Class taught by Dr. Jim Hanna
Doctor of Ministry
Homework 6-3
1. Read Revelation Chapters 2 and 3
Revelation 2:1-29 (NASB)
1
"To the angel of the church
in Ephesus write: The One
who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven
golden lampstands, says this: 2 'I know your deeds and your
toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the
test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them
to be false; 3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake,
and have not grown weary. 4
'But I have this against you, that
you have left your first love. 5
'Therefore remember from where you have
fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you
and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent. 6 'Yet this
you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also
hate. 7 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is
in the Paradise of God.' 8
"And to the angel of the
church in Smyrna write: The
first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this: 9 'I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich),
and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a
synagogue of Satan. 10 'Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is
about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will
have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the
crown of life. 11 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.' 12 "And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
The One who has the sharp
two-edged sword says this: 13 'I know where you dwell,
where Satan's throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith
even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among
you, where Satan dwells. 14
'But I have a few things against you,
because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching
Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things
sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. 15 'So you
also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 'Therefore
repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them
with the sword of My mouth. 17
'He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give
some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new
name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.' 18 "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
The Son of God, who has eyes like
a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says
this: 19
'I know your deeds, and your love and faith
and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at
first. 20 'But I have this against you, that you tolerate the
woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My
bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat
things sacrificed to idols. 21
'I gave her time to repent, and she does
not want to repent of her immorality. 22
'Behold, I will throw her on a bed of
sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation,
unless they repent of her deeds. 23
'And I will kill her children with
pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds
and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. 24 'But I say
to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have
not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them—I place no other burden on
you. 25 'Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come. 26 'He who
overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS; 27 AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO
PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father; 28 and I will
give him the morning star. 29
'He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches.'
Revelation 3:1-22 (NASB)
1
"To the angel of the church
in Sardis write: He who has
the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: 'I know your deeds,
that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2 'Wake up, and strengthen
the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds
completed in the sight of My God. 3
'So remember what you have received and
heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will
come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. 4 'But you
have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will
walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 'He who overcomes will thus
be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of
life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. 6 'He who has
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'
7 "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
He who is holy, who is true, who
has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one
opens, says this: 8
'I know your deeds. Behold, I have put
before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power,
and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 9 'Behold, I will cause
those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not,
but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them
know that I have loved you. 10
'Because you have kept the word of My
perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour
which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the
earth. 11 'I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one
will take your crown. 12 'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My
God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of
My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down
out of heaven from My God, and My new name. 13 'He who has an ear, let
him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.' 14 "To the
angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the
creation of God, says this:
15 'I know your deeds, that
you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.
21 'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"
2. List the seven churches that receive a letter.
3. Copy a map of Asia Minor and from a bible atlas and locate the seven churches. Trace the route among the seven churches that a messenger probably followed to deliver the letter.
4. Look up Revelation 3:14-22 in a commentary or background commentary and make a list of every-critical fact about Laodicea that you can find.
Revelation 3:14-22 (NASB)
14 "To the angel of the church in
Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the
creation of God, says this: 15 'I know your deeds, that you
are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 'So
because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My
mouth. 17 'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become
wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are
wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18 I
advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and
white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of
your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that
you may see. 19 'Those
whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. 20
'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice
and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with
Me. 21 'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with
Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22
'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.'"
Laodiceans—The city was in the
southwest of Phrygia, on the river Lycus, not far from Colosse, and lying
between it and Philadelphia. It was destroyed by an earthquake, A.D. 62, and
rebuilt by its wealthy citizens without the help of the state [Tacitus, Annals, 14.27]. This
wealth (arising from the excellence of its wools) led to a self-satisfied,
lukewarm state in spiritual things, as Rev.
