Behold, I will cast her into a bed: and they that commit adultery with her shall be in very great tribulation, except they do penance from their deeds,
ιδου βαλλω αυτην εις κλινην και τους μοιχευοντας μετ αυτης εις θλιψιν μεγαλην εαν μη μετανοησωσιν εκ των εργων αυτης
3 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Continuing to speak figuratively, He compares the cunning and flattery of the heretics with a harlot. He threatens to strike her with diseases and death, and also all who were defiled together with her and fornicated before God, unless they repent and turn to Him.
Almost nine hundred years before Christ, the impious Ahab reigned in Israel. In his days idolatry reached an extreme degree. He was married to Jezebel, daughter of the king of Sidon, a corrupt woman with a malicious heart. She slew all the prophets of God in the kingdom of Israel.
She introduced public acts of fornication among the people and deceived them with various forms of sorcery. To establish seductive groves and pagan abominations, she maintained five hundred false prophets at her own expense.
In the Apocalypse, under the name Jezebel, there is depicted a heresy that corrupted the minds of the simple people and pretended to have the gift of prophecy. But Jezebel was thrown from the window of her palace, trampled by horses, and eaten by dogs.
Heretics who distort the truth of Christ's teaching should expect a similar misfortune. As the children of the ancient Jezebel were all slain by the sword, so the children of the heretical flock will perish together with their lawless shepherds. After the threat comes the promise.
Yet it is not good that the Church of Thyatira submitted to the influence of some false prophetess. The Lord calls her Jezebel, probably because this prophetess also drew Christians into fornication and the eating of meat sacrificed to idols. In the same way Queen Jezebel had formerly drawn the kingdom of Israel into these things.
Let this prophetess and her followers not think that God approves her actions because He does not punish her. He does this only to give her time to repent.
Since she still will not repent, the Lord will cast her sick upon the very bed on which she committed fornication. Those who committed fornication with her He will cast into great tribulation.
The children of these adulterers will die by death. That is, the corrupting and destructive power of Jezebel's false teaching will already appear in the second generation of heretics. Then all the Churches will know that the Lord, who foretold this outcome of proud Jezebel's undertaking, truly penetrates the human heart.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 20 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS