Message to Pergamos and Thyatira (2)

 Thyatira

This city was in “the province of Lydia in western Asia Minor (modern Turkey) situated on the road from Pergamos to Sardis. The city was on the southern bank of the Lycus River, a branch of the Hermus River.

“Although never a large city, Thyatira was a thriving manufacturing and commercial center during New Testament times. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of many trade guilds and unions here. Membership in these trade guilds, necessary for financial and social success, often involved pagan customs and practices such as superstitious worship, union feasts using food sacrificed to pagan gods, and loose sexual morality.

“The Book of Revelation refers to a certain woman known as 'Jezebel' who taught and beguiled the Christians at Thyatira to conform to the paganism and sexual immorality of their surroundings (Revelation 1:11; 2:18-29). In the church in Thyatira, one of the 'seven churches which are in Asia' (Revelation 1:4), Jezebel's followers seem to have been a minority because the majority of Christians in this church are commended.

“The apostle Paul's first convert in Europe was 'a certain woman named Lydia…a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira' (Acts 16:14). The modern name of Thyatira is Akhisar, which means 'white castle'” ( Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers, “Thyatira”).


Their Common Problem

Though Pergamos and Thyatira differed in many respects (large city versus small city, educational center versus business center, high society versus trade unions), the Christians in both congregations faced insidious influences to compromise their beliefs in order to fit in with the societies around them. When members gave in to these pressures, they committed the same sins: eating “things sacrificed to idols” and committing “sexual immorality” (Revelation 2:14, 20).

In order to emphasize the point that Christians must be careful not to sin through compromise, Jesus used two Old Testament examples of people who compromised God's instructions and a New Testament group that did the same. The individuals were Balaam and Jezebel; the group, the Nicolaitans.

To be contd.


God bless you all.