The Seven Churches of Relevation Part 1 (December 7, 2014)

Laodicea

Historical background

Hierapolis, Colossae, and Laodicea are a triangle of cities in the Lycus river valley, that share a common history.  We need to look at all 3 of them in order to get the context for Jesus’ message to Laodicea.

All three cities had churches started by Epaphras (Ep-uh-frehs), after hearing Paul in Ephesus and being discipled by him.  Epaphras was from Colossae, but Paul had not been to these churches.  At some point Paul was in prison in Rome, and Epaphras was also there in prison with him.  It is likely that Epaphras asked Paul to write to “his churches”.  Paul wrote letters to the churches in Colossae and Laodicea (but apparently not to Hierapolis), and a separate letter to a wealthy individual named Philemon in the church at Colossae.  Paul had these letters delivered by Tychicus and Onesimus, who were also from Colossae.  Tychicus would have read Paul’s letter out-loud to the churches; Onesimus was a former slave of Philemon who had apparently robbed him and fled, but had encountered Paul in Rome and had become a Christian, and now Paul was sending him back with a letter to Philemon encouraging him to receive Onesimus back as a brother.  You can refer to the following Scripture passages to sort out these relationships.

• Philemon 10-12  Onesimus (whose name means "useful") was a former slave of Philemon's, and has become a Christian while with Paul in Rome, and Paul is now sending him back as a brother.
• Philemon 23    Epahpras is in prison with Paul
• Col 1:7-8    Epaphras started the church in Colossae
• Col 4:7-16    Tychicus and Onesimus are delivering the letter; Epaphras and Onesimus are from Colossae; I don’t know how Philemon is known to be from there.  Epaphrus is associated with all 3 churches.  The letters to Colossae and Laodicea are to be read to each other as well. 

Hierapolis

The only reference to Hierapolis in the Bible is at the end of the book of Colossians.

It’s a Greek name, meaning “holy city”.  Hieros and polis.  It contained many temples to many gods.  It was built up from the end of the 4th century BC to the middle of the 3rd century BC.  It was an important city.  It’s on a hill, overlooking the Lycus river valley, so it is in a position of power and control.  The valley leads to Smyrna and Ephesus, which are also major cities, so it is on the trade route.

The city was flattened by an earthquake in 17AD.  Rome rebuilt the city.  It was really important to them.  It was flattened again in 60AD, and Rome rebuilt it again.

It was known for textiles and purple dye.  But it was best known for its thermal pools -- hot springs.  Mineral springs deposit travertine (a form of limestone), composed of calcium carbonate.  If you’ve been to Yellowstone, you’ve seen this at Mammoth Hot Springs.  It was a medicinal spa.  People came here from all over the world for its healing effects.  This is the point you want to remember this about Hierapolis, but while we’re here, I want to mention of one of Jesus’ disciples whose faith cost him his life here.

You enter the city of Hierapolis through the necropolis, which is the “city of the dead” - the cemetery.  It is more than a mile long walk through before you get to the metropolis - the city of the living, where people lived.  At the entrance to the city is the Domitian Gate.  It was built to honor emperor Domitian in 83AD (Domitian became emperor in 81).  To enter the city, you had to sprinkle incense on the altar to Domitian (remember he was to be called “lord and god”), and pay homage to him.  It was an act of treason if you did not.  The message is very clear coming into the city after going through the cemetery, that “Domitian gives you life”.  Your choice of whether to honor Domitian or not, is what will determine which side of the gate you get to reside on :-).

There is a martyrium here in honor of  Philip, the Apostle (not Philip the evangelist).  He was the apostle to Hierapolis, and his martyrdom would have been well-known through Asia Minor.  The only gospel in which stories of Philip appear is the gospel of John.  John lived in Ephesus when he wrote it, and there is some thought that his intended audience was Asia Minor.  If that is true, it would make sense for John to have included stories of Philip in his gospel.

Tradition says that Philip came here and mades disciples in the early 80s.  Then Domitian put up the gate.  Philip wouldn’t pay homage, and was arrested.  He was dragged through the city after being flogged, was dragged to the top of the hill, iron circles were strung through his ankles and achilles, and he was hung upside down until he bled to death.  He was buried in a 1st century tomb.

The martyrium was built in the 5th century in his honor.  There is a road leading to it.  Something big must have happened in the culture that would allow that.  Part of that must be a result of Constantine making Christianity the official religion of Rome.  But before that happened, Philip paid the ultimate price to follow Christ.  We have the gospel now because Philip and people like him did what Jesus said.

Philip’s tomb has recently been found.  It is inside a 5th century church built around it, near the martyrium.

