THE AGE OF THYATIRA

The Age of Thyatira is revealed to us in Revelation 2:18-29. The period and area in this era is rich in history, concerning its ties with the apostolic church. The original apostles of Peter, John and Paul had evangelized the southern part of France, and so was Lazarus and others who spent the remainder part of their lives serving in these areas.

Some of the truths spreading in these areas were handed down by the Bogomils or Paulicians. Inspite of severe persecutions from the Church of Rome, the teachings of the true Church of God continued to thrive. The Vaudois, or Waldenses formed the main group in this era and they fled across the Alps and many settled in the valleys to find safety in Germany, England, France, Italy and other countries. The name 'Vaudois' means 'Valley Dwellers', and they practised the true faith as taught to them in the Bible such as the observance of the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week, immersion for baptism and kept the Passover, or the Lord's Supper.

These thirteen -century 'Valley Dwellers' had fled the papal church's wrath, but were protected by God in the Waldensian wilderness. The Waldenses were among the first Europeans to obtain, before the Reformation, the complete Bible in the Manuscript of their own tongue. Because they had the unadulterated truth, they became the objects of hatred and persecution. For about a thousand years, the Waldenses maintained the truth of God faithfully by passing them on from father to son.

Two great disciples of Christ - Peter de Bruys and his disciple Henry of Lausanne - became great evangelists in winning many Catholics (including some officials) over to the true Church of God. They made no apologies in denouncing the practices that are contrary to the Word of God.
Unfortunately, both were martyred. Peter was burned to death in 1125 and Henry died in prison in 1149.

The man Christ appointed to succeed Him in this period of time was a wealthy merchant named Peter Waldo. He invested much time and money to study the Word of God and had the Scriptures translated into the vernacular. He also gave much of his wealth to the poor, following the teaching of Matthew 19:21. Revelation 2:19 gives a brief description of what transpired in this era during the leadership of Peter Waldo, 'I know your works, love, service, faith and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.'

Peter Waldo brought his skills as a successful businessman to the organization and Work of God. Many saw his faith and dedication began to rally behind him to fulfill the Work of God in this Thyatira Era. Peter Waldo began preaching in AD 1161 with much success. His work continued in northern France and then moved on to Flanders and Holland.

The Waldenses were well known for their knowledge of the Bible. Ministers committed to memory the gospels of Matthew to John, all the letters of Paul, and the Psalms and Proverbs. Youths were also taught to commit to memory entire chapters and later, even the entire bible. This was seen as a precaution against the Catholics who sought to destroy their bibles by fire.

Sadly, when Pope Innocent III came on the scene, he set up the infamous Inquisition to complete the job of eliminating religious objections. Torture and death were the order of the day and thousands of true believers died for failure to compromise or recant of their beliefs. Waldo and his co-workers moved into Germany and Bohemia to evangelize inspite of the intense persecution. Between 1161-1180, Waldo's work was centred around Lyons and much of southern France. For the next nineteen years from 1180-1199, his work expanded to virtually every region of Europe with great success.

After the death of Waldo in 1218 and the split of the Waldenses, the ministry suffered. In 1229, the Council of Toulouse ruled against the reading of the Bible - and the Inquisition enforced it by torture and fire! In 1242, the ban to read the Bible was even extended to include the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church! Some of the Waldenses, in their weakness, compromised with the 'Jezebel' of the Middle Ages - the Roman Catholic Church. Hence, the verse in Revelation 2:20, 'Nevertheless, I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immortality and eat things sacrificed to idols.'

However, there were many martyrs who would rather choose death than recant their beliefs and renounce their way of life. Choosing instead to die and obtain a better resurrection. Pope Innocent III targeted the Waldenses, and authorized the monks to frame the court process to deliver the supposed heretics to torture and death. The beginning of the thirteenth century saw thousands of innocent Christians hanged and burned to death, whose sole crime was putting their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to renounce all form of idolatry, superstitution and self-righteousness!

The major labor of love during the Thyatira Era was the translation and copying of the Scriptures. Most of the manuscripts that the Catholic Church had confiscated and stored in the monasteries and the cathedrals were ultimately traceable to the work of the Church of God.
In the Netherlands the Waldenses were known as the Lollards, headed by Walter the Lollard and his brother Raymond. They brought the gospel to England with much success. The development of the Gutenberg Bible, one of the first books printed, was a breakthrough that quickly spread to Holland, England and all over Europe. The New Testamant version with the greatest demand was none other than the one first developed by the Waldenses in the vernacular version. The Thyatira Era was remembered as the period that started the impulse to spread the Word of God to all who would listen and embrace the truth.

The 1,260 years of the Church in the wilderness came to a close in the late 1500s. Intense persecution finally took a toll on the Waldenses. Together with the Lollards and the Church of God, they completed a great work which Christ readily approved (Revelation 2:25-26).