contending for the faith one verse at a time. This is Truth Matters Church. Thank you for joining us as we study the incredible book of Revelation, verse by verse. Today, we finish our look at Jesus' letter to the church in Thyatira, and learn more about Christ's promise to give believers the morning star. If you've missed any part of our series so far, catch up at truthmatterschurch.org. Here is Pastor Alex. Okay, we are continuing our study in the book of Revelation, and this will now be part two of our look into the letter to Thyatira. And I thought it was fitting for the first part of our lesson, we titled that message, The Woman Jezebel. and talked quite a bit about this woman, not only from its historical setting, but from its also New Testament setting, and then from there, the prophetic implications. And for the second part of our study in this letter to Thyatira, we're gonna talk a little bit about the morning star. The morning star. because this is one of the promises that Jesus made in this very letter. Have you ever thought about what is the morning star? Because it is a promise in the many promises spread out throughout this entire book, but we will spend a little time talking about this promise. And I do want to do some housekeeping items before we dive right into the second part of our study. And as you know, as I customarily do, if we move forward and then on a past study, If there is anything that I may have misspoke, or maybe was off, and it gets brought to my attention through subsequent studies, I wanted to go ahead and make sure that we set the record straight. Because at the end of the day, I don't want you to hear my opinion. I want you to hear the truth revealed in scripture. So I do want to clarify this one thing, and it was in our study in the letter to Pergamum. And I want to read that verse, and it's familiar to us, Revelation 2.17. In there it says, to him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone and a new name written on the stone, which no one knows but he who receives it. Now, I do try to make it a practice and a discipline to always go to the original, because we're reading our Bibles as it's transliterated in the English. But in order to understand the fullness of God's Word, we have to go to the original. But these are one of those instances when I read name, I assumed, oh, we're going to change our name from James to John or something along those lines. But it turns out that's not the case at all. Now, we're not going to necessarily be renamed like a new name. The name here is the familiar word Anoma. And we've covered this when we've studied into the titles and the authority given to our Lord Jesus. Enoma means authority or cause. So when it says, there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. The name is not Jesus. The earthly name, J-E-S-U-S, doesn't save you. Although Yeshua was his earthly Hebrew name, transliterated ultimately from the Latin to the English to Jesus. J-E-S-U-S doesn't save you. The Enoma, there was no other authority, no other name, Enoma. given among, under heaven, given among men by which we must be saved. We are only saved by the authority given to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that authority was from his Father. So that enoma is the same thing here. When it says, and a new enoma written on it. A new enoma. which no one knows but he who receives it. So I'm not saying necessarily that we're not gonna be renamed because I've provided some examples of scripture when Abram was changed his name, or God changed his name to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, and when you get to Jacob, he was later named Israel. So I'm not saying that couldn't necessarily happen to us, but just know in this letter and then contained within this promise, this new name on the stone, which our Lord Jesus Christ will give to us, that doesn't necessarily mean it's your new earthly or heavenly name. It's going to be a new enoma on the stone. So there's gonna be some authority implications with this giving of the stone. And quite nicely, that falls into Thyatira's promise, which we're gonna cover a little bit later. So we'll talk a little bit more about, okay, what is this authority or cause, this enoma that will be written on a stone given to believers, what is that all about? And we'll talk about that when we get to that portion of the text. But I just wanted to set the record straight there. Does that make sense? Another thing as we're kind of going through this study, I'm gonna try to make it as, Because sometimes we can get deep, we can get in the weeds, and sometimes things might not necessarily click. But here's what I'm finding when we're studying Scripture, especially this particular book. We've been taking the approach, and we've been following our rules of engagement, the ten principles that is really modeled for us from the other writers of Scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament. We are following certain disciplines and principles. And in doing that, and when we study the book of Revelation, When you're looking at Revelation, I know it's a mysterious book. A lot of it is way over our heads. A lot of it, you know, we really need the Holy Spirit of God to give us even a chance to begin to grasp a lot of these truths. But what'll help us is look at Revelation historically first. Do that first. So we're studying these letters to these seven first century churches. First understand it in its first century setting. And that's what we've been spending a lot of time. And for me, that's where I spent most of my time. And I'd rather just stick in the scripture and stick there because at least I'm just going between 66 books and using the tools available to me. But when it starts to open up to history is when it starts to become a different ballgame. But just know that when we want to understand the book of Revelation to help give us a chance, first, let's take it in its historical setting, number one, okay? That's what we've been doing. The second thing embedded throughout this whole book is prophecy. I mean, it's woven in and out from 1 