Main news for 27 December 2022

The situation in the Thyatiran church looks mysterious at first glance. The matter concerns a certain prophetess named Jezebel, whom Jesus accuses of adultery and of calling her followers (apparently Christians) to sexual immorality and apostasy (v. 20). The situation proved spiritually so serious that the "prophetess" and her household, as we can see, were permitted to suffer a serious illness, which, if she did not repent of what she was doing, could very well have ended in her death or in the death of her children (vv. 21-23; perhaps that is what happened; there is no other information in the Bible about the fate of the Jezebel mentioned here or of her children). The reference to the "so-called depths of Satan" that Jezebel and her followers were exploring sheds some light on the matter (v. 24): it allows us to think that in this case we may be dealing, if not with direct demon worship, then at least with black magic. How could a Christian woman have come to this? And how could a church community that had by no means lost spiritual sobriety put up with it?

Apparently, the matter was not so simple. It is possible that in this case we are dealing with an error widespread in every age: the belief that the devil can be defeated with his own weapons. Perhaps Jezebel's and her followers' interest in the "depths of Satan," in magic and demonology, was connected precisely with this "spiritual warfare." Of course, what stands before us is an error, and a spiritual error at that, not simply an intellectual one, as happens, for example, in the case of ordinary theological mistakes. The illusion of power given by magic turns out to be greatly exaggerated, as always happens when illusion is involved. But since the matter was framed as a "spiritual battle," as "opposition to Satan," the church community, as we see, did not dare to condemn the "prophetess" and her methods unequivocally. It is no surprise that Jesus Himself assessed this kind of practice quite unequivocally: authority over the world and victory over the powers of darkness are not achieved by magic. They become the consequence of the triumph of the Kingdom, in which every Christian becomes a participant, provided he does not trade the Kingdom for dubious spiritual experiments with a completely predictable result (vv. 26-28).

Whereas the previous passages from this chapter spoke about general problems, today’s passage mentions a particular person, although apparently called not by her real name but by one that had served as a symbol of paganism and betrayal since Old Testament times. This matters to us because references to general problems often seem wholly unrelated to us personally. The sect of the Nicolaitans, one might think, has long since disappeared, and the cities listed in the text have long lived entirely different lives. But the apostle emphasizes separately that general rules are always considered as they apply to a particular person. Everyone answers before God for their choices and their life. Having chosen paganism and idolatry, whatever form they may take, we will have to give the Lord the strictest account of why we so often and so self-forgetfully renounced life with Him.