Days of Vengeance - The Preterist Archive

3:17-20
not saying that outright apostasy is preferable to
middle-of-the-roadism; rather, He is wishing that the
Laodicean Christians would have an influence upon
their society.
The Hippopotamus’s day
Is passed in sleep; at night he hunts;
God works in a mysterious way –
The Church can sleep and feed at once. 17
The Christian’s calling is not to blend in with a pagan
environment but to convert it, reform it, reconstruct it
in terms of the whole counsel of God as mandated in
His Word. To cite but one example of a modern
Laodiceanism, consider the many Bible-believing,
evangelical churches – which would shudder at the
suggestion that they are “worldly” or “liberal” – which
continue on in their complacent lifestyle, organizing
encounter groups and summer camps, completely
oblivious to the murder of over 4000 unborn infants
every day. Often, these churches are afraid of making
“political” statements on the grounds that they might
lose their tax exemptions. But whatever the excuse,
such a church is disobedient to the Word of God. If a
church is not transforming its society, if it is not
Christianizing the culture, what good is it? “If the salt
has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It
is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out
and trampled under foot by men” (Matt. 5:13).
So because you are lukewarm . . . I will spit you out
of my mouth. This is an echo of Leviticus 18:24-28:
Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all
these the nations which I am casting out before you have
become defiled. For the land has become defiled, therefore I
have visited its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed
out its inhabitants. But as for you, you are to keep My statutes
and My judgments, and shall not do any of these
abominations, neither the native, nor the alien who sojourns
among you (for the men of the land who have been before
you have done all these abominations, and the land has
become defiled); so that the land may not spew you out,
should you defile it, as it has spewed out the nation which has
been before you.
The Laodicean lukewarmness is an abomination to the
Lord. Because it is such a failure in making an
impression upon the world (and thus conforming to
heathen standards – or not making a fuss about those
standards, which amounts to the same thing) the
church is in danger of being cut off from Christ,
its very leadership threatened with wholesale
excommunication.
17-18 The city of Laodicea was proud of its three
outstanding characteristics: Its great wealth and
financial independence as an important banking
center; its textile industry, which produced “a very fine
quality of world-famous black, glossy wool”; 18 and its
scientific community, renowned not only for its
prestigious medical school, but also for an eyesalve
(called “Phrygian Powder”) which had been wellknown
since the days of Aristotle. Using these facts to
illustrate the problems in the church, Christ cites the
general attitude of the Laodicean Christians: You say:
I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need
of nothing. In reality, despite the church’s wealth and
undoubted social standing, it was ineffectual,
accomplishing nothing for the kingdom of God. It is
not a sin for a church (or an individual) to be rich – in
fact, God wants us to acquire wealth (Deut. 8:18).
What is sinful is the failure to use our resources for the
spread of the kingdom. When a relatively poor church
such as that at Smyrna (see Rev. 2:9) was having a rich
effect upon its community, there was no excuse for
Laodicea’s impotence. Her problem was not wealth, but
disobedience: You do not know that you are wretched
and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
Yet, in grace, Christ makes an offer of mercy: I advise
you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may
become rich; and white garments, that you may
clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness
may not be revealed; and eyesalve to anoint your
eyes, that you may see. The symbolism here should be
obvious. True faith and genuine works of obedience are
spoken of in Scripture in terms of jewelry, and
especially gold (1 Pet. 1:7; 1 Cor. 3:12-15); nakedness
is symptomatic of disobedience (Gen. 3:7), whereas
being clothed in white robes is a symbol of righteousness,
with regard to both justification and sanctification
(Gen. 3:21; Matt. 22:11; Rev. 19:8); and blindness is a
symbol for man’s impotence and fallenness (Lev. 21:18;
Deut. 29:4; Matt. 13:13-15; 16:3; 2 Cor. 4:3-4; 1 John
2:11) apart from God’s restoration of him to true sight
– the godly, mature ability to judge righteous judgment
(Luke 4:18; Acts 26:18; 1 Cor. 2:14-15).
19-20 But Laodicea is not yet to be cast off by the
Lord. Harsh as His words are, He still professes His love
for His Bride. That, in fact, is the source of His anger:
Because I love you, He declares, I reprove and
discipline. A characteristic of those who are true sons
of God, and not bastards (cf. Heb. 12:5-11) is their
response to rebuke and discipline. All Christians need
reproof and correction at times, and some more than
others; what is important is whether or not we heed the
warning, and mend our ways. As far as Laodicea has
fallen, it can still be restored if it renews its obedience
and becomes faithful to God’s Word: Be zealous
therefore, and repent!
At this point Jesus speaks some of the most beautiful
words in all the Bible, in what is perhaps the most wellknown
New Testament verse aside from John 3:16.
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.
Several Reformed commentators have pointed out the
wide-spread abuse of this passage by modern evangelicals,
who rip the verse from its context as a message to
16. Mounce, pp. 125f.
17. From T. S. Eliot, “The Hippopotamus,” Collected Poems 1909-1962 (New
York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1963), p. 42.
18. Charles F. Pfeiffer and Howard F. Vos, The Wycliffe Historical Geography of
Bible Lands (Chicago: Moody Press, 1967), p. 377.
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