to 22 until the very end. And sometimes it'll be historical, and sometimes it'll go prophetic, and then it'll come back historical, and then back to prophetic. That's how it flows in this letter. And I'll do my best with God's help to let us know, OK, here's where there are some prophetic undertones here. So this is beyond the believers in Thyatira. And I'll see what that is. And then from there, we're going to go, OK, now he's talking to the believers. So don't put yourself there. This is to them, but the truth and the exhortations and the promises that is communicated, it applies beyond them. So I'll try my best to kind of go through that, but what I'm finding is as we're going at our pace that we are by taking this approach, it's hopefully starting to become a little less mysterious because we are taking that approach. And now we're gonna pick up into verse 24. And when we get to this part, we're getting to the end of the letter. And when we get to the end of the letter, and the kind of theme and the pattern in these letters is, you know, you have Jesus, you know, walking amongst the lampstands in John's vision, and the lampstands are representative of the churches, and he's the one, he pretty much sees them and evaluates them and assesses them. So the letter, when it starts off, It is starting off to the angel over that church. So we know that there is an angel assigned. There's angelic influences going on, not only in the church, but in the world. But then the pattern in these letters is Jesus is addressing the angel over that church, he's talking to the believers, he's giving his assessment, and then if he found any commendation, he will give you commendation. If he finds some condemnation, he'll give you some condemnation and exhortation, and then he ends it with a promise. And we are starting to get to that portion now in verse 24. Let's pick it up. But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan as they call them, I place no other burden on you. So let's look at this verse. So Jesus starts off and says, but I say to you, and following our rules of engagement, but I say to you, who's you? It is the rest who are in Thyatira, the text tells us. So consistent throughout this book of prophecy, what happened was Jesus, as I mentioned, he first goes local to the people. He went to the future, as far as the end times judgment concerning Jezebel and those who fornicate with her, end times. And then now he's going back to local here in verse 24. So, Verse 24, at least immediately in its context, is speaking to those who are in Thyatira. It says right there, the rest who are in Thyatira. If you're not in Thyatira, I'm not in Thyatira, let's not put ourselves there. But it says, for those who do not hold this teaching, and this, the antecedent for that, is Jezebel. So to the rest, I say to you, who do not hold this teaching, Jezebel's teaching, and also says, and have not known, known there is the Greek genosko, the deep things of Satan, and have not played harlot with her, Jesus says, he places no other burden, no other beros on them. Now let me ask you guys a question. What's the burden in context? He says, but I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold to this teaching, Jezebel's teaching, and who have not known the deep things of Satan as they call them, I place no other burden on you. What's the burden? What's the burden, the beros that they're carrying, the rest in Thyatira, in context? Guilt, sin? What are they burdened with right now? The teaching. Okay. So resisting sexual immorality is a burden. Resisting temptation is a burden. He's saying, look, I know that's around you and the teaching and the influences, but I'm going to place no other burden on you. No temptation is Jesus except what is common to man, but God is faithful. He will not let us be tempted. you know, more than we can bear. But when we are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that we can stand up under it is the promise of scripture. So what's interesting is this is very applicable not only to them, but for all believers. When you try to keep yourself sexually immoral, that's hard. especially as a believer, and especially if the culture around us is counter to that. And Jesus is telling the believers in Thyatira here, because I'm gonna place no other burden, just persevere. So it's very, in this case, instructive for all of us. So in context, sexual immorality and engaging in idol worship is associated with the deep things of Satan as they who engage in it call them. Now, we weren't there, but he says, as they called them, the deep things of Satan. I mean, right now I know that there are some satanic teaching, and even calling it Satan's church, right? I think there's even some, they're even using, they're not even sugarcoating who's really behind the scenes. They're saying this is Satan's church, or we're teaching Satan's stuff. Well, that's not new, that's not anything new. This actually goes back to even here in the first century, and there were the deep things of Satan and those who engaged in Jezebel's teaching, committed sexual immorality, engaged in idol worship. Their narrative was, well, these are the deep things of Satan. In order for you to understand, you need to engage with us in this. Then you're in the end and you'll know the deep things. So there's this kind of implicit promise of some sort of spiritual awakening. or nirvana, whatever we wanna call it. That's what verse 24 at least has to say for us. Let's continue to go on verse 25. He says, nevertheless, what you have, hold fast until I come. So he's saying, I'm not gonna place any other burden on you. You're already dealing with enough with what's going on. So he says, just hold fast until I come. He says, what you have, present tense, a present possession. And I thought about this, I was like, well, Lord, what do we have? I mean, sure, we can say salvation, eternal life, we can use a lot of terms that we're all familiar with, but I want the scripture to help give us that answer. And I was drew to Paul and his letter to Corinth, and we'll look at 2 Corinthians 11, verses one