REVELATION: Thyatira and Her Jezebel (part one)

We will now take an in-depth look at the letter to Thyatira in order to fully understand the principles we just introduced. In this first part, we’ll be studying the cultural context of Thyatira to understand the cultural relevance of the letter. In part two, we’ll look at where John is getting his material and the brilliant way he is using Old Testament Text to preach a sermon within the letter to Thyatira.

So first, we need a little background on Thyatira.

By far the smallest of the seven church cities, Thyatira was estimated to be around 25,000 to 30,000 people. The city sat on the main road and was founded by Seleucus I around 300 BC (or Humenes I around 250 BC, depending on who you ask) as a military outpost. Very much unlike places such as Smyrna, Thyatira was very “blue collar” and unsophisticated in its demographic. Thyatira was a hard-working city full of labor guilds. In fact, we found a list of the registered guilds in Thyatira and its one of the longest lists we’ve ever uncovered. The guilds in the city included leatherworkers, wool workers, weavers, bakers, tailors, dyers, candlemakers, cobblers, potters, bronze smiths, blacksmiths, slave merchants, dyers of purple cloth, and stonecutters. For a city the size of Thyatira, that list is very long, and the jobs are for hard workers.

One of the leading guilds of Thyatira was an extensive network of bronze smiths. They specialized in a very famous kind of bronze that we know as “burnished bronze.” In a world that didn’t have the glass technology of today, burnished bronze was the material used to produce the closest thing to mirrors they had. The Greek word for this special bronze was chalkolibanos.

What little we know about Thyatira comes mostly from coins and currency circulated through the area. The one thing we know about the worship of Thyatira was that their chief god was Tyrimnos, son of Zeus. Scholars have always found this quite perplexing, as Tyrimnos is certainly not a major player in the Greco-Roman Olympiad of gods. Why choose such an obscure god to worship? Some have suggested it's because such a blue collar city would have wanted to root for the underdog. Others have pointed to an obscure reference to the honor of a very young son of Domitian who passed away while still an infant. One inscription was found where the late son was being held by Domitian and the child held the seven stars of the Roman zodiac in his right hand. Could the choice to worship Tyrimnos be a pointed reference to the song of Domitian? It’s a possibility.

One last point of interest about Thyatira is the presence of a Jewish prophetess that operated at a Sybil shrine by the name of Sambathe. Sybil shrines were like minor league oracles and dealt in pagan witchcraft (you might remember our discussion about oracles here). Apparently, from what we can gather from the little information we have, Sambathe was a big proponent of the Roman labor system and the many guilds that not only powered the local labor force, but also — if you remember — would be steeped in pagan idolatry and sexual immorality.

Inside the oracle temple at Didyma

Now, let’s look at the letter of Thyatira and keep our eyes peeled for culture.

“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.”

“These are the words of the Son of God …” This is the only reference to “Son of God” in all the letters to the seven churches. Why here? Is it because their worship centered on the son of Zeus and the son of Domitian? Fitting that the reference would be found here and nowhere else.

“… feet are like burnished bronze.” Here we see that special export that Thyatira specialized in.

“… your service and perseverance …” This is a fitting reference for such a hard-working, military town.

“You tolerate that woman Jezebel …” Here we have an obvious reference to Sambathe, the Sybil oracle.

“… she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.” This points to the ever-present temptation to engage in guild feasts as would have been widely available in a city like Thyatira.

“So I will cast her on a bed of suffering …” The actual reference in the Greek is to the word cline (where we get the word “recliner”), which is the same word used to reference a “guild couch.” This is where sexual immorality happens at a guild feast.

“I will strike her children dead.” This is a possible reference to the dead child of Domitian.

“… Satan’s so-called deep secrets…” These secrets are a reference to the underworld oracles proclaimed by the Sybil oracle Sambathe.

“… iron scepter … pottery …” These are some of the guilds present in Thyatira — particularly the potter’s guild and the blacksmith’s guild.

“I will also give that one the morning star.” And finally we have the son of Domitian who held the stars in his hand.

Every line of this letter to Thyatira came directly from the immediate culture of the city; the letter is stunning in its clever, cultural relevance. But now, let’s ask the question of what the source for John’s material would be…

ROMANS: Predestined

** Much of this post comes from teaching I received from Ray VanderLaan in person and I would recommend watching the video that is referenced within the post.

