Chapter # 3 Paragraph # 3 Study # 1
November 19, 2023
Broadlands, Louisiana
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Thesis: The issue of the problem in Laodicea is best resolved by seeing Jesus as "The Amen", "The Witness Who is Faithful and True" and "The Most Important Person From the Viewpoint of The Creation of God".
Introduction: This evening we are going to begin to look into the letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the last of the seven letters, and has a major problem area.
- I. The Letter To The Angel Of The Church In Laodicea.
- A. Jesus' Self-description.
- 1. "The Amen".
- a. In the Hebrew Old Testament, this word is found in 24 verses (containing 30 total uses) and it is translated "Amen" in 28 of them and "truth" in two of them.
- 1) Half of the 28 uses are in Deuteronomy 27 and are all associated with the people affirming their agreement to "curses" (27:15-26).
- 2) The initial use is in Numbers 5:22 and it is associated with a severe curse to which the woman whose husband has accused her of adultery is in firm agreement, saying the word twice.
- 3) In other texts, the word is used when the person using it is in full agreement with whatever has been said prior to this response.
- 4) The two uses that are translated "truth" are both found in Isaiah 65:16 where it is in the phrase, "by the God of truth".
- 5) Over all, the word signals a "truth" to which "firm agreement" is given.
- b. In the Greek New Testament, this word is found in 103 verses (containing 129 uses), 8 of which are in the Book of the Revelation.
- 1) Over all it is translated "Amen" thirty times and "truly" ninety-nine times.
- 2) The meaning is just as in the Hebrew uses: "Amen", or "truly", means there is a "truth" declared and a strong affirmation of agreement with it is also declared.
- c. As "The Amen" in our text (3:14), Jesus is declaring Himself to be "The Unyielding Truth" to which all will, eventually, be aligned; either in agreement or by enforced judgment. This makes what Jesus has to say even more emphatically true than the normal statements of truth.
- 2. "The Faithful and True Witness".
- a. This is a doubling down on the thesis of "unyielding truth".
- b. Being "faithful" and "true" as "The Witness" (the Greek word order is "Thus says...the Witness, the faithful One and [the] true One") is simply expanding upon His identity as "The Amen".
- 1) The "witness" is the word "martus" (from which we get "martyr") and it's first use in The Revelation is in 1:5 where Jesus Christ is identified as "the faithful witness".
- 2) The second use in The Revelation is in 2:13 where "My faithful witness, Antipas" is one who was killed for his "witness".
- a) The issue of "faithful" means "one who believes the truth that is most pertinent to his/her situation."
- b) The issue of "true" means that the choices of this "believer" are in harmony with the revelation of God regarding the circumstances in view.
- 3) There are three other uses in The Revelation, all of which are tied to people who were willing to die rather than veer away from their "witness".
- 4) This element in Jesus' self-identification is critical because of the extreme importance of His words to the lukewarm leader of the Laodiceans.
- 3. "The 'arche' of the creation of the God".
- a. This word generally means "beginning", depending upon whether "time" is involved, or not.
- 1) When "timing" is involved, the "beginning" is at the point of origin of "time".
- 2) But when there are other considerations not particularly associated with "time", the idea shifts to the idea of being in the first place with all other places follow after.
- b. Being "the Beginning of the Creation of the God" does not mean "being the first created".
- 1) In relation to the "creation", Jesus is self-identifying as the most important being in God's creation because there are several other entities that might vie for the primary place of importance.
- 2) At issue is the issue of being "lukewarm" because no one is "lukewarm" about all things; just about things that are not very important.