through three. And Paul says there, you know, I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you are bearing with me, for I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I betrothed you to one husband, so that I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid, as a serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray by the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. So the believers in Thyatira who were not led astray to the teaching of Jezebel, they were like pure virgins holding on to the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. That's what they had was their pure devotion to Jesus Christ. Here is kind of the truth application when we look at verse 25. No matter how evil and dark the world gets, and I would think that our world, even as we live now, is continuing to get evil and dark. We are not to pursue its lusts, but instead in simplicity and purity devote ourselves to Christ. Pretty straightforward. So he's saying, Jesus, continue, I'm not placing the burden, resist your teaching, especially in the teachings of the world, The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life is not from God, but it's from the world. Continue to resist those things, and it could be burdensome because it's just easier to give in. And instead, let's keep it simple and not want to play a harlot to our Lord, as some are engaged in doing that. So it's very instructive, not only for the believers in Thyatira, but to all believers who would follow Now we're going to get into the promise part of this letter, verse 26. He who overcomes and he who keeps my deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces. as I also have received authority from my Father. So all seven letters end with a promise, which will be received at the end of the age. So do we get that? When we're studying the letters to the seven churches, when sometimes it goes local to prophecy and times back to local, but whatever is promised in the letters is not limited to the recipients of that letter. that applies to all believers, even beyond them to the end of the age. So this promise, we're included. What is that promise? What are the conditions of that promise, I should say? Well, what we've just covered in the prior verses, all believers who keep themselves from sexual immorality, idolatry, and lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life, Jesus will not only allow us to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. We got that from the letter to Ephesus. Be given the crown of life. We've gotten that from Smyrna. You know, given the hidden manna and a white stone with a new name written on it. And we got that from Pergamum. Not only will We be given such things but Jesus said he will give to him authority over the nations and he shall rule them with the rod of iron as The vessels of the potter are broken to pieces as I also have received authority from my father believers are gonna be given authority over the nations. Wait, where did this originate from? Well, Jesus, and oftentimes your Bibles, if they're in all caps, it's a quote, you know, a citation or a quotation from the Old Testament. So here, you notice, you know, we're reading from the NAS. It's in all caps. It's a quote of the Old Testament. In this case, it's Psalm 2. So let's look at this. where it was originally given in this psalm. And by the way, when you read psalms, a lot of it is prophecy, and a lot of it is concerning God's redemptive will and plan, concerning the Davidic kingdom, and the end times, which is to come. And Psalm 2 is an end time psalm. Now, it is also quoted as far as Jesus' first coming, but also it is concerning the end time. So let's look at what Psalm 2 says, because this is where Jesus is drawing the promise from. Psalm 2, The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed one. Now I want to pause here. Now this is quoted and was applied to the Romans who crucified our Lord. This was quoted, but Jesus drew from this passage, communicate and remind us of a promise. So when the nations are in an uproar and the people's devising a vain thing, the kings of the earth take their stand against, and the rulers take counsel against the Lord and against His anointed ones, saying, That's also gonna be characteristic of the end time rulers at that time. And we will see as we continue through this journey on how that would unfold. Here's the quote of them. Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us. But he who sits in the heaven laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. Then he will speak to them in his anger and terrify them in his fury saying, but as for me, I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain. I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord. He said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will surely give you the nations as your inheritance and the very ends of the earth as your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall shatter them like earthenware. Now therefore, O kings, show discernment. Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son. that he not become angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are those who take refuge in him. This psalm is an end time psalm, although it does have some New Testament similarities. But Jesus is drawing from here and he's applying this promise because this is what's going to happen at the end. Now what we've done, and we've made this a habit, it's always good to kind of help open up the scripture to put the persons of the Trinity so that we can know who's doing what, who's speaking in the Godhead. So I've done that for us. So let's reread the same psalm. And let me know if this hopefully becomes a little clearer. Let's pick it up again in verse one. Why are the nations in an uproar? and the people devising a vain thing. The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers take their counsel together against the Lord, against God the Father. and against his anointed, God the Son, saying, let us tear their feathers apart and cast away their cords from us. God the Father, who sits in the