I’m sure all of my theologically-minded readers thought I had conveniently skipped over the dialogue about predestination in our last conversation, but alas, I don’t like to skip over much. I simply didn’t want a silly theological argument based on western philosophy to detour us from what Paul was trying to accomplish and the greater truth that lies in Romans 8. But having dealt with that, let’s have a word about predestination.

For anybody who is familiar with the basic theological conversations swirling in the western world, they have probably come across and/or wrestled with the idea of predestination and determinism. Does God predestine and select a group of people — the “elect” — for salvation? How far does God’s sovereignty stretch? Do we still have free will? I can remember a younger version of myself causing endless problems in Bible College as a five-point hyper-Calvinist.

I have since come to learn that we often argue about questions the Bible isn’t asking.

Since learning to study the Bible from its original point of view — from the view of the original author and audience — I have discovered we usually misunderstand the concepts that perplex us the most in our worldview. The answers do not come in trying to “explain” the concept better; instead, the help lies in understanding the concept within the context of biblical conversation.

To be clear, if you would have asked an early Jewish believer (or Gentile convert) if God was sovereign, determining the future and intimately interacting with the details of our daily lives, they would have looked at you funny and said, “Of course.”  But if you would have asked them if we have free will and if the future is undetermined with endless possibilities, they would have also said, “Of course.” I know this is inconceivable in our world, but in the world of the Bible, they understand the nature of paradox and what we sometimes call “double-point truth.”

Or, to use the words of a rabbi I heard one day, “I’ve never thought about that before.” They just don’t think about those questions the way we do; they accept paradox for what it is and move on to better questions.

So let’s do that. Let’s move on to better questions.

What was the first-century understanding of predestination?

Their understanding of predestination revolved around the idea of “oracle.” In the ancient Greco-Roman world, they had oracles who received messages from the gods of the underworld. “Oracle” could refer to the temple building, the person receiving the messages, or the message itself. As my teacher says, “You go to an oracle, to get an oracle, from an oracle.” It seems confusing initially, but hopefully you understand the concept.

The ruins of the Oracle at Didyma (Turkey)

In the Roman Empire, there were four recognized oracles, one of the most famous being the Oracle at Delphi. When we travel to Turkey, I often take my students to the ruins of the Oracle at Didyma. The concept, while elaborate, is somewhat easy to explain. (I would recommend watching “The Very Words of God” faith lesson from Ray Vander Laan [Vol. 6 of the That the World May Know series produced by Focus on the Family] for a more in-depth look at the details.) People would travel sometimes hundreds of miles, bringing gifts, to get a message from the oracle. Once their question was posed, they would wait. Eventually, the oracle would be pronounced and the formula, as far as we can tell from history, was pretty straightforward.

“If you offer _____________ to the gods, and if you do this and that, then it is predestined that _________________ will happen.”

For the people of the Bible, they understood the discussion of predestination to be couched in an assumption of your obedience. If you choose to do what the gods demand, then it is predestined that you will find success.

Let’s return to Romans 8 and see how Paul talks about predestination and try to see it through the eyes of the audience in Rome.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

God has plans for all of us. And God is at work in the world, working all things out for the greater good of His redemptive purposes. And He has predestined us to partner with Him in this work; He declared we would be conformed into the image of Jesus so we could be the bechor (or the b’hor, as we wrote about before) — the firstborn, the child who partners with the father to spread Daddy’s values to the rest of His kids. Because this was His predetermined plan, He put a call on their lives and in their hearts. And because of this intention He also justified them freely through faith so they would be equipped for the task at hand. And because of this great work He also glorified them and raised them up from their low position.

Please remember that this is the passage leading into the pronouncement, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Doesn’t it fit well?

But all of this talk presumes we would accept the call and recognize what we have been made for and the path laid out for us.

If you go to an oracle and receive your message, but decide not to follow instructions, then all bets are off. The “predestination” only matters (in their world) if you do what the oracle tells you. “IF you offer… and IF you do this… THEN…”

You have been made for an incredible partnership with God. If you choose to walk in faithfulness and trust His promises, it is predestined that you will be conformed into the image of Jesus. God believes so much in this predetermined plan that He extends this call to you now. He exonerates you, justifying you and declaring you righteous if you are willing to trust in His promise of love and grace. And for all those who agree to join Him, He raises them up out of their struggle and despair, glorifying them and setting them apart for the mission.