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. - Rev 2:20
"While 2:14-15 considered the Nicolaitans movement as a whole at Pergamum, here the comments single out the leader of the group at Thyatira, denoted by the code name "Jezebel". The reason for this is obvious, Jezebel was the Phoenician wife of Ahab who programmatically led the northern kingdom into Baal worship and sorcery (1 Kings 16:31; 21:25-26; 2 Kings 9:22). While immorality is not mentioned in the OT text (the "Harlotry" of 2 Kings 9:22 is probably meant spiritually of idolatry rather than literally, Baal worship normally was quite licentious, so the parallels are close. This leader was a "woman" (γυναῖκά, gynaika) who "called herself a prophet". In other words, she claimed that her teaching was a direct message from God. It is possible that this means her teaching was not systematic or formal but took the form of oracles and pronouncements. The gift of prophecy was essential to the early church and prophets were numbered among the leaders (Eph 4:11; 1 Cor 12:28). Women were allowed to prophesy (1 Cor 11:5) and were counted among the prophets (Acts 21:9). At the same time, there were many false prophets in the OT (Jezebel) herself had approximately nine hundred (1 Kings 18:19)";
- Grant R Osborne, Baker's exegetical commentary on the New Testament for Revelations, page 155-156, on the Letters to the 7 Churches of Asia Minor.
Thyatira is an example of a church who had done well in terms of "works, love, service, faith, and patience" (v19). They have done so well that God commended them that "as for your works, the last are more than the first."; presumably better than the Ephesians in this area.
"While 2:14-15 considered the Nicolaitans movement as a whole at Pergamum, here the comments single out the leader of the group at Thyatira, denoted by the code name "Jezebel". The reason for this is obvious, Jezebel was the Phoenician wife of Ahab who programmatically led the northern kingdom into Baal worship and sorcery (1 Kings 16:31; 21:25-26; 2 Kings 9:22). While immorality is not mentioned in the OT text (the "Harlotry" of 2 Kings 9:22 is probably meant spiritually of idolatry rather than literally, Baal worship normally was quite licentious, so the parallels are close. This leader was a "woman" (γυναῖκά, gynaika) who "called herself a prophet". In other words, she claimed that her teaching was a direct message from God. It is possible that this means her teaching was not systematic or formal but took the form of oracles and pronouncements. The gift of prophecy was essential to the early church and prophets were numbered among the leaders (Eph 4:11; 1 Cor 12:28). Women were allowed to prophesy (1 Cor 11:5) and were counted among the prophets (Acts 21:9). At the same time, there were many false prophets in the OT (Jezebel) herself had approximately nine hundred (1 Kings 18:19)";
- Grant R Osborne, Baker's exegetical commentary on the New Testament for Revelations, page 155-156, on the Letters to the 7 Churches of Asia Minor.
Thyatira is an example of a church who had done well in terms of "works, love, service, faith, and patience" (v19). They have done so well that God commended them that "as for your works, the last are more than the first."; presumably better than the Ephesians in this area.
But unlike the Ephesians, Thyatira have tolerated and some even embraced false teachings of the Nicholaitans associated with Jezebel, which the Ephesians rejected (2:6) and Pergamum tolerated and described as teachings of Balaam (2:14-15 CF Num 25).
The term "Jezebel" here is not so much of the so called "Jezebel Spirit" or "controlling spirit" that modern Charismatics like to term, and has no biblical basis at all. One of the main aspects of this teaching is false prophecy, in which either these are true practitioners of sorcery in which their source of power came from real demons, or they are self made prophets that created prophecies out of their own imagination.
Christianity today is plagued with such false practice. In the bible, prophecies were never human induced and was never common. They were rare and only few were selected to use that gift. God's instructions were primarily relayed on his Logos (written word).
Whatever Rhema (Spoken word) that Jesus and the Apostles officiated became canonized into written form (Logos) for us to read. And hence there is little basis for the word of God to be articulated (Rhema) into personal instructions (2 Peter 1:20) today.
Some of these practices encourages believers to close their eyes to "meditate" and "tap into the spirit" by uttering whatever words or "visions" that comes to their mind. Such practice might seemed harmless, but in reality is nothing short of a Jezebel False Prophecy disguised in modern new age paganism. And it is clear in the bible that we ought to stay clear of these "deep teaching of Satan (2:24) committed by those who accepts her teaching (Adulterers, v22) and her followers (Children, 2:23) "
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