A great martyr is not just someone who is willing to die for his beliefs, but someone who wakes up every day and lives like God wants him to live.  You lay down your life; you pick up your cross; you flesh out the Word.  We will find messages like that as we look at the letters to the churches.

Colossae

Colossae is unexcavated.  It is in a very fertile area, with rushing cold water from Mt Cadmes nearby.  It is 8500 feet high and snow-capped 9 months of the year. It is always supplying Colossae and the surrounding areas with cold water.  As a result, Colossae was known for its vineyards and its crops.  Wool was also cultivated here, and the city was known for red-purple dye.  The tint was called Colossinous, from which the city got its name.

In the 4th & 5th centuries BC, Colossae is the leading city of Phrygia.  Then from the end of the 4th century to mid 3rd century, Hierapolis (15 miles to the NW) is being built up, and Laodicea is being developed as well.  Colossae no longer is the leading city, and begins to dwindle.  In the 60AD earthquake, Rome does not rebuild Colossae, but does rebuild Hierapolis.  Nevertheless Colossae is still minting coins in the 3rd century AD, but is gone by the 8th to 9th century.

Paul never visited here, but he writes a letter, probably at the request of Epaphrus, who started the church and was with Paul in prison in Rome.  Paul uses imagery in his letter, that the Colossians would be able to relate to out of their daily lives:

Col 1:6    The image of the gospel bearing fruit and growing.
Col 2:6-7    The image of being rooted, and of the overflowing abundance of water.
Col 3:8-12    Things to put off, things to put on, the way you are to clothe yourself as a part of resurrection living.  This is all a textile area.

Laodicea ("lay-o-dih-say-uh")

The city was founded in the 3rd century BC by Antiochus II.  It was named after his wife Laodice, whom he later divorced.  It was the leading city in the area in the 1st century AD.  It was 6 miles from Colossae and 11 miles from Hierapolis.

It was leveled by the earthquake in 17AD.  Rome rebuilt it.  In 26AD Laodicea competed against 10 other cities for the right to build the neokorus for emperor Tiberias.  This right is only given to one city.  Laodicea did not get the bid, because only 9 years after the earthquake, they did not have enough resources at that point.

It was leveled again by the earthquake in 60AD.  Rome offered to rebuild it again, but by this time the city was wealthy and strong enough that it refused the Roman assistance, and rebuilt it out of their own wealth.

Jesus uses images from the city’s history and current life as a context for his message to the church, found in Revelation 3:14-22: 

Rev 3:14-16    You are neither hot nor cold.  I wish you were one or the other.  But are lukewarm, and because of that I’m about to spit (or vomit) you out of my mouth.

How do we traditionally interpret this passage?  We think of this as hot being someone on fire for God, and cold being someone who clearly is opposed.  And we interpret this passage to mean that  God would rather have it clear who you are and where you stand, than to be lukewarm, riding the fence, dabbling in both worlds, not committed to either.  We’ve all heard sermons like that, and no doubt that’s a valid application of the Text.

But that’s not the point of the letter; it doesn’t fit the context.  The people there would have understood this quite differently.   And we need to have that understanding before we get into the rest of the letter.  So what have we already talked about that may apply?

∙    Hierapolis has hot water and it is good.  It is medicinal.
∙    Colossae has cold water and it is good.  It produces crops and vineyards.
∙    " I know your deeds.  You’re neither not nor cold.  You’re not helping anybody.  You’re not producing any fruit. There’s nothing good about what you do. You make me sick."

But the imagery is even stronger.  Laodicea had a water problem.  They had no natural spring, and water had to be piped in via aquaduct from a spring 6 miles away.  (I'm not sure whether this was from Colossae or not).  By the time the water arrived it was tepid, lukewarm, and full of calcium.  (Whether the calcium was leached from the stone after traveling 6 miles in the aquaduct, or whether the source of the water was a mineral hot springs so the water was laden with calcium to begin with is not clear).  But it was lukewarm and calcified by the time it got there, and it was not good to drink.  It literally made you want to vomit.  So Jesus has very clearly used the city's water situation to illustrate what he thought about the church:  "You're not good for anything; you make me sick".  And he goes on to use images from the city’s culture and history to make his message to the church really clear.

Rev 3:17-18    “You think you’re rich and need nothing, but you don’t realize you’re wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.”

