Revelation Chapter Two, The Depths Of Satan

Revelation 2:24 “Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not hold this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden.

The doctrine in question that our Lord refers to is Jezebel’s doctrine. Whether she was a disciple of Balaam, or a follower of the Nicolaitans, she successfully seduced believers and cultivated a sect of adherents to her perverted doctrine of idolatry and sexual deviance as a form of worship.

The Lord addresses all those that do not hold this doctrine. That is, those within the church of Thyatira that have rejected Jezebel and refused to follow her lead, Jesus issues an ultimatum: refrain from accepting this perversity and He will burden them with nothing else. To be sure, Thyatira was already compromised, but as we learned from Revelation 2:19, those who were faithful were also loving and zealous. Jesus our Lord called out to the remnant of true followers to come away from them and not to share in their plagues. Isaiah wrote, “Depart! Depart! Go out from there, touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her, be clean, you who bear the vessels of the Lord,” Isaiah 52:11. Israel learned the object lesson of separation the hard way numerous times. First they entered Egypt as a small body, but when Moses finally led the people out they were so populous that the Egyptians were frightened at their sheer scope. God separated the clean (His people) from the unclean (the idolatrous Egyptians). They were sold into slavery several times during the era of the Judges, finally being taken into captivity first by Assyria (northern Samaria) and finally by Babylon (Judah). Each time God permitted His people to reap the fruit of mingling with what was unclean before extracting them from their predicament and excising the corrupting influence that brought them to such a state, see Nehemiah 13:23-27 for an example.

In 2 Corinthians Paul quotes from Isaiah, finishing by stating, “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty,” 2 Corinthians 6:18. The passage Paul refers to here is 2 Samuel 7:14, where the Lord informs David about his future heir, “And when he happens to transgress, then will I chasten him with the rod of men,” LXX. God has tools for cultivating His children, and the rod of discipline is one of them. In this instance it is referred to as the rod of men. Meaning, the trouble we create by indulging people we should not be indulging will come back on our own heads, generally courtesy of the same people. We are to lead others to Christ; they are not meant to lead us to sedition and sin. God charged Jeremiah, “If you return, then I will bring you back; you shall stand before Me; if you take out the precious from the vile, you shall be as My mouth. Let them return to you, but you must not return to them,” Jeremiah 15:19. We are given the same charge in this dispensation; not as prophets to Israel, but as preachers of truth to a wayward people.

Finally, Jesus warns them that the doctrine of Jezebel is a part of what He refers to as the depths of Satan. Henry Morris suggests that the phrase is better rendered as, “the deep things of Satan.” Contrast this with 1 Corinthians 2:10: “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.” As the Spirit reveals divine truth to us through Scripture, so can the Devil reveal his own doctrines to his devotees through revelations of his own. Jezebel was wading into the deep things of Satan, and beckoned for the church to follow. Apparently many did, to their eternal hurt. As for Christians, we are commanded to do this: “Test all things; hold fast what is good,” 1 Thessalonians 5:21. The word of God is our shield against the wiles of the enemy, who would love nothing more than to initiate us in the deep things of his wicked counsel. Resist, draw near to the Lord, and walk by faith.