3:17
describes. See on Col
4:16,
When this letter is
read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for
your part read my letter that is
coming from Laodicea. on the Epistle which is thought to have been
written to the Laodicean Church by Paul. The Church in latter times was
apparently flourishing; for one of the councils at which the canon of Scripture
was determined was held in Laodicea in A.D. 361. Hardly a Christian is now to
be found on or near its site. JFB Commentary.
church of the Laodiceans—actually,
"the church in Laodicea." The situation in the Laodicean church well
illustrates the peril of materialism and money. Its geographical location and
proximity to Colosse and Hierapolis made it one of the richer commercial cities
of the ancient world. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in c. a.d. 17, and its wealthy citizens who
refused aid from the state rebuilt it. This suggests that they needed help from
neither God nor man. The primary source of monetary gain in this area was from
woolen cloth and clothing made from the many black-wool sheep bred there.
Laodicea was famous for its worship of Asclepius, the Greek god of healing.
Laodiceans had developed a famous medical school and produced an ointment to
cure sore ears and a certain powder used in the treatment of diseased eyes. New
Testament Classic Commentary
To Laodicea. Damaged by an earthquake in a.d. 60, self-sufficient Laodicea, a
commercial center and site of thriving medical and textile industries, declined
imperial disaster relief. The city did not see itself as “poor, blind, and
naked” (v. 17), nor did the complacent church within it. In
this last church alone Jesus finds nothing to commend. Laodicea was famous for
its worship of Zeus, who appears on some of the city’s coinage. Today one can
still view unexcavated remnants of the city wall, two theaters, a stadium from
the time of Vespasian (c. a.d. 79), and a second-century bath and/or
gymnasium with adjacent water tower. An aqueduct came from the south toward
Laodicea, bringing water rich in minerals. There is evidence of Jewish presence
in Laodicea. Twenty pounds of gold were confiscated in the first century b.c. from Jews who intended to send it as a
temple tax to Jerusalem (Cicero, For Flaccus 28). Paul was in contact with the
church there (Col. 2:1; 4:13–16). The
waters of the nearby Lycus River were muddy and undrinkable, and the waters
flowing by aqueduct from hot springs 5 miles (8 km) away were lukewarm when they reached Laodicea. Likewise,
Jesus found his church’s tepid indifference repugnant. Cold and hot water represent something positive,
for cold water refreshes in the heat, and hot water is a tonic when one is
chilly. ESV Study Bible Notes.
The
last of the seven cities (modern Eski-hisar, “the old fortress”) lay about 40
miles southeast of Philadelphia and 90 miles east of Ephesus. It was a wealthy
town that specialized in banking, producing black woolen cloth, and health
care. It had suffered a severe earthquake that had destroyed it, but its
prosperous citizens had rebuilt it. Constables Notes.
Laodicea
was the chief city of Phrygia in the Lycus valley, strategically located where
three highways converged. It was thereby a highly commercial and wealthy city.
It was a city of wealthy bankers and financiers. The many millionaires combined
to build theaters, a huge stadium, lavish public baths, and fabulous shopping
centers. They did have one inadequacy, however—their water supply. Laodicea
received its water through an aqueduct coming from a spring four miles to the
south. The waters of neighboring Hierapolis, however, were famous as hot
springs and would have provided a contrast with the tepid aqueduct water in
Laodicea. By contrast also there was Colossae which had ice cold springs, but
nothing like this was known in Laodicea. https://bible.org/seriespage/message-laodicea-rev-314-22
Laodicea was 45 miles southeast of Philadelphia and 90 miles
east of Ephesus. It was a wealthy city with thriving banks, a textile industry,
and a medical school. The city was also known for its sparse water supply. The Nelson Study
Bible : New King James Version.
Laodicea is
about forty miles southeast of Philadelphia. Built by the Seleucid monarch,
Antiochus II (261–246 b.c.), it was named after his wife, Laodice. It was a
city of considerable size, trade, and wealth, specializing in the manufacture
of wool. It was a bone of contention in Asia Minor under the Romans and under
the Turks. In later times it was a Christian city of importance and was the
residence of a bishop, as well as the meeting place of church councils. Pride
and self-satisfaction characterized the people and made their impression on the
church as well. The city was destroyed by the Moslems in the Middle Ages, and
today the site of the once wealthy city is a mass of ruins. The church at
Laodicea (rights of the people) is the church of insipid luke warmness. It
describes the moral condition of the church at the close of the church age. The
people demand their rights with democracy and almost anarchy as the result. KJV Bible commentary.
