I made two mistakes in my title last post. I've fixed it now. I have illnesses and am pretty old, so forgive me when I make mistakes.
Thyatira: Faithfulness Fourth Seal: Religious Persecution 538 CE - 1516 CE
Spirituality:
I know your
deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your
deeds of late are greater than at first.
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…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. He who overcomes, and he who keeps
My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations… Rev. 2:19,
20, 24-26
Jezebel was a
wicked queen who led the people of her nation to abandon God and worship idols
and she killed those who refused to submit. (1 Kin. 16:31; 21:25; 2 Kin. 9:7, 22) In prophetic language, a woman represents a
city, which represents a group of people that have something in common (i.e.
citizens of a city [“city”zens] have their place of residence in common). (See
Appendix 2) Here, Jezebel calls herself
a prophetess, so Jezebel is a city, a group of people (“city”zens), who have a
religion in common since they believe they speak for God.
In the year 533
CE the Roman Emperor Justinian declared that the Bishop of Rome was to be the
head of all Christian churches. By the
year 538 CE all opposition to this appointment, both religious and civil, was
crushed. The Bishop of Rome (city) was
firmly established in his authority over religious and civil matters. Those church members with the traits of
Balaam and the Nicolaitans (“city”zens) had finally attained all the power and
riches they had so desired (commonality).
They had set up a powerful church and were designing doctrines that
would strengthen their control and would lead the masses astray. But there were still believers who remained
faithful to the teachings and the spirit of Jesus although they did not fight
hard enough in the beginning against this false church with its false
doctrines. However, what was done was
done and Jesus told them to hang on and as a reward they would rule with him.
When the Lamb broke the fourth seal…I
looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death;
and Hades was following with him.
Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with
sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth. Rev. 6:7, 8
…I know your deeds, that you
have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen the things that
remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in
the sight of My God. So remember what
you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent…But you have a few people
in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in
white, for they are worthy. He who
overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name
from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before
His angels. Rev. 2:1-5
Jezebel had almost completely wiped out those who remained
faithful to the pure teachings of Jesus, but the truth was not yet dead even
though it looked like it. A spark
remained and it was about to be kindled into a full-blown fire. Martin Luther, a Catholic monk, was a man in
search of truth. As he dug into the
Bible he found that much of what he had believed in his previous religious life
was untrue. In 1517 CE he bravely wrote
out the truths he had discovered and then posted them (his 95 theses, see
Appendix 3) so everyone who could read would see the truth. Some others, both in religious and political
offices, saw the truth in what Martin Luther had discovered and together they
started what became known as the Protestant Reformation (“protest”ing the false
teachings of the Jezebel church). Jesus
promised those who fought against the false church that they would be clothed
in white and have their names written in the book of life.
When the Lamb broke the fifth
seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because
of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and
they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true,
will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the
earth?” And there was given to each of
them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while
longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were
to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also. Rev. 6:9-11
The Jezebel church was not going to give up its power easily and the persecutions continued, but this time it was aimed at the visible and vocal Protestant movement. Some European political powers stood up to the church for the first time, refusing to turn over their citizens to be killed, and Jezebel found herself losing power.