heavens, laughs. God the Father scoffs at them. Then he, God the Father, will speak to them in God the Father's anger and in terrify them. And God the Father's fury saying, but as for me, God the Father is speaking. I have installed my king, my son, Jesus. Upon Zion, my holy mountain, that's Jerusalem. And then here, David, under the inspiration, he says, I, David, will surely tell of the decree of the Lord, God the Father. He said to me, son of David, you are my son. Today I have begotten you." Who is talking? God the Father and God the Son, but yet he's addressing him as son of David. Remember when Jesus was challenged about who Christ was and he brought up this? This particular verse, he's like, well, if he was gonna be a son of David, then how can he say, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool. If he's talking about a son of David, then how come he's addressing the Lord said to my Lord, there's two Lords. the Lord Jesus, and the Lord God the Father. The Lord said to my Lord." So he corrected the Jews saying, you think you know the scripture, well, I'll point you to this. But here, when he says, he said to me, you are my son, today I've begotten you, the father is talking to the son. Now scripture also tells us that this begotten is also concerning his resurrection. But here, there is also some end times implication. Let's look again at verse eight. He goes, and ask of me. Now he's telling the son. Imagine God the Father telling Jesus, Jesus, ask of me, and I will surely give you the nations as your inheritance, my son, and the very ends of the earth as your possession, my son. The Father is telling his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, hey, son, ask of me and I will give it to you. I will give you the nations. I will give you the earth. And verse nine, you, he's talking to Jesus, my son, you shall break them, the nations, with a rod of iron. You, Jesus, my son, shall shatter them like earthenware. Now therefore, O king, show discernment. Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord, Yahweh, God the Father. with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son so that He, the Son, not become angry and you perish in the way for His, Jesus' wrath may soon be kindled. And we'll see what that wrath is when we get to the letter part of this letter. How blessed are those who take refuge in Him. Psalm 2 is an end times prophecy of the return, rule, and reign of Messiah. Now, I remember as a baby Christian, I remember just thinking naturally, no, you just become a Christian and he's in your heart, end of story. And when we die or when the world ends, it ends, then there's a new heavens and a new earth. It was something along those lines. And then someone mentioned, no, Messiah will rule and reign on the earth. Like, really? Yeah, there is this thousand year period that is explicit in Revelation chapter 20. Like, really? So, of course, I'm like, well, you know, I'm not going to touch that. especially early on. Oh, and by the way, as a reminder, I resisted Revelation for 20 years, because I knew everyone had an opinion on it, and I wanted to make sure I had some foundation of Scripture, Old Testament knew, before I tried to tackle this on, and we're at that season. But throughout the Scripture, and remember, we've covered this in one of our introductory studies, Remember, there are some essentials we needed to know, and one of those essentials we needed to understand the covenants in scripture. And one particular covenant was the Davidic covenant. when God made a covenant through King David at that time, and he says, you know, David, I'm gonna bless you in your house, and you will always have a son sitting on your throne. And David was overwhelmed with such a gracious blessing from God and promise, and he goes, who am I, O Lord, and who is my family, that you would do such a thing? But he says, you will always have a son. You will always have a son sitting on the throne of David. will follow their history. Solomon took the throne. Solomon sinned. And then subsequent to that, because of Solomon's sin, we have a divided kingdom so that David will always have a lamp because God made this Davidic covenant. He kept Judah. The rest of the tribes went to Israel, but over time, because they've sinned, got taken away to captivity. Assyrian and Babylonian, they're both gone. But God said to David, you will always have a son. Who was he talking about? Jesus, who was a son of David. And that's where when you study the New Testament Scriptures, and you get to the boring lineage part, you know, this beget this, beget this, beget this, kind of goes like, who cares, in a way? No, it definitely cares, because those are the credentials of the Messiah. And when you follow both lines, they lead to David. David, the son of David, was a prophecy of the Messiah's rule on his throne. So in order for God to make good on that promise, He needs to give him the earth. In order for Jesus to take possession of what's rightfully His, He needs to rule the nations with a rod of iron. That's what we're just reading. That's what the prophecies are warning of the future leaders of that time. Don't scoff, because you're going to kindle His anger, and you're going to fall under His wrath. So, this Davidic covenant promised was a prophecy of the return, rule, and reign of Messiah. God the Father will install his king in Jerusalem, and he, Israel's king, will shatter his enemies and rule over them with a rod of iron. And this is what Jesus is alluding to. So he made this promise. He's like, I'm coming. We were like, but that was 2,000 years ago. He's still coming. A day, in our view, is 2,000 years, but a day is like 1,000 years, and 1,000 years are like a day. For us, it's 1,000 years, but in God's eyes, that's two days. So Jesus is saying, hold fast until you come, because I will be given and I will take authority over all the nations, and I will rule over them and shatter them as necessary. So Jesus promises that he who overcomes and keeps his deeds to the end Will not only be included in his earthly reign. He's like I'm coming back. Just hold fast until