Read Revelation 2:18–29
If the church in Ephesus had all the right doctrine but lacked love and compassion, it seems like the church in
Thyatira had the opposite problem. Jesus commends them for their love, faithfulness, service, and endurance, and for doing greater and greater works than when they first began. What else could you ask for in a local church? Is there anything more important than serving each other and the community? Evidently so. They did many great things but slid into idolatry and false teaching at the same time.
To understand the rebuke Jesus is giving here, we should note a few things. First, Jezebel is a reference to King Ahab’s wife in 1 Kings 16:31–33, who led Israel away from worshiping God alone. Second, throughout the Bible, sexual immorality is a common way of speaking about idolatry. Oftentimes, idolatry leads to literal sexual deviance, but we should not think Jesus’ rebuke is limited to sex outside of marriage. It is a much more fundamental problem. It is our tendency to drift away from God and seek happiness in something other than Him, our true Husband.
So, how does Jesus’ rebuke to the church in Thyatira affect our lives today? It should drive us to evaluate whether we still love God above everything else. If not, then we are committing the same adultery as Jezebel. Even if we solve all the world’s material problems, such as hunger, homelessness, drug addiction, and loneliness, we still have to provide for its most important need: an exclusive personal relationship with its Creator.
