“And to the angel of the church of Thyatira write: These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like to a flame of fire, and his feet like to fine brass. I know thy works, and thy faith, and thy charity, and thy ministry, and thy patience, and thy last works which are more than the former. But I have against thee a few things: because thou sufferest the woman Jezabel, who calleth herself a prophetess, to teach, and to seduce my servants, to commit fornication, and to eat of things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her a time that she might do penance, and she will not repent of her fornication. Behold, I will cast her into a bed: and they that commit adultery with her shall be in very great tribulation, except they do penance from their deeds. And I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am he that searcheth the reins and hearts, and I will give to every one of you according to your works. But to you I say, and to the rest who are at Thyatira: Whosoever have not this doctrine, and who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will not put upon you any other burthen. Yet that, which you have, hold fast till I come. And he that shall overcome, and keep my works unto the end, I will give him power over the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and as the vessel of a potter they shall be broken, as I also have received of my Father: and I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.”
Thyatira was smaller than the other cities mentioned, but was a commercial town that was under the patronage of Apollo, and the festive gatherings in the town for the pagan deities often involved idolatry and sexual immorality: “And rising in the morning, they offered holocausts, and peace victims, and the people sat down to eat, and drink, and they rose up to play” (Exodus 32:6). Apollo himself was the son of Zeus, so Jesus introduces Himself as the Son of God to the Christians at Thyatira, showing to whom proper worship is owed: “Destroy their altars, and break their statues, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven things. Because thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God” (Deuteronomy 7:5). Jesus comes with the previously discussed eyes of fire and feet of brass, burning with love for His people and insight into all that is occurring, and power and might down to His feet. The people receive an excellent commendation, that their love is expressed through beautiful faith, patience, and service: “But above all these things have love, which is the bond of perfection” (Colossians 3:14). Now, love grows all the more fervent the more it grows, like a falling object speeding up the more it falls, and so Jesus notes that the works of love that the people are doing are greater than the first: “And the hand of the Lord was upon Elias, and he girded up his loins and ran before Achab, till he came to Jezrahel” (3 Kings 18:46). However, they do tolerate a false teacher, probably someone of acclaim and influence leading people into the error of the Nicolaites. Now, gentleness without justice is not a virtue, and to fail to protect the members of the Church from error is to leave it without a fence: “Where there is no hedge, the possession shall be spoiled” (Ecclesiasticus 36:27), therefore, standing against what love is not and how it shouldn’t be expressed is a necessary duty of the Church: “Embracing that faithful word which is according to doctrine, that he may be able to exhort in sound doctrine, and to convince the gainsayers” (Titus 1:9). The error of this alleged prophetess could be figured to be leading people to participate in the festive gatherings of Thyatira, and to lead others astray draws them away from the love of Christ, which draws a sharp condemnation from the one that loves them: “But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6). Now, God is beautifully patient, not wanting a single one of His children to be far from His merciful love: “Knowest thou not, that the benignity of God leadeth thee to penance?” (Romans 2:4), but despite the warnings of others, potentially even St. John himself, she has not repented of her error and come to love in truth: “The ancient to the lady Elect, and her children, whom I love in the truth, and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth” (2 John 1:1). When Jesus then mentions He is casting her into a bed, this is a sickbed, such as when one is bedridden with an ailment. Whatever sickness or distress that awaits her is meant to startle the others to remaining on the true way of love, that those that may be growing faint or lukewarm may be spurred back: “Let us consider one another, to provoke unto love and to good works” (Hebrews 10:24). The death then threatened is the death of the soul, for this is the true death, the extinguishing of love that leads to eternal condemnation: “Fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). Or, this can mean that the distress to descend upon the woman would descend on her spiritual “children” as well, and that the people would see that Jesus sees the heart, mind, and actions, and spurs those astray to repentance, sometimes gently, sometimes harshly, as is seen here. To those who were walking in truth, however, he lays no heavy burden: “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not heavy” (1 John 5:3), but to hold steadfastly to the truth: “I was exceeding glad, that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father” (2 John 1:4). Those that have known the depths of Satan can refer to this teaching of the Nicolaites, or it can mean those that hate, for this is the natural end of sin, and there is a painful untwisting of a hateful heart to become one that loves that requires much internal and external work in love. To hold to truth and love in truth, then, is the call of the Christian: “And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments. For this is the commandment, that, as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in the same. For many seducers are gone out into the world” (2 John 1:6-7), and this is to keep the works of Jesus to the end, that is, to put love and truth in all of one’s actions throughout one’s life. To persevere is to share in the reign of Jesus, who will “rule them with a rod of iron, and shalt break them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Psalm 2:9), which means that He will be strong against what is contrary to love and break what is earthly and passing. Or, to break them in pieces like a potter’s vessel is to take what is brittle and dry and shatter it, but to take that which is watered with love to sculpt it into something beautiful. Finally, to be given the morning star is to be given a share in the light of Jesus: “He that loveth his brother, abideth in the light, and there is no scandal in him” (1 John 2:10); “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14), for the morning star, the planet Venus, is the last and brightest star in the morning, so the one that loves much shines brightly, being a vessel of joy and life to those that need love.