Rev 2:19-20 ‘I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first. (20) ‘But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.

The Lord Jesus commended the church at Thyatira for very commendable qualities – love, faith, service, perseverance and increasing commitment. And yet, in the midst of this genuine church, here was this Jezebel. An incredibly evil person teaching false doctrine, promoting immorality and idolatry. How can we reconcile these things? What is the explanation?

I don’t think that the genuine believers there willfully turned a blind eye to this wolf in wool. I think that they simply didn’t “get it.” They didn’t see her for what she was. And this is the typical dynamic when a reviler, abuser, sociopath, or narcissist is among us. We just don’t “see it” for quite sometime. We don’t see what is right in front of us. The RASN does his or her evil deeds and we get glimpses of those sins, but we remain blinded to the truth – this person is evil. This is not a brother or sister in Christ. This is not a husband or wife who loves me. Our relationship is a sham.

There are several reasons why we don’t get it for so long. Of course there is the disguise the RASN wears, pretending to be someone he or she is not. But there is also the fact that we tend to believe that the RASN thinks like we do. That Jezebel has a basic love for others, she just isn’t perfect. So we cut her slack. We excuse behaviors that are quite inconsistent with a claim to be in Christ. We don’t remove them from the church or separate from them. We don’t want that divorce.

But the Lord, in His goodness and justice, finally opens our eyes. He comes to us and says, “Hey, see that woman Jezebel (or that man Diotrephes)? That person is wicked and you must not continue to tolerate their presence in My church. If you don’t take care of dealing with them, I am going to.”

Rev 2:21-23 ‘I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. (22) ‘Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. (23) ‘And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.

When we obey the Lord and put these kinds of people out of Christ’s church, when we see them for what they really are – creeps who have crept in among us (see Jude on this), the Lord is glorified. Oh sure, Jezebel has her “children,” her followers, and typically they are going to leave us as well when we deal with their leader. But the Lord is glorified in our obedience. “All the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts.” Word will get around. Other Jezebels and their disciples will stay clear of us because they love darkness and cringe at the light of Christ that shines in a true church and in a true Christian. They will project, they will accuse, but they will fear because the Lord is with us, He is in His holy temple.