The Five-Fold Podcast

Confronting Jezebel's Shadow: Strength and Repentance for the Faithful

March 18, 2024 Michael Weedman Season 2 Episode 10

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Unlock the mysteries of the ancient church at Thyatira as we journey through Revelation's poignant message to its congregation. Imagine peering through the spiritual lens of the Son of God, with eyes like flames of fire, as we scrutinize the commendations and rebukes directed at a church bedeviled by the influence of a Jezebel-like figure. Your spirit will be stirred with curiosity as we embark on this episode's exploration, unraveling divine insights and shedding light on the enduring relevance for our faith communities today.

Tonight, I, Michael Weedman, invite you to navigate the complexities of Thyatira's commendable growth amidst trials and the sobering warnings that resonate with our contemporary churches. As we dissect the scripture, we'll confront the challenge of holding fast to our faith, the call for repentance, and the promise of authority to those who overcome. This session isn't merely a historical account; it's a clarion call to modern believers, urging vigilance and steadfastness in our spiritual walk. So join me on this revelatory odyssey, and let's grasp the lessons that Thyatira imparts for us today.

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Speaker 1:

What is up everybody? Welcome to tonight's episode of the five-fold podcast. I'm your host, michael Weidman, and I am excited for tonight we're continuing our revelation church study. We're on the church at Thyre Tyre. Don't go anywhere, we'll be right back. Oh, good evening and welcome to this episode of the five-fold podcast. I'm your host, michael Weidman, and I would like to say thank you for taking the time and joining us tonight on the podcast.

Speaker 1:

The five-fold podcast focuses on the five-fold ministry and the importance of that ministry in today's society. We believe that there is still a need for apostles, for prophets, for pastors, for teachers, for evangelists. They haven't ceased. They're still in operation today and necessary for the success of today's church. So join with us as we dive into this episode of the five-fold podcast and welcome back everybody to tonight's episode. I'm excited for this one Interesting, interesting episode tonight.

Speaker 1:

I'm telling you, as I was studying for the, the book of or the church at Thyre Tyre, I was, honestly, there's so much I wanted to add into this, but I knew that if I continued to add everything that I wanted to add to this, we would be in trouble and y'all would probably turn it off after a little while. Anyways, but real quick, let's let's begin a reading together. The church at Thyre Tyre. This is Revelation chapter 2, starting at verse number 18. Revelation chapter 2, starting at verse number 18. And unto the angel of the church of Thyre Tyre, right, these things say at the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire and his feet are like fine brass. Now again, we'll get into this in a little bit, but again Jesus is introducing himself in a different way to every church of the Asian minors. But let's continue on.

Speaker 1:

I know thy works and charity and service and faith, and thy patience and thy works, and the last to be more than the first Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou Sufferest that woman, jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things offered unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds, and I will kill her children with death. And all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and the hearts, and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. But unto you, I say, and unto the rest of Thyre Tyre, as many as have not this doctrine, in which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak, I will put upon you none other burden but that which ye have already. Hold fast till I come. He that over cometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations and he shall rule with them with a rod of iron and a vessels of a potter. Shall they be broken to shivers Even, as I received of my father? And I will give him the morning star. He that had an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Speaker 1:

This is an interesting, interesting letter To the church here at Thyre Tyre. Now it just keeps getting better. Honestly, the next few churches as well, and we get into chapter three and we start talking about the other Remaining churches. It's a very, it's so interesting. Let's start with the name. The name Thyre Tyre. It means to be ruled by a woman. If that doesn't catch your interest, and then I don't know, I don't know what will. That's that's to me. That is very interesting. To be ruled by a woman, jesus introduces himself, the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire and his feet like fine brass.

