3. Rebuke 2:20-23

Evidently a woman claiming to be a prophetess (cf. Luke 2:36; Acts 21:9; 1 Cor. 11:5) had been influencing some in this church to join the local trade guilds without which a tradesman could not work in Thyatira. This meant participation in the guild feasts that included immoral acts and the worship of idols.¹²⁷Her name may or may not have been Jezebel. I think it was not.¹²⁸However her behavior reflected that of wicked Queen Jezebel (-1 Kings 16-2 Kings 9) who led Israel into immorality and idolatry by advocating Baal worship (cf. v. 14; Acts 15:28-29).

"With her Nicolaitan orientation the prophetess could suggest that since an idol has no real existence' (I Cor 8:4), believers need not undergo the privation which would follow from unwillingness to go along with the simple requirements of the trade guild."¹²⁹

God had not brought judgment on her previously so she might repent (2 Pet. 3:9). Since she refused to change her ways, God would judge her and her followers unless they repented. She might experience a fatal illness (cf. 2 Kings 1:4; 1 Cor. 11:29-30), and her followers might experience great tribulation. This could be a reference to the Great Tribulation,¹³⁰but it seems more likely to refer to severe divine discipline similar to what is coming during the Great Tribulation. Death would also be the punishment of her spiritual children (v. 23), another way of describing her followers (v. 22). The other churches would recognize her punishment as coming from God who knows all people intimately (cf. Ps. 7:9; Prov. 24:12; Jer. 11:20; 17:10; 20:12).