Bible Question:
Greetings He-man! And what do you make of this? In Is. 14:12, the phrase 'morning star' refers to the glory of an earthly king. In Rev. 22:16, the phrase clearly refers to Christ. In Rev. 2:28 and 2 Pet. 1:19, it may refer to Christ. However, the fact that a similar phrase is used of Christ in the New Testament does not mean that Is. 14:12 refers to Christ! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
Bible Answer: One of the Seven Churches of Asia was established here. Rev. 2:18–29. The principal deity of the city was Apollo; but there was another superstition, of an extremely curious nature, which seems to have been brought thither by some of the corrupted Jews of the dispersed tribes. A fane stood outside the walls, dedicated to Sambatha—the name of the sibyl who is sometimes called Chaldæan, sometimes Jewish, sometimes Persian—in the midst of an enclosure designated “the Chaldæans’ court.” This seems to lend an illustration to the obscure passage in Rev. 2:20–21, which some interpret of the wife of the bishop. Now there is evidence to show that in Thyatira there was a great amalgamation of races. If the sibyl Sambatha was in reality a Jewess, lending her aid to the amalgation of different religions, and not discountenanced by the authorities of the Judeo-Christian Church at Thyatira, both the censure and its qualification become easy of explanation. (The present name of the city is ak-Hissar (“white castle”). It has a reputation for the manufacture of scarlet cloth. Its present population is 15,000 to 20,000. There are nine mosques.—Ed.) William Smith; revised and edited by F.N. and M.A. Peloubet, Smith’s Bible dictionary [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997. |