Laodicea

Revelation 3:14-22 English Standard Version

Revelation 3:14

1. “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

a. Laodicea was the city located farthest south and east among the seven cities, about 50 miles southeast of Philadelphia in the Lycus River valley, with Hierapolis a few miles to its north and Colossae a few miles to its south.[1]

i. One should note at the beginning that the description of Christ in this final letter now abandons the vision in 1:16–18 altogether, in favor of a series of brief epithets.[2]

2. ‘The words of the Amen,

a. The title “the Amen” (ὁ Ἀμήν) is transliterated from the Hebrew אָמֵן (meaning “surely,” from the verbal root “be firm, trustworthy”).[3]

3. the faithful and true witness,

a. Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood

4. the beginning of God’s creation.

a. Beginning- ‘first cause, origin.’

b. Beginning - first cause n. — an agent that is the cause of something but does not itself have a cause.

c. Cognates of the Greek word used here (archē) denote “ruler”—a word that can denote rule or power;[4]

d. The final designation, “the ruler (archē) of God’s creation,” is undoubtedly linked to Paul’s great christological passage in Col 1:15ff., where Christ is designated “the beginning” (archē; v. 18) and “the firstborn over all creation” (v. 15).[5]

i. Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

ii. Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

iii. Colossians 1:17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

iv. Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

e. The close geographical proximity of the two cities and Paul’s instructions to Colossae that they exchange letters make it all but certain that the writer of Revelation knew the Colossian epistle.[6]

i. Colossians 4:16 And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.

Revelation 3:15

1. “ ‘I know your works:

2. you are neither cold nor hot.

3. Would that you were either cold or hot!

a. The contrast is between the hot medicinal waters of Hierapolis and the cold, pure waters of Colossae. Thus the church in Laodicea “was providing neither refreshment for the spiritually weary, nor healing for the spiritually sick. It was totally ineffective, and thus distasteful to its Lord.”[7]

Revelation 3:16

1. So, because you are lukewarm,

2. and neither hot nor cold,

3. I will spit you out of my mouth.

a. In antiquity, people enjoyed drinking wine mixed with hot water, and they also found wine chilled with snow to be refreshing. A good host would offer guests both hot and cold options (C. R. Koester, Revelation, 343–49). [8]

b. The idea that Jesus might spit you out of my mouthis startling and dramatic; the verb emeōgives us our word ‘emetic’, and most English translations hold back from giving its full force as meaning ‘vomit’.[9]

i. Vomit - e·met·ic - a medicine or other substance which causes vomiting.

Revelation 3:17

1. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,

a. So arrogant was Laodicea about its wealth that when the emperor proposed to help rebuild Laodicea along with other Asian cities destroyed by an earthquake in a.d. 60, Laodicea refused what we would call the “federal disaster relief funds.”[10]

b. The most striking indication of the city’s wealth is that following the devastating earthquake of a.d. 607the city was rebuilt without financial aid from Rome. Tacitus wrote, “Laodicea arose from the ruins by the strength of her own resources, and with no help from us.”[11]

2. not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

Revelation 3:18

1. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich,

2. and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen,

a. Laodiceans would doubt that they were “naked”; their city was famous for its production of textiles, especially cloth and carpets woven from black wool.18Thus some commentators observe that Jesus’ offer of “white clothes” probably provides a stark contrast with this notorious black wool of Laodicea.[12]

3. and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

a. Ancient sources report a first-century medical school located in Laodicea, ear ointment made there, a famous eye doctor practicing there, and eye salve made of Phrygian powder (probably abundantly available there).[13]

Revelation 3:19

1. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline,

a. Proverbs 3:11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof,

b. Proverbs 3:12 for the Lordreproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

2. so be zealous and repent.

a. This is the fourth direct call to repentance in the seven letters (cf. 2:5, 16; 3:3; reference to repentance at Thyatira is indirect, 2:21–22).[14]

Revelation 3:20

1. Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

2. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,

a. Only one person from a church can change the church’s condition.

3. I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Revelation 3:21

1. The one who conquers,

2. I will grant him to sit with me on my throne,

3. as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

a. Revelation 22:5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

b. Daniel 7:18 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’

Revelation 3:22

1. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ”

[1] Fanning, B. M. (2020). Revelation (C. E. Arnold, Ed.; p. 184). Zondervan Academic. [2] Fee, G. D. (2011). Revelation(p. 57). Cascade Books. [3] Fanning, B. M. (2020). Revelation (C. E. Arnold, Ed.; p. 184). Zondervan Academic. [4] Keener, C. S. (1999). Revelation(p. 158). Zondervan Publishing House. [5] Mounce, R. H. (1997). The Book of Revelation (p. 108). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. [6] Mounce, R. H. (1997). The Book of Revelation (p. 108). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. [7] Mounce, R. H. (1997). The Book of Revelation (pp. 109–110). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. [8] Koester, C. R. (2018). Revelation and the End of all Things (Second Edition, p. 73). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. [9] Paul, I. (2018). Revelation: An Introduction and Commentary (E. J. Schnabel, Ed.; Vol. 20, p. 114). Inter-Varsity Press. [10] Keener, C. S. (1999). Revelation(p. 160). Zondervan Publishing House. 7 Tacitus’s dating; Eusebius and Orosius place it after the fire of Rome (cf. Hemer, Local Setting, 279, n. 64). [11] Mounce, R. H. (1997). The Book of Revelation (p. 107). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 18 See Strabo, 12.8.16; Vitruvius, 8.3.14; see Ramsay, Letters to the Seven Churches, 429. [12] Keener, C. S. (1999). Revelation(p. 160). Zondervan Publishing House. [13] Keener, C. S. (1999). Revelation(p. 160). Zondervan Publishing House. [14] Mounce, R. H. (1997). The Book of Revelation (p. 113). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.