Laodicea #97

Laodicea was a wealthy city in the Lycus Valley of the Roman province of Asia, in what is now western Turkey. It was the seventh and last of the churches addressed in Revelation 3:14-22, and it is also mentioned in Paul’s letter to the Colossians, which shows that the church there was in existence well before the vision was given.

Biblical Significance

Paul writes that he is struggling for the believers at Colossae and at Laodicea, and for those who had never met him face to face (Colossians 2:1). Epaphras is said to work hard for the people of Colossae, Laodicea, and Hierapolis (Colossians 4:13). Paul sends greetings to the church that met in the house of Nympha and asks that his letter be read in Laodicea, and that the Colossians in turn read the letter “from Laodicea” (Colossians 4:15-16). That letter has not survived under that name, and scholars have proposed various identifications for it.

In Revelation, Christ speaks to Laodicea as “the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God” (Revelation 3:14). He tells them he knows their works, that they are neither cold nor hot, and that because they are lukewarm, he is about to spit them out of his mouth (Revelation 3:15-16). A widely cited interpretation links this to the city’s water supply, which was carried by aqueduct from a distance and arrived tepid, unlike the hot springs of nearby Hierapolis or the cold streams of Colossae, though scholars debate how far the metaphor was intended to draw on it. The deeper problem is self-deception. The Laodiceans said they were rich and needed nothing, but Christ says they are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked (Revelation 3:17). The city was known for banking, for black wool, and for a medical school and eye remedies, and Christ counsels them to buy gold refined by fire, white garments, and salve for the eyes (Revelation 3:18). The city had rebuilt itself after an earthquake in about AD 60 without imperial aid, according to the Roman historian Tacitus.

The letter is severe, but it ends with grace. Those he loves he reproves and disciplines, and so they are told to be zealous and repent (Revelation 3:19). The famous image follows: “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” (Revelation 3:20). The victor is promised a seat on his throne (Revelation 3:21).

Today

The ruins of Laodicea lie north of the Turkish city of Denizli, near the travertine terraces of Pamukkale. Excavations have uncovered two theaters, a stadium, a colonnaded main street, a large nymphaeum, and traces of the water system, and work on the site is ongoing.