Revelation 2:21

I gave her time
Herein is the evidence of God’s grace which is so often turned against Him. Those who complain that a perfect and loving God would not allow such evil in the world need to stop and consider that if He were to step into history at the very next instant to remove all evil, they themselves would be guaranteed a place in the Lake of Fire (Rev. Rev. 20:15+)! Peter explains that the delay of God in judging evil is motivated by His longsuffering and that none should perish. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2Pe. 2Pe. 3:9).

repent
God gave Jezebel time to recognize her error and to change her conduct accordingly, to repent: It is always God’s desire that men and women would repent and avoid judgment (Eze. Eze. 18:30-32; Eze. 33:11-15). Concerning the word repent, see commentary on Revelation 2:5.

she did not repent
Jezebel had been given time to recognize her wickedness and repent, but she would not. Here is introduced the pattern of the enemies of God throughout this book. Even in the face of clear evidence of God’s disapproval, those who have set their hearts against Him refuse to repent (Rev. Rev. 9:20-21+; Rev. 16:9-11+).

We often assume lack of repentance indicates a lack of understanding or the knowledge of evil. Yet Scripture indicates repentance has less to do with the head and more to do with the heart which is hardened toward God (Ex. Ex. 7:13, Ex. 7:23; Ex. 8:15, Ex. 8:19, Ex. 8:32; Ex. 9:34; Rom Rom. 2:5).