THE LAODICEAN CHURCH - THE PERIOD OF APOSTASY

The Laodicean Church: The Period of Apostasy

1900 A.D. to the end

"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;" "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot." "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:" "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."

The Destination of the Letter

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write..."

The Immediate Destination of the Letter
"And unto the angel."

The supernatural spirit or angelic spirit who serves as the custodian of the church.

The Intermediate Destination of the Letter "Of the church"

The pastor or ruling elder. The official board or board of elders, officers, teachers, deacons. The congregation as a whole which should exercise its priestly functions.

The Ultimate Destination of the Letter
"Of the Laodiceans" (AV) or "In Laodicea."

There is a variant here which has been adopted by the ASV as support by the better mss. and brings reading into conformity with the readings of all the other letters.

Laodicea was an extremely strong fortress on the main road from the coast eastward. It was named after Laodice, the wife of the rebuilder, Antiochus II (261-246 B.C.).

The city suffered grievously in the Mithridatic War, but presently recovered again and was overthrown by an earth­quake during the reign of Nero (61 A.D.). It was restored by the efforts of its own citizens without the help from the Roman Senate.

At the time of the Apocalypse (96 A.D.), it was a prosper­ous, commercial city, renowned particularly for the quality of wool which it sold. It was also important for its school of medicine. Its physicians were specifically known for the ointments they produced, and in particular a certain form of eye salve.

A central road system converged in Laodicea, making it a commercial and financial center. It was also a man­ufacturing city, producing a sheep with glossy black wool, garments made from them.

A famous temple existed there, the home of the Phrygian god, Men Karou. This was the original god of the valley. His temple was the center of society, administration, intercourse, trade, and religion. It was in connection with this temple that the school of medicine grew up.

Large settlement of Jews who were wealthy, quite a mixed population.

It is difficult to describe the spirit and nature of the city. There are no extremes and hardly any very marked features. In this even balance lies its peculiar charac­ter. Those were the qualities that contributed to make it essentially the successful trading city, the city of bankers and finance, which could adapt itself to the needs and wishes of others, even pliable and accommodating, full of the spirit of compromise. The Laodicean church caught this spirit and carried it into all the life of the church instead of correcting this spirit in its faith and life.