Revelation 2:25 “But hold fast what you have till I come.
To properly exegete this verse, we must move a little further ahead, quoting Revelation 3:11. “Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.” Further context helps us understand what is being said by our Lord when He warns the church of Thyatira to hold fast.
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.
Revelation 2:23 “I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.
The ESV renders this verse’s beginning as, “and I will strike her children dead.” The RSV translates the verse identically to the ESV. The NIV, with the exception of the article, “and,” renders it likewise.
Revelation 2:21 “And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. [22] Indeed I will cast her into a sick-bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.
Three times we encounter the term, “repent,” in this passage. Twice Jesus uses it toward Jezebel. He first gave her time to repent of her sins, but she refused. Peter wrote, “and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation,” 2 Peter 3:15.
