JEZEBEL

Rev.2:19,20 – 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 sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.

The Lord is long suffering and full of grace toward the lost and will wait and wait for change and repentance to come. When it comes to those who claim to know Him and are involved in the life of the church it is a different matter. In the church in Thyatira there was apparently a woman leader who sold herself as a prophetess and gained influence within the congregation. Apparently she was in doctrinal error and also in rebellion against the leadership of that church. The sad result was that many followed her and begin to live a life of compromise and immorality. This sounds far too familiar as something we hear in today’s church. Here is something Amir Tsarfati says about this passage.

“The church in Thyatira allowed an individual who called herself a prophetess to teach and influence others. Like Jezebel of old, the wife of the notorious King Ahab of Israel, this woman encouraged the worship of other gods, along with the immorality that was practiced by many of the religious cults of that time. Not only had she led many in the congregation to follow her, but they were brazenly refusing to repent of their actions. This was a moral rebellion, and the congregation was either unwilling or unable to do anything about it.
Notice what Jesus said to the church: “I gave her time to repent.” Our God is long-suffering and takes no joy in discipline. He would much rather we turn to Him on our own accord after recognizing our sin and repenting. However, there is a point when God will eventually say, “That’s enough. You have had time. I have given you many opportunities to change your attitudes and your actions, but you have refused.”

The letters to the churches in Revelations are prophetic in nature. They dealt with real problems in real churches of that day but also speak to us 2000 years later. Immorality has destroyed many ministries over the years, the solution to that problem is the same as all the other problems; we must all return to our first love. When we fall in love with Jesus there is no room for immorality and compromise. Jesus is preparing His modern day church for Hs return. It is important that we guard ourselves from the snares of this life.