REVELATION
SIMPLIFIED
CHAPTER 2.18a
Gleanings
from the Book of Revelation:
A
Weekly Verse-by-Verse Bible Study Series
The
REVELATION
TO JOHN
(The
Apocalypse)
LETTERS
TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES
CHAPTER
2
The
Letter to the Church at Thyatira
Outline
1. The
Addressee – To whom the letter
is addressed (2:18)
2. The
Address – To where the letter is
addressed (2:18)
3. The
Addresser – From whom the
letter is addressed (2;18)
4. The
Approval – The acclamation
of good qualities (2:19)
5. The
Accusation – The
presentation of bad qualities (2:20-23)
6. The Appeal
– The application to change (2:24-25)
7. The Advice
– The recommendation to change (2:26-29)
Preface
The Book of Revelation is about Jesus Christ and
His Second Coming. Everyone who reads and hears this book is promised and
receives a special blessing from God (see Revelation 1:3).
Chapters two and three contain seven letters to
seven different types of Christian churches and believers. They are not only
for edification purposes but also reminders and warnings to change before God's
final judgments are placed upon the earth – showing His grace.
Review
Steps to Decline
A. The Church of Ephesus
They lost
their first love and entrusted the clergy to preach the Gospel.
B. The Church of Smyrna
The
doctrine of grace was diluted with legalism until the synagogue of Satan was
established in their midst. Christians were persecuted for their faith in
Christ.
C. The Church of Pergamum
Exalted
clericalism into doctrine thus initiating base levels of morals and conduct to
become commonplace as Constantine merged Christianity with paganism.
D. The Church of Thyatira
The deeds
of the Nicolaitans evolved into doctrine, the clergy caused the church to wed
the world, exalted over it in power, and pretended to speak for God.
E. The Church of Sardis
Sardis was
known as the dead apostate church.
F. The Church of Philadelphia
Philadelphia
was the Church of revival and brotherly love.
G. The Church of Laodicea
The
lukewarm church Christ spits out of His mouth is labeled the Church of
Laodicea.
Thyatira
Thyatira is the fourth epistle in a series of
seven disseminated throughout the major churches in Asia Minor. Even though it
is the most insignificant of the seven churches, Thyatira has the longest
letter delivered to the pastor and its congregation.
Thyatira [Greek: Θυάτειρα, Thuateira (G6236)] is of unknown derivation. Many believe it is a
mixture of two words meaning continual
sacrifice. The church system existed during the Dark Ages, a term
representing the bulk of the Middle Ages between approximately the fifth and
sixteenth centuries.
When the Huns, Vandals, and Goths overran Europe,
their form of pagan idolatry also entered the church culminating in the assimilation
of Christianity, Judaism, and polytheism. Not only the local church but also
the Thyatira era was labeled the worst system to ever disgrace the earth.
Overall, this church reached the climax of ecclesiasticism.
1. The
Addressee – To whom the
letter is addressed
(Verse 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.
The Church
It is widely believed and accepted that a woman by
the name of Lydia started a core group of believers at Thyatira. While Paul was
in Philippi, Lydia from Thyatira, who sold purple dye in all parts of the
world, was his first European convert.
Acts 16:14
- And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that
she attended unto the things which were
spoken of Paul.
Acts 16:15
- When she and the members of her household were baptized, she
invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house."
And she persuaded us. (NIV)
Lydia, a wealthy and industrious businesswoman, had
a second home in Philippi and was hospitable to evangelists after receiving
Christ.
Character
Existing as a result of the union between Church
and State, Thyatira was characterized by:
1. A religion of works and not by grace*
2. Ceremonies, rituals, form, and liturgy
3. Idolatry
4. Corruption, deception, adultery, and wickedness
5. The Age of Popery
6. Denial of Christ’s finished work on the Cross
7. Apostasy
*Note: Grace is an unearned gift of God and not
through accomplishments.
Ephesians
2:8-9 - For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift
of God: Not of works, lest any man should
boast.
Most likely Thyatira maintained a small
congregation during John’s writing. Since the Turkish invasion in 1922, no
church exists today.
2. The
Address – To where the letter is
addressed
(Verse 18)
And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira.
Thyatira
Geography
Built on a hill and situated on a road halfway
between Sardis and Pergamos, Thyatira was the smallest of the seven cities. It
was located in the Lycus River Valley about thirty to thirty-five miles southwest
of the capital city of Pergamos, and between twenty-five to thirty miles northeast
of Sardis, forty-two miles from the Aegean Sea. An Acropolis was on a hill and
walls encompassed the entire city.
History
The city of Thyatira was originally occupied by
the Hittites, then the Persians until it was captured and destroyed by
Alexander the Great and rebuilt by Seleucus I Nicator of the Seleucid Dynasty.
It once flourished under the Roman Emperor Vespasian.
Military
Militarily, the town was significant because it served
as an interceptor to any invading armies approaching the capital Pergamos from
inland. The city was strictly used for defense. Rome manned this outpost with
elite Macedonian troops; however, it was not capable of any prolonged defense.
It merely acted as a delay until the army from Pergamos arrived. Consequently,
no other city in history spent most of its time being destroyed and rebuilt.
Agriculture
Outside the town, Thyatira was noted for its
abundant crops.
Commerce
Thyatira had a commercial significance under
Emperor Vespasian. During this period in history, no one could create the color
purple. They prospered through the development of a rare and expensive dye,
making it the center of the dying industry.
