{"id":1418,"date":"2011-10-01T08:00:23","date_gmt":"2011-10-01T00:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=1418"},"modified":"2022-04-07T19:16:35","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T11:16:35","slug":"41-thyatira-and-lydia-the-church-that-tolerates-jezebel-and-the-woman-of-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=1418","title":{"rendered":"41. Thyatira and Lydia – The Church that Tolerates Jezebel and the Woman of Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reflections on a Pauline Pilgrimage to Turkey [8]<\/strong><\/p>\n

“And to the angel of the church of Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and beguiling my servants to practice immorality and to eat food offered to idols…<\/span><\/strong>”\u00a0 [Revelation 2:18-29<\/span>]<\/p>\n

Our visit to Thyatira leads delightfully to a reflection in three parts.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Lessons from the Book of Revelation<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

[1] Thyatira ruins. [2]\u00a0Lydia and the Women Hear the Good News from Paul.<\/a>\u00a0[3]\u00a0Paul and Silas in prison.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

In the Book of Revelation, the message to the Church in Thyatira is the longest of the seven. She is praised for her growing faith and service, but criticized for a very serious problem that needs to be corrected if the Christians there are to have eternal and immortal life. That is, her tolerance of the false teaching of Jezebel, an immoral woman who calls herself a prophetess [Rev. 2:18-29<\/a>]. She has been beguiling people to practice immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. The Lord will cast her \u201cto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her\u201d will be thrown into great tribulation, unless they repent. Thyatira, formed by two words that mean \u201ccontinual sacrifice\u201d, does not live a life true to its name. The Lord searches minds and hearts with piercing eyes and sees into the core of each soul. Our sins are never hidden from his all-seeing eyes. To each will be given his or her due.<\/span><\/p>\n

We ought to notice at once that, like our own Church today, the problems with Thyatira did not come from outside the faith community. As Pope Benedict has repeatedly said, the evil comes from within! The teachings of Christ have been seriously compromised in the lives of his servants, in Thyatira as in the Church today. Notice that the false prophetess was not out to destroy the church. Yet, the spiritual corruption she caused in the faith community was spiritually fatal to many, in the way they compromised principles in their conduct. So beware, the Lord warns, of appearance of righteousness – looking faithful and productive, doing good works and offering good services \u2013 but are fundamentally in deep trouble with Jesus Christ. Today, the Scripture on Thyatira urges us to once again be conscious that what the Lord wants to see is an educated \u201cephphatha\u201d Christian congregation, hearing right and seeing clearly, eager for the truth of God, not self-seeking in status and privileges, but steadfastly following Christ\u2019s spiritual ways. Vigilance against compromising our convictions as Christians holds a special key. Pleasures of the world must be seen correctly as lasting only for a season. If we overcome the lust for the worldly, and seek to serve the Lord out of a pure, holy and righteous heart, the Lord promises to give us \u201cthe morning star\u201d. And the Lord always turns to each one of us and urges: \u201cHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Lessons from St Lydia<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Following the lead of the Holy Spirit, St Paul reached Troas on his second missionary journey. There, he had a vision of a man in Macedonia beseeching him to \u201cCome over to Macedonia and help us\u201d and he went [Acts 16:6-12]. It was Sabbath when he found himself in Philippi [in modern day Greece], the leading city of Macedonia. There were very few Jews in Philippi during the time of Paul’s visit. Like Lystra, this Roman colony was a military town which could not attract Jews until they assumed a commercial importance. For that reason, there was no synagogue in Philippi. So Paul and companions went to the riverside where a place of prayer might be found. And Luke, who travelled with Paul, left us this account:<\/span><\/p>\n