Reflection Questions: Two Fathers & the Jezebel Church (John 8.42-44, Revelation 2.18-23)

Revelation 2:18-20: “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. ¹⁹ “‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. ²⁰ But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.”

1. Have someone read Revelation 2:18-20. What comes to mind when you hear the phrase, ‘The Jezebel Church’? What were the two great heresies this woman taught in Thyatira (2:20)? Why were they so abhorrent to Jesus?
2. Many of the ‘professing’ believers at Thyatira were lured in to sexual immorality by Pastor Jezebel’s teaching. But as followers of Jesus, how should we think about these things? Have someone read 1 Corinthians 6:18-20. According to Paul, how are sexual sins different than other kinds of sin (6:18)? What does Paul mean by ‘sinning against one’s own body’? Why is this kind of sin ESPECIALLY egregious for Christians (6:19-20). On a basic level, one might say: ‘We should obey this because God says to obey it!’ But there’s something more happening here, right? Something very deep. Something ‘spiritual’. Something about our witness and about Jesus’ sacrifice. Re-read verses 19-20 carefully. Discuss what’s really going on here and why it matters.
3. Jezebel’s 2^nd heresy was teaching professing believers to “eat food sacrificed to idols” (2:20b). The truth is, Pastor Jezebel was encouraging them to do this at the Pagan feasts that were prevalent in that culture – to actually participate in them. After all, ‘God won’t care.’ This was the sin of assimilation. How have believers today assimilated god-less culture into their lives? What are Christians ‘OK with’ today that would have been scandalous in the 1950s? How has cultural assimilation affected our worship services? Our Church leadership? Our positions on sin? Our testimony?
4. Jesus commended the Church at Thyatira for their “love and faith and service and patient endurance,” as well as their increased good works (2:19). Jesus had only ONE thing against the ‘true’ believers at Thyatira: the sin of tolerating things that should never be tolerated in the Church (2:20a). Paul prophesied about the sin of toleration in the last days. How should modern-day pastors respond? Read and discuss 2 Timothy 4:1-5. What does today’s Church tolerate that should never be tolerated?