I come We're gonna talk about when we talked about the resurrection and the timing of the resurrections of all mankind. I We would have been resurrected by this time. And when he comes back, this prophecy and this truth will come to pass. But he's saying, hold fast. We're not gonna only be part of his earthly reign, here's the promise. And it was hard for us to grasp. We will be given authority over the nations. Little old me, little old you, that's the promise. So with Psalm 2 in mind, let's re-look at verse 26 and 27, and let's insert the subjects. We're looking at 26 and 27. Here's the promise. He, the believer who overcomes, and he, the believer who keeps my, Jesus' deeds until the end, to him, now to him, I know it's all caps here, but to him, the subject is believer. To him, I will give authority over the nations. And he, Jesus, shall rule them, the nations, with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I, Jesus, also have received authority from my Father. So the promise in Revelation 2, 26 and 27, and Psalm 2, not only applies to the believers in Thyatira, but to all believers. who follow, and that is we will be given and granted authority over the nations. Let me ask you guys a rhetorical question. When is that? I kind of gave you the answer. When is the Lord going to rule the nations with a rod of iron, and when this promise going to come to fruition that believers will be granted authority over the nations, when is that? Thousand years. When Jesus comes to earth, so we're getting to Revelation 19 and Revelation 20. When that time comes, and I'm telling you, when we continue to study prophecy and we read Daniel's visions and it talks about the kingdoms of the earth become the kingdoms of our Lord, you're gonna start seeing, we're talking about the same thing here. this millennial reign of Jesus Christ. And what we wanna be careful, especially when we start talking about millennial reign, well, 1,000 doesn't mean 1,000. Says who? Oh, it says, the Lord says, well, I own a cattle on 1,000 hills. So it's all just figurative. You go, really? Well, if you can't take scripture with the literal interpretation and fulfillment, and you're just gonna explain everything away, then what was the point in giving that promise? I'll say this, with absolute certainty, if it's prophecy, it's literally fulfilled. When the Old Testament said Jesus will be betrayed by 30 pieces of silver, oh, 30 was just symbolic. No, he was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. When it says he will be born from Bethlehem, he was born in Bethlehem. When it says he will be pierced for our transgressions, No, He was literally pierced on the cross when He was bruised for our iniquity and crushed for us. Oh no, that wasn't figurative. He was literally beaten and scourged. Then how come when we understand scripture and prophecy, although it might use some descriptive terms, how come all of a sudden it's just spiritual and in la-la land? No, 1,000 years is 1,000 years. Jesus will rule on earth for 1,000 years. And Satan will be bound for 1,000 years. That's what's gonna happen when that epoch of time comes. So that's the timing of that. But now, here's the reality. Okay, that's, who knows how that can be in the very near future from us, it can be even further out. But here's the reality, not only to Thyatira, but to the rest of the church that followed. Before that time, you know what's gonna happen to his doulos? What's gonna happen to his followers? So if you followed the birth of the church that began in Jerusalem in Pentecost, when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit came to the believers there. And the Holy Spirit appeared, you know, with a rushing wind and tongues as a fire and distributed among himself among the believers. And they spoke in other languages and everyone understood what they were saying. If you followed the birth of the church from there, and how it went from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, and that's where Paul took his gospel to Rome. You follow the birth of the church, and we talked a lot about the persecutions that the church experienced. From the time of the birth of the church until the very end, his slaves and his followers have been ruled, have been killed, and have been dominated by evil rulers. Isn't that true? Before Jesus arrives, here's the reality. You know Christians? We look like pathetic losers, believing a fantasy and a fairy tale, who have been the object of much hostility and tribulation and persecution from the world. Don't we look pathetic? This is what the Lord says, but the truth and the promises in this letter, believers who overcome and keep Jesus' deeds until the end, Jesus will grant them authority over the nations. So here's the truth. Currently, Christians are ruled and dominated by the world since the birth of Christianity. The time will come when the script will be flipped. where Christians will rule and dominate the nations. Followers of Christ. I know, especially us here in the United States, we can certainly hope and pray for more conservative justices, more conservative judges, more conservative laws, you know, that uphold morality, that the sanctity of life and the sanctity of marriage and all that good stuff. Sometimes it seems like we're a losing battle, isn't it? Because it's popular opinion. but the time will come where, no, it's gonna be the other way around. Yeah, we will get there, but the Lord Jesus will need to subdue his enemies first, and then that time will come. So that right there, the truth and reality that we will be given authority over the nations, this is behind the white stone with the new authority or enoma. He's gonna give us authority. Remember when we talked about the stone, it also was kind of like casting one's vote in the original Greek. In other words, Jesus is going to accept us. Not only will he accept us, he will grant us some of his authority over the nations. But you know what, the promise doesn't end there. Here is we get to the title of this message, and I will give him the morning star. Another promise Jesus makes is to give him