Letters to the Seven Churches, Part 2

We finished looking at the letters to the seven churches during this morning's class, by looking at the three churches in chapter three. Several interesting points came up in our discussion.

Sardis (present-day Sart, a small village) was located on an important trade route. Among the ruins excavated there is the site of an early Christian church building, ironically next to a temple dedicated to Artemis. This church was said to have a good reputation among the believers in the Asia province, but it was dead inside. The few Christians in Sardis who had remained faithful were promised white garments. We talked today about how the color white in Revelation seems to have less to do with purity than with victory: "If you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes." (3:5)

To the church at Philadelphia, Christ identifies himself as holding the "key of David," in a direct reference to Isaiah 22:22, where the key to the house of David was given to Eliakim. Philadelphia joins Smyrna in being the two churches that receive no rebuke. We mentioned that the passage "I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth" is used as a proof text for those who favor a discreet period of Tribulation (with a capital "t") lasting seven years. The Philadelphia church will be spared from this eschatological tribulation because of its "patient endurance." I related about a couple I had known back in the late 1970s who was convinced that the church, as a whole, would be forced to endure this Great Tribulation (which they felt would last exactly seven years). This belief had caused them to decide not to bring children into the world. A child born to them back then would be in her/his 30s today.

The final letter, to Laodicea, is in many ways the most interesting. It is intriguing that letters to Colossae and Laodicea were composed at around the same time, but only the letter to the Colossians was accepted into the canon of the New Testament. The letter is mentioned in the final chapter of Colossians (4:13-16). Christ identifies himself as "the faithful and true witness," perhaps the new name mentioned in the letter to the Philadelphians; it is mentioned again in Revelation 19:11.

This is the only church to receive no commendation; rather, the rebuke is that the Laodicean church is "lukewarm." This condition was well-known to the people in this town, since we know that the water source for the city was in Hierapolis, several miles to the north. The water arrived in Laodicea in a tepid condition, and the city was known for its unpalatable water. It was also the site of an ancient medical school, attached to the temple of Asclepius, where a special salve was developed for the eyes -- making the exhortation in 3:18 more meaningful.

The final part of this letter contains the familiar passage about Jesus standing at the door and knocking. I recall (as do many of you, I'm sure) a song from childhood about this, along with a painting from my Sunday school room. The painting, my teachers told me, showed Jesus knocking on a door that had no latch, because the door must be opened from the inside by those who hear his voice.

Now the door to heaven is standing open, and we will begin to look at the visions that occupy the remainder of the book. But how good it is to look first at these letters that contain within them so many of the problems that face the church today.

Letters to the Seven Churches

We are slightly more than halfway through the seven letters in chapters two and three of Revelation. These chapters are usually considered the least "sexy" portion of the book -- since they contain no visions of beasts or horsemen, I suppose. But they are full of great insights into the problems churches faced in the first century and continue to face today. Here are some tidbits from our discussion so far. Each mini-letter contains (with a couple of interesting exceptions) the same elements: a description of Christ, a commendation (except for Laodicea), a rebuke (except for Smyrna and Philadelphia), an exhortation, and a promise.

Ephesus -- familiar from Acts and Paul's letter, a major seaport, with the temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The Nicolaitans will reappear in the letter to Pergamum, where the church was a bit more accepting of their teachings than in Ephesus. The promise here involves a reference to the tree of life, mentioned both at the beginning of the Bible (Genesis 2) and at its end (Revelation 22).

Smyrna -- one of the two churches given no rebuke. The enigmatic "ten days" of extreme trial has caused many to speculate. We concluded that it probably referred to a period of time that was limited but not necessarily exactly ten days. The reward promised to Smyrna is a crown of life, one of several crowns mentioned in Revelation.

Pergamum -- an important city for several reasons. A paper was developed there that was named for the city, "pergamena" in Greek and Latin, from which we derive the English word "parchment." Pergamum was also a center for the cultic worship of the Roman emperor, and it contained a temple to Zeus. The false teachings here were related to Balaam of Numbers 22-24 and encouraged spiritual infidelity ("fornication"). The Nicolaitans were mentioned as well. The church at Pergamum tended to tolerate these teachings, and that forms their rebuke. The promise involves a new name written on a "white stone" -- quite a mystery. In class we mentioned how this promise involved an intimate, personal relationship to the Savior: details of the relationship were known only to the individual and Christ.

Thyatira -- mentioned obliquely in Acts 16, when one of Paul's Philippian converts was Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from Thyatira. It was a small city but an important commercial center. The description of Christ is taken directly from Daniel 10. Here the false teacher is called Jezebel (Elijah's nemesis from 1 Kings), and her false teachings are described in the same terms as those of the "Balaam" of Pergamum. Both cities are exhorted to "repent" -- that is, turn away from these teachings and toward the true gospel. The promise, from Psalm 2, is a share in Christ's rule.

We have tended to get through two letters in one session, although we will try to squeeze the final three into next week's class. In the meantime, I would love to hear insights from any of you about this section of the book.