Speaker 1:

Now Thyre Tyre was Located in what is modern, a Kiercer Turkey. Now I'm gonna show you the map of the ancient Asia or the Asian miners, which would be modern-day Turkey, if you will look, you have. We talked about emphasis, marna and pergumum already, but just to the west of Pergamum southwest I guess you would say, of Pergamum is Thyre Tyre where it sits. Interesting About Thyre Tyre was it was on an ancient trade route. It was a central hub for trade of the colors purple and scarlet. Now you have to understand purple and scarlet, especially in the Roman world. It was a very expensive color. It was a very expensive kind of fabrics when you, when you started buying the purple. That's why usually in this time, purple and scarlet were more for royalty. Whenever you wore purple and scarlet, you were more of a royal Class. You, you wasn't the commoner. The commoner didn't buy purple clothes. Okay, thyre Tyre was also known for its labor unions and would have been considered one of the oldest, if not the first, labor union in Existence. Now in Acts, chapter 16, we find the story of a woman named Lydia, who was a seller of purple and she was from Thyre Tyre. After Paul preached to her in Acts, chapter 16, she was converted. Eventually, her entire family was converted also, and it is possible that Lydia was the reason Paul made the journey to Thyre Tyre in the first place, and because of her faith, many in Thyre Tyre were converted.

Speaker 1:

Don't don't ever let the devil tell you that you're not important. That make you believe it. You're not important to the kingdom of God because it could be your faith that saves an entire city. That saves, say that that brings the gospel to an entire city. So. So don't ever let the devil lie to you like that.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so Jesus introduces himself, as we said, the son of God who hath his eyes like unto a Flame of fire and his feet like undefined brass. Now I believe that this is important. Again, this is my belief. I think it's important. Why? Because the book of Hebrews tells us that our God is a consuming fire. The scripture also refers to Jesus as as a Refiners fire in a fuller soap. The feet like brass would mean that Jesus has already been through the fires. For us, he's proven through his sinless life that you and I can obtain victory over sin through his fire. We've been bloodbought, we've been baptized with the fire of the Holy Ghost. He is our example. We can stand firm in his word that his fire is what is going to bring us through Now.

Speaker 1:

As stated earlier, fire tire was known for its labor unions, and the problem with this is that, in the culture of the time, these labor unions would require their employees to participate in their business parties. Your business, whatever, maybe your business that you work for has a Christmas party. They say well, you're welcome to come to this Christmas party, and we encourage you to come to this Christmas party, as it is with other cities in the area. At the time, thyratyra was flooded with idolatry and pagan worship. These practices bled over into these parties. Now I know what you're thinking the believers should just stay home, they shouldn't have gone to these parties. That would have been good. However, these unions oftentimes required their employees to participate in these parties. In most cases, if you didn't attend, you didn't have a job.

Speaker 1:

Even in that environment, jesus still pointed out some positive attributes to the children and to the church of Thyratyra. Jesus said I know Thy works, thy charity and service, and faith and patience, thy works, the last to be first. Thyratyra was a church that focused on the poor and the needy. They had programs for those who needed help with food and necessities. They had faith, they had patience, they had works. Yet Jesus still said I have a few things against thee. No matter how many good deeds you do, it is still possible to have some areas that need attention, some things in your life that need some attention. So let's examine the few things that Jesus points out.

Speaker 1:

Jesus said because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things offered unto idols, you've allowed the woman Jezebel Now remember the name Thyratyra. What does it mean to be ruled by a woman? Tonight's episode is not about women preachers. It's not about women being used of God. It's not about women being bosses it's not about any of that. But the name means to be ruled by a woman. Jesus said thou has suffered the woman Jezebel to seduce she calls herself a prophet, she seduces and teaches my servants to commit fornication and to eat things offered unto idols. Now we know that this is not the same Jezebel that we read about in First Kings, who was married to Ahab and tried to kill the prophet. But the spirit of Jezebel was alive and well in the church of Thyratyra. That spirit of Jezebel and I know some of you are probably going to argue about this and say well, there's no such thing as a spirit of Jezebel. Okay, well, let's just talk about some stuff. Okay, first I want to take a look at what Jesus points out in the book of Revelation and then we'll talk very shortly and briefly about this spirit of Jezebel.

