Thyatira, and the church worshipping there, is one of the most infamous places in the New Testament. The reason for this is the presence of the false prophetess that Jesus calls “Jezebel”. This probably was not the woman’s name, but it was a summary of her character and how she was operating. But by focussing on the problems in Thyatira we ignore what was going right. Thyatira might have been the home a false prophetess, but it was also home to a church that knew how to love.
Jesus commends the church for their love, faith and service. The church loved not only its members but also the city it was in. This led them to do more and more, so that their recent acts were greater and better than their earlier ones. The problem was this strength of love became a weakness that the devil exploited by sending a false prophetess who spoke the language of love but did so from a position of untruth and perversion.
To understand the reference to Jezebel we need to turn to the Old Testament and the couple from hell – Ahab and Jezebel. Jezebel was the daughter of the King of Tyre (remember this fact as we will be referring to it later). Her father was not just the king but also the high priest of the gods Baal and Asherah (also known as Ashteroth or Ishtar). To make a political alliance Jezebel’s father, Ithobaal, gave his daughter in marriage to the Israelite king Ahab. From her position of power Jezebel then started a plan not only to turn the people from worshiping Yahweh but also of murder of anyone, such as Naboth, who stood in her way including the mass genocide of the Prophets of the Lord while allowing the false prophets and priests of Baal and Asherah to be part of the banquets in the royal household.
Even in this darkness God had His resistance movement, prophets including Elijah, Elisha, and Micaiah, others including Obadiah, who hidden 100 prophets from Jezebel’s genocide, and Jehu. Obadiah is interesting as he is referred to as the palace administrator. In many cultures around Israel, including that of Tyre, someone in that position would have been a eunuch.
While sexual immorality is not mentioned amongst the sins of Jezebel in the Old Testament, though she is referred to as a “witch”, sexual immorality was part of the worship of Baal, and his father Dagon, of Asherah, and her father the moon god Sin. This sexual immorality included homosexual sex, transvestism, bestiality, and possibly paedophilia along with child sacrifice. It should be no surprise to see the hyper-grace movement, with its rejection of law and holiness, so entwined with pro-gay theology as they abandon the pursuit of Christ-likeness for a lawlessness.
Jezebel goes after the Prophets, the Apostles, the Teachers – those who would hold up the plumb-line of Scripture. Over the last few decades we have seen a major figure in the prophetic movement, who was a father and grandfather to many, fall due to homosexual sin. We have seen a leader in the global intercessory prayer movement fall due to the same sin. Worship leaders have fallen both in homosexuality and other sexual immorality as the spirit of Jezebel works to emasculate them and remove their authority. Few have been able to endure the wilderness of correction and restoration and have come out too soon with little of the authority and power they previously had. While it is better not to fall, if we do we must know that we will be restored and submit ourselves to God and those He sends to us.
Some, as we see in the letter to the church in Thyatria, will not repent. The love of power and the pleasures of sin become more important than the holiness of the Lord. If repentance does not come, then judgement will. In His love God will get rid of the poison so that life may come forth. Athaliah had to be put to the sword so Joash could reign (2 Kings 11). No Prophet must rush to speak judgement but must be obedient to speak it if God commands.
Even as Christ speaks of judgement he spoke an amazing promise to those who had not allowed love to become hyper-grace, a promise to those who called themselves and others to offer themselves as living sacrifices, acceptable and pleasing to God. And this promise is the authority which Jezebel and her followers would try and grasp for themselves – that of the Morning Star and of authority over the nations.
