“Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.” Revelation 2:20
God rebuked the church in Thyatira because they let the spirit of Jezebel deceived the congregation to worship idols. Who is Jezebel? Jezebel is the daughter of king Ithobaal of Sidon and the wife of Ahab who governed Northern Israel around 874-852 BC. Jezebel’s existence gave access to Baal prophets to come in the palace. During Ahab’s time, he had 450 Baal prophets and 400 Asherah prophets. He killed the Lord’s prophets and went against Elijah. Ahab and Jezebel’s marriage brought destruction upon Northern Israel because Jezebel influenced Ahab, the leaders and God’s people to follow Baal. Jezebel’s most prominent sin was that she taught and deceived God’s people to commit adultery and worship idols; she killed God’s prophets, went against Elijah, and did not respect authority, but instead seized authority.
That same spirit of Jezebel also worked in the midst of the church in Thyatira. The most prominent sin among them is their tendency to let sin, unrighteousness and non-biblical teaching spread; and when the Lord corrected them, they did not want to repent.
The church has to be assertive in teachers or preachers that deliver words of worldly wisdom instead of going deeper in the truth of God’s Word. Some churches often let false teachings happen and they do not correct those who have committed that sin. They have various excuses such as indifference, personal friendship, fear of conflicts, desire for “peace”, or money. But, Jesus rebukes this tolerating attitude.
The term Jezebel in the New Testament refers to the living system of believers who compromise with this sin of idolatry. The principle is: worshipping other things in the place of the Lord is idolatry. For every wrongdoing done by His people, the Lord will remind them through events/incidents and He will give some time to repent.
Nowadays, the challenges faced by God’s people are becoming more difficult. The economy might be getting better, but the current moral is going down. Justifying wrong things to be right has become a strong threat. The things that are wrong have often been deemed as right in the general public. In this situation, the tendency to compromise becomes stronger.
So, how can we be victorious and not fall in the sin of compromising? Hold fast to His Word and keep doing His work until the end. And the Lord will give us victory, Revelation 2:26-27. Amen. God bless.
Source: Article from GBI Gatot Subroto, Jakarta