The letter
of Christ to the church in Laodicea is the last of these seven letters. Sir
William Ramsay calls Laodicea “the city of compromise.” This city was founded
by Antiochus II (261-246 b.c.). It had a Seleucid foundation. Seleucus was one
of the generals of Alexander who took Syria. Lysimachus took Asia Minor, but
apparently Seleucus moved over into his territory and took some of his ground,
including this city.
Laodicea was
about forty miles east and inland from Ephesus on the Lycus River, which flows
into the Maeander River. It is located at what is known as the “Gate of
Phrygia.” Out of the Oriental East, the great camel caravans came down through
the Gate of Phrygia and through Laodicea. This road came out of the East and
went to Ephesus, to Miletus, and also up to what is called Izmir today but was
Smyrna in that day. Laodicea was in a spectacular place, a great valley. Today
its ruins are largely covered up with the growth of what looks like wild oats.
Its name means “justice of the people.” It was named for Laodice, the wife of
Antiochus. Although there were several cities which bore this name, this was
the most famous one of all.
Between
Laodicea and going on up to the Phrygian mountains, there was in this valley a
great Anatolian temple of the Phrygian god, Men Karou. This was the primitive
god of that area. The temple was the very center of all society,
administration, trade, and religion. There was a great market there, and
strangers came from everywhere to trade. I suppose that the large market in
Istanbul today is very similar to it.
Laodicea was
a place of great wealth, of commerce, and of Greek culture. It was a place of
science and of literature. It boasted an excellent medical school which, again,
was very primitive and actually very heathen. Here is where they developed what
was known in the Roman world as Phrygian powder, a salve for the ears and the
eyes. Laodicea was also a center of industry with extensive banking operations.
Cicero held court here. It is said that he brought notes here to be cashed in
this city. Jupiter, or Zeus, was the object of worship in Laodicea.
Laodicea was
a place of great commerce where they made clothing. As you stand on the ruins
of Laodicea, you can look around at the nearby hills and see where Colosse is
located and also Hierapolis, where there are springs. The greatest ruins are
not in Colosse or Laodicea but in Hierapolis. The hills have a very funny
color. The people took the clay from those hills, put it with a spikenard, and
made it into a salve for the eyes and ears. This salve was shipped all over the
Roman Empire. Today the chemical analysis reveals that there is nothing healing
in that clay at all, but somebody made good money at it in that day. We like to
think we are civilized today, but there is a lot of medicine on the market that
won’t do you a bit of good; yet we are buying it just as fast as we can because
of high-pressure advertising. We had better not criticize these people too
much—but the Lord Jesus did. He is going to tell them that they had better get
the real eye salve that will open their eyes.
This had a
background and a local meaning for the people in that day. Being down in the
valley, they had difficulty getting water in Laodicea. As I stood there in the
ruins, I looked
south toward the Phrygian mountains, some of which are very
high. I was there around the first of June, and there was still an abundance of
snow on top of those mountains. The Laodiceans built an aqueduct to bring that
cold water down from the mountains. When it left the mountains, it was ice
cold, but by the time it made that trip all the way down the mountains to
Laodicea, it was lukewarm. And lukewarm water is not very good.
Down in the
valley where the Lycus River joins the Maeander River, there are hot springs.
The springs are so hot that steam is produced. The Turkish government has
capped it and is using it today, and I understand they intend to develop its
use even more because it is there in abundance. It is the hottest water you can
imagine; a lot of it is just steam. However, when they would take this hot
water up to Laodicea, by the time it got there, it was no longer hot—it had
become lukewarm water.
In its
beginning Protestantism assumed the position of believing all the great
doctrines of the Christian faith. The creeds of all the great historic
denominations are wonderful creeds. The Westminster Confession of Faith is
unparalleled in my estimation, but it is now largely repudiated by the church
that owned it for years. The Heidelberg Catechism is a marvelous confession,
but who is following it? Who believes these wonderful creeds in our day? The
churches have a form of godliness but are denying the power thereof. They have
a name that they live, but they are dead. They are neither hot nor cold—they
are lukewarm.
