Revelation 2:18-29 reads,

Yah'shuah, the Son of God, says that in the assembly in Thyatira exist two groups of people. Both groups of people have positive attributes, as mentioned in 2:19. These include their works, their love, their faith, their service, their patient endurance and their latter works superseding their former works. In other words, not only are they doing what they are supposed to be doing, they are improving upon their performance in these matters. Nevertheless, there is a matter that separates these two groups of people with all these positive attributes. One group tolerates the woman called Jezebel, while the other group does not.

Who is Jezebel? And what are her traits?

Yah'shuah, in 2:20, describes Jezebel as "your woman", meaning the woman belonging to the Thyatirans. This implies, metaphorically speaking, that Jezebel is as a WIFE to the Thyatirans, or one who is otherwise so close to them that she is one of them.

Because Yah'shuah has it against those of the Thyatirans who tolerate Jezebel, it is clear that Jezebel is NOT supposed to be tolerated, despite being as one of them, even as close as a wife! In other words, if one is a man, and Jezebel is his wife, he is not supposed to tolerate her but should deal with her as an unrepentant adulterous and idolatrous wife should be dealt with - putting her away from himself!

What are Jezebel's traits, and why does Yah'shuah make clear that she is not to be tolerated, despite being as one of them, even as close as a wife?

In 2:20 Yah'shuah states that Jezebel calls herself a prophetess. He does not state that he has made Jezebel a prophetess to the Thyatirans, but that she calls herself a prophetess. In other words, he implies that Jezebel has appropriated unto herself the office of prophetess and is therefore operating in that office devoid of Yah'shuah's authority. In other words, Jezebel is not Yah'shuah's maidservant, but serves another master!

If a servant is not Yah'shuah's servant, whom is she a servant of - Satan's?

Yah'shuah shows in 2:20 that Jezebel is a teacher and seducer of his servants to DISOBEY him, for she teaches and seduces them to commit sexual immorality and eat food sacrificed to idols. For it is Yah'shuah's clear word that his servants should not commit sexual immorality or partake of idolatry in any manner. Nevertheless, the self-proclaimed false prophetess operating amongst Yah'shuah's servants causes them to disobey their master!

Yah'shuah gives an additional trait of Jezebel's in 2:21. Not only does she teach and seduce Yah'shuah's servants to partake of sexual immorality and idolatry, she herself partakes of what she teaches and seduces others to partake of. For she herself practices sexual immorality.

Jezebel also steadfastly REFUSES to listen to Yah'shuah. For Yah'shuah has been patient with her, giving her time to repent of her sexual immorality. But she has refused to repent of her sexual immorality despite Yah'shuah's patience with her. In other words, she is a rebel!

In 2:22 Yah'shuah shows that the sexual immorality committed by Jezebel and those she teaches and seduces is adultery. For Jezebel and her Thyatiran accomplices to commit adultery implies that they are wives, for adultery must involve a woman who is wife to a man.

Yah'shuah also states the punishment that he will effect upon Jezebel and her cohorts in Thyatira if they do not repent. In other words, should they repent they need not incur this penalty. But if they persist in disobeying Yah'shuah, continuing in their rebellion of sexual immorality and idolatry, he will indeed throw them into great oppression! And not only that, he will proceed to kill with Death the progeny arising from their sexual immoralities and adulteries. In other words, not only will he punish the rebels in Thyatira, he will also destroy or exterminate their unholy seed arising out of their adulteries and sexual immoralities. For Yah'shuah is he who searches minds and hearts, giving to each one according to one's deeds!

In should also be noted from 2:24 that Jezebel's teaching and practices of sexual immorality and idolatry are also described as "the deep things of Satan". In other words, Jezebel is a Satanic servant operating amongst Yah'shuah's servants, calling herself a prophetess of Yah'shuah, but lying in that process, for she teaches and practices rebellion against Yah'shuah, seducing others to join her in her rebellion. Jezebel is Satan's prophetess masquerading as Yah'shuah's prophetess, and through her skilful deception causing Yah'shuah servants with several good attributes to stumble into great oppression and Death. In other words, despite being a servant of Yah'shuah, and having good attributes such as good works, love, faith, patient endurance and latter works exceeding former works, one can still be punished with great oppression and Death. For so will Yah'shuah punish such servants of his who also tolerate Jezebel, joining her in rebellion against Yah'shuah through sexual immorality and idolatry.

