2:20 “Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess.”

The church is guilty of one sin, they tolerate Jezebel. They are letting her teach as a prophetess.
“Tolerate” is the Greek word afiemi “aphiemi” which means “to tolerate, permit, leave alone, allow, forbid not.”
This word appears in the Present Tense in this passage which signifies this was happening continuously.
They permitted the destructive influence of this person to continue unchecked!

Thyatira was aware of a destructive force within its midst, but lacked the spiritual courage to confront false teaching and strong personalities.

Jezebel was wife of Ahab (869-850 BC) Daughter of pagan Phoenician King Ethbaal, the king of Tyre and Sidon She influenced Ahab towards Baal worship Her influence eventually made Baal worship the national religion 1 Kings 18-21 and 2 Kings 9 She killed prophets of Baal and intimidated Elijah Supported 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah She had Naboth killed for his vineyard Jehu destroyed the house of Ahab and had Jezebel “cast” out of a window to be eaten by dogs in fulfillment of Elijah’s prophecy.

Historical Background for Baal Worship

Genesis 10:8, Nimrod Cush was Nimrod’s father. Either:

1) Cush married Semiramis and they had a son named Nimrod

2) Nimrod’s wife was Semiramis and they had a son named Tammuz Either way Nimrod eventually married Semiramis, maybe his mother. Nimrod was a mighty hunter and an empire builder that united the world at this time. Nimrod ruled the ancient land of Babylon. His beautiful wife ruled with him. Nimrod died at the height of his power. Semeramis helped deify him in the minds of the people by saying he rose into the sun.

“Nimrod’s spirit had ascended into the sun itself, she claimed. With breathtaking eloquence she described to the people his new and elevated role as their benefactor and protector. Each morning he would rise, bringing light and life to the land as he traveled across the sky. In the evening he would plunge below the edge of the earth to battle the subterranean evil spirits and demons that would otherwise crawl over and annihilate mankind. At times the battle would be bloody, and the red-streaked sky bore witness to the fray. Each morning the people were to lay their offerings before the rising sun and worship it as their departed leader and victorious protector.”

The first day of the week would be dedicated to the worship of the sun-god, and in like manner the rest of the weekdays would be dedicated to worship of the lesser heavenly bodies.

Today the days of our week still have within them the names of these lesser gods that followed: The first day of the week remains Sunday; Monday commemorates the moon; Tuesday, the planet Mars (Tiu); Wednesday, Mercury (Woden); Thursday, Jupiter (Thor); Friday, Venus (Frigg or Freya); Saturday is obviously named for Saturn.

Semeramis conceived another child saying Nimrod’s sun rays had impregnated her The child was called Tammuz an immaculate conception and reincarnation of Nimrod

On December 25 Tammuz, the child of the sun-god, was born. Falling as it did during the slowly lengthening days immediately after the winter solstice, it was also seen as an omen of the sun’s rebirth.

December 25 was thereafter observed as the birthday of the son of the sun-god, and became a yearly feast day throughout the kingdom. Semeramis called Tammuz the savior, but it was she that was deified.

So, Nimrod produced himself in the image of a son, who was the savior. Tammuz and his mother Semeramis where honored as the mother/son deity

It was a pagan trinity Nimrod/Semeramis/Tammuz Men began to worship a divine mother and god-child. The legend appears in different cultures, under different names   Ashteroth in Israel  {Jeremiah 44:17-19.} , Isis in Egypt, Indrani in India, Cybelle in Asia, Ceres in Greece, Shing Moo in China, Hertha in Germany, Sisa in Scandanavia. In his deified form, Nimrod the Sun god is known as Baal.

Madona – Semiramida

Semiramis, as the female divinity, would be called Baalti. This word translated into English means “My Lady.” In Latin it would be translated “Mea Domina”. This name becomes the name “Madonna”

The winter solstice was the time when the sun was thought to be “reborn”, so December 25th was a celebration of Baal Ezekiel 8 13 – 16 ..

Again, he said, “You will see them doing things that are even more detestable.” 14 Then he brought me to the entrance to the north gate of the house of the LORD , and I saw women sitting there, mourning for Tammuz. 15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see things that are even more detestable than this.”  16 He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the LORD , and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east. 

Tammuz is also the Babylonian name for a month and was adopted by the Hebrews, as are all of the names of the months in the Hebrew Calendar. Tammuz is the 4th Month.

Kabbalah is Jewish mysticism. The Kabbalah refers to the Month of Tammuz as  The Month of Hidden Light . “Tammuz was reputed to have been a great hunter. Perhaps his greatest conquest of all, however, was his mythical union with Ishtar, the mother goddess who embodied all the reproductive energies of nature. Also variously regarded as the moon goddess and the queen of heaven, Ishtar was the principal female deity of the Assyrians.