• Laodicea was on the crossroads of N/S traffic (between Sardis & Perga) and E/W traffic (between Ephesus and the Euphrates river).  It was one of the wealthiest cities in the ancient world.  It was a great center of banking and finance, the banking center of Phrygia.  It minted its own coins.  Laodicea was wealthy enough to rebuild itself after the earthquake, but they did nothing to help Colossae with the same issue, only 6 miles away.  “Just like your city, you’re not doing anything good with your wealth.  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich”.  Being rich toward God has nothing to do with your financial wealth.  Jesus said in Matthew 19:21 to give that to the poor and follow him, and you’ll have treasure in heaven.
   
• The Laodicean sheep produced raven-black wool.  It was world famous.  They produced the designer clothes of the day.  But the deal was that the calcified water was what caused the sheep’s wool to be raven-black.  “You think your deeds are pretty terrific, but you don’t realize that their source is tepid, and that there’s really nothing there.  I counsel you to buy from me white clothes to cover your shameful nakedness.  Get your clothes from me.  They’ll be white.  You’re not to look like the rest of your city”.  It’s probably not a stretch to apply Jesus’ words of being “Living water” here, when he says that rivers of life will flow from your innermost being (John 7:38)".  You drink from that, and you’re going to look and act different.
• Laodicea was famous for its school of medicine, and particularly for its eye salve, but Jesus says, “You’re blind.  I counsel you to buy salve to put on your eyes so you can see.  Get your eye salve from me so you can see the needs around you and do something about them."

Is there any hope for this church?

Rev 3:19    Those whom I love, I discipline.  So be earnest and repent.  Is that not a loving, inviting possibility?  Isn’t Jesus saying, “We can fix this; it’s not too late”?

Rev 3:20    The evening meal in Greek culture was called diepnon.  And in that culture, the Roman soldiers had the right to come to any house they wanted and demand that the meal be provided for them and their guests.  Jesus is saying, “I want to diepnon with you.  I’ll knock at the door, but it will be up to you to open it.  I want to fellowship with you.”

Rev 3:21    I don’t necessarily understand this verse, but it’s got to be good.

Rev 3:22    If this were in Hebrew, it would be, “Whoever has ears to sh’ma, let him sh’ma”.  But it is in Greek, and while the Greek language can separate hearing and doing, my understanding is that the Greek word here has the same dual meaning as sh’ma:  Hearing and doing.

Jesus’ message to this church echoes of the CCC mission statement: Restoring Our Broken World.  It sounds like expanding the kingdom of God and like supporting causes of justice and righteousness, all of which we talked about in earlier weeks.  And its not a message just to be agreed with.  Just as Jesus was telling the Laodiceans, it’s about hearing and doing.  What are you going to do?

Philadelphia

All we have of this ancient city is an old tell with marble shards on the top and barley growing all around.  Nothing of this city has been excavated.
                                       
History

The city of Philadelphia was founded by Eumenes II in the second century BC, for the purpose of spreading Hellenism, the Greek world view.  He named it after his brother Attilus II, who eventually was his successor in ruling the city.  Attilus II had earned the nickname Philadelphus which means “one who loves his brother”, because he did not listen to his advisors who were urging him to overthrow his brother and take over the city, before his time.

The city is on the Imperial Highway, connecting the major cities Ephesus and Pergamum with points east.  It was a doorway city, the doorway to the east.  It controlled the traffic.  It was built on a steep hill, which made it easier to protect.

It was in an earthquake-prone region.  It was on the fault line.  There were active volcanoes.  The soil is volcanic ash, and the area is known for its vineyards (grapes grow well in volcanic soil).  They had a monopoly on the vineyards.  The chief deity here is Dionysius, which makes sense because of the vineyards.

The city flourished in the 1st century BC. It was an important city to Rome. 

• It is decimated by the 17 AD earthquake.  There are tremors for days on end.  People move out of their houses and live in tents for extended periods of time (years).  Caesar Tiberias gives Roman funds to rebuild, and gives them exemption from tribute/taxes for 5 years.  The people respond by renaming the city Neo-Caesarea in honor of Tiberias.
• In 54 AD Nero comes to power and the city thinks twice about its name because of how bad Nero was, and returns it to its original Philadelphus.
• There is another devastating earthquake in the 70s AD, and emperor Vespasian gives Roman aid again.  And the city renames itself Flavia in honor of the Flavian family which included Vespasian (and also included Josephus).
• Domitian (son of Vespasian) comes to power in AD 81.  (Remember “lord and god” and “the beast”).  In 92 he wants to protect the viticulture of Italy, so he orders Philadelphia to pull up 50% of its vineyards and replace them with grain. (Egypt was the primary grain supplier for Rome).  Disobedience was punishable by death.
• When Domitian dies in 96 AD, he is thought of being such a bad emperor that he is given Damnatio Memorae and his name is scratched off everything in Rome.  The city again wants to disassociate itself from him and renames itself back to Philadelphus.

