What is the meaning of Revelation 2:20? But I have this against you Jesus, the One “whose eyes are like blazing fire” (Revelation 2:18), now speaks a word of rebuke. He commends what is good, yet He will not ignore what is evil. As 1 Peter 4:17 says, “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God.” The Lord’s rebuke proves His love (Hebrews 12:6). We cannot cling to past faithfulness while excusing present compromise. You tolerate that woman Jezebel The believers in Thyatira were not actively promoting error; they were tolerating it. Tolerance sounds kind, yet Jesus calls it sin when it excuses what He condemns. Old-Testament Jezebel led Israel into Baal worship and immorality (1 Kings 16:31; 18:19). Likewise, this New-Testament “Jezebel” was seducing a church that should have driven her out (Ephesians 5:11: “Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them”). Who calls herself a prophetess She claimed Spirit-given authority, but the Lord never sent her. Jeremiah 23:21 warns, “I did not send these prophets, yet they ran.” 1 John 4:1 urges, “Test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Self-promotion in spiritual things is a red flag; true servants are recognized by conformity to God’s Word and the fruit of righteousness. By her teaching she misleads My servants The danger is not merely a wrong opinion; it is the corruption of “My servants,” people who belong to Christ. Acts 20:29-30 forewarns of wolves who “will arise and distort the truth.” Error dressed up as revelation is especially seductive. Jesus holds both the deceiver and the deceived accountable, yet He shines light so His flock may turn back (Matthew 24:4-5). To be sexually immoral In Thyatira’s trade-guild culture, pagan feasts often ended in immorality. Jezebel’s teaching made participation seem spiritually permissible. But Scripture is plain: “This is the will of God—your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). “Flee sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18), not flirt with it. Truth guards purity; error unchains passion. And to eat food sacrificed to idols Idolatrous meals were more than casual dinners; they honored demons (1 Corinthians 10:19-21). Acts 15:29 had already told Gentile believers to “abstain from food sacrificed to idols.” Jezebel blurred that line, perhaps arguing for cultural relevance or economic necessity. Yet the first commandment still stands (Exodus 20:3). Compromise at the table of idols is fellowship with darkness. summary Revelation 2:20 exposes the deadly mix of false teaching, immoral practice, and passive tolerance. Jesus calls His church to confront error, protect holiness, and worship Him alone. Where love and faith once flourished, they must be guarded by truth and courage, for the purity of the bride matters to the Bridegroom. |
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