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That Woman Jezebel

 “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.  I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.   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.  I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 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. 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.

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, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’

To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—  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. I will also give that one the morning star. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (Revelation 2:18-29)

 

Today’s passage is a deviation from the “sandwich” approach of praise, criticism, praise, carrot. It’s praise, criticism, carrot. The believers in Thyatira were apparently hard workers with lots of “the tough get going” attitude. The problem is, they tolerated a someone who led people off into sexual sins. I can’t help but think of the people, congregations, and denominations who have said that we should welcome folks who regularly and publicly practice what Scripture describes as sexual sin.

Yes, we need to keep in mind that there are lots of people in churches who commit sexual sin, and others who commit other sins, but that’s not what the passage is really about. It’s not simply that there is sexual sin going on. They are being criticized because they are tolerating a woman who 1) claimed to be speaking for God, 2) promoted sexual sin, and 3) taught Gnosticism, which often had “secrets” which weren’t known to lesser adherents, but only to those who were special or advanced in some way.

Sadly, it seems that when leaders start falling away from the truth, the first area of failure is with regard to sexual sins. Consider the number of churches and denominations that are calling for the normalization of the LGBTQ+ within the church. Consider the negative response when the Pope recently banned the blessing of gay unions because “God can’t bless sin.” There is much I don’t agree with the popes about, but this is one time that I think Pope Francis has it right, and some Protestant churches have gotten it wrong.

The “when the going gets tough” clue I find in today’s passage isn’t to steer away from sexual sins, as obviously as that might be. Jesus chides them for following – or even tolerating as a leader – someone who was not holding to the standards they knew. So, when the going gets tough, one needs to make sure that the leaders you’re following are holding to solid Biblical principles. Test the prophets and the spirits, and if they differ from what the Bible teaches, don’t follow them.

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