Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #25 of Revelation 2, and we looking at Revelation 2:20:

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 sacrificed unto idols.

We have spent a couple of studies looking into this verse, trying to understand it as best we can.  We have seen how God speaks very negatively of Jezebel in the Old Testament.  She was a wicked woman and the wife of Ahab, king of Israel.  She was very set against the prophets of JEHOVAH.  The true prophets of the Lord were persecuted and slain, but some were hidden in a cave from her.  She threatened Elijah, to put him to death.  She arranged the murder of a good man, Naboth, and arranged to steal his vineyard for her husband Ahab.

So there was nothing good about this woman, and the Lord used her to represent a church that permitted a woman to teach.  Not only was she a woman, but she was a wicked, rebellious, and unfaithful woman.  Then God began to speak of the church itself as if they were “Jezebel.”  Spiritually, that is a pretty accurate picture of the awful spiritual condition the churches and congregations engaged in as they permitted ungodly doctrines, gospels, and all sorts of rebellious things.  They suffered that woman Jezebel to teach, and that means that the “woman,” or the church, began to teach out of its own minds.  They acted as if they were the experts, and one particular church plainly declared itself to be the authority over the Word of God.  “As the leader of our church, the Pope, speaks, it is as though it comes right from the mouth of God.”  Of course that is nothing but the “woman” teaching, and it is not just any woman, but it is Jezebel, a wicked woman.  The church had usurped the authority of the “man,” the Lord Jesus Christ, and they taught what they had no business teaching, and they were called upon to remain silent. 

God said that Jezebel called herself a prophetess, and a prophet is someone who speaks forth the Word of God.  She said she was speaking on behalf of the Lord, but of course that was not true.  And when churches today use the name of Christ and the name of God to support their teachings and their understanding of the Bible that are not true to the Bible, God is not fooled.  He prophesied of this long ago in the book of Isaiah, in Isaiah 4:1:

And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man…

By the way, it is interesting that we have seven churches in the book of Revelation, and God is likening the corporate church to Jezebel, and it is directed not only to the church at Thyatira, but to all the churches during the church age.  The “one man” is referring to Christ, and again it says in Isaiah 4:1:

And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread…

That is, they are saying, “We will have our own kind of gospel, and we do not want the bread of life in Jesus.”

Then it says in Isaiah 4:1:

… and wear our own apparel…

That is, they are saying, “We will develop our own righteousness through our own works.  We do not need the apparel of the righteousness of Christ.”

Then it says in Isaiah 4:1:

… only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

“Yes, we do request one thing – that we can call ourselves Christians.  And we can use the name of Christ, and use the Bible.”  And so they do.  Jezebel called herself a prophetess, one who speaks for God.  But what was she speaking?  Was she speaking things that were honest, good, and right?  No.  What she did was “to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.”

I did not mention this before, but the word “seduce” is normally translated as “deceive.”  For instance, it is found twice in Matthew 24.  It says in Matthew 24:11:

And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

It also says in Matthew 24:24:

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Of course it is not possible for the elect to be deceived to the point where they could lose the salvation God has given us in our elect status.  That is not possible.

This word “deceive” is the same word translated as “seduce,” so we know exactly what Jezebel was involved with, teaching things to deceive God’s servants, those elect within the churches and congregations during the church age, in order that they would “commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.”  

I may have mentioned this last time concerning fornication and things sacrificed to idols, but God did not leave the New Testament churches without Law.  The nation of Israel were given many Laws by God.  There were ceremonial Laws, moral Laws, and all kinds of Laws.  We even read of Laws concerning having two different kinds of cloth in a garment, or not ploughing with an ass and an ox together, and that a priest should not wear a certain kind of fabric.  There were all manners of Laws, and there were so many Laws that God gave to Israel and for man.  But it is an incorrect understanding when some people say, “God did not give the churches any Law, except for a couple of ceremonial Laws like baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and so forth, but other than that we do not really have any Law.”  That is not true. 