Understanding the Text

Jesus uses the city’s history to illustrate his message to the church, found in Revelation 3:17-13.

There are no corrections in here.  The only command is essentially to “hold on”.

V8    I have placed before you an open door.  That speaks of influence.  Are you going to be the influencer or the influencee?  The city is on a major trade route; it is the gate to the east.  There is opportunity here to spread the gospel of Jesus, rather than of Hellenism.

V8    You have (only) a little strength, a little power.  Think of all the changes and instability that has happened to them.  They’ve had to move out of their homes because of earthquakes; change their name because of who has been in power; change their vocation because of Domitian’s demands.  Everything has changed and gone haywire.  “Has God given up on us?”  They could easily fall prey to the other world views; hence the encouragement to hold on.  It is interesting that though they only have a little power, God has no criticism for them.  It reminds me of the verse that says God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

V9    You can find stuff all over the web about what the Synagogue of Satan refers to.  Our teacher said it probably refers to Jews who were given certain rights and protections under Rome.  Christianity came out of Judaism, but the Messiah message was not tolerated by Rome.  The Jews “turned in” the Christians, saying “they’re not one of us”.

V10    I don’t know what “keep you from the hour of trial that is to come on the whole world” refers to.

V11    I don’t have any context for understanding what “I am coming soon” means.

V11    The only imperative in the letter is “hold fast” krateo – grasp firmly.  As the world changes underneath you, hold on to Jesus.  Hold tightly.  God has not lost his place on the throne.  But unless you hold fast, you will not be able to endure.  This is a warning we can heed.  What does krateo look like?  Our teacher suggested the following:

• Take the Sabbath to keep your perspective by nurturing your relationship with God.
• Remember what God has already done.  Jews viewed themselves as walking backwards through life, always able to keep their bearings from the past.
• Remember your calling.  Don’t doubt in the dark what God has revealed to you in the light.       
• It is an Alijah experience.  It is a struggle upward to God.  The turbulence will make you stronger.
• How can you love God in the darkness?  Help someone else.

V12    Even though we don’t necessarily understand the symbolism, there is a lot of permanence and stability that is suggested there, as a reward for holding on.

• Because temples were so important, they were designed to absorb shock and resist earthquakes (but big earthquakes still win).  The picture of being a pillar in God's temple and never leaving suggests permanence and stability.
• I will write on them the name of my God, and of his City, and my new name.  These are names that are not going to be changed, and are not going to be erased.

Sardis 

Location

Sardis is located on what was the western edge of the Persian empire, at the end of the Persian royal road from Susa. It is in a very strategic and defensible location, among drastic geography on a spur line of the Tmolus mountains, overlooking the Hermus river valley.

The acropolis (city of the gods -- temples) and necropolis (city of the dead -- the cemetery) are on two separate mountains.  This is the only city in the ancient world built that way.  But viewed from the right angle, it looks like they are all on one mountain.

History

Sardis was the capital of the Lydian empire in the 7th - 5th centuries BC.  Its most famous and last king was Croesus, who decided to challenge Cyrus the Great in 547BC.  Cyrus besieged Sardis.  Everyone fled to the Acropolis on top of the mountain.  Cyrus circled for 2 weeks to try to find a way up.  A Persian soldier named Hiroates saw a helmet fall, and saw a Lydian soldier come out of a secret entrance to retrieve it. Under cover of night, Hiroates got into the city and opened the city gate.  Cyrus and the Persians got in, and the Lydians were conquered.

Sardis remained under Persian control until it was surrendered to Alexander the Great.  When he died, it was given to Seleucid, one of his generals.  Antiochus III was ruling in the Seleucid line when his cousin, Achaeus (one of his generals) rebelled and wanted Sardis for himself.  Antiochus came to take back the city.  What followed was a 2-year seige, again at the Acropolis.  Some of his soldiers noticed vultures circling at a place where they were throwing the dead bodies out of the Acropolis, over the wall, and they reasoned that that was an unguarded place.  They came under cover of darkness and with ladders were able to scale the wall and climb in.  So the impregnable city (Acropolis) fell under cover of night for the second time.

Artemis worship

Cybele (si’-bih-lee) was the mother-goddess of the region of Phrygia in more-ancient times.  She is associated with mountains, town and city walls, fertile nature, and wild animals, especially lions.  Some of her influence was still there in the 1 century AD, though in Sardis, Artemis became the mother goddess.

