The low cost and high volume made the sale of these dyed garments very profitable McRay, Archaeology and the New Testament.
Lydia, who had moved to Philippi in the Province of Macedonia from Thyatira, worked in this industry, specifically as a seller of purple dyed fabrics Acts An inscription found at Philippi honored a purple dye dealer from Thyatira who was a patron of a citizen in Philippi, demonstrating that others involved in the dye business, like Lydia, had moved from Thyatira to Philippi and were people of financial means CIL 3.
Coins and inscriptions from the city demonstrate the presence of smiths, and particularly those working in bronze. Several coins issued by Thyatira depict Hephaestus, blacksmith of the gods, using a hammer and tongs to craft a helmet. Other coins show Demeter holding a fiery torch. The passages to Thyatira in Revelation about fire, fine bronze, a rod of iron, and broken pottery could be word pictures of the familiar blacksmith and pottery trades in Thyatira Revelation , Demeter, one of the main goddesses at Thyatira, was a central deity of the ancient Eleusinian Mysteries.
Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen. We are studying the seven churches of Revelation chapters two and three. In chapter one, we saw John the Apostle, exiled to the island of Patmos, in which he turned around to see Jesus in His unveiled, resplendent glory, with a message to seven distinct churches in the region of Asia Minor. These were seven literal churches, who needed to heed the words Jesus brought to them.
But these words also apply to every church in history and to the greater body of Christ at large. We've already heard Jesus speak to the churches of Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamum. And now we are going to hear Him speak to the church of Thyatira. If you are taking note, there is a very helpful outline to follow along and better understand each of the seven churches.
In each letter, we have been learning more about each distinct city , along with a characteristic of Christ from Revelation one. Jesus gives almost every church a commendation , a criticism and a correction , as well as a crown for the one who overcomes.
A few things about Thyatira are very important. First, it was the headquarters for many ancient guilds: the potters, tanners, weavers, robe makers and dyers guilds. It was actually the center of the dyeing industry no pun intended. Remember Lydia, the seller of purple, in Philippi? She became Paul's first convert in Europe.
Acts tells us that Lydia was from Thyatira. Apollo, the sun god, was primarily worshiped here. It sounds pretty significant, but actually, it was the smallest and most unimportant city Jesus spoke to. The elder Pliny dismissed Thyatira with the almost contemptuous phrase, "Thyatira and other unimportant cities. This is not the introduction the Thyatirans were hoping for. Then, He refers to His eyes, which are like blazing fire, seeing all things we think are unseen.
His feet are like burnished bronze, like a refining fire melting brass. It means eyes that see through the pretenses, eyes of judgment. Our culture doesn't particularly like the idea of someone looking at us with judgment, but Jesus' penetrating gaze is ultimately to heal, not condemn. He also has feet of brass or bronze.
Bronze is always Biblically symbolic of judgment. In fact, they are the only church that Jesus commended for having love. But this could prove to be a downfall. That means they were growing in their faith, not just resting in something God did for them in the past.
I look at the church today, and I wonder if the same commendation could be said of us: We have great deeds, love, faith, service, persevere. We are doing more now than ever. Someone may read Jesus' words up until this point and stop there and think, "Ok, wow, that church should get a straight A!
But sadly, there is a criticism, and it is a scathing rebuke by Jesus that basically flunks this church. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.
I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works Revelation Wow, that's heavy. Sadly, the church in Thyatira had if you can believe this! That is actually an incorrect statement, and I'll clarify what I mean in a moment! Ephesus was strong in doctrine but lacked love. Thyatira was strong in love but weak in doctrine.
Either they will have full heads and empty hearts, or full hearts and empty minds. Either polarization is deadly. God demands both love and sound doctrine" see 1 Timothy Table salt is a compound, a mixture of two elements: sodium and chloride.
Both of these elements are poisonous by themselves. Sodium, an alkali metal, can be explosive if added to water, and chlorine is by itself a highly poisonous gas. If you ingest either sodium or chloride alone, you will die. But if you put them together properly, they become sodium chloride: common table salt. So too, doctrine and love must be found together. One without the other can lead to a dangerous imbalance.
But combined they provide flavor and health to the body of Christ. Some would say this church was strong on love and weak on doctrine. But I question that exact definition. Because if we understand love correctly, would we really say they loved too much? I believe they bought into the lie that says you can love someone without truth. But love without truth isn't love. It's infatuation. It's concession. It's masqueraded hatred.
Because if I truly love someone, I'm not going to withhold truth from them which would lead to their destruction. If I do, that means I'm indeed loving: I'm loving myself and my comfort, but I'm not truly loving the other person. No, Jezebel here is a symbolic name. She represents the despicable woman from 1 Kings. If you remember, king Ahab was basically the most evil and dirty and demonic king that ever reigned in Israel, and he married this evil woman Jezebel.
And as soon as he married her, Ahab began to serve and worship Baal, the false god that was constantly a thorn to Israel. Jezebel led people to commit sexual immorality and to offer their food to idols. And Ahab, toward the end of his life, developed a sudden thread of a conscience, after he heard what God had to say. You can read about it in 1 Kings But as long as he was with Jezebel, he was tempted to sin gravely against the Lord. Thyatira became an early center of Christianity.
The apostle Paul visited the city on a number of occasions during his missionary travels. Lydia, the woman converted by St. The Emperor Vespasian began great undertakings at Thyatira; it was also visited by Hadrian in the year , and by Caracalla in We know from testimony given by St. Epiphanius that at the beginning of the third century almost all Thyatira was Christianized. The bishopric of Thyatira was subject to that of Sardis as late as the 10th century; it is not known when it disappeared.
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