Prophets of Pretense

Much like the church at Pergamum, the church of Thyatira was commended for their faith, but they had let the world invade their teachings. They condoned false teaching.

Jesus says that they “tolerate that woman Jezebel,” which probably refers to a woman who was in a position of authority who led the church away from God’s Word.

The name ‘Jezebel’ is a placeholder word; it does not refer to the real woman, Jezebel, but rather the Jezebel spirit—a divisive and demonic spirit that tries to dissuade the children of God from Biblical principles. The Lord says that this spirit has invaded the church through a particular woman claiming to be a prophet, but she is false. Jesus holds it against the leaders of the church that they have not removed her, but instead, have allowed the Jezebel spirit to spread.

This spirit is still on the move today. It is raiding our churches through the influence of false prophets. Jesus said to beware of false prophets— they look like sheep, but they are wolves (Matthew 7:15). They look like us. We must be careful to not be led astray.

The Jezebel spirit creates division and disunity. We see this happening in church today, where the children of God want to be told what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear. People want to hear that, as a Christian, they’ll be blessed and rich and liked by the world, and our leaders don’t correct this spirit of deception for fear of rejection.

No one wants to hear that as a Christian, you’ll face persecution, you’ll be hated by the world, and you might lose everything you have for the sake of Christ. That’s not a popular message. But it’s the truth. And people are afraid of the truth.

So, the church often falls into the trap of false prophesy, telling the world that if they come to Christ, they’ll be given everything—telling people that they’ll have prosperity they’ve never dreamed of. And Satan loves it. He loves it when we lie, thinking that we can sugarcoat the Christian life so that it’s an easier pill for the world to swallow. But we can’t add to Jesus. It’s a false gospel.

God’s version of blessed is often different than our version, but we must realize that what He’ll offer us is better than anything we think we want or need. We just think we know what we need, but we don’t really.

When our motivation to serve God is so that He’ll bless us with something the world can offer, we miss it. It’s not about financial prosperity, material gain, or any other vice and virtue of the world. Don’t be deceived by the Jezebel spirit and don’t be romanced by worldly words. His truth is enough.

Let us not fall subject to lies and let us not deceive others through pretenses of worldly prosperity. There are no greater riches than the honest and sincere words of God.