7/16/23
We’re reading through Revelation along with NT Wright’s Revelation for Everyone. These notes include discussions of topics of additional interest and attempt connections with more Old Testament material.
The letter below loosely adheres to an outline from an earlier section.
Laodicea
-“the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God”
-Jesus tells them to be cold or hot, not lukewarm or he will spit them out
-He says they believe they are wealthy but are actually “wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,” tells them to “buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see,” and calls them to repent
-“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me”
-“I will grant the one who conquers permission to sit with me on my throne, just as I, too, conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne”
-“…hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
NT Wright needs no help here. His descriptions of the regional and cultural elements of Laodicea explain the significance of many of Jesus’ city-specific references.
In this final letter, Jesus promises to the one who conquers that he will sit with Jesus on his throne. The last letter to the churches suggests a Genesis 1 concept, that God has made us to rule in his creation.
In contrast to the previous letter where he opens the door, in this letter, Jesus is knocking at the door asking to be let in. Wright asserts that, to an early reader, this passage would have clear association with Communion. It may also take some cultural translation to understand – hospitality remains even today among the highest of values in the region. Setting aside one’s own plans and giving generously to a visitor is a point of honor. Jesus standing at the door likely invoked a significant set of ideas regarding welcoming, eating together, resting and talking in a common area, and elaborate rituals expressing invitation to stay and reluctance to leave.
Reviewing the Letters
With a repetitive format, it can help to look at like elements. Here are the similar elements from each letter grouped together:
“He who conquers” has been a refrain throughout these letters. It is clearly a New Testament concept, appearing in John 16:33, Romans 3:4, Romans 12:21, 1 John 2:13-14, 1 John 4:1-4, and 1 John 5:1-5.
There is a consistent message across these passages – that Jesus has conquered, and we conquer by faith in and through relationship with him.
We’ve also seen how numerous Old Testament references in John’s introduction to Jesus and in the letters to the churches point to Old Testament judgment narrative or prophecy. Here is a summary of those:
The Throne Room (4:1-6)
Having finished the letters, the door is open, and with John, we’re invited in. It is a door in heaven, to the resting place of God himself.
As NT Wright notes, this imagery is straight out of the Old Testament prophets – a throne room scene in heaven with God sovereign over all. (Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 1:26-28, Ezekiel 43:1-9, Daniel 7:9-10)
The imagery, of the precious metals and stones and white garments, the throne, and the sea, are reminiscent of the Tabernacle and Temple, yet there are fewer elements. It may be worth meditating on what’s missing.
Accounts in Ezekiel and Isaiah suggest connections between the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle and Temple and the throne room of God. In Ezekiel 43, the glory of the Lord enters the Temple, and God says it is the place of his throne and of the soles of his feet.
“Thus says the Lord, ‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool.’” (Isaiah 66:1)
God’s throne room contains elements similar to those in the Tabernacle and Temple – the sea as analog to the laver or bronze sea, seven lampstands corresponding to the one Tabernacle/Temple menorah. In coming passages, additional elements in God’s presence may remind us of those in the Tabernacle and Temple. None of this is beyond dispute, but we should keep our inner eyes tuned to similarities between Old Testament concepts and this heavenly vision.
Tyndale House researcher James Bejon recently posted a Twitter thread (somewhat speculatively) connecting the throne room imagery to wilderness-era imagery from the twelve Israelite tribes.