Sunday – September 6, 2015 Revelation 2:18-29 “Thyatira: Tolerating Tolerance”

Sunday – September 6, 2015 – Read the Word on Worship

Sunday – September 6, 2015 Revelation 2:18-29 “Thyatira: Tolerating Tolerance” from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

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Revelation 2:20-21
‘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 and eat things sacrificed to idols. ‘I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality.”

“That’s a long story.” How many times have you heard this statement? Often it is the first response from a Christian who is asked how they came to faith in Jesus Christ. After studying this text, I’ve concluded that the statement, “That’s a long story,” also applies to divine judgment. In 1 Kings 21, Ahab and Jezebel committed a terrible sin. This king and queen appear to have had a second palace in Jezreel, and adjoining the royal property was a vineyard owned by a man named Naboth. The king decided that he would like this property as well. He offered to trade with Naboth for a better piece of property or to pay him a premium price in cash (silver). It wasn’t a bad idea, and it was a generous offer, except for the fact that the Law of Moses forbade an Israelite from selling his family inheritance.

His wife, Jezebel, was not about to take “no” for an answer. She took matters into her own hands, instructing the leaders of the city to obtain false accusations against Naboth, and then to carry out his execution for “blaspheming God and the king,” as well as Naboth‘s sons. Ahab might have found a measure of solace in the fact that he didn’t really know how Jezebel was going to acquire this property for him but he knew her well enough to know it would be neither legal nor moral. He was the king, and he allowed her to act in his behalf – and with his authority.

It is not until 2 King 9 that we see the wheels of justice catch up with Jezebel. It is here that Jehu races toward Jezreel in his chariot, accompanied by soldiers loyal to him, ready to storm the city of Jezreel. See the approaching army, Jezebel retired to her tower to apply makeup and continue in her way of manipulation and intimidation. It has served her well with her husband Ahab and in the past protected her position. If this woman was as mean an employer as she was wicked as a queen, no one would have shed any tears at her death. Jehu commanded his supporters, standing by the queen, to throw her out the window, and they did. She fell to the ground to her death where she was trampled by the wheels of Jehu’s chariot.

God does know how to deliver the righteous from judgment and how to reserve the unrighteous for judgment. Our text is ample proof of that. My question to you, my friend, is this: Are you going to be among the righteous, who are spared from divine judgment, or are you among the wicked, whom God is reserving for punishment? Sinners often gloat over the fact that God seems to be doing nothing about their sins, and so they feel that they are free to continue to live in sin, without fear of divine judgment. God has made it clear that there is a day of accountability and we are to be ready.

What do you think?