The Color Purple
1. Purple was used by the ancient Phoenicians as
early as 1570 B.C.
2. Purple was the color of Imperial Rome
3. Purple was worn by Caesar
4. Purple was used for pagan rituals and to drape
many pagan deities
5. Purple was a color reserved for popes and
cardinals
6. Purple is worn by the woman who sits on a beast in
Revelation 17
7. Jesus was clothed mockingly with a royal robe
Purple Dye
Purple, scarlet red, and Turkey red are all colors associated with the dye industry in
Thyatira. The dye itself was extracted from two sources:
A. Rubia (or madder) is a common plant native to this area
and a red pigment would be extracted from its root.
B. Murex was procured meticulously from a family of
predatory shellfish sea snails, in particular, the tiny rock snail. One drop at
a time was extracted from the throat of each snail making it extremely costly.
Pliny the Elder of Rome recorded the cost of a
pound of dye being three years' wages.
Trade Guilds
As a result of the dye industry, Thyatira became
the birthplace and the rise of a well-organized system of trade guilds (labor
unions). More guilds operated here than in any other Roman city.
A list of common guilds included:
1. The dying guild
2. The wool guild
3. The linen guild
4. The weaver’s guild
5. The garment maker’s guild
6. The robe maker’s guild
7. The leather guild
8. The tanner’s guild
9. The potter’s guild
10. The baker’s guild
11. The brass and bronze smith’s guild
12. The slave trader’s guild
Conversely, the main problem with guilds, concerning
the church, was each trade guild had an individual idol relative to the trade
that was worshipped. And, along with different trade idols were connected
festivals consisting of drunken feasts where continued sexual involvement was
observed.
It was considered an offense if one was a member
and did not participate in the worship of their particular idol, thus causing
unemployment. This put Christians in a precarious situation.
Religion
Apart from the idols associated with the trade
guilds, religiously Thyatira was insignificant. There were no centers for any particular
kind of religion. There were no temples to pagan deities in its acropolis.
However, Apollo, known in this culture as Tyrimnos, was worshipped as a sun god
along with his female associate Boreatene.
Another smaller female priestess was the oracle Sambethe
who presided over the lucrative business of fortune-telling. She was a
precursor to Jezebel whom we will soon meet.
Polytheistic worship permeated and was similarly
immoral and orgiastic with their pagan festivals as any other culture. Very few
Jews were part of this population. And the city was inconsequential to Rome or
emperor worship.
Constantine: The Continuing Story
The Roman Emperor Constantine played a substantial
role in not only changing the course of history but also Christianity itself.
Perceiving the Roman Empire was declining, during one of his conquests in
battle, Constantine announced he saw a vision of a giant cross in the sky, and
over it were the words, "In this sign, thou shalt conquer." So, he
thought to himself, “If I follow the Cross and become converted, I will be
victorious.” And he did.
This was the driving force that enabled the Roman
Empire to survive. They planned to move the capital of Rome east to a Greek
trading town called Byzantium. The emperor then commissioned the greatest
engineers, architects, and builders known to construct this new city - modeled
after Rome - larger and richer than any built prior.
Art treasures from every corner of the Empire were
transported to embellish its buildings, adding to its magnificence. Intending
to call the city the New Rome, it
quickly came to be known as Constantinople
– The City of Constantine.
Along with polytheism and emperor worship, Roman
law and the Latin tongue survived this transition. By making himself a god on
earth, Constantine incorporated Christianity as the Empire’s primary religion.
He achieved this by combining the concepts of Christian theology with Greek
philosophy, which justified the faith, thus making it an intellectual and
respectable religion – the merging of Church and State.
Theology and Philosophy
The ideology of the Greeks could not allow God to
become a man. Constantine leaned toward the Platonic View, something above and
beyond what one could see. That is, God is a perfect idea and man is only a
poor copy, narrowly coinciding with Scripture.
Epicureanism then entered stating that everything
that happens is by pure chance and luck, and everything else will dissolve into
nothing. Pleasures were of the utmost importance, a philosophy of escape.
As a consequence of this newly formed state
religion, two classes within the Church evolved - the clergy and the laity. Popery
emerged with a hierarchy of Cardinals and Bishops cementing the arrangement.
This compromise was an outcome of Constantine
preparing his tomb in a church dedicated to the Holy Apostles. He positioned monuments
to the Twelve Apostles, having two rows of six, and displaying his tomb in the
middle. Doing so suggested he was the first and would be referred to as protoAapostolos (in front of), whereas
the emperor would be designated as God’s representative on earth.
The Age of Thyatira
The Thyatira Church slowly developed and became
representative of Romanism. The doctrines and practices did not happen overnight
but over a lengthy period. With an edict of the Roman government, the mass of
the Roman Empire’s population for centuries followed pagan religions out of
necessity.
Christian tenets became absorbed, thus setting the
stage for the marriage of these two convictions. This entire period existed
between 600-1500 A.D. It was a dark era when the Church was completely
engrossed in the world. Everything existed liturgically and the doctrines of
Christ barely survived.
The Thyatira Church Age presents a glimpse of the
church that will continue during the Great Tribulation Period.
In the following lessons: We will survey Christ
commending a small group of believers and indicting the rest.
QUESTIONS:
1. What makes the letter to Thyatira distinct?
2. How did this church most likely form?
3. Describe Thyatira’s character.
4. Why was the city of Thyatira militarily
significant?
5. Name its most important industry and why.
6. What was the nature of the trade guilds?
7. Trace the development of the Church under
Constantine.
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