In Acts 15 there is a historical situation that began to develop in Jerusalem.  There were Judaizers (men who were Pharisees) who believed in Jesus, and yet they also thought it was necessary for Christians to be circumcised and to keep the Law of Moses.  This was being disputed, and many people were confused.  We must understand that most of them were Jews, and they had grown up under the Law of Moses – they respected and honored it.  It was probably cherished by them.  But now there were some Pharisees that said, “We need to continue to keep the Law of Moses.”  They held a counsel.  It says in Acts 15:1-2:

And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

Then it says in Acts 15:5:

But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

This was a “hot issue,” and there was a lot of discussion about it.  Then it says in Acts 15:6:

And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.

Of course God would have been guiding this council because this was in the time when the Bible was still being written.  These men were apostles, and God would have moved them to make a determination that would be in line with the whole Bible.

They finally did, and it says in Acts 15:18-21:

Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

Then it says in Acts 15:23-29:

And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

Here, God is giving some very specific Laws for the New Testament churches and congregations.  They would have still been required, for example, to observe the Lord’s Supper according to the prescribed manner; they would have still been required to perform (water) baptism; they would have still been required to elect elders and deacons that were qualified according to the guidelines that God would later give in the Epistles of the Apostle Paul; they would have still been required to observe the Sunday Sabbath, as that had become the New Testament Sabbath day. 

Of course none of these things were to be observed by God’s elect in order to become saved.  No.  God’s elect were saved by the work and faith of Christ, as His faith was displayed by His work.  The individual child of God is saved by grace, and because we are saved by grace, we desire to do the will of God as prescribed by the Bible.  We read the commandments of God, and we want to honor Him through them.  For instance, there are Laws of God concerning marriage that we would want to obey, and there are other Laws like not killing, stealing, or lying, and we would want to obey these things to please God and to demonstrate our love toward Him, as He first loved us.

But these were specifically Laws for the newly forming churches and congregations, and God laid down specific Laws for the church.  That is why we find twice already in Revelation 2 that Balaam or Jezebel had taught things that were a stumblingblock, or things that were deceitful toward God’s servants concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, or committing fornication, and these things were two of the four Laws that the early Christian Jewish council had laid down as good for the New Testament churches and congregations. 

So that is no accident, and God is letting us know that He had obligated them to obey His Laws.  “I did not give you the long list of Laws that I gave to national Israel.  I gave you a few specific Laws.  You must keep them, and if you do not, then I will come in judgment, just as I did with Israel before you.”

So let us look again at the Laws for the New Testament churches  in Acts 15:29:

That ye abstain from meats offered to idols…

That is not too difficult to understand, as things offered to idols are not offered to God, but to other gods.  It is an idolatrous practice, and the church was to have nothing to do with other gods.

But when we look more closely at the word “meats,” we find that God speaks of “meats” in an interesting way in Hebrews 13:9:

Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.

Here, there is a reference to various strange doctrines in the context of “meats.”  And that is exactly what “meat” points to, spiritually.   How could the church abstain from meats (doctrines) offered to idols?  They would do so by being faithful to the Word of God.  They would have been studious, careful, and diligent, comparing Scripture with Scripture, and staying on the narrow path that is enlightened by the lamp of the Scriptures.  That is what God was referring to, as the church was duty-bound to abstain from “doctrines” that are strange, or, we could say,  “strange fire,” or other teachings that are not God’s teachings as found in the Bible.  If they did bring in other various and strange doctrines, that would be something offered to an idol.  It would not be serving God to come up with various erroneous teachings.

You know, sometimes we are very gentle, very kind, and very considerate of someone who has a wrong teaching.  We are always to be gentle, kind, and considerate to people, but as far as teaching goes, God is very forceful with us, and He would have us to be forceful in this matter, and to give them no heed.  We would say, “I am sorry, but I do not want you bringing that (false gospel or false doctrine) into my house,” and we politely close the door.  Or we say, “I am sorry, but I do not want you teaching that in my group,” if we happen to have a group or personal page on Facebook.  Why would we ever allow someone to post things that are not true on our own Facebook page?    The only reason might be that we do not want to offend that person.  But if what they are posting is not true, it is an offence to God, so we should very quickly delete it and remove it from our page.  We could say to that person, “I am sorry, but that is not true, so I removed it.”  We do not have to coddle people in that sense, and we can be nice, but very direct with people.

