REVELATION 2: PART 4 • THAT WOMEN JEZEBEL THE CHURCH IN THYATIRA

Time: 538–1517

Thyatira—“sweet savor of labor”

Revelation 2:18

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.

In the darkness of religious apostasy and superstitious church rites prevailing during the Thyatira age of the church, Christ is seen pervading the dark gloom with His eyes of fire. Eyes represent discernment and understanding. In Scripture, fire often represents the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and the cleansing work of God. (See Acts 2:2–3; Jeremiah 23:29; Isaiah 4:4.)

Despite the great darkness, God’s true church, though often in obscurity, was still to receive from Christ His understanding and discernment, brought to them by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. Those who remained faithful to God were lightened with the light of Christ despite the fire of affliction they passed through. This church history covers much of the same time period as the church in the wilderness mentioned in Revelation 12.

Revelation 2:19

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.

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. (Revelation 2:19 AMP)

“I know thy … charity”

And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul. (Deuteronomy 10:12)

Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. (Psalm 97:10)

Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:23)

Finally, brethren, pray for us, … that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. … And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ. (2 Thessalonians 3:1–3, 5)

Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it; [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].

It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, it’s hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. (1 Corinthians 13:4–8 AMP)

The love of God in their hearts and His truth in their minds kept the believers faithful during the long darkness of superstition and error. The church of Thyatira existed during many long centuries of spiritual darkness as the light of God’s truth was largely replaced with human traditions. Yet God gave strength to Thyatira. The true church, kept alive their love for God when men were exalting human priests in the place of the one High Priest, Jesus Christ, and exalting powerful ecclesiastical structures in the place of the one true God.

Their works toward the end of this period were even greater as the Reformation began to bring back the long-neglected truth of the Bible and salvation by God’s grace, in the place of salvation by works and indulgences. The love of Christ in the believers’ hearts motivated them to live lives of service, faith, and patience.

Revelation 2:20

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.

Jezebel—used as a synonym of a false teacher¹

The sin of Thyatira was allowing “that woman” to teach. John may have been addressing a situation of a literal woman who was teaching falsehood, or perhaps a class of people in the historical time frame of the Thyatira church. But in Bible prophecy, a woman represents a church, either good or bad, depending on the type of woman described. (See Revelation 12 and 17 for examples.)

In this case, the corrupt woman Jezebel was being allowed to teach. This is a symbolic allusion to Ahab’s wife, who slew the prophets of the Lord and led her husband and Israel into idolatry. Thus Jezebel represents an apostate church.

God was addressing His true people, both in this apostate system but largely outside of it. The teachings of Jezebel today and in ages past cause the people of God to commit spiritual adultery. These people substitute falsehood for the truth of the Bible and seek other means of salvation rather than the true way of life in Christ.

“That woman Jezebel”

And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. (1 Kings 16:31. The influence or spirit of Jezebel leads the professed people and leaders of God into spiritual idolatry.)

Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord, how I hid an hundred men of the Lord’s prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? (1 Kings 18:13. Jezebel opposed the true servants of God and exercised harshness and instigated persecution against them.)

Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table. (1 Kings 18:19. Jezebel supported the false teachers who were sustained by her means and influence.)

And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them. They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king.

Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead. And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead. (1 Kings 21:11–15. The spirit of Jezebel destroys to achieve unlawful gain. It is a spirit of false accusations and deceit in order to destroy the influence or the life of the innocent.)

And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many? (2 Kings 9:22)

First Samuel 15:23 tells us, “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” The Jezebel spirit is one of rebellion against God and His Word, and is a form of witchcraft.

Jezebel was a prophetess of the pagan god Baal. Ahab, king of Israel, married her for influence, for she was “the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him” (1 Kings 16:31). As queen of Israel she led almost the whole nation into the immoral and idolatrous worship of Baal.

The true prophets of God were put to death and the false prophets of Baal were exalted. Those prophets of Jehovah who escaped her wrath fled to the mountains to hide. Among them was Elijah. Because of her wicked influence Israel suffered a three-and-one-half-year drought. (See 1 Kings 17:1; James 5:17.)

