Greek For The Week: The Seven Churches Of RevelationSample

 Thyatira: A Church Facing a Tempting Choice 

 What does it mean to follow Jesus? One of the straight-forward truths that doesn’t get preached often is this: walking with Jesus means walking away from sin. That’s never easy for our flesh to accept. It often means denying ourselves pleasure, losing friends, and even becoming unpopular. This is something the church in Thyatira knew all about.

Thyatira is the smallest of the seven churches addressed in Revelation 2–3. The ironic thing is that Jesus devotes His longest letter to it. The church was small but they had big problems. To understand these problems, it’s important to know that Thyatira was a center for manufacturing and trade. They had trade guilds for metal workers, bronze-smiths, leather workers, and others. If a person had a trade, it was vital that they join their guild and be with other craftsmen who had mutual goals. 

Obviously, the believers in Thyatira had trades and would need to join guilds. However, the guilds were often dedicated to pagan gods. When the guilds had events and celebrations, all members had to attend. At these festivals, food was offered to the gods and acts of repulsive perversion took place. The believers in Thyatira were faced with a choice: if they didn’t participate, they risked losing their place in the guild; if they did participate, they would let God down. To instruct the Thyatirans concerning this matter, Jesus described His eyes and feet.

He says His eyes are like a flame of fire and His feet are like “burnished” bronze. His eyes of fire represent His fierceness toward sin (see Daniel 10:6) and His shimmering bronze feet represent His unmatched holiness. This is explained by the Greek word for “burnished bronze” (chalkolibanō). It refers to a remarkable bronze alloy that had unmatched purity. Some described it to be more valuable than gold. Jesus was saying He walks in holiness and moves in virtue. He despises sin and can’t live among it. The choice was clear: the Thyatirans needed to walk in purity to walk with Him, even if that meant walking away from their guild, tough as that might have been.

Today, you may be faced with a tempting choice. But remember, nothing is worth the price of walking away from Jesus. Make the holy choice to stick next to Him. Jesus will bless you for it and you’ll be glad He’s on your side.