Revelation 2:21-23 - I will cast her on a bed of suffering

2:21,22

In the Old Testament we read that God sent warning after warning, prophet after prophet, to Israel and Judah, before the judgements via Assyria and Babylon were executed. Jezebel was likewise given time to repent. People can receive many warnings but fail to respond to any of them. Jezebel was unwilling to respond. 

As a result God would “cast her on a bed of suffering”. It may be actual sickness that God would inflict upon her, or the term may be being used in a more general sense. Whatever the case, the key thing is that God would inflict suffering upon her. Now this might shock some, but that is only because of a lack of Biblical understanding. It is quite clear from the whole of the Bible that God is quite prepared on occasion to inflict suffering on people as an act of judgement. 

This judgement does not just apply to Jezebel, but also to those who follow her (“commit adultery with her”). They must repent of her ways. Those who are false teachers or prophets bear the greater responsibility when they lead people away from God and against His ways. However, we all have responsibility. If we choose to follow a false teacher we have a responsibility for our actions. So we should always test all that we hear against the Bible.

2:23

“I will strike her children dead”. What is the purpose of this? So that all the churches will know that God searches hearts and minds. God knows everything about us, and all our motives. We may be able to fool others as to why we are doing something, or fool them by our actions, but we cannot fool the Lord.  And He also wants us to know that He will repay everyone according to their deeds. This is Jesus Christ speaking here, and it is part of his character. So many seem to want to ignore this aspect, but we cannot ignore it, and we are fools to do so.