“But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.” Revelation 2:20
The Lord, the omniscient judge of all the earth, has just commended the church at Thyatira. Imagine yourself in the worship service when this letter is read to the church. You are feeling pretty good
when you hear the Lord’s praise. But the letter continues.
But The tone of the letter changes. This word but (or notwithstanding) serves to introduce a statement that contrasts with what has been previously mentioned. The Lord’s praise was honest but the church is not perfect. There is a cancer that is growing inside the walls of the church.
I have this against you The Lord uses the words “few things”. The
Greek word “oligos” is used in the New Testament to describe something that is small in quantity, size, or duration. It often conveys the idea of scarcity or insufficiency, whether in terms of physical
resources, time, or spiritual attributes such as faith. In His grace the Lord warns His church that this issue may seem small but it has the potential to grow and destroy their service for the Lord.
When we start to embrace sin, the Lord will speak to us and warn us. We can be wise and heed his warning or we can ignore it and face the devastating consequences the Lord knows will bring into our lives. The word against is a strong word. The God of the Universe tells this church there is something they are doing that is in opposition to Him. If it is in opposition to Christ that means it is “demonic” in nature. There is sin in the camp.
That you tolerate This phrase is significant. The word tolerate means to “allow, permit, or let alone”. Something is happening in the church that no one is addressing, they are letting sin continue unchallenged. The clear implication is the church knows what is occurring. The word tolerate means to “put up with something” with reluctance. The church saw it, did not like it but rather than address it, they j held their nose and put up with the sinful acts. Second this tells us the church had the authority to address the issue but chose not to do so.
What can we learn? We may think tolerating sin is not a big deal. After all it is someone else’s actions and their responsibility. When that happens in our area of authority (the church – remember the letter is addressed to the pastor) we are responsible. James tells us how serious God views the toleration of evil. “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4)
This is a great warning for the age we live in. Tolerance is the demand of our day. Tolerance can be a good thing, but not if we apply it to areas it does not belong. Science is not tolerant, its laws are fixed. Math is not tolerant, calculations are absolute. So are God’s laws. Yet the pressure today is for believers to compromise what God’s word says – be broad minded, be liberal. The Lord Jesus was so intolerant of sin that He left His throne in heaven and became a man to oppose, rebuke, stand against, fight and defeat sin. We do not have to be rude, discourteous or argumentative to fight against sin. We do not have to attack a person to stand for the Lord. At the same time the thing we cannot do is tolerate and condone sin in the camp.
“Judgment begins at the house of God.” So the Lord speaks. Will they listen?