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Letter to Laodicea

Letter to Laodicea. Rev 3:14-22. Outline of Revelation. Preparation of the Prophet: His Past Vision (1:1 – 20) Preparation of the People: Their Present Condition (2:1 – 3:22) Church of Loveless Orthodoxy – Message to Ephesus (2:1-7) Church of Martyrdom – Message to Smyrna (2:8-11)

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Letter to Laodicea

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  1. Letter to Laodicea Rev 3:14-22

  2. Outline of Revelation • Preparation of the Prophet: His Past Vision (1:1 – 20) • Preparation of the People: Their Present Condition (2:1 – 3:22) • Church of Loveless Orthodoxy – Message to Ephesus (2:1-7) • Church of Martyrdom – Message to Smyrna (2:8-11) • Church of Indiscriminate Tolerance – Message to Pergamum (2:12-17) • Church of Compromise – Message to Thyatira (2:18-29) • Church of Complacency – Message to Sardis (3:1-6) • Church of Promised Deliverance – Message to Philadelphia (3:7-13) • Church of Lukewarmness – Message to Laodicea (3:14-22)

  3. Seven Churches of Revelation: Laodicea

  4. Church of Lukewarmness:To the Church at Laodicea(Rev 3:14-22) • Background • 1) Relationship to Colossae • 2) Textile Industry • 3) Medical School • 4) Extreme Wealth • 5) No Local Water Source

  5. Church of Lukewarmness:To the Church at Laodicea(Rev 3:14-22) • Attributes of the Speaker (14) • “The Amen” (Isa 65:16; 2 Cor 1:20) • “The Faithful and True Witness” (Rev 19:11; cf. 21:5, 22:6) • “Beginning of the Creation of God” • 1) Start of God’s creation (first being that God ever created) • 2) Source of God’s creation (being from which all that God created came) • 3) Ruler of God’s creation (supreme ruler over all that God created)

  6. Reasoning from the Scriptures (Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society) • Some take the view that what is meant is that the Son was “the beginner of God’s creation,” that he was its “ultimate source.” But Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon lists “beginning” as its first meaning of ar·khe′. (Oxford, 1968, p. 252) The logical conclusion is that the one being quoted at Revelation 3:14 is a creation, the first of God’s creations, that he had a beginning. • Holman Christian Standard Bible and Simon Kistemaker (NTC) • “Originator of God’s creation” • The Lord calls himself the “origin [Greek archē] of God’s creation.” We should not interpret the word origin passively, as if Jesus were created or recreated, but actively, because Jesus is the one who generates and calls God’s creation into being (John 1:1; Col. 1:15-18; Heb 1:2). What then is the purpose of this description? To show that Jesus Christ made all things and thus possesses and controls them. Also, all things were made to praise and serve him. • New International Version and John Walvoord (BKC) • “Ruler of God’s creation” • As “the Ruler of God’s creation” Christ existed before God’s Creation and is sovereign over it (cf. Col 1:15, 18; Rev 21:6). This description was in preparation for the stern word of rebuke which Christ would give the church in Laodicea

  7. hēarchētēsktiseōstoutheou • Beginning • In the beginningGod created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1) • But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs (Matthew 24:8) • I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning(1 John 2:13) • Ruler • And they will appoint for themselves one leader(Hosea 2:2 [1:11 English]) • For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities … (Romans 8:38) • Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities… (Titus 3:1)

  8. hēarchētēsktiseōstoutheou • Beginning – 27x • Ruler – 13x • Either Way: beginning or ruler a part of … • Abib the “beginning of months” (Exodus 12:2) • Wars, earthquakes, famines: the “beginning of birth pangs” (Mark 13:8) • Behemoth: “chief of the creation of the Lord” (Job 40:19) • Gershon, Kohath, Merari, etc…: “heads of the family of the Levites” (Exodus 6:16-25)

  9. Attributes of Speaker -> John’s Vision of Christ

  10. Revelation 3:14  Revelation 1:5 • Faithful Witness • Ruler of the Kings of the Earth • “archōn” (ruler) is a cognate of “archē” (beginning, ruler) • Does this argue for “ruler” in Revelation 3:14? • Firstborn of the dead • Phrase found one other time: Colossians 1:18 • In apposition to hēarchē (“the beginning”) • John, like Paul, is linking archēwith “firstborn of the dead” • Does this argue for “beginning therefore ruler” in Revelation 3:14? (beginning…first place in Colossians) • “Of the dead”??? Look at Colossians 1:15-20

  11. Church of Lukewarmness:To the Church at Laodicea(Rev 3:14-22) • Knowledge of the People (15-16) • Neither cold nor hot • Hot – Romans 12:11 (cf. Apollos) • Cold? • Christ addressing unbelief in a message to the church? • Note the contrast with the letter to the Colossians • State of the Church (17-19) • They (kept on) saying: I have need of nothing… • Remember the background: textile industry, medical school, extreme wealth. • Were the Laodiceans talking materially or spiritually? • Gold, Garments, and eye salve • “Buy”? • Repent (now) and be zealous (continually)

  12. Church of Lukewarmness:To the Church at Laodicea(Rev 3:14-22) • The Lord’s Coming (20): A voice and knocking at the door • “Knocking on the door of a sinner’s heart” • Biblical examples: • Song of Solomon 5:2 – “A voice! My beloved was knocking…” • Matthew 24:33 – “recognize that He is near, right at the door” (cf. Mark 13:39) • Luke 12:36 – “Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks” • James 5:9 – “Behold, the Judge is standing right at the door” • Supper • Luke 22:29-30: just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom • Perhaps the marriage supper of the Lamb is in view • Significance of sharing a meal in biblical times (remember the discussion on food sacrificed to idols?)

  13. Church of Lukewarmness:To the Church at Laodicea(Rev 3:14-22) • Promise to the Overcomer (21) • The Father’s Throne • Christ’s Throne • Sharing with Christ • Matthew 19:28 – Promise to 12 disciples (Luke 22:30) • 1 Corinthians 6:2 – Promise to all believers (2 Tim 2:12) • Revelation 20:4 – The fulfillment (Rev 5:10; 20:6) • Daniel 7:27 – Prophesied long ago • Command to Hear (22): Christ bids every church to heed what is said to each church.

  14. Next Week: The One Sitting on the Throne Read Rev 4:1-11

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