Revelation 3

Sardis was a city located on a main road in western Turkey. An earthquake destroyed it in AD 17, about 30 years before Paul converted to Christianity. Emperor Tiberius led the rebuilding by donating from imperial funds 10 million sesterces. That was equal to 2.5 million denarii. A denarius was the going wage for a day’s labor. So, it would have paid a year’s salary for 8,000 workers. The site is a ruins that tourists visit.

Asia was a Roman province in what is now central and western Turkey. The seven churches John addresses are some of the most influential and strategically located in the region. Why John singled out seven is up for debate. Some have said seven symbolized completion because God rested on the seventh day after creating the universe. And because of this, “seven” was a symbolic way of referring to churches everywhere. But the number was also linked to divine power and authority and could provide symbolic support for John’s claim that the message came from God, through Jesus.

Some scholars say the seven stars are angels on earth, just as the seven spirits are God’s top angels in heaven. The seven angels on earth are each assigned to watch over one of the seven churches John is addressing. If that interpretation is correct, John’s letter seems to begin by saying that what’s coming is coming from the one who has absolute authority, from earth to heaven.

“Dirty clothes” would resonate with people of faith in Sardis for at least two reasons. First, the town was famous for producing wool. Second, “dirty” implies “ritually unclean” and unfit to worship God. Jews who were ritually unclean weren’t allowed to worship in the Jerusalem Temple until they had gone through cleansing rituals, which often involved washing and then waiting for a day or more. It also suggests the image of someone standing in the presence of God with filthy clothes instead of clean clothes, as though they have no respect for God and aren’t fit to be in the same room with him.

Most Bible experts seem to agree that the Book of Life isn’t a celestial book. It’s a metaphor, a way of identifying people devoted to God. This word picture may have begun centuries earlier, when palace scribes kept records of the king’s enemies and his loyal servants. Kings generally rewarded the loyal souls with life and other perks. People who betrayed the king weren’t so lucky.

Philadelphia was an agricultural town in what is now western Turkey. It’s the city of Alasehir today. When Turks today hear the name, they associate it with raisins produced from local vineyards. Mineral springs are popular too.

This seems to suggest Jesus is fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah 22:22 about a key of David that locks and unlocks doors. The description seems to work as a metaphor that says Jesus has the divine authority, predicted long ago, to tell the church what to do.

This is the verse that some Christians say supports the theory that Jesus will come and take Christians away in what they call the Rapture. Some Christians teach that this will happen before he unleashes plagues and disasters known as the Great Tribulation. This presumption is part of a style of interpreting Revelation that’s called dispensationalism, an approach widely disregarded among Bible scholars. Dispensationalists divide history, the present, and the future into categories that they say helps them make sense of otherwise obscure Bible sayings. In this verse, John is quoting Jesus saying that some kind of testing (not necessarily the Great Tribulation) is coming and that only the church at Philly (not all Christians) will get to skip it. And “skip it” or “spared from it” doesn’t necessarily involve a Rapture that airlifts all believers off the planet and into heaven. Dispensationalists usually teach that people should read Revelation’s descriptions literally and not as images loaded with metaphor. They teach that there will be a Great Tribulation of wars and plagues, but that Jesus will rapture the church away before that happens. They look for supporting clues as they read Revelation and other books of prophecy. Revelation 3:10 is one such verse.

Laodicea was a financial center and home to a lot of rich folks, some of whom may have attended the local church meetings. People of Laodicea also produced health care products. So, it might seem odd for them to get a letter telling them to buy some decent clothes and eye salve. Jesus seems to be telling the church to stop focusing so much on building their earthly assets and start investing for the long term—for eternal life.

More literally “The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, and the Beginning of God’s creation.” “Amen” may point back to Isaiah 65:16 and its reference to the God of Truth/Amen. “Faithful and True” also describes the rider on the white horse (Revelation 19:11, New Living Translation). The word “beginning” can mean Jesus existed before Creation or he ruled it or he started the work of creation. It could also refer to something Paul wrote about Jesus to the neighboring church at Colossae: “When it comes to everything in creation, he comes first” (Colossians 1:15).

More literally, “vomit you out of my mouth.” It’s a graphic way of expressing God’s rejection of the people in this church.

It could sound like Jesus wants to share more than a meal. He might want to share a life.