who keeps himself from marrying this world, and the woman Jezebel and her teaching given into her, he will be given the morning star, the pronos astir. Do you know what that is? We're gonna go there. So, what do we do? What's Morning Star? Well, what can we learn from scripture about Morning Star? Because this is a promise. He's saying, I will give him the Morning Star, the believer. We're gonna be given the Morning Star. What's that? Okay, first of all, if being able to eat from the tree in the paradise of God is not enough, if us being given the crown of life is not enough, if us being given hidden manna, if necessary, and a new name, an authority that no one knows except Him who receives it, is not enough. Oh, by the way, if giving us authority over the nations isn't enough, Isn't that pretty cool when you get one blessing and promise after the other, he just keeps pouring it out? Here's another one, I'm gonna give you the morning star. So what we'll do is let's understand it from the scripture, and then let's understand it as the hearers would understand it. So how would Thyatira understand Morning Star, the Poinos Aster, when this letter is being circulated back then? But we'll look to scripture first, we'll take that into consideration, and see where we land. Fair? So we're going to look to scripture. What we're gonna do is we're gonna look at when was it transliterated Morning Star? And then we'll look at the original and seeing was there a difference and why? And what can we glean from this? Thankfully, there isn't much. I love it when we kind of go on these little excursions. But it's only mentioned four times, Morning Star at least. If you were to, if you have a resource, an electronic resource, and you were to type in Morning Star in a search in English, only four times, you'll have four scriptures that'll pop up. It's, you know, the verse we're studying, but it's also in Isaiah 14, 12, 2 Peter 1, 19, and Revelation 22, 16. This is when at least star or morning star or star of the morning is used, which is, we'll see, there's a connection here. But let's look at the first mention of morning star or star of the morning, Isaiah 14, 12. How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, which is Hillel, son of the dawn. You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations. So actually, before we go across, let's look at Isaiah first, shall we? Let's look at Isaiah, the passage in Isaiah 14, verses 12 through 15, and we will talk about it. So again, how you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning. Star of the morning is halal in Hebrew. Sun of the dawn. "'You have been cut down to the earth, "'you who have weakened the nations, "'but you said in your heart, "'I will ascend to heaven, "'I will raise my throne above the stars of God, "'and I will sit on the mount of assembly "'in the recesses of the north.'" Well, let's look at also verses 14 and 15. He goes, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will make myself like the most high. Nevertheless, you will be thrust down to shoal, to the recesses of the pit. So this passage is widely accepted as being, as speaking of the fall of Satan. And I don't disagree with that. Also in context, it is the king of Babylon who is being spoken of. In fact, this is the only time in the Old Testament that star of the morning or morning star, halal, was used. So let's talk about halal. Remember, Jesus is promising to give us the morning star. We're looking at scripture, when was that used? And then how can that inform us of what this promise that Jesus is gonna give us? So we're looking at this first mention in Isaiah's passage. So the root for halal means shine or shining one. And if you ever wondered, where did Lucifer come from, or that name? Well, you know, shine or shining one? So the Latin translators, they rendered this halal to Luciferous. And because this is widely accepted as speaking of the fall of Satan, where Satan got one of his other names, Lucifer, by the way. But in Isaiah's time, what was Hillel? We're going ancient ancient now. Hillel was rooted in ancient mythology and it was associated with a celestial being being confined to the lowest depths. But what was most interesting to me, there was some planets implications here. Hillel was associated with Venus, the planet. Venus is also known as the morning star. So in Isaiah 14, it was prophecy and judgment on the king of Babylon, Assyria, and Philistia, which is Philistia is modern-day Israel. But this Hillel, this morning star, was associated with Venus, but it's also in context, it was prophecy and judgment of the king of Babylon, Assyria, and Philistia. And he is, Jesus is pulling this reference of morning star. So if you go, okay, what's morning star in the, you know, the pronos astere? What is that, what's the equivalent in the Old Testament? It's Hillel. So we're looking at this one mention in the Old Testament. So, okay, I don't know if that really helps us, but let's see what else we can find out. Let's look at Peter's passage, which is in our English translation, or is transliterated Morning Star. Let's look at 2 Peter 1, 19-21. So we have the prophetic word made sure to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star, but it's not pronos estere, it's phosphorus, arises in your hearts. But know this, first of all, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. So in our second Peter passage here, although it's phosphorous or phosphorous, it's transliterated morning star, just know that they are pretty much interchangeable. because phosphorus is a compound of two Greek words which means to bring light. So if the first century believers, you know, whether they've heard pronos astir or phosphorus, here's what they would come to their mind. So if they heard the pronos astir, the morning star in that way, or the phosphorus, their hearers back in that first century, they know it's implicated with ancient mythology and it's referring to the gods of one of the planets. likely Venus and even the sun that brings light to the earth. So if you're a believer in Thyatira and you got this letter and you see this promise about Morning Star, they're going to think about the Olympic gods. And he says, I'm going to give you the Morning Star. Is it kind of telling us a little bit? Kind of give you a clue on what is behind this. They would quickly think of these pagan gods and goddesses, little Gs, and he's saying, I will give you them. I will give you a Morning Star. Now, and also one thing in Peter, when he used phosphorus in this context, when he's saying, until the day dawns and the morning star, the phosphorus arises in your hearts, that's salvation. And it's an allusion to the return of Christ. So we have this phosphorus or morning star connected with the return of Jesus Christ. That's what we can glean from Peter. There's only one other mention of Morning Star, and then we'll see we'll put this together and what this promise is. And last but not least, let's look at when Jesus' other usage of Morning Star, and that's at the end of this book in chapter 22, verse 16. And he says, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star, the bright proenos astir. So Jesus says to the believers in Thyatira, I will give you the morning star. And then he uses that later to saying that he is the bright and morning star. So let's put it together. Here's what we have. When we look at Isaiah, Peter, and then Jesus' closing remarks here. The morning star in Isaiah is an allusion to the fall of Satan and the fall of the kings. When we get to the morning star equivalent in Peter, it's associated with Jesus' coming. And then lastly, when Jesus, in his closing remarks, he applies this to himself. So if we put it all together and take it into context, here's what I believe. This is what's behind the promise of the morning star made to the believers in Thyatira. When Jesus promises to give him who overcomes the morning star, he is promising that he will grant him authority over the nations when Jesus returns to earth. We got that. And this is precisely what Jesus said a couple of verses earlier. He who overcomes and he who keeps my deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from my father, I will also give him the morning star. So the Morning Star was an extension of the authority. He says, to him who overcomes, I will give authority over the nations. And he says also, I will give the Morning Star. When we took these other references, it is connected by extension, this authority. So this Morning Star given to us is an extension of Christ's authority, and we know at least immediately it's over the nations. Does it stop just at the nations? Would it surprise you if I say no? I believe there is more to this specific promise. So when you take into consideration the Morning Star reference, both in the Old and New Testament, and we've got to remember this, it's associated with mythology, the gods of the planets, and even the sun. Here's what I believe. This is what's behind the promise of the morning star. In addition to ruling the nations, being received by Jesus, and part of the promise is Jesus is alluding to the reality that we will rule over fallen angels. Let me say that again. Morning star whether it's you know if you're if you're to look at the Hillel in the Old Testament Or if you're in the New Testament, and you're looking at pronos austere or false for us to the people at that time when those were relevant words it's associated with gods of the planets and even the Son. We even know in Pharaoh he's the Son God, isn't he? But by extension, because we know that this promise of Morning Star is an extension of Christ's authority that will be given to us, I submit to you that believers are not only going to rule nations, but over fallen angels. Can this be supported by scripture, what I just said? Like, Alex, you're way off here, you're woo! Can it be supported by scripture? Well, I'll tell you, yes. I wouldn't have been saying that if it wasn't. But does anyone want to take a guess? Does any passage comes to mind about us and angels, and us judging angels? I just told you. Oh, starting to trigger a little something, right? The Apostle Paul speaks on this in his letter to Corinth, in his first letter. So let me read that passage to us. And this is in 1 Corinthians 6. And the context here, he was speaking against or discouraging lawsuits among believers. But here, let's pick it up in verse one. He goes, does any of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? There you go, didn't Jesus say we're gonna have authority over the nations? Well, it's tied to us judging the world. If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? Do you not know, here it is, that we will judge angels? How much more the matters of this life? Wow. So in context here, you have believers have grievances against each other, and they're suing each other. And Paul is saying, wait for it, guys, while you're taking your matters to an earthly court, won't you guys settle among yourselves? You have the Holy Spirit, you have the teachings, settle it. Because, oh, by the way, you're going to judge the world and you're going to judge angels. See, I don't think we hear that enough as believers. We think, OK, we're just going to... You know, go to be with Christ and that's it. No, I think he has some pretty specific things that we're gonna do in his kingdom. And it's tied to judging the world and judging angels. So he's saying, because that's the future for us, why aren't you guys able to even handle the little things on earth? So we will judge the world is referring or connected to the millennial reign of Christ, because that's not gonna happen until Christ comes and subdues the nations. But he says, we will judge angel, we, collectively, Paul is including himself, and he's saying the saints. Paul and the saints, he goes, will we not judge angels? When will that be? When will we judge the world and judge angels? Well, sometime after his return, and it'll be a fulfillment of Psalm 2, and after his return is the ushering of this millennial reign of Jesus Christ. So Jesus will grant the saints authority to rule the nations and judge angels. I believe this is part of the promise that