“Sufferest that women … Jezebel to teach”

And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: for when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. (2 Peter 2:3, 14, 18–19)

For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:4, 13)

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron. (1 Timothy 4:1–2)

The spirit of Jezebel’s teaching is manifested in the use of deceitful words that appear as the truth and make excuse for sin. She is most effective in working with unstable souls who are not rooted and grounded in the truth and in Christ.

The spirit and teaching of Jezebel during the period of Thyatira brought money into the church coffers through appealing to the lusts of others, by the use of indulgences and other such perversions, many of which are still in use today. While claiming to promise liberty and salvation, the teaching of Jezebel brings people into the bondage of error and sin. The bondage of sin is not broken, for a different Christ and a different gospel and means of salvation is set before the people. The teaching of Jezebel is in fact the teaching of fallen angels in the garb of light, working through men, that seduces and desensitizes the conscience so that wrong looks right.

“Calleth herself a prophetess”

And, lo, I [Nehemiah] perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me. My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear. (Nehemiah 6:12–14)

The false prophetess Jezebel, sought to turn away the true servants of God from the task and duties of the Lord and to cause them to have the fear of men rather than the fear of God. The false prophet seeks to place himself or herself in the position to rule or influence the people of God. Jezebel claims to speak for God, but unlike the true messenger, who seeks to turn people to repentance and the Word of God, Jezebel leaves people comfortable in sin. She puts in the place of God man-made ideas that cause the people to neglect, reject, or ignore the Word of God for the pleasing words of teachers and churches this is the spirit of Jezebel.

“Teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication”

Fornication—to act the harlot, i.e. literally indulge unlawful lust (of either sex) or figurativly practise idolatry²

Moreover he [Jehoram ]made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto. (2 Chronicles 21:11)

How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses. (Jeremiah 5:7)

Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations. (Jeremiah 7:9–10)

The people of Thyatira permitted Jezebel to work and teach. The rebuke from Christ was for submitting to be taught and for not opposing, as they should have, the evil influence and teachings of Jezebel. The sin was not only in John’s day and the historical time of Thyatira; it is equally applicable to today, for we have been warned: “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3–4).

To Thyatira, as well as to us, is given the admonishment to “preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:2). We are not to allow ourselves to be pleased, tickled, and benumbed by the false teachers who work in the spirit of Jezebel.

“And to eat things sacrificed unto idols”

Consider those [physically] people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices partners of the altar [united in their worship of the same God]? … I am suggesting that what the pagans sacrifice they offer [in effect] to demons (to evil spiritual powers) and not to God [at all]. I do not want you to fellowship and be partners with diabolical spirits [by eating at their feasts]. (1 Corinthians 10:18, 20 AMP)

The practice of eating “things sacrificed unto idols” was no doubt occurring in Thyatira, as it was located in the midst of pagan Roman idolatry. But it also applies to the mixing of paganism with Christianity, where, beginning in the Dark Ages up to our own time, the falsehoods of Jezebel encouraged people to eat a “host” dedicated by the false priests of Baal.

The dedication of the host, which claims to recreate the body and sacrifice of Christ, was a pagan invention whose priests offered up their sun god in the form of a wafer that was eaten. The worship of the host as the literal body of Christ began in the latter time period of the Thyatira church era and was dogmatically proclaimed by Innocent III at the great Lateran council of 1215. This blasphemous pagan practice continues to our own day. This practice is not really eating, and thus partaking, of the merits of Jesus, but is a sacrifice to devils in the garb of Christianity.

Revelation 2:21

And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

I have given time to repent but she has shown no desire to repent of her immorality. (Revelation 2:21 Phillips)

“Space to repent of her fornication”

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. (Jeremiah 26:13)

Despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? (Romans 2:4)

Or are you [so blind as to] trifle with and presume upon and despise and underestimate the wealth of His kindness and forbearance and longsuffering patience? Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repent (to change your mind and inner man to accept God’s will)?

But by your callous stubbornness and impenitence of heart you are storing up wrath and indignation for yourself on the day of wrath and indignation, when God’s righteous judgment (just doom) will be revealed. (Romans 2:4–5 AMP)

Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. (Joel 2:12–13)

Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. (Acts 8:22)

God never casts off individuals, nations, or church bodies without giving an opportunity for repentance. Through stern warning and loving admonition, He seeks to draw souls back to Himself. When the spirit of Jezebel prevails, whether in the days of Israel’s many apostate kings, in the time of Thyatira, or in our own day, there is willful opposition to the God of heaven. Such rebellion is often disguised and made to appear as a great service to God. In such cases, most go on in settled rebellion as Jezebel did and will not turn and repent. 

Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. (Isaiah 28:15–18)

Christ is set forth as the true foundation of salvation so that they have no excuse who believe a lie. In spite of God’s threatening judgments, Jezebel and all those who follow her ways believe themselves to be above judgment, even believing they are walking with the Lord. Jezebel stood unconcerned in the midst of the judgments of God falling upon first the nation, then her husband and family, for their apostasy and sin. She stood defiant to the end. So at the end of time that woman “Mystery Babylon,” the end-time culmination of Jezebel’s apostasy, stands defiant, even as the plagues of God begin to fall upon her. (See 2 Kings 9:30–33; Revelation 16:9–11; 18:7.)

Revelation 2:22

Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

Bed—a couch (for sleep, sickness, sitting)³

Take note: I will throw her on a bed [of anguish], and those who commit adultery with her [her paramours] I will bring down to pressing distress and severe affliction, unless they turn away their minds from conduct [such as] hers and repent of their doings. (Revelation 2:22 AMP)

“I will cast her into a bed”

And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed: if he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed. (Exodus 21:18–19)

And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. (Matthew 9:2)

This expression “cast into a bed” is used with respect to falling ill, and thus would represent judgment or punishment upon the teachers or the church represented by Jezebel.

“Them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation”

Pay attention now to what I am saying: I will lay her upon a sickbed of intense affliction, along with all her immoral followers, unless they turn again to me, repenting of their sin with her. (Revelation 2:22 TLB)

“Her and them that commit adultery with her” represents the continuation of the counterfeit religion of Jezebel. This warning of judgment declares that their lies will be exposed, but with no time left to repent. Eventually eternal death will be the fate of those who act the part of Jezebel and who follow her evil ways. This judgment upon Jezebel and her lovers is no doubt referring to the plagues that shall come upon “Mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots” and all who have followed her.

Revelation 2:23

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.

And I will strike her children (her proper followers) dead [thoroughly exterminating them]. And all the assemblies (churches) shall recognize and understand that I am he who searches minds (the thoughts, feelings, and purposes) and the [inmost] hearts, and I will give to each of you [the reward for what you have done] as your work deserves. (Revelation 2:23 AMP)

“And I will kill her children with death”

Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spake concerning the house of Ahab: for the Lord hath done that which he spake by his servant Elijah. So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none remaining. (2 Kings 10:10–11)

And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel. …

And of Jezebel also spake the Lord, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat. But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. (1 Kings 21:20–21, 23–26)

And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?

And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah. And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. (2 Kings 9:21–24)

The fornication of Jezebel was habitual and of a long-standing nature, for she had “children,” or many adherents. Judgment was to descend not only upon the mother but also upon the offspring, who were contaminated by her evil characteristics. The destruction of her children parallels the destruction of Ahab’s offspring. “So it was, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons and slaughtered seventy persons, put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel” (2 Kings 10:7 NKJV).

Jezebel is here pictured as a harlot who receives many lovers. This woman is also pictured in Revelation 17. The church in power during the Thyatira period of history was the Roman Church, which practiced and promoted spiritual adultery. This was done by claiming to serve the true God and Christ, but through the exaltation of traditions and falsehood was unfaithful to Christ and the Bible.

From her came other children of false religious orders and practices, including many of the Protestant faiths that are children of fornication and have not come out completely from Romanism. Unless they repent and return to God in truth, they shall be cast into great tribulation. For God searches heart and soul, and all will be rewarded according to their works.

The terrible reign of Jezebel in the days of Israel is a parallel to the church during the Dark Ages.

• Jezebel sought to lead Israel into pagan worship. The Catholic church developed a mixture of pagan worship with Christianity.

• Jezebel sought to execute all who opposed her, especially those who upheld the true faith. History reveals that the Catholic church also persecuted many of the saints of God that resisted the influx of paganism into their worship.

• Many true worshipers of God went into hiding from Jezebel. During the papal reign, many maintained their faith in Christ in remote mountain valleys.

• Under Jezebel’s rule there were three and one half years of drought. The papacy reigned for a period of three and one half prophetic years, from 538 to 1798, which brought forth a spiritual drought on the world.

