “… (having) eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace…” In this situation the eyes of Christ are set for judgment because he knows the sins the Church at Thyatira are into and he is not pleased. The second thing we see is that his “feet are like fine brass as if burned in a furnace”. From this then we can see that Jesus is being described as someone who has no sin, and because of the Christ’s perfection he has the authority to cast judgment on Thyatira.
Chapter 2 Verse 19
Jesus tells the Christians at Thyatira that he knows what they have been doing. In the Amplified Bible verse 19 reads “I know your record and what you are doing, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your recent works are more numerous and greater than your first ones” so apparently they had been doing many Christian deeds. If we look closer we see that the Church at Thyatira have five major points that they are executing properly: love, faith, service, endurance, and increasing in good works. To me, this sounds like a Church that I would want to attend, however not everything is as it seems. If we think back to Ephesus, it too was a “busy church” however as we saw that is not always a good thing. While researching this I read an interesting example of this, and being a previous CAD programmer it made a lot of sense. If we think of their deeds as “Divine Production” then moving toward higher ground with all axes aligned. “The Lord had seen their love (Y-axis), faith (X-axis), service (Time axis), and endurance (Z-axis). They were making progress and accomplishing more as they advanced toward the high ground and doing “continual sacrifice” in order to gain entrance into the kingdom. However, even though the Christians at Thyatira were moving forward in many areas they had a big problem by the name of Jezebel.
Chapter 2 Verse