(14) 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 G_D; (15) I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. (16) So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. (17) 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: (18) 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 eye salve, that thou mayest see. (19) As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. (20) 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. (21) 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. (22) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches. (Revelations 3:14–22)
Letter to Laodicea Components
Image of Yeshua: Faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of G_D
Positives: none
Negatives: neither hot nor cold but lukewarm
Extras: spewed out of Messiah’s mouth, thou sayest that thou art rich with increased goods and have need of nothing but thou are poor and wretched miserable and naked. Buy gold of Yeshua tried in the fire so that thou may be rich and clothed in white raiment and have thy naked shame covered up and have thine eyes salved so that thou may see. As many as Yeshua loves he rebukes and chastens.
Warning: Repent; Yeshua stands at the door knocking. If any one hears his voice and opens the door Yeshua will come in to him and will sup with him.
Reward: sit at the throne of Yeshua
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Letter to Laodicea Commentary
Let us begin by reviewing Messiah’s introductory image to Laodicea. As the reader will recall much space within this work has been dedicated to detailing the meaning of Yeshua as the “Faithful and True Witness.” It is Yeshua who bears witness relative to: G_D, Satan and people.
In the context of this Church message Messiah’s role as the faithful and true witness is Yeshua’s declaration the “end days” have come. In these last days will be the time when Yeshua invokes his own inheritance from G_D and acts as judge over all the nations and peoples.
Yeshua’s reference as being the “beginning of the creation of G_D” serves as a declaration to mankind that his coming will signify the end of the present age and the beginning of the new. Just as all things were created through him and for him in the beginning, so too will the new things be created through him and for him.
The reader should admit when this last Church era message introduction is viewed in proper context, it becomes irrational to contend this is not specific to the last days. The symbolism of death and resurrection/renewal, the very heart of the faith of true believers, should be self-evident even to the non-discerning reader.
When we look at verses fifteen through nineteen it is unfortunate, but not surprising, that we do not find this Church era receiving any applause at all from Yeshua. In fact the declarations by Messiah are strictly damning. At the very heart of the issue with the purported believers is their situation of being “lukewarm” or in other words “on the proverbial fence.”
Let us look a bit closer at the term lukewarm before being to presumptuous:
Mildly warm; tepid.
Feeling or showing little interest or enthusiasm; “a halfhearted effort” (64)
As one can see Yeshua is openly declaring that a half-hearted job, devoid of sound and faithful commitment, is going to result in rejection. Messiah declares: “I will spew thee out of my mouth.”
The obvious implication here is “half-hearted” literally refers to individuals who do in effect claim to be believers of Messiah. The reader should understand this has huge ramifications for the masses who mistakenly believe they are right with G_D because “in their minds” they accept the truth of Yeshua as the World’s Savior. What they fail to realize is their lack of follow through and commitment in living this belief results in their faith being relegated to a false faith. Essentially they have no spiritual salt within them!
It is incumbent upon each and every individual to understand that being a “good” person, being kind and charitable for example, simply for the sake of brotherhood or mankind just will not get the job done. The author has exposed time and time again within this work the necessity to perform works in the Name of and for the glory of G_D and G_D alone. If the works described in Torah are done for any reason other than a conviction of faith that these works will glorify G_D then the individual has already received their just reward.
Yeshua further points out the general condition of the Church era in verse seventeen; he speaks of a time of prosperity when materialism abounds. He speaks of a time of wealth where things are plentiful and the population is not in need of basic necessities.
Certainly we live in an era today where the standard of living has improved significantly in nearly all parts of the globe, and without question this is the case within Western Culture. Certainly we live in an era today where commerce is king. When we view in proper context the connection between Messiah’s Church on Earth and Western Civilization, is it not definitive it is a culture and society of comfort? Is it not definitive this is a culture which has become married to materialism?
Sadly enough the author would like the reader to think about the Christian holiday of Christmas for a moment. Think about the commercial and material aspects of this supposedly Holy Day. Now attempt to reconcile the commercial reality of this Christian holiday with the life, ministry and mission of Yeshua the Messiah.
There is no better example of how lukewarm fits this modern era then how the masses across the globe celebrate this purported Holy Day. What is supposed to be a tribute marking the birth of the Savior of the World must in effect be a stench in the nose of he who died for the sins of all people. Yeshua wants the world to forego wealth accumulation and materialistic pursuits and follow him. Instead we live in a time where people have in effect turned the supposedly holy and solemn day of Yeshua the Messiah into the greatest commercial and material event in the history of mankind.
Lest the reader get the wrong impression, the author is not condemning people for providing for their families and loved ones. Nor is the author putting down the traditional Western societal dream of being economically self-sufficient. The author is also aware Westerners can be very charitable. We must remember however that Western Culture has been on the whole extremely blessed by G_D. So in the grand scheme of things do we really use these blessings wisely? Do we as a society use these blessings as a systematic means of blessing the unfortunate in a manner that gives glory to G_D and recognizes his blessing upon our own society? Scripture is clear that to those who are given much; much will be expected!
Apparently in the words of Messiah the answer to the questions above is “no” because our modern community of purported believers is in effect wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. Obviously this description speaks to the spiritual wealth of society. Of the things of this world we have much; of the treasures set aside in the Kingdom of G_D we have nothing and in essence are bankrupt.
Most regrettably, in many religious circles, there is little difference between the behaviors of the “world out there” and the believing community. It cannot be denied that divorce, child abuse, drugs, alcohol, and sexual immorality plague our religious communities. From a statistical perspective this must be true for the number of instances far exceeds the numbers of persons who are purportedly unbelievers. Therefore these problems are rampant among purported believers as well.
But even in these late times G_D holds open the opportunity for salvation. Yeshua exhorts individuals to purchase from him the gold of faithful works which have been tried in the fire and are righteous. Then we will not bear the shame of being spiritually bankrupt. Then we will have riches that won’t rust or fade away. Then Yeshua will uncover our eyes so we won’t be blind and then we can readily see the perfection of G_D’s ways.
Yeshua continues to guide all people in verse nineteen when he declares it is all people whom he loves that he rebukes. Yeshua rebukes so that we can repent! The reader must understand however that one must see the rebuking in order to repent. How many congregations sit back and declare “this is not us;” we most certainly are not the Church of Laodicea! Worse yet there are numerous congregations that simply refuse to accept the fact these Church messages are even prophetic and pertinent to history beyond the first century Ce. Unfortunately people need to understand all congregations not meeting the standards of the Church of Philadelphia, by default, are indeed members of the Church of Laodicea!
So we should readily see the merging of the Church of Sardis and the Church of Laodicea. The latter is a natural result of the former and the over confidence indicative of the former has been transformed into nonchalance in the latter. This is indeed a fair spiritual depiction of modern Western culture from the author’s perspective.
Finally we see Messiah, with tremendous mercy and love, holding out the invitation one last time. All he wants is for people to listen for his voice and ask him to come into their lives. For those who take Yeshua up on his offer, the gift is the opportunity to supper with the Lord and sit with him at his throne. Not a bad deal is it?
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