Sardis

Revelation 3:1. “The church in Sardis.”

 

            The inspired writer may have used a play on Greek words by using Hebrew meanings and ideas for the name Sardis as well as the other names of the seven churches.  He may have taken the Greek word Sardis and used the meaning of the Hebrew word sərâd, that sounded much the same, to drive home the message he had for them.  The Hebrew word sərâd, according to Gesenius’ Lexicon is “A kind of cloth or stuff, like a coat of mail, made of threads by means of needles … of this the curtains of the tabernacle were made … (Exod. 31:10)”  Brown-Driver-Briggs defines sərâd as “plaited or braided work (… textile stuff, curtains)”.

            Textiles are referred to in 3:4: “… who have not soiled their clothes.  They will walk with me dressed in white.”  And in 3:5: “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment ….”

Garments, White/Linen

 Revelation 3:4-5:  Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

             The rule of Herod, the Idumean, marked the first foreigner to be king of the Jewish nation, as such, fulfilling Genesis 49:10.  Eusebius says: “With him the succession from Moses of Jewish rulers and governors came to an end.”[1]  The kingship of the Davidic line had ceased and the last of the legal High Priests had also been deposed many years earlier, so that selection of the priesthood and kingship had both ceased to follow the Biblical prescription.  From that time until the destruction in AD 70 the kingship and priesthood were both political appointments by the Roman Empire.

            Revelation 3:4-5 reflects the concern for the sacred priestly garments, which had become a burning issue in the first century.  When Herod became king, he took the sacred garments, which should have been worn by the High Priest, into his own custody.  He locked them up under his own seal instead of allowing the priests to have charge of them. This passage in Revelation 3:4-5 shows that the true priestly garments, the robe of righteousness, are in the custody of Jesus.

 Book of Life of the Lamb

 

Revelation 3:5:  “And I will not blot his name out of the book of life.”  See also 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27; 22:19 and Philippians 4:3.

 

            This “Book of Life” is more fully called “The Book of Life of the Lamb,” or “The Lamb’s Book of Life.”  It is mentioned in the above referents in the New Testament.  Is there Old Testament precedence for this “Book“?  Yes.

            There are many references