Again, we are to “abstain from meats offered to idols,” or abstain from other kinds of doctrines.  If it is another kind of doctrine, it is not the true doctrine of Christ, and we are to abide in the doctrine of Christ.  It is there we have safety.  It is there we have comfort.  It is there we have salvation. 

Again, in these Laws to the New Testament church, it said, “That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood…”  When we think of “blood,” we quickly think of the blood of Christ, and that is the direction the Bible takes us in as Jesus spoke of “drinking His blood.”  And when He was on the cross, and the spear pierced His side, out flowed “water and blood.”  The blood of Christ represents His life that He gave for the sake of His people.  Therefore it is a representation of the Gospel of the Word of God, and we should abstain from any other kind of blood.  We certainly should not drink any blood.  When Jesus said we are to drink His blood, He meant that figuratively, and spiritually.  We are to drink only of the blood of Christ, as His blood gives life.  So if we were to drink “other blood,” it would spiritually point to another kind of gospel that claims to give life, or that claims to have the blood that covers over our transgressions.  So we are to abstain from that blood, and not involve ourselves in that.

And, yes, the churches were to obey this commandment on a natural level in the sense of abstaining from eating meats offered to idols, or from blood.  But, spiritually, both of these commands point to the identical thing.

They were also to abstain “from things strangled.”  The New Testament churches were told, “Here is what we would have you to do.  We want you to abstain from things strangled.”  Physically, this would have to do with animals that were strangled and eaten.  Most of the people in the congregations may have thought, “Fine, we can abstain from things strangled, but what is the point, and why would God say that?”  There is a spiritual dimension to this, of course, and I think it has to do with what we read in Matthew 18 where the Lord gave a parable of a man who owed a great debt of ten thousand talents, in Matthew 18, but his Lord had great compassion upon him and forgave him the whole debt.  Then it says in Matthew 18:28:

But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence…

This would be like comparing a penny to an incredibly great sum.  But the man who had been forgiven the incredibly great sum now goes to a fellow servant who owes him a measly amount of a hundred pence, and it says in Matthew 18:28:

… and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.

If you take someone by the throat, what are you doing?  You are shaking him, squeezing his neck, and you are “strangling” him.  So this strangulation of his fellow servant is a picture of a man with a gospel of no salvation.  That is, it is not a Gospel that indicates that Judgment Day has come, and God is pouring out His wrath in a right way.  But this is a man who has no forgiveness.  He had been forgiven a huge debt of sins, and then he comes to someone who has offended him in small way, and he violently takes the person by the throat, demanding payment in full for the most minor thing.  This is what it is to “strangle,” and that is why God commanded the New Testament church that they were to abstain “from things strangled.”  That is, they were not to develop gospels that twisted, turned, and drove others off the way of Christ, and into the broad way that leads to destruction.  This would have been “strangling” the hearers because that gospel had no forgiveness.

Finally, it lists on more item to abstain from in Acts 15:29:

…and from fornication.

Physically, fornication involves sexual activity that we should not be involved with, and, spiritually, if we are married to Christ, we should not be in other relationship.  We should not allow our hearts to be turned away by this alluring thing in the world, or by this other seductive idea.  We would be involving ourselves in fornication.

The New Testament churches and congregations were in a close relationship with Christ.  However, they were not married to the Law of God as was national Israel.  That was impossible to do because God corrected the Law.  He had made an allowance for divorce due to the hardness of Israel’s heart so that He might divorce them in due time.  But then Jesus rescinded that Law when He said, “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”   Therefore God could not marry the corporate church because He could never then divorce them, but He entered into a certain relationship with them in which they would involve themselves not in adultery (which adulterates a marriage), but in fornication.