In other words, Yah'shuah accepts only PURE and unadulterated worship. Those who serve and worship him must do so with purity and complete faithfulness, without any rebellion on their part. They must fully abide by his word. But those who purport to mix service to and worship of him with rebellion against him are NOT ACCEPTABLE to him. He gives such syncretists - those who mix pure and impure worship - time to repent of their impurities and be pure only. But if they refuse to repent of their unholiness he does away with them through punishment and Death!

1 Kings 16:29-34 reads,

It should be noted that Ahab COMPOUNDED on his existing evil by increasing its intensity. For he compounded on his evil by taking as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him. In other words, not only was the evil of Jeroboam's idolatry insufficient for him, he compounded upon this evil by taking as wife an idolater, who subsequently made him a more intense idolater, serving and worshipping Baal.

It should be noted that it is indeed a great evil for a servant of Yahweh, as the children of Israel are, to marry a person who does not serve Yahweh, but is an idolater. For spouses who do not serve Yahweh turn their Yahweh-serving spouses away from serving and worshipping Yahweh into serving and worshipping idols! And idolatry is a great evil against Yahweh, provoking Yahweh to anger!

Servants of Yahweh should therefore not marry idolaters. Neither should they become close with idolaters, lest these idolaters turn them from following and serving Yahweh, into following, serving and worshipping idols, thereby provoking Yahweh to anger against them.

1 Kings 17:1-6 reads,

It should be noted that Elijah the Tishbite, Ahab king of Israel and Jezebel his wife, the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, were contemporaries. Therefore the environment in which Jezebel operated was also the environment in which Elijah operated.

It should be noted that Elijah did not undertake his works simply on his own whim. He simply responded to the word of Yahweh as it came to him. Therefore when he said to Ahab that there would be no dew or rain for years, except according to his word, it was because Yahweh had so commanded him to speak. In other words, the power did not lay in Elijah's words because they originated with Elijah, but because they originated with Yahweh and Elijah was simply repeating Yahweh's words as Yahweh had commanded him. It is Yahweh's words that have power, and not human words.

1 Kings 18:1-16 reads,

It should be noted from 18:1 that it was not in Elijah's power to determine the timing of the return of rainfall. That was in Yahweh's power. Elijah's role was to acknowledge Yahweh's power, submit to it, and fulfil his service and emissary role. Therefore when Yahweh communicated to him that the time for the return of rainfall had arrived, only then could he speak concerning the return of rainfall.

It should be noted from 18:3-4 that even in regimes whereby the chief executives of the regimes practice intense evil, Yahweh still places his servants in key positions among the leaderships of such regimes. For so he placed his servant Obadiah in Ahab's house, and Obadiah behaved himself in a manner befitting a servant of Yahweh, saving the lives of other servants of Yahweh when their lives were in danger.

18:4 shows that not only was Jezebel an idolater, serving and worshipping Baal, she was also a murderer. For in her service to Baal she murdered Yahweh's servants the prophets.

It should be noted that an intense servant, follower and worshipper of Baal is an intense opponent and enemy of Yahweh and Yahweh's servants. For such a person acts to destroy Yahweh's servants from whatever territory it is that they are operating in.

18:12 manifests, through Obadiah's words, a capability of the Spirit of Yahweh. The Spirit of Yahweh has power to take a person from one geographic territory and transport them, virtually instantaneously, to another geographic territory. For it is in such a manner that Obadiah understood that the Spirit of Yahweh had in the past transported Elijah from one geographic territory to another, such that even when the world's government's were looking for him they could not find him.

1 Kings 18:17-40 reads,

It should be noted from 18:17-18 that Yahweh's true servants are falsely accused by Yahweh's opponents to be the troublers of Yahweh's people. Nevertheless, the true troublers and opponents of Yahweh's people are those who forsake Yahweh's word and commandments and pursue idolatry. In other words, Yahweh's servants, who execute Yahweh's word among the people they are sent, are not against the interests of Yahweh's people. It is those who disobey Yahweh and turn to idolatry who are truly against Yahweh's people.