This same goddess, with certain variations, can be identified in other cultures as Ashtoreth (Phoenecian), Astarte (Greek and Roman), Eostre (Teutonic), and Eastre (Saxon). Her counterpart in Egypt was Isis, wife and sister of Osiris and mother of Horus.

Iepurașii și ouăle de Paște

Rabbits and eggs were both symbols of life and fecundity that early came to be identified with Ishtar. The yearly celebration honoring her took place around the first full moon after the spring equinox, when all of nature seemed to be bursting with reproductive vitality. Unfortunately, the youthful Tammuz (also known as Adonis, meaning “lord,” in classical mythology) met an untimely death at the tusk of a wild boar. Here legend overtakes history altogether. Some accounts say that after three days Tammuz miraculously resurrected himself; others say that the grief-stricken Ishtar journeyed far into the netherworld to find him. After many days she succeeded, but during her absence the passion of love ceased to operate and all of life on earth languished in mourning. By all accounts, when the lamenting was over, Tammuz was firmly ensconced as the new god of the sun, and his renown eventually exceeded even Nimrod’s.

Originea Postului Paștelui

Every year following Tammuz’ tragic death and presumed ascension to the sun, the forty days preceding Ishtar’s festival were set aside for fasting and self-affliction to commemorate his suffering and death. (It was this practice, “weeping for Tammuz,” that God called an abomination in Ezekiel 8:13, 14.) At the end of this period of mourning the people would waken early on the first day of the week and travel to the highest hills near their homes.

Originea liturghiei de Paște

There they would present their offerings of wine, meat, and incense and prostrate themselves before the rising sun, exclaiming “Our lord is risen!” Then would commence the festivities of Ishtar, queen of heaven and goddess of fertility. In preparation for this high celebration, the people would make small cakes, inscribing them with a cross (a pagan fertility symbol), for baking in the sun and eating as part of their ritual. The day would conclude in orgiastic revelry of a most debasing sort, and often included human sacrifices.

Some of the most prominent Canaanite gods were:

• Baal — of the Philistines (known as Merodach by the Babylonians): Baal, known as the Lord of Heaven, was worshiped by both ritual immorality and child sacrifice (II Kings 16:7, 21:6). These acts were supposed to cause Baal to bestow prosperity upon his worshipers.

• Ashteroth — goddess of the Philistines (known as Ishtar in Babylon and Venus in Greece): Ashteroth was worshiped by ritual immorality; both men and women paid temple prostitutes for their immoral acts. Ashteroth would then bless the crops and grant fertility to the women (who could then keep the children or sacrifice them to Baal as they chose). Consumption of alcohol was also part of the worship ceremonies.

• Chemosh — national god of the Moabites: Chemosh was especially worshiped by child sacrifice, primarily the offering of a first-born son (II Kings 3:26-27). Contrast this with Christian teaching. Humans must offer their first-born son to satisfy the power of Chemosh; Jehovah offered his only begotten Son to satisfy His sense of holiness of us.

• Molech — national god of the Ammonites (also known as Milcolm): Molech was worshiped by offering children as burnt sacrifices — the children of Israel were especially warned about the religion of Molech (Leviticus 18:20-21 and 20:2-5). David has often been criticized for making the Ammonites pass through the fires of their own brick-kilns after he conquered Ammon (II Samuel 12:30-31). But it should be remembered that these were the same brick-kilns in which they had burned their children. This punishment, harsh as it was, was just.

• Dagon — another god of the Philistines, considered to be half man-half fish: Dagon was worshiped by drunkenness and acts of violence and rape against non-Philistines. It was the statue of Dagon that was destroyed when the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the same building with it (I Samuel).

Izabela din Tiatira

A New Testament Jezebel would have been:

Teaching Called a prophetess

A leader Strong personality

A Woman Accepted as a woman

Unteachable Misleading people

Active in the church

Used by Satan Void of understanding truth

There are several theories as to the identity of “the woman Jezebel”:

1) The wife of one of the elders. The Greek word for “woman” and “wife” is the same word. In some ancient manuscripts the word “your” is found here, making the phrase read “your woman/wife Jezebel.” This has led some to assume that Jesus is referring to the wife of one of the leaders.

2) The famous local prophetess at the shrine of Sambathe. (A female oracle called the Sambathe presided over a lucrative fortune-telling business. The preoccupation with female religion may have been an influence on this church, as it allowed the corrupt ministry of Jezebel.)

3) Lydia. “It has been suggested that, when Lydia returned to Thyatira, she found her Christianity clashing with her business interests and urged the church to the way of compromise and accommodation. That theory is merely a slander on Lydia!” (William Barclay, Letters To The Seven Churches, p. 60).

4) The name is merely symbolic, and does not refer to any one person but to a “corrupt faction” within the congregation (J.T. Hinds, p. 51).

5) A real woman in the congregation. Her real name may have been Jezebel, or she may have been called “Jezebel” because she exhibited qualities similar to the Jezebel of the OT. This view seems to be the most likely.

Categories: Studiu biblic