Message To The Church Of Laodicea Revelation 3:14-22

To see Revelation 3:14-22 without my comments click HERE.

The letter to the Church of Laodicea is the seventh letter to the seven churches of Asia-Minor.

About Laodicea

The city of Laodicea was originally founded by the Ionians, and was conquered by the Hittites in the 19^th Century B.C. During the particular time when Paul penned the book of Revelation, there was a large colony of Jews living in Laodicea, according to the first Century scribe and General, Flavius Josephus.
Josephus stated that the Lodicean Jews were exempt from Roman law; Antiquities of the Jews book #14 10:20. The book of Acts is replete with passages referring to these same Jews (those who followed the traditions of the elders, or Talmudism) worked in a concerted effort with the Romans to persecute Christians.

Laodicea was at the junction of a road between Ephesus and Smyrna. The overland caravan route that went through their city spanned as far as the Yellow River in Punjab, North West India, which made Laodicea a very wealthy city complete with theaters, gymnasiums, and large public baths.

In 62 A.D. An earthquake destroyed the city of Laodicea and the entire city was rebuilt by the citizens of the city, as the citizens had the personal wealth to do so without the involvement of the Roman government.

One of the features that the city possessed, was the warm water that came from the natural hot springs located six miles away, called the Hierapolis Springs. This mineralized water contained high amounts of sulfur. Although the Laodicean's were rich in material goods, the water going into the city was not a good quality.

Excluding the mineral problem, warm water by itself is a natural emetic and appetite suppressor. If you do not let the water cool down to drink or heat it up and make tea or something similar, you may vomit. For sustainable drinking water, the city of Laodicea shipped in potable water from Colossae a neighboring town, that got its water from the snow melting off the nearby mountains. Of course, only the rich could afford to pay for the water so the poor would either become sick or move out of town. To the right and above, is a picture of aqueduct piping going into Laodicea that's clogged with calcium. 

The message to the Church of Laodicea

Rev3:14 The Messiah introduces himself as the faithful and true witness to the creation of God. Rev 3:14 refers to when God created and does not mean God was created as taught by the Jehovah Witnesses; John1:1.

Rev 3:15 The politics of the Laodiceans was similar to the politics of the rich today in America, consisting of compromise in an effort as not to lose their goods. Just look at how fast gay marriage was readily accepted.  Usually when people have the ability to get anything they want, their carnal mind takes over and start compromise, they put Father Yahweh to the back of the priority list; Romans 8:7. Yashua knew of the Laodicean's works and knew they had some serious problems.

Rev 3:16 The Messsiah compared the Laodicean's to the warm water that came to their city from afar. I have been to many churches that interpret this verse as there are cold and hot Christians. If this was true, then it would be better to be a cold Christian for Christ, rather than being a lukewarm Christian and falling short from being hot. Of course this concept is wrong and doesn't make any sense. Rather it's my opinion that the Messiah was telling the Laodiceans to be palatable; Matt 5:13.

Rev 3:17 when it comes to money, there's seemingly nothing that will distance you further from Father Yahweh; 1 Timothy 6:10, Matt 6:24. There's seemingly an endless supply of televangelists that claim “God wants you to be rich”, or God will bless you by sharing in their ministry, so give them money so they can buy learjets, rolex watches, stain glass windows, and gold plated door knobs; 2 John 1:9-11. 

There's no place in the Bible that guarantees anyone will become rich in material goods by being a Christian. Actually, your more likely to be poor, because you will be tested in life and will have to endure hardships to actually prove yourself as an over comer for his kingdom; 1 John 5:4

Ministers such as Joel Olstein will try to coerce anyone they can into putting their faith in God as a genie in a bottle or some sort of a false Santa Clause god that will fulfill all you material wishes, 

In Romans 10:17 we are told that real faith comes from the word of God, not from greed or someone talking you into following God. These types of ministers claim to be biblical ministers, and I agree with them, they are the biblical ministers, the Bible describes them biblically very well in Rev 3:17 and Matt 7:21-23.

Rev 3:18-19 The Laodiceans are told to step up to the as they will be tried. They will be rebuked and chastised in an effort to make them repent (repent means to change the way you think).

Rev 3:20 This verse is well know in the Christian community, it's almost as popular as John 3:16. Rev 3:20 is a usually used during an alter calls. However, this verse is always taken out of context, because it's promoted as Jesus being behind the door and opening the door to let the repented sinner in when he is outside the door. The real meaning behind this verse, if taken in context, you will come realize that Yashua Messiah is the one on the outside of the door wanting to come in as he was the outsider when dealing with the Laodiceans in this passage. Maybe I can explain it this way, we are told when two or three people are gathered in his name he is there also; Matt 18:20. The Laodiceans were not gathering in his name and he (Jesus) was an outsider, but rather they were gathering in the name of mammon; Matt 6:24, Luke 16:13.

Rev3:21-22 We are promised that he who overcomes tribulation, will help rule in the New Jerusalem when the Messiah comes to restore his kingdom on earth. This letter, as well as the other six, is applicable for all who have the ability to read and learn from the mistakes of others