It should be noted from 18:19 that Jezebel, Ahab's Sidonian wife, was the patron of all idolaters in Israel. For not only did she patronise 450 of Baal's prophets, she also did the same for 400 of Asherah's prophets.

It should be noted from 18:21 that the people of Israel were INDECISIVE with respect to either following Yahweh or idols. They attempted to BOTH follow Yahweh and idols, attempting to follow Yahweh on one hand and also following Baal and other idols on the other hand.

Elijah's words make manifestly clear that this indecision was NOT ACCEPTABLE. The people of Israel had to CHOOSE between Yahweh and idols. They could not follow both Yahweh and idols, as it is IMPOSSIBLE to follow both Yahweh and idols.

It should also be noted that the indecision among Yahweh's people, the children of Israel, in Elijah's day, is also the same indecision among Yahweh's people, professing followers of Yah'shuah, in the assembly in Thyatira, as seen in Revelation 2:18-29. For just as the children of Israel were indecisive with respect to following either Yahweh or idols, so also is the assembly in Thyatira indecisive with respect to following either Yah'shuah, and therefore Yahweh, or idols. In other words, the spirit of indecision that prevailed among Yahweh's people in Elijah and Jezebel's day is also the spirit of indecision that prevails among Yah'shuah's people in the assembly in Thyatira. And just as idolatry was rife among Yahweh's people in Elijah and Jezebel's day, so also is idolatry rife among Yah'shuah's people in the assembly in Thyatira.

It should be noted from 18:22 that the servants of idols greatly outnumbered the servants of Yahweh. For Elijah thought that he was the only servant of Yahweh still left alive, contrasted against 450 of Baal's servants.

While Elijah thought that he was the only servant of Yahweh still left alive, seeing that Jezebel had killed many servants of Yahweh, it was not the case that he was the only one still left alive. Obadiah, head over the household of Ahab, was also a servant of Yahweh, even though Elijah apparently did not recognise him as such, despite their encounter shortly before he uttered these words in 18:22.

It is possible that a reason Elijah thought that he was the only prophet of Yahweh still left alive was that he had become aware that Jezebel had murdered all of Yahweh's prophets whom she could find. And by virtue of Obadiah ranking so high in Ahab's household it might not have appeared plausible to Elijah that Obadiah was also a servant of Yahweh, notwithstanding Obadiah's testimony of his works on behalf of Yahweh's servants when their lives were under threat from Jezebel.

This suggests that it is not the case that servants of Yahweh always recognise one another when they meet. For despite Obadiah having been a servant of Yahweh, Elijah, the acknowledged servant of Yahweh, still did not apparently recognise him as such. Nevertheless, despite the acknowledged servant of Yahweh not recognising the other servant of Yahweh, the fact still remained that the other servant of Yahweh was truly Yahweh's servant and not an idolater. In other words, one is not rendered an idolater or not a servant of Yahweh simply on the ground that an acknowledged servant of Yahweh has not recognised one as a servant of Yahweh. The important recognition, the one that counts, is Yahweh's! And when Yahweh recognises one as his servant, that one is truly and surely his servant, even when other servants of Yahweh do not recognise the one as such.

Why is it that some servants of Yahweh do not recognise other servants of Yahweh?

It appears that we humans do not see matters as Yahweh sees them. We look to outward appearances, rather than to the heart or reality of matters. 1 Samuel 16:7 reads,

Therefore for servants of Yahweh to recognise their fellow servants of Yahweh they need to see in the manner Yahweh sees. And to see as Yahweh sees Yahweh must open their eyes. Servants of Yahweh should therefore pray to Yahweh that he opens their eyes that they may see as he sees, and in the process of so doing recognise other servants of Yahweh.

It also appears that Yahweh does not necessarily inform one servant of his of his work with another servant of his. The two servants are therefore working for Yahweh quite independently of one another and without even being aware that their respective works are directed by Yahweh, unless and until Yahweh provides them with the revelation.

