revelation laodicea 7
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Laodicea
• Laodicea was situated along the banks of a river
and stood at the junction of three great roads
traversing Asia Minor. The location of the city
was conducive to commercial enterprise, henceit prospered as a large industrial administrative
center specializing in banking, textile
manufacturing and medicine. Many wealthy
people attended the Laodicean church which, ofcourse, caused the church to prosper.
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Laodicea
• Evidence of this prosperity is found in the
present day ruins of three large church
buildings dating back to the early days of
Christianity. Laodicea's economy was
fueled by a textile industry that
manufactured from the wool of black
sheep, soft, sleek, black garments andcarpets that were popular both locally and
in the surrounding region.
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Laodicea
• The medical school was likewise famousfor successfully mixing chemicals to curediseases. Its physicians, whose allegiance
was to the serpent god Asklepios,produced an ointment for the ears andeyes. Especially famous was theLaodicean eye salve for healing certain
forms of blindness. The banking industrylikewise flourished in Laodicea because ofthe city's prosperous economy.
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To Church in Laodicea
• NIV Revelation 3:14 "To the angel of the
church in Laodicea write: These are the
words of the Amen, the faithful and true
witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15 Iknow your deeds, that you are neither cold
nor hot. I wish you were either one or the
other!
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To Church in Laodicea
• 16 So, because you are lukewarm--
neither hot nor cold-- I am about to spit
you out of my mouth.
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To Church in Laodicea
• 17 You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired
wealth and do not need a thing.' But you
do not realize that you are wretched,
pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
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To Church in Laodicea
• 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold
refined in the fire, so you can become rich;
and white clothes to wear, so you can
cover your shameful nakedness; and salveto put on your eyes, so you can see. 19
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.
So be earnest, and repent.
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To Church in Laodicea
• 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and
knock. If anyone hears my voice and
opens the door, I will come in and eat with
him, and he with me. 21 To him whoovercomes, I will give the right to sit with
me on my throne, just as I overcame and
sat down with my Father on his throne. 22He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches."
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The Proud Free Town
• Laodicea means "the people speak or the
people rule."
"I i h th t ld
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"I wish that you were cold or
hot" (3:15 –16)
• It is thought that the Laodiceans were being critiqued for theirneutrality or lack of zeal (hence "lukewarm"). Based on thisunderstanding, the term Laodicean is used in some modernChristian circles to derisively refer to the neutral orindifferent.[However, some scholars have suggested that thismetaphor has been drawn from the water supply of the city, which
was lukewarm, in contrast to the hot springs at nearby Hierapolis and the pure water of Colossae (Barclay). The archaeology showsLaodicea had an aqueduct that probably carried water from hotmineral springs some five miles south, which would have becometepid before entering the city. An historian of the time that the waterwas hard, though drinkable.
• The imagery of the Laodicean aqueduct suggests not that "hot" isgood and "cold" is bad, but that both hot and cold water are useful,whereas lukewarm water is useless.
"P bli d d k d" (3 17
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"Poor, blind, and naked" (3:17 –
18)
• The words attributed to the Laodiceans obviously markan ironic over-confidence in regard to spiritual wealth.They, unlike the Christ who knows, are unable torecognise their bankruptcy. However the image may also
be drawing on the perceived worldly wealth of the city.• The reference to eye medication is again often thought
to reflect the historical situation of Laodicea. Accordingto Strabo (12.8.20) there was a medical school in thecity, where a famous ophthalmologist practiced. The city
also lies within the boundaries of ancient Phrygia, fromwhere an ingredient of eye-lotions, the so-called"Phrygian powder", was supposed to have originated.
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"Behold, I stand at the door" (3:20)
• This is among the most famous images of theRevelation, and is the subject of the famous painting TheLight of the World by Holman Hunt. It bears similarities toa saying of Jesus in Mark 13:33 –37, and Luke 12:35 –38.
• Commentators variously view it as a metaphor ofintimate fellowship, and/or a reference to theeschatological parousia of Christ. It is noted that thetheme of divine invitations to eat, are found both in theNew Testament (e.g. the Parable of the Wedding Feast)and in Graeco-Roman religion. Various papyri, such as
POxy 3693, include invitations to attend a dinner withgods such as Sarapis, however these are issued byspecified individuals to feasts at a temple of a god – anddo not suggest the visitation of the home by the divinity.
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Laodicea printed their
own money that
they could back.
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Laodicea
• The place often suffered from earthquakes, especiallyfrom the great shock in the reign of Nero (60 AD), inwhich it was completely destroyed. But the inhabitantsdeclined imperial assistance to rebuild the city and
restored it from their own means. (Tacitus, Annals. xiv.27.) The wealth of its inhabitants created among them ataste for the arts of the Greeks, as is manifest from itsruins; and that it did not remain behind in science andliterature is attested by the names of the sceptics and ,
the successors of Aenesidemus (Diog. Laërt. ix. 11. §106, 12. § 116), and by the existence of a great medicalschool. (Strab. xii. p. 580.)
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Laodicea
• Antiochus the Great transported 2000
Jewish families to Phrygia from Babylonia
(Joseph., Ant. Jud., xii.3.4). Many of
Laodicea's inhabitants were Jews. Theysent a sum of 20 pounds of gold annually
to Jerusalem for the Temple.
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Don’t go through the motions
• Who can revive us when this happens?
• Don’t base a congregation’s health on
their wealth?