Revelation 3:14

And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

LAODICEA

Laodicea is a word which has come to stand for lukewarmness, indifference and compromise. Some theorists make a big point out of what they affirm to be the meaning of the word: "Its name designates it as the Church of mob rule, the democratic church, in which everything was swayed and decided by popular opinion."[55] We are reluctant to accept this, be cause the town was actually named by its founder Antiochus II (261-246 B.C.) after his wife Laodice.[56] It was situated in the same general vicinity of the other six cities addressed in this series, on the great Roman road to Syrian Antioch. It was never much of a fortress, due to the vulnerability of the water supply, "which came principally by a vulnerable aqueduct from springs six miles away to the north in the direction of Hieropolis ... Laodicea could hardly stand a determined siege."[57]

Laodicea was a banking center with a great deal of wealth. One of the great industries was that of wool and woolen garments, featuring a fine quality glossy black wool from Phrygian sheep; another industry was that of drugs developed in connection with the medical school there. One of the famous Laodicean remedies was a "Phrygian eye-salve" which was supposed to cure inflammation. Blaiklock speculated that this probably came from dried mud from one of the numerous hot springs in the area.[58] This information illuminates the charges which the Lord made against the church of this city, in his words, "Thou art miserable and poor, and blind, and naked" (Revelation 3:17). It is as though he had said, "You are spiritually bankrupt in spite of all the banks, looms and pharmacies in the city."

Particularly noticeable was the wealth of Laodicea. Following the great earthquake which demolished the place in 60 A.D., they rebuilt at once from their own resources, declining the lavish gifts offered by the emperor. Scholars who suppose that Laodicea could not have recovered so quickly as a date in the late 60's for Revelation would indicate that they have failed to take their great wealth and self-sufficiency into account.

One other significant fact of the environment is that of the hot springs, which when mixed with water from the colder springs resulted in a lukewarm, nauseous mixture totally unsuitable for drinking purposes.

Laodicea suffered the same kind of general decline that came to the whole area in subsequent centuries, finally falling to the Turks in the 14th century. Today, it is called Eski-Sheher, meaning "old town," the capital of the Turkish province of the same name. The population in 1955 was 122,755.[59]

The church at Laodicea was one of a group of three congregations known to us from the writings of Paul. He directed that two of his epistles should be sent there (Colossians 4:16). "These were the Colossian letter and another which has been lost, unless the epistle to the Ephesians is meant."[60] This church received, along with Sardis, the strongest of our Lord's denunciations, there being no compliment of any kind extended to them.

[55] J. A. Seiss, The Apocalypse Lectures on the Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1900), p. 72.

[56] E. J. Banks, ISBE, p. 1836.

[57] E. M. Blaiklock, op. cit., p. 124.

[58] Ibid., p. 125.

[59] Encyclopedia Britannica (Chicago: William Benton, Publisher, 1961), Vol. 1, p. 710.

[60] Isbon T. Beckwith, op. cit., p. 487.

These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God:

The Amen ... This denotes the one in whom verity is personified."[61] There is also the sense of completeness and finality in it. Before Christ, there was no other; and after him there is no other.

The faithful and true witness ... The faithfulness of Christ is affirmed in this, a truth often overlooked. As deity, Jesus Christ had no need of faith in the sense of its use today; but "as a man" he walked in faith, implicitly trusting all that the Father had promised. In the ultimate sense, all human justification derives from the perfect faith and perfect obedience of Christ.

The beginning of the creation of God ... Plummer pointed out that the words here bear two possible interpretations:

The two meanings are: (1) that which would make Christ the first created thing of all things God created, and (2) that which would understand Christ as the Source of all the things God created.[62]

Plummer and many other able scholars declare the second meaning to be the one intended here. "The words mean, the one from whom creation took its beginning."[63] The agreement with Colossians 1:16 is probably intended, for the church in Laodicea received Colossians.

[61] Ibid., p. 488.

[62] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 115.

[63] Isbon T. Beckwith, op. cit., p. 488.