In this light it appears to me that a servant of Yahweh should not abrogate to himself or herself the role of determining who is or who is not a servant of Yahweh, unless it is manifestly clear one way or another. While it is not clear the servant of Yahweh should not conclude the matter, but should seek Yahweh for revelation on the matter, and then abide by Yahweh's revelation.

18:25-29 shows that Baal's prophets OPENLY practised idolatry, undertaking various acts of worship. Seeing that Yah'shuah shows that the assembly in Thyatira has some amongst it who practice idolatry, it appears that the idolatry practised by these Thyatirans is also OPEN, with its attendant idolatrous practices!

18:30-39 shows that Yahweh proved to the people of Israel that he is the Almighty, the one they should worship. For whereas the idol Baal failed to answer by fire, he indeed answered by fire, proving that he is the Almighty and he is the one to be worshipped.

It should be noted that a confrontation took place between a servant of Yahweh and the servants of idols, a confrontation witnessed by the people among whom they operated. Prior to this confrontation the servants of idols, through their political and security connections with their patron Jezebel, had been in the ascendancy, and for a considerable period of time. Nevertheless, at Yahweh's appointed time, Yahweh worked out circumstances to round up several of the servants of idols and inflict a defeat over them.

18:40 shows that the penalty Yahweh inflicted upon the servants of idols was the penalty that they, through Jezebel, had unjustly inflicted upon Yahweh's own servants. For just as Jezebel had killed Yahweh's servants, so also were servants of idols whom Jezebel patronised killed at the hand of Yahweh's servants.

It should be reiterated that the confrontation between the servant of Yahweh and the servants of idols took place at Yahweh's timing and not at a time chosen by the servant of Yahweh. Prior to the time of this confrontation Elijah was obeying Yahweh be staying with the widow in Zarephath, away from view of the people of Israel. When Yahweh instructed him, after many days, that the time had come for the confrontation, Elijah came into view of the people of Israel and proceeded to fulfil Yahweh's work as instructed.

Learning from Yahweh's dealing with Elijah it appears that faithful servants of Yah'shuah in the assembly in Thyatira must also operate against the servants of idols among them in the manner that Elijah operated. They should not choose the timing of their confrontation with Jezebel and the servants of idols, but should rather seek Yah'shuah to guide them and instruct them both as to the timing and the manner of the battle to be entered into.

Also, heeding Yah'shuah's words and learning from Elijah, they should not be tolerating Jezebel among them and her practices of idolatry. For even before the confrontation between Elijah and the servants of idols it is clear that Elijah and Yahweh's slain prophets did not tolerate Jezebel and her company of idolaters. And their intolerance of idolatry resulted in their being slain for Yahweh. Faithful followers of Yah'shuah in Thyatira should also not tolerate idolatry in their midst, and should be prepared to pay whatever penalty Yah'shuah allows for their faithfulness to Yah'shuah and Yahweh.

It should be noted that it took the manifestation of Yahweh's power to persuade the people of Israel to faithfully rally behind him, rather than attempt to follow both him and idols. In other words, in the environment in which Elijah and Jezebel operated, the manifestation of Yahweh's power was necessary to persuade the people of Israel to faithfully rally behind Yahweh and follow him. Seeing that the environment of the assembly in Thyatira is similar to that in which Elijah and Jezebel operated, and seeing also that the assembly in Thyatira also has a Jezebel, with traits just as those of the Jezebel in Elijah's day, it seems that the manifestation of Yahweh's power is also necessary to turn the wavering Thyatirans from their wavering minds into faithfully following Yahweh and Yah'shuah.

It also appears that the power wielded by Jezebel requires, for it to be neutralised and defeated, the power wielded through Elijah. For prior to Jezebel's accomplices having their confrontation with Elijah they had the ascendancy over other servants of Yahweh. But when they entered into confrontation with Elijah, the power of Yahweh flowing through Elijah overcame them. It therefore appears that the power of Yahweh flowing through Elijah is necessary for success to be attained by the people of Yah'shuah over Jezebel and her accomplices in Thyatira!

Yah'shuah's words to the Thyatirans, especially as noted from Revelation 2:25, shows that the Thyatirans are living at a time prior to his coming, and continue to live even right up to his coming. For he urges them to hold firmly to their righteous works until his coming.

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