Apocalypse 2:
And to the angel of the church of Thyatira write: These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like to a flame of fire, and his feet like to fine brass. [19] I know thy works, and thy faith, and thy charity, and thy ministry, and thy patience, and thy last works which are more than the former. [20] But I have against thee a few things: because thou sufferest the woman Jezabel, who calleth herself a prophetess, to teach, and to seduce my servants, to commit fornication, and to eat of things sacrificed to idols.
[21] And I gave her a time that she might do penance, and she will not repent of her fornication. [22] 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. [23] And I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am he that searcheth the reins and hearts, and I will give to every one of you according to your works. But to you I say, [24] And to the rest who are at Thyatira: Whosoever have not this doctrine, and who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will not put upon you any other burthen. [25] Yet that, which you have, hold fast till I come.
This letter is long and has an apocalyptic character: Jezebel.
She styles herself a prophetess.
Some scholars see in the seven letters the seven ages of the Church. Actually, history books so far do have these ages to a point:
1. Age of Martyrs, Rome
2. Dark Ages
3. Middle Ages
4. Modern Age:Protestantism to just before now
The rest of the ages are, if most fully approved Private Revelation is true:
5. Modern Secular Apostasy
6. Age of Peace
7. Great Apostasy
This makes the fourth age Protestantism to just before now. This fits perfectly. Jezebel is a woman, meaning she is spiritually alive--not a beast, like total apostasy. Protestantism styles itself a prophet; it preaches to humanity. It also deceives humanity all over the board. Too strict, too lenient, myriads of conflicting ideas; heresies they call them.
The forth going statements are also profound:
Jesus uses scathing hyperbole when He cries, "And her children, I will kill with death!"
Obviously Jesus does not will to kill anyone, whether physically or spiritually. This can only be taken, then, like the hyperbolic language of Exodus and St Paul: "And God hardened Pharoe's heart." God did not directly harden Pharoe’s heart, only indirectly, since God cannot author sin. How? God withdrew the grace that would have converted Pharoe's heart because it wouldn’t have done any good anyway. He used this to teach Pharoe a lesson.
Similarly, in the time of Protestantism, the wickedness and scandal of countless priests and bishops was just too much to stop an apocalyptic disillusionment with their authority. The sun was starting to set, and it would not rise again until the fullness of the night came, the modern secular apostasy, just as Jesus simply would not be able to stop Himself from falling with merely His human nature while carrying the cross. The force of Original Sin continually drags humanity down, and it will not get up until God brings a great redemptive phase.
Hence, in this hyperbolic language, "And her children I will kill with death,"Jesus is not causing a spiritual death, anymore than the Eternal Son directly caused Pharoe to sin. Jesus is allowing the world to follow its course, to fall as it almost must, like the falls carrying the cross.
And what happened? Well, Protestantism just divided Christianity so terribly, that it caused teh world to lose hope in the message of the Gospel. That is, the Gospel doctrines were so incomprehensibly confounded, that they world said, “Jesus cannot get His message straight, so let us just scrap Jesus.” This, then, led to a great loss of Christian faith, that is, it led to a descent into mere natural goodness and wisdom:
Solo-Ratio
Only reason, and Pelagiansim, That man can be good on his own power without God. Man became merely naturally good and lost supernatural goodness. This was the general phase of history between Protestantism and our modern fully godless age, in which even natural wisdom and goodness has been lost. Examples of this age are Enlightenment, Deism, Rationalism, French Revolution, Masonry, the worldly, reason-only psychologies and philosophies and economies and politics, and on and on.
The result was SUPERNATURAL DEATH! HENCE!!! "And her [Jezebels] children, I will kill with DEATH"
The AFTERBIRTH of Protestantism was SOLO RATIO, a DEATH! A SUPERNATURAL DEATH!
For a deeper analysis of the Seven Letters, see this previously published article -
