In the Book of Revelation, Jezebel was most likely some kind of Sunday school teacher or cell group leader in the church. It seems as if she was a Christian, not some cultural “rock star” perverting the people—she was in the church. She taught duplicity and compromise, a “Jesus and immorality” gospel. Her doctrine said that you could be a Christian, sleep around and do whatever you wanted to sexually. She certainly taught that individuals were in charge of their sexuality, not God, and they were free to do as they pleased. However, it appears as if this Jezebel was still in the early stages of her teaching. Since the Lord knows there is only one end to this kind of sin—destruction—he offered an olive branch. “I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling” (Revelation 2:21).
This verse demonstrates the incredible patience of Jesus. Jesus gives her time to repent. Wow. The truth is He does the same thing with us, offering us time to repent. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin repeatedly in the hopes that we will turn away. A sign of the Lord’s mercy in our lives is the allotment of time to make a change. He doesn’t come in with a heavy hand and demand we stop, rather He comes gently and gives us room. This approach doesn’t last forever, of course, but isn’t our God’s generosity a beautiful thing? He is extending that same grace to you today. If you will be honest with yourself, seek help, and get clean, God’s blessing will return in a great way to your life.
However, in this women’s case, her heart was unwilling to repent. She was saying in her heart, “No thanks, I’ll do what I want.” Here is what I have discovered about unwillingness. If we refuse to change, after repeated conviction of the Holy Spirit, our heart becomes hardened. We are now walking in the opposite direction of God. Because He is our “Father,” He will let us drift for a while before he takes action. By that time, His actions may include temporary pain or humiliation in order to get our attention. In all of this, His real goal is to bring us home so we can be long-term friends.
I am glad God is patient with each of us and walks alongside of us even in the sexual areas of our life. I am also glad, as a Father, He is willing to bring us to a place of willingness again so we can repent of our deception. Here’s an example if we don’t, “So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways” (Revelation 2:22).
A bed of suffering does not sound so good to me, especially when Jesus is the one making the bed. I tell the men who attend my conferences that the devil has to guess how to hurt us, but God doesn’t. He knows exactly what will create pain for us. If we are God’s child, He most likely has “spanked” us at some point in our lives for wrong behaviors. For some it was pride, others fear, or flat out rebellion. To me, this bed of suffering is a spanking on steroids!
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