This promise seems odd to us but takes us back to Jezebel’s father the King of Tyre. Ezekiel 28:1-19 is a prophecy against the King of Tyre which many theologians consider to be referring to Satan. A parallel prophecy, Isaiah 14:12-21, which is also considered to refer to Satan though it is addressed to the King of Babylon, we get the name Lucifer which means son of the morning, or morning star. Ezekiel 28 refers to the “guardian cherub” as being clothed in jewels including emeralds, and in gold. 2 Kings 9:30 tells us that Jezebel put on her makeup in an attempt to seduce Jehu. This was not making herself look good for a night out, but a deliberate act to entrap God’s anointed (and Jezebel wearing makeup should not be seen, as some puritan groups have as an attack on wearing lipstick, concealer, or similar). Rather than enhancing her natural beauty Jezebel went out her way to make herself look as seductive as possible for the simple reason of trying to grasp what was not hers. In the same way the King of Tyre of Ezekiel 28 and the King of Babylon decided that the gold and jewels was not enough but wanted the glory that was God’s not his. For this reason, just as Jezebel was thrown out of the window to be trampled under the hooves of Jehu’s horse and Jesus promises to throw/cast Jezebel onto a bed of suffering, the King of Tyre/Babylon was thrown down to earth and to suffer. The promise of the Morning Star is a promise to be clothed, as Lucifer was before his fall, in gold and jewels. It is a promise to walk in Eden and in the Lord’s presence.
The authority over the nations comes before the promise of the Morning Star, with the promise of an iron sceptre to rule the nations (Revelation 2:26-27). This comes from Psalm 2 verse 9, one of the Messianic Psalms that prophecies the coming of Christ and speaks of what Jezebel wants and will try to get at any cost – authority to rule.
Having been involved with the prophetic movement for nearly 30 years, and having had the joy of working and standing alongside gifted females who stand in the Office of Prophet, and female prophetic ministers, such as Cindy Jacobs, Jane Hamon, Sharon Stone (not the Hollywood actress), Barbara Wentroble, Julie Anderson, Rachel Hickson, Rebecca Greenwood, Alice Smith, Barbara Yoder, and Jennifer Le Claire, I know of none who have used makeup, clothes, or similar to seduce others. I have heard people speak of these women as Jezebels, people who neither know them or have taken the time to listen to them. It is too easy to label females as Jezebels because we do not like women in authority or, uncritically, the message they bring. In doing so we submit ourselves to Jezebel.
Most people involved in the prophetic would never consider their prophetic ministry as one of seduction, but a growing number of “prophetic voices” are doing just that. They might not be, as the hyper-grace movement are, overtly or covertly encouraging sexual immorality, but they are using their prophetic voice to manipulate and bewitch others. I have mentioned this in passing before, but there is a large part of the prophetic movement who are issuing prophetic words that are vague and general, and designed to gather followers rather than build the body of Christ through encouragement and edification. Jeremiah Johnson refers to these as horoscope prophecies as people run to the daily prophecy on Facebook, or newsfeeds, which fit into what they want to hear. Many of these “prophecies” appear to tie in with people’s political views or are so lacking in substance they fulfil the rule of they can mean anything for anyone. Some, who want an audience and following, who want the trappings and title of “Prophet” without enduring the training, are deliberately releasing horoscope prophecies and seducing people into believing God is speaking what they have not. Like the prophets of Baal and Asherah these “prophets” are eating at Jezebel’s table due to their impure motives.
Like those who speak the lies of hyper-grace prophecy, who proclaim liberal theology, the writers of horoscope prophecy attempt to grasp authority rather than allow God to bestow it upon them as the mature and step up to the task set before them. In doing so they, like the hyper-grace prophets, disqualify themselves from the promises of Christ to the believers in Thyatira – godly authority and heavenly glory.
Another use of prophecy that is witchcraft if the unwillingness to allow our words to be challenged, tested, and tracked. With this there is the unwillingness to admit mistakes. We have taught in the prophetic that the role of the person to give the word is to give it, and if the word does not come to pass it is not our fault. This is only partly correct. Imagine we give a word that God is going to open a womb by a certain date to a couple who are unable to conceive. If the woman does not conceive we add to their shame by blaming them for the prophecy not being fulfilled. It could be that we were speaking of something spiritual, that something would be birthed that they were praying for but not an actual child – but then we should have said so sooner. It might be that we did not actually get a date and added that ourselves. Either way we must allow ourselves to hold up our hands and admit where we missed it. If we do not then we set ourselves up as an untouchable, unquestionable oracle who – like the Oracle at Delphi – can say what we want and allow people to work out the meaning. This is why it was so important, after the missing of prophetic words to do with the 2018 midterm US elections, that the prophetic movement in the US finally made a small stand, held its hands up, and admitted that its credibility had been hit because what they had proclaimed had not come to pass (When Happens when Prophets miss an Election Prophecy, Steve Shultz, November 7th 2017 http://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word.html?ID=21100) This though was too little too late for some. From prophecies about the so-called “Deep State” conspiracy “hanging itself like Haman” to major shifts in the electorate “Prophets” have missed things over the last few years and refused to do anything but criticise those who have questioned why they missed it. Revivals, like a wave, have been prophesied over the UK but not come – why revival did not come has not been explained.
In contrast to this, one minister prophesied London, UK, would flood. When he didn’t he stepped down and stated that he would not be releasing any prophetic words for a season as he had allowed his flesh to taint the prophetic word. Oh, for ministers to have the humility – and the strength – to stand up. When he does return to the public prophetic ministry he will have a greater authority than many who stand in the “Office” but put being seen to be correct over being right.
How do we avoid the trap of using prophecy to seduce? Firstly, our words must be specific and must have substance. This then allows our words to be tested and tracked. If we have a word that does not come to pass, within a specific time, then we must be willing to hold our hands up and admit mistakes.
We must also allow ourselves to be discipled, and, we must be part of a fellowship. The King of Tyre and the King of Babylon were thrown down because of their demonic pride. This demonic pride led Jezebel to believe she could seduce Jehu when he burned with the righteous anger of the Lord and led the “one who called herself a prophetess” at Thyatira to refuse to repent believing she was untouchable in her power. Lone wolf “prophets”, who falsely call themselves “Lone Ranger” or wilderness prophets, who are not part of a church family (even the big names are part of a church family that supports them and their immediate family while they travel even if they are “in church” rarely because of their travelling) are unable to be discipled, taught, covered, and are unable to be assisted to “walk humbly with their God”. And as part of this we must, even if we are in leadership or even the “pastor”, an “elder”, or the “Bishop” or “Apostle”, we must submit to the authority of the church and not set ourselves above it as Jezebel did in Thyatira.
Finally, we must bring a word because we feel this is what God wants. All too often we allow prophecy to become a performance. In their book The Elijah Task, and its follow up Elijah Amongst Us, John Loren Sandford and his wife Paula state that a true Prophet would rather spend time in solitude with the Lord than speak in front of a congregation. Jezebel in Thyatira wanted the glory for herself, not God. A true prophetic voice recognises they are the messenger. Yes, they have the robes and the signet ring that announces they are heralds of the King of Kings, but a true prophetic minister knows that the glory comes from the King not from their words.
Prophets, and prophetic voices, in training are often emotionally vulnerable. The giving of a prophetic word can become a drug. The affirmation of having given an accurate prophetic word can drive some, who have been starved of praise, to seek to give more and more words rather than help them develop the process of taking the word back to the Lord for Him to temper it. Such words are different from the simple, spontaneous, move of the Spirit of Prophecy which are often general and less specific towards people – though we must not suppress the Spirit by only allowing the spontaneous with its lack of correction and direction as the hyper-grace prophetic, the horoscope prophetic, and others who would use prophecy to lines their pockets (thereby prostituting their or someone-else’s prophetic gifting) so reducing prophecy to the level of a magicians side show. This may sound harsh but many of the false prophets of Pharaoh, the kings of the Philistines, Assyria, Babylon, the Persians and even the Greeks were nothing more than court magicians. But even if we allow people to give more specific prophecies, week after week, then we allow them to become court wizards and soothsayers. We relegate them and the prophetic to this level because we feed their need for affirmation to become the reason for their prophesying.
Like the believers in Thyatira we must love, but we must allow that love to be one that disciples rather than avoids raising spiritual children in “the way they should go” (Proverbs 22:6)