Speaker 1:

And in today's modern church Now, jesus said she calls herself a prophetess. Now note the personal claim to a position of status and influence and authority. There's an arrogance and a pride which demands recognition, not the quiet, humble spirit which waits for godliness and gifting to be recognized and affirmed by the body. And today, in our modern churches, we have a lot of this. We have a lot of this Now. I really don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, but at the same time, I'm really just giving you word. Okay, I'm giving you the word. She calls herself a prophetess. She puts herself in a position of authority, she puts herself in a position of influence, she puts herself in a position of status. There's an arrogance here. There's a pride here. Maybe we should examine ourselves and make sure we're not doing the same thing. I'll just leave that at that.

Speaker 1:

Now Jesus goes on to say that she teaches seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things offered unto idols. Now note the impact of Jezebel's teaching. Now again, wait, let's stop here for a second. Let's talk about this. It wasn't just Jezebel's fault. Right, she was the one to blame for teaching these things. But at the same time, these people at the Church of Thy Retire should have listened to her. And it's going to be hard and it might not sit well with some people, but it is your obligation to sit yourself under the authority that God has placed you under and to make sure that they're teaching right. Let's move forward.

Speaker 1:

The impact of Jezebel's teaching does it glorify Christ? Is it promoting righteousness, holiness and unity? No, absolutely not. It lays a foundation for immorality. It lays a foundation for idolatry, relationship, demise. This person's operation was clearly subtle. Right, many of the Lord's people were deceived, I guarantee you and I wasn't there, but I guarantee you it wasn't like Jezebel came right out and started saying oh, we're going to go ahead and do all this fornication stuff. I can almost guarantee you she didn't just come out and say we're going to start eating meats offered unto idols. That's more than likely. That's not what happened. It was probably very subtle at the beginning and she gained the trust of the people and she began to lead them down this path of this demise. There was apparently a fleshly element to this influence in the life of the church.

Speaker 1:

These words speak of spiritual and moral compromise. Jesus requires the highest standards of spiritual and moral integrity among his people. The enemy seeks to undermine that in any way possible. The spirit of Jezebel will come in and undermine everything that God is trying to establish in his church. The spirit of Jezebel is a very manipulative spirit. It will deceive you. It will manipulate you to the point where you begin to not look like what Christ wants you to look like. It's a slow process. It's a slow fade. It doesn't happen overnight, but it's still alive. Let's move forward.

Speaker 1:

Jesus said, and I gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented. Not you see the pride, the arrogance demonstrated here. Those deceived by this spiritual entity are blind to their own error and deception. They see no need to express repentance or apology. They disrupt the flow of grace and unity in the church.

Speaker 1:

The warning of judgment is strong to the church of Thyre Tyra Because of the spirit of Jezebel, jesus said Behold, I will cast her into a bed and them that committed doletry with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds, and I will kill her children with death. And all the churches shall know that I am he which surges the reins and the hearts, and I will give unto every one of you according to your own works. Those who have been seduced by and enjoy the pleasures that Jezebel has given will fall into the judgment of him whose eyes are like fire and feet are like fine brass. The promise for Thyre Tyra is interesting as well, and it gets into a deeper revelation of what would happen to the church of Thyre Tyra, the people there. It also gets into kind of what will happen in the Millennial reign, and this is something that we'll talk about later on. This is the promise that he says To he that overcomeeth and keepeth my works unto the end. To him will I give power over the nations. He shall rule with them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter. Shall they be broken into shivers, even as I received of my father and I will give him the morning star.

Speaker 1:

Now we'll address the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ and what this means later on in this book, in our Lessons of Revelation. But it's, I'm telling you, the Church of Thyre. Tyra is a very interesting, very interesting letter, and I'm maybe we'll do a whole lesson on the spirit of Jezebel sometime, but until then, god bless you. Hey, I want to say thank you for joining us tonight on the Five Fold Podcast. I pray that you've been blessed and that you have enjoyed what you have heard. Join us every week as we release new content concerning the Five Fold Ministry and their place in today's church. You don't want to miss this the Five Fold Podcast. God bless.

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