This is a
heart-searching message for this hour because we are living in the time of
the
Laodicean church and of the Philadelphian church. Both of them are side by
side, and there is a great bifurcation in Christianity today. It is not in
denominations, and it is not Romanism and Protestantism. The great bifurcation
consists of those who believe the Word of God and follow it, love it, obey it,
and those who reject it. That is the line of division today. McGee, J. V. Thru the Bible commentary.
Laodicea.—Situated half way between
Philadelphia and Colossae, and not far from Hierapolis. It received its name
from Laodice, wife of Antiochus the second king of Syria, by whom it was
rebuilt and beautified. It had borne in earlier times the names of Diospolis
and afterwards Rhoas. It shared with Thyatira and Sardis in the dye trade; the
woods grown in the neighbourhood were famous for their quality and the rich
blackness of their colour. Prosperity in trade had so enriched the population
that when their city suffered in the great earthquake (A.D. 60) they were able
to carry on the work of rebuilding without applying, as many of the
neighbouring towns were compelled to do, to the Imperial Treasury for aid. The
language of St. Paul (Col_1:5-8) suggests that the churches of Colossae and the
neighbourhood first received Christianity from the preaching of Epaphras,
though it seems strange that so important a city, lying hard upon the great
Roman road from Ephesus to the east, should have been passed over by St. Paul
in his journeyings throughout Phrygia (see Act_16:6; Act_18:23); yet, on the
other hand, Phrygia was a vague term, and the language of Col_2:1 is most
generally understood to imply that the Apostle had never personally visited
either Colossae or Laodicea. (See Note on Col_2:1.) But it was a Church in
which St. Paul took the deepest possible interest; the believers there were
constantly in his mind. He knew their special temptations to the worship of
inferior mediators, and to spiritual paralysis springing from wordly prosperity
and intellectual pride. He had great heart-conflict for those of Laodicea
(Col_3:1), and in proof of his earnest solicitude he addressed a letter to them
(Col_4:16), in all probability the epistle we call the Epistle to the
Ephesians. Prom the Epistle to the Colossians we may gather that when St. Paul
wrote the Christians at Laodicea assembled for worship in the house of Nymphas
(Col_4:15) probably under the presidency of Archippus (Rev_3:17). Ellicott
commentary
Laodicea, on the Lycus, a tributary of
the Maeander, lay some fifty miles to the south-east of Philadelphia. The
modern Turkish name, Eskihissar, signifies "the old castle." It is
situated on the western side of the valley of the Lycus, on the opposite slopes
of which, some six or eight miles distant, were Hierapolis and Colossae, with
which it is associated by St. Paul. (Col_4:13, Col_4:16) Named at first
Diosopolis, after its tutelary deity, Zeus, it subsequently became Rheas, and
finally received its name from Antiochus II, in honour of his wife, Laodice.
There were several other cities of the same name, from which it was
distinguished by the addition of the words, "on the Lycus." It was a
wealthy city, its trade consisting chiefly in the preparation of woollen
materials. It was advantageously situated, too, on the high road leading from
Ephesus into the interior. Though, in common with the other cities of Asia
Minor, visited by earthquakes, it quickly recovered; and it was the proud boast
of the Laodiceans that, unlike Ephesus and Sardis, they required no extraneous
assistance to enable them to regain their former prosperity. This fact undoubtedly
explains the temptations to which the Laodiceans were liable, and the reference
in ver. 16 to those who were neither cold nor hot, and that in ver. 17 to those
who said they were rich and had need of nothing (see on vers. 16, 17). The
Christian Church there may have been founded by Epaphras, through whom St. Paul
probably learned of the existence of false doctrine there, (Col_2:4, 8 and
Col_1:8) for the Epistle to the Colossians seems to be equally addressed to the
Laodiceans. (Col_4:16) The importance of this Church continued for some time,
the celebrated Council of Laodicea being held there in A.D. 361, and a century
later its bishop held a prominent position (Labbe, 4. p. 82, etc.). But its
influence gradually waned, and the Turks pressed hardly upon it; so that at the
present time it is little more than a heap of ruins. The warnings of the
Apostles SS. Paul and John, if heeded at all for a time, were forgotten, and
her candlestick was removed. Pulpit Commentary
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