"To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
Thyatira was a very wealthy city. It served as the main business/commercial route between Pergamos & Sardis. It was located in the northern part of Lydia on the river Lycus. Thyatira was perhaps most noted because it was an important trade & manufacturing city. In particular the city was known for its purple dye & dyed garments. You may recall that Lydia, whom Paul converted at Philippi, was from Thyatira, & was a seller of purple (Acts 16:13-15). Most noted in their pagan worship was their chief deity Tyrimnos, also known as the Greek sun god Apollo.
First of all, it should be noted that in this letter, God commends Thratira for several things, actually more than any of the other three previous churches. It was the first church of the seven to be noted for its love. The primary problem of that church God says was "tolerating the woman Jezebel". So...., who was Jezebel?
Jezebel was probably the most wicked woman characters in the Bible. She was married to weak king Ahab. Jezebel wanted Israel to worship Baal. She is the one who brought Baalism into Israel. She is accused by God of being a False Prophetess. Her teachings took two forms:
God says that He has "given her time to repent, but she does not want to repent of her immorality".
The Dispensational View of
the Letter to Thyatira
(606 A.D. to 1520 A.D.)
This church age is called the pagan church or the corrupt church. History calls this period of time "The Dark Ages". The Thyatira church age starts off where the Pergamum church age ends and continues "marrying" into the world. Although there had always been "heads" in the Church throughout, and during the time between 312 A. D. and 606 A.D. full blown "heads" and Church higharchy continued to emerge, in 607 A.D. trouble over the title of "Universal Bishop" assumed by the patriarch of Constantinople, John the Faster, flared up again, for John's successor, Cyriacus, also insisted on using this title. Boniface III thereupon secured from Emperor Phocas a decree acknowledging that "the See of Blessed Peter the Apostle should be the head of all the Churches" and that the title of "Universal Bishop" should be reserved exclusively for the bishop of Rome. This, of course, was no new departure in imperial policy. Long ago the great lawgiver, Justinian, had legally recognized the primacy of the Roman pontiff. But at this time the repetition was considered necessary to curb the titular pretensions of the Patriarch. Therefore Boniface III, in 607 A.D. is recognized at the first "official" Universal Bishop, or Pope.
The Roman Catholic Church continued throughout this time period to grow in numbers, power, and influence. Sadly, it also continued to allow in many damaging false doctrines and practices and drifting away from Scripture as their sole source of Truth and relying more heavily on "Tradition" being their sole source of Truth. Examples of this are: the worship of Images and religious relics, use of "Holy Water" and prayer beads, dead saints being canonized by the Church, celibacy of a priesthood as a requirement, the doctrine of purgatory, the sale of "Indulgences" to get people out of purgatory, the Inquisition, transubstantiation...meaning the belief that the bread & wine taken in Communion truly become the actual body and blood of Jesus, the Bible being forbidden to the "laity" or people, the "7 Sacraments" become required for salvation, Church Tradition was made equal to the Word of God, and the Apocryphal books were added to the Bible as Canon.
Personal
Application
This letter tells us not to tolerate or be led astray by false doctrines (doctrine not found in Scriptures, or doctrines or practices contradictory to God's Word), but base our doctrine and practices soley on Scripture. If we are to do this, we must come to know what Scriptures truly do and do not say.