“I am He that searcheth the reins and hearts”

Reins—inmost mind⁴

Heart—figurative, the thoughts or feelings (mind)⁵

Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins. (Psalm 7:9)

I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. (Jeremiah 17:10)

And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever. (1 Chronicles 28:9)

If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. (Psalm 44:20–21)

“I will give unto everyone of you according to your works”

For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:14)

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Revelation 20:12)

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. (Matthew 16:27)

God sees and understands the inner emotions and motives of mankind, his thoughts and feelings. He is able to assess the condition of all. Jezebel and all who follow her ways of rebellion and compromise will be held accountable. God will judge in righteousness, for He knows the hearts of Jezebel and her followers, which are full of rebellion.

Revelation 2:24

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.

“Unto the rest in Thyatira”

This admonishment is addressed to the loyal believers in Thyatira. Historically, this would refer to small groups throughout the Middle Ages that sought to remain loyal to apostolic Christianity and not the doctrine of Jezebel. Such believers were found both within and to a greater extent without the formal Catholic church. They did not hold to the doctrine of Jezebel and had not come under the influence of “seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1). God’s requirement was to hold on to the light they knew in the midst of great darkness, for He said, “I will put upon you none other burden.”

The church of the Dark Ages, like Israel in the days of Jezebel, was largely corrupt, yet Christ recognized that there were those who remained true to Him in spite of those difficult circumstances. Individuals and groups such as the Waldenses in Europe and the followers of Wycliffe in England kept alight the flame of truth.

Revelation 2:25

But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.

This is not a promise of the imminent coming of Christ in the days of John when he addressed the churches. Neither does it apply to the era of the Thyatira church. However, the blessed hope of the coming of Christ has been the hope of all true believers since Christ left and promised to come again. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure” (1 John 3:2–3).

Revelation 2:26

And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.

“To him that overcometh”

The promises are to those who overcome the following:

• False prophecy and teaching

• Spiritual fornication

“Keepeth my works unto the end”

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. (Matthew 24:12–13)

But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. (Mark 13:11–13)

For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end. (Hebrews 3:14)

And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end. (Hebrews 6:11)

Christ’s admonition to the church in John’s day, to the church of the Middle Ages, and to us is to be faithful to the end. For only he who endures in faith, and in love for the Savior remains steadfast to the end shall be saved.

“Power over the nations”

I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. (Daniel 7:21–22)

Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? (1 Corinthians 6:2–3)

Christ’s rule will lead to the utter destruction of the wicked, for the darkness of sin cannot dwell in the light of Christ. By virtue of being saved, the saints will have power over the nations and people who are lost. At the end of the thousand years, the redeemed will ratify the judgment determined by God to be meted out to the lost, as depicted in Revelation 20. It is in that sense the faithful will have power over the nations of the unsaved.

Revelation 2:27

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.

“Rule them with a rod of iron”

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. (Psalm 2:8–9)

And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. (Revelation 12:5)

And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. (Revelation 19:15)

“As the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers”

Broken—to crush completely, i.e. to shatter⁶

Thus saith the Lord, Go and get a potter’s earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests. Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee, And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury. (Jeremiah 19:1, 10–11)

Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon: therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd [fragment] to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit. (Isaiah 30:12–14)

Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. (Daniel 2:35)

Revelation 2:27, is not speaking of Christ having millennial reign over the nations of the earth. Rather, it refers to the destruction of the lost. The result of Christ’s rule is that the rebellious and the reign of sin shall be broken into pieces. And the saints of God shall have a share in Christ’s eternal kingdom.

Revelation 2:28

And I will give him the morning star.

The kingdom and dominion given to Christ will be shared with His people. The morning star is translated “daystar” in 2 Peter 1:19. It is the sure Word of God, which lightens the pilgrim’s pathway. Soon the Morning Star—Christ Himself—shall dwell among us and we shall walk in His sight. “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it” (Revelation 21:23–24).

“I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star” (Revelation 22:16). He who has a heart and mind to hear and obey, and remains faithful to God, shall experience the reality of the unending day of eternal life with Christ, our Morning Star.

Revelation 2:29

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.


Endnotes

1.  James Strong, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1987).

2.  Ibid.

3.  Ibid.

4.  Ibid.

5.  Ibid.