Thyatira: A Warning Against the Marriage of Church and State

some thoughts on Revelation 2

The Book of Revelation is composed of seven major sections:

1. The Seven Churches

2. The Seven Seals

3. The Seven Trumpets

4. The Sun-clad Woman

5. The Seven Vials

6. The Harlot Babylon

7. The Bride of Christ

Besides the first section (and only sort of), there are judgment scenes at the end of each section. Revelation 6:17, 11:18, 14:20, 16:17, 19:20, 20:11.

This begs the question: are these six different days of wrath, cataclysmic ends, and consummations? Or, if we include the warnings of judgment and the coming of Christ in the letters to the seven churches, are there seven or (perhaps, if we count the seven churches individually) thirteen comings of Christ in Revelation? Or if we see all of these as one grand parousia of Christ, or perhaps simply different phases of revealing the one parousia or advent, then what does this tell us about the meaning of these different sections?

I believe Revelation is recapitulatory. That is, the seven sections should be read, not as different events, but varying perspectives of the same event. Thus, we can use various sections in Revelation to help interpret other sections. For instance, Revelation 12 is simply Revelation 20 without a thousand year reign. Or we might say the city Babylon in the latter half of the book is the same city under consideration in the early half of the book.

We’ll explore these various connections later.

For our purposes today, we’ll stick to a connection I see between Revelation 2 and Revelation 17.

When we read the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3, it’s good to pay attention to the level of faithfulness of the churches there. For example, the church of Smyrna is faithful along with the church of Philadelphia. Sardis and Pergamum are both a mixed bag of faithful and unfaithful. While Ephesus and Laodicea are in need of total repentance. With this in mind, we might notice a pattern called a chiasmus.

A. Ephesus: full repentance 
     B. Smyrna: faithful 
           C. Sardis: mixed 
           C.’ Pergamum: mixed
     B.’ Pergamum: faithful 
A.’ Laodicea: full repentance

This would make the center of the chiasmus, the pinnacle, the emphasis of the text the church in Thyatira:

A. Ephesus: full repentance
     B. Smyrna: faithful 
          C. Sardis: mixed
               D. Thyatira 
          C.’ Pergamum: mixed
     B.’ Philadelphia: faithful 
A.’ Laodicea: full repentance

Let’s see why.

The Letter to Thyatira

Before we get into the actual passage, let’s just take a moment to notice the length of this text. The letter to Ephesus is seven verses long, Smyrna is four, Pergamum is six, Sardis is six, Philadelphia is seven, and Laodicea is nine. Thyatira is a staggering twelve verses long, double the length we’re used to across the average of the other letters.

Revelation 2:18-19: Intro

And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this: ‘I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first…’ Revelation 2:18–19

In each of the letters to the seven churches, language is taken from chapter one, primarily in the christophany, to introduce Jesus to each church. In this case, the description of Jesus’ eyes and feet are borrowed from Revelation 1:14-15. Only here, though, is Jesus identified as the Son of God. In Revelation 1, he is described as one like the son of man, which is reminiscent of Daniel 7. Perhaps this comparison was intended by John.

Revelation 2:20-23: Jezebel and Her Children

‘…But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds…’ Revelation 2:20–23

This woman Jezebel is identified as a false prophet as well as an adulteress. She has been given time to repent, but she refused (cf. Revelation 9:20; Matthew 23:37). This not only harms her, but it hurts those who participate with her. This includes the children of this illicit union, metaphorically of course.

In my mind, this appears to be a clear foreshadowing of the harlot Babylon in Revelation 17. Craig Keener, in his biblical background of the New Testament, says, “As a harlot she becomes the prototype of the evil empire of chapters 17–18.”¹

I think, and this is a pretty big assertion at the beginning of a long series, that her sin of harlotry and idolatry is one and the same: getting into bed with the empire.

In Revelation 17, Babylon is pictured as riding the beast, which ends up destroying her (Revelation 17:16). Those who trust in this unholy alliance end up being destroyed by it; those who change their mind concerning the way of violence are spared.

The last part of verse 23 speaks of Jesus judging according to people’s deeds. This theme comes up again in Revelation 20 and Revelation 22, a fact we will notice more when we get to those chapters.

Revelation 2:24-25: The Faithful

‘…But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them—I place no other burden on you. Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come….’ Revelation 2:24–25

The identity of Jezebel is tied with “those who hold this teaching” and those who “know the deep things of Satan.” The faithful, of course, reject such teaching.

To me, this line here concerning Satan is the key to unlocking this entire text, and perhaps the whole book of Revelation.

Let’s consider the Gospel of Matthew.

Satan is mentioned three times in the gospel. Two of them are of interest to us for the time being: Matthew 4:10 and Matthew 16:23.

The first refers to the temptation of Jesus. Jesus tells “Satan” to “go” in response to the final temptation.

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’ ” Matthew 4:8–10

To receive the kingdoms of the world, Jesus would need to bow down before Satan. But what does this worship really entail? What are the deep things of Satan?

Let’s go to the next text.

From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Matthew 16:21–23

Jesus would receive the kingdoms of the world, as Revelation attests, but it wouldn't be by bowing down to Satan, the one who walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Instead, it would be by submitting to death as a lamb. Peter, unfortunately, had taken on the role of Satan by suggesting that Jesus not be a sacrificial Messiah.

Later in Matthew, we see how this attitude manifests itself:

And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached and drew out his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. Matthew 26:51–52

To keep Jesus from the cross, the sword would be necessary, but to take up the sword is to die by the sword. Unfortunately, the children of Jezebel would take up the sword.

Thus, in Revelation, John writes,

If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints. Revelation 13:10

The saints go into captivity like Jesus, without defending themselves. The children of Jezebel, on the other hand, take up the sword, so with the sword they must be killed.

Of course, thinking back to Revelation 1, Jesus isn’t the one killing them with a physical sword. Instead, it is his words, the sharp two-edged sword, that unfortunately come true. By not following the non-violent path of the gospel, which is the faith and perseverance of the saints, the cycle of violence was repeated in a devastating way.

Revelation 2:26-29: To the One Who Overcomes

‘…He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS; AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father; and I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches...’ Revelation 2:26–29

This final passage reveals what we already know: those who keep the deeds of Jesus, which is the way of the cross, then they will be the ones to rule and reign with Christ. It is the meek who inherit the earth.

Conclusion

The obvious application of all this, to me, can be seen in church history. Anytime the church became mingled with the state, inquisition and unspeakable violence became etched into every page of church history. The biggest persecutor of the church in history has been none other than the church acting in cahoots with the state.

This is why early baptists sought the separation of church and state as well as religious freedom and tolerance. They knew from history that, being in the minority, a state-sanctioned Christianity would mean excommunication for them.

As more and more conversations happen in our modern world concerning the relationship between the church and state, especially in the context of Christian nationalism, we should heed the warnings of Revelation. The way of Jesus is so incompatible with the empire that in the event that an entire nation actually becomes Christian, then it would cease to fit any definition of a nation known to mankind up to this point.

Most likely, though, if your particular brand of Christianity happens to be the one who wins the day, then the policy may become to burn at the stake anyone who burns people at the stake, which would just be fulfilling Jesus’s words in a new way. Thankfully, the few who I’ve seen advocate for anything like a Christian nation are so unfamiliar with Jesus that it would be a Christian nation in name only, which is truly the only possibility given the nature of self-sacrifice, love of enemies, and peace as Jesus, not as the world, gives.

Thanks for reading this supplemental article to a video series I’m doing now. If you’d like to watch the videos for chapter 2 of Revelation and haven’t already, they are available below:

1. Keener, Craig S. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993. Print.