Revelation 2:21 (KJV)

And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

Bible Commentary

Revelation 2:21is a Bible verse from the most intriguing book of the Bible, where the Son of God is warning the church against the adultery and idolatry of our hearts.

Let’s dig in to this chilling Bible verse from the Book of Revelation. First of all, who is Jesus speaking of here? In verse 20, He names that “woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess.”

We can see by looking at the Hebrew meaning of “woman” that it means: wife, woman. And the Hebrew meaning of “Jezebel” is: Tyrian woman, false teacher.

If you look up the name Jezebel in the Bible, you can read the stories about evil Queen Jezebel in 1 Kings and 2 Kings. You will see that she and her husband, Ahab the king of Israel, served and worshipped Baal, a false god. Not only that, but she commanded the death of the prophets of the Lord (1Kings 18:4).

1 Kings 2:25 gives us very specific information about this couple.

But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.

Like many wives, Jezebel had great influence over her husband, the king. “Stirred up” in Hebrew means: to prick, seduce, entice.

What about Us?

Though it is unpleasant to think about, many wives use their influence as women to control their husbands for their own desired outcome in situations. We stir up–entice, prick or seduce–our husbands to get our way.

We as women and wives, must look at how we relate to our husbands. Do we stir them up, or control them to get our way? Certainly not to the point of committing violent crimes, like Jezebel did, but most of us don’t realize how costly this attitude can be, not only in our marriage with our spouse here in this life, but also in our relationship with our spiritual husband, Jesus Christ.

There are multiple places in the Bible where God references Himself to us as our Husband, since we, the church are the bride of Christ. Ephesians 5:33 says, “Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.”

We as wives are to reverence our husbands as though we were married to Christ–because we are married to Christ! (Ephesians 5:23)

We may not see Christ in our husband every day, but if we repent from the attitude of Jezebel in our hearts, which involves the willingness to embrace the truth and seek the Lord’s mercy, not only will our relationship with God be restored, but we most certainly will see our marriage begin to heal and prosper.

Unlocking the Truth – Idolatry and Adultery

Let’s dig further into the truth of what might be in our hearts and attitudes. Jesus says in Revelation 2:21 that He gave her space to repent of her fornication. In Hebrew, “fornication” means: harlotry, adultery and incest. These are not just physical deeds of the body, which God hates, but mental and emotional strongholds in our souls.

We might not have committed adultery or acted like a harlot with our bodies physically, but what about the desires (or lusts) in our hearts and minds?

If we are unfaithful to our husbands in our hearts and minds, then we are unfaithful to God. Adultery and idolatry are both alike to Him.

Most of us have fallen into Satan’s traps of temptation in one form or another, which took us down a path of deceit–wrong desires, thoughts and/or actions. We must ask ourselves some tough questions to get to the truth in our hearts.

Do we desire to look beautiful for our husband or for someone else?
Do we desire to attract the attention of other men?
Do we want to be noticed by someone who is not our husband?

Like an epidemic in today’s society, I believe we as women are almost addicted to winning the attention of men so we can feel powerful and in control. Be careful and aware that this is the attitude of Jezebel, which God hates.

The Condition of Our Heart

The condition of our marriage directly reflects the condition of our hearts. We must wake up to the truth of what’s inside of us and be warned about the motivations in our heart. The truth sets us free from wrong desires and behavior—adultery and idolatry–the trap of the devil.

We will be set free as we accept responsibility for the wrong attitudes and desires in our hearts and bring them to the cross, where Jesus died for our sins. His mercy is great, but until we recognize the truth about the sin in our heart and repent, the prison walls remain and our marriage suffers.

The Lord is eager to accept us as we are and remove the heavy burdens from our hearts and our relationships. James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

The Son of God says, “Repent.” We must do it quickly before He comes.

Study the Bible verse of Revelation 2:21 so you and your marriage can be transformed into the righteousness of God.