Notwithstanding, I have a few things against
thee
By way of complaint; so the Arabic version renders it, "I have a
certain complaint against thee". The impartiality of Christ may
be observed in taking notice of the bad deeds, as well as of the
good ones of his people, and his tenderness in representing them
as few; and these things he had against them not in a judicial
way to their condemnation, but in a providential way, in order to
chastise them for them, for their good; and they are as follow:
because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel;
or "thy wife Jezebel", as the Complutensian edition and Syriac
version read; the name of King Ahab's wife, who seduced him, in
the Hebrew language is "Izebel", but is read by the Septuagint in
( 1 Kings
16:31 ) , Jezebel, as here; and by Josephus F1
Jezabela; she had her name from (lbz) , "Zebel", "dung", to which Elijah has reference
in ( 2 Kings
9:37 ) ; the Ethiopic version calls her "Elzabel". By her is
meant the apostate church of Rome, comparable to Jezebel, the
wife of Ahab; as she was the daughter of an Heathen, so is Rome
Papal the daughter of Rome Pagan; and as she was the wife of
Ahab, and therefore a queen, so the whore of Babylon calls
herself; and as Jezebel was famous for her paintings, so the
church of Rome for her pretensions to religion and holiness, and
for the gaudiness of her worship; and as she was remarkable for
her idolatry, whoredoms, witchcrafts, and cruel persecution of
the prophets of the Lord, and for murder, and innocent blood she
shed; so the church of Rome, for her idolatrous worship of
images, for her whoredoms, both in a literal and spiritual sense,
and for the witchcrafts, magic, and devilish arts many of her
popes have been addicted to, and especially for her barbarities
and cruelties exercised upon the true professors of Christ, and
for the blood of the martyrs, with which she has been drunk; and
as Jezebel stirred up Ahab against good and faithful men, is has
this church stirred up the secular powers, emperors, kings, and
princes, against the true followers of Christ: and the end of
both of them is much alike; as scarce anything was left of
Jezebel, so Babylon the great, the mother of harlots, shall be
cast into the sea, and be found no more at all: compare (
2 Kings 9:7
2 Kings
9:22 2 Kings 9:30
2 Kings
9:31 2 Kings 9:33
2 Kings
9:37 ) with ( Revelation
17:1 Revelation
17:2 Revelation
17:4-6 Revelation
17:17 Revelation
17:18 ) ( Revelation
18:3 Revelation
18:7 Revelation
18:21 Revelation
18:23 ) ;
which calleth herself a prophetess;
as perhaps Jezebel might do, since she was such a favourer of the
prophets of Baal, and so familiarly conversed with them, and kept
them, even a hundred of them, at her table: and certain it is,
that the antitype of her pretends to an infallible interpretation
of the Scriptures, and to have a bulk of unwritten traditions;
and which interpretations and traditions are to be regarded as an
infallible rule of faith and practice. Now what is complained of
in the true members and followers of Christ is, that they
suffered this woman
to teach;
when it was insufferable for a woman to teach, and especially
such a strumpet:
and to seduce my servants to commit
fornication;
to deceive such who called themselves the servants of Christ, and
draw them into the commission of spiritual fornication, which is
idolatry; as the idolatrous worship of the Mass, and of images
and saints departed:
and to eat things sacrificed unto idols;
as Balaam, or the pope, before had done, ( Revelation
2:14 ) . This may have respect to the latter part of this
period, when the eyes of many began to be opened to see these
false doctrines and idolatrous practices, and yet had not courage
enough to oppose them as they should.