Sardis has the best-preserved Artemis temple in the world.  (The main temple to Artemis is in Ephesus).  Construction started in 334 BC when Alexander the Great freed Sardis from Persian rule.   They ran out of funds.  Construction resumed again in 176 BC.  The temple was functional but never completed.  It was decimated in the 17 AD earthquake, and rebuilt.  It was never completely done, but, again, was functional.

By some measure Artemis was the most important deity in the Greco-Roman world.  There were 50 different cities where she was one of the main gods/goddesses.  She is connected to sexuality and issues of fertility.  At that time, 50% of women died of childbirth by age 40, 50% of children died by age 3.  As a result, allegiance to Artemis was off the charts, to seek her protection.  The temple became wealthy, even functioning as a bank.

Every year there was an Artemis Festival.  There was a procession to her temple, where they would take her image out of the naos (holy-of-holies). Then there was a parade with people dressed in white, complete with cult prostitutes and ritual cutting, and then they would put her back in the naos.  As a part of this festival, men by the thousands would castrate themselves and lay their testicles on her altar.  It was their most significant act of worship:
∙    Placate Artemis because of fear of what she would do or cause or permit
∙    Seek her protection for your wife and kids
∙    Giving her your fertility since she is the goddess of fertility indicates your sincerity about this
So this parade was a very bloody occasion.

The city
                  
When we walk through the city today, we see a number of things that we don’t know how to interpret, perhaps because we don’t know the motive behind them or because we don’t know how to read the time-table.

• Shops with Christian markings on the main road (10 of 27 shops excavated had Christian proprietors).  They were not ashamed to make their Christianity visible to the ancient world.
• The largest synagogue of the ancient world. 
• Big table of animals dates to 1C.  The mother goddess Cybele is represented by lion.  Rome is represented by the eagle.
• Synagogue right next to shops.  Big property value.  Wealth and influence.
• Right next door to (actually part of) the Gymnasium, which included naked training. Is it influence?  Is it compromise?  Is it reuse?  Is it syncretism? Is it a multi-use facility?
• 4th century church with 6th century addition right next to Artemis temple, with access to the church from inside the temple.

Letter

Jesus once again uses the city’s history as the context for his message to the church, in Revelation 3:1-6:

V1   You have a reputation for being alive but you are dead

• Separate mountains for the acropolis and necropolis that look like the same mountain from the right angle.  You can’t distinguish between your life and death.
• Synagogue and the church (though the timeframe doesn’t fit), helps give us the impression that it looks like they are trying to live in both worlds, which really is Jesus’ point.

 V2  Wake up!  Strengthen what remains and is about to die.  I have found your deeds unfinished in my sight.

• They’ve established a Christian presence
• But haven’t distinguished themselves from the rest of the world.  They look just like the rest of the world.

V3   Remember, hold it fast repent - otherwise I will come like a thief

• Just like your city, you think you’re in a good position, but remember how it was taken twice unexpectedly in the night
• What is it about, if you don't want to repent?  It's pride, isn't it?  Jesus is saying, "You’re in a prideful position, thinking you have nothing to repent of, leading to apathy and complacency.  You will fall just like your fortress did."  Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall”.
• Gaavah - pride - to be high, tall, majestic
• Shever - destruction - to break or snap
• More literally “Pride falls before destruction” – you get too high such that you can’t support yourself and you break
• Pride wants itself to be high.  It wants to create a gap or separation between ourselves and others.  We don’t want to let other people into our struggles, because that closes the gap.
• Romans 12:3 - Do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought, but with sound judgment.
• To be in the right place, get low to close the gaps
• Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less; don't think about yourself.
• To downplay the gifts God has given you is to downplay God
• Give God credit for what He is doing through you - redirect the praise.  When we would commend our teacher, he would always respond with "Bless God".

V4   “A few people who have not soiled their clothes.  They will walk with me dressed in white.”  A few people in Sardis did get this right, but most, including some in the church, were participating in the Artemis festivals.  Jesus says to wear white and walk in his parade.  It makes me think of 2 Corinthians 2:14, where it says that God leads us in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.

V5   "I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life".  We read something like that and think, “Well, there must be some condition under which my name could be blotted out”.  But we probably miss the point.  Christians standing against the Roman establishment (and particularly against Domitian) lost their lives and their names were blotted out from the city records, but Jesus says their name would be preserved where it matters most.  Ironically, Domitian himself was blotted out from Rome’s memory on a very large scale after his death.

Jesus is saying, "You are trying to hold onto both worlds - Christianity and Artemis worship -- and you can’t do both.  You’re proud of your position, and you think you’re alive, but you’re really dead because there’s nothing of value there.  Wake up before it is too late."  Is this not a warning to us to not look like the world?