was made in this letter, and this is behind Jesus' statement. I will give him the morning star. I will give him authority over the nations, and I will give him authority over the angels who are associated with these planets and stars, even the morning one, the brightest one. I'm gonna say this, and this is conjecture, so take this with a grain of salt, but just so you know, as we kind of go through studies, the wheels start turning. If you were to ask me, do I believe that the planets and the stars play a part in God's redemptive will and plan? I do. I believe that the stars and the planets is God's handiwork, is his divine power on full display. But I also believe that not only is this a clock, our orbiting, the moon orbiting the earth, the earth orbiting the sun, And we have the planets moving in a very snail pace in its place in the solar system. And from time to time, we'll get conjunctions where things light up, and you'll get some pretty incredible things. If you were to ask me, I think that this whole thing is a clock. The whole thing. Why do I believe this? Well, Satan wanted to raise his throne above the stars of God. In fact, he convinced a third of the angels to join in this rebellion. And if you were to follow since the fall of Satan, he appeared in the garden. From that point on, Throughout ancient, ancient, and ancient of most histories, through mythology, through Olympic gods, through horoscopes or otherwise, Satan and his demons wanted to lay claim of deity and power, and they wanted to be considered wise, and they wanted to be feared, and they wanted to be worshipped. What better way to do this than to take credit for being one of the, or the god, or god of one of the planets and stars? It is possible, what I'm suggesting is, Jesus is countering the claim, those claims, these demons and Satan, attributing themselves to the Hillel, attributing themselves to any of the planets or stars that made its way in all of this mythology throughout ancient, ancient time, that Jesus is countering that claim and attributing the morning star of Venus to himself. And remember, he's the one who is standing among the lampstands with seven stars in his right hand. Why were the seven stars in Jesus' right hand, in John's vision in chapter one, and Jesus says, the seven stars that you saw in my right hand are seven angels. Stars is equated to angels. This could explain why Jesus is saying, I am the brightest of them all. The angels, my Father has given them an authority in all creation in heaven and on earth and under the earth. He has the authority of the seven angels. He has the authority of all angels because that authority was granted to him by his father. So conjecture there, take it for what it is. Let's go to verse 29. He says, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And this is how all of the letters end. As mentioned previously, this is not only a call to heed to the word of God or else, but this is also a call to remember what was revealed and warned in scripture. And this would include the teaching of the parables. So when he says, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Remember we talked about when we hear that, we're like, well, that sounds kind of fancy. Just a fancy way to end the letter. He who has an ear, let him hear. But what we're learning is like, no, he who has an ear, let him hear or else what is worn and what was spoken of in the scripture will happen to you in judgment. So it's not a fancy phrase. It's actually a command to hear the word of God, heed the word of God, repent, and believe. And here's the application, and I mentioned this before. So if we want to get into, we're trying to get into some serious study when it comes to end times. If we want to do that and to give us a chance, not only do we have to follow the disciplines that I mentioned earlier, but we also need to study the parables of our Lord. The kingdom of heaven is like. The kingdom of heaven can be compared to. The kingdom of heaven is this. The kingdom of heaven is that. And guess what most of them are alluding to? The end. Hey, the parable can be compared to a man went away on a long way on a journey. He went away, and he was gone for a while, and he gave talents. What is he talking about? He's talking about his return. He's like, yeah, there's going to be some time. I'm going to give some talents based on someone's level. And then I'm going to come back, and there's going to be an accounting. So between now and then, there's going to be an accounting. To believers, aren't we gonna stand before the behemoth seat of Jesus Christ so that we all may be rendered what is done in the body, whether good or evil? So, in order for us to understand end times, we have to pay even more attention to the teachings of our Lord. And I mentioned this in our last study. If you were to ask me, I think the book of Revelation is a prophetic parable in many ways. And in order to understand a parable, and a parable by definition is, hey, I'm going to tell you a story or an illustration, painting a certain picture, but that communicates certain things and certain truths. Well, Revelation, a lot of it is like that. And we've been hitting a lot of the, what's going to happen at the end when he comes back. So we're going to, continue to follow our disciplines, but also, you know, when the scripture leads, you know, go back to certain parables, integrate that into our study so that we can better understand what's in store for the church. And with God's help and grace, we'll continue to endeavor to do that. So that does take us to the end of this letter to Thyatira and the end of chapter two. Four down, we have three more letters to go. So next up, Sardis. Amen? Thank you so much for listening today. Be sure to join us next time as we continue our verse-by-verse study of Revelation and look at Christ's letter to the church in Sardis. And if you happen to have missed any part of our study, you can find all of them archived at our website, truthmatterschurch.org. That's truthmatterschurch.org. Contending for the faith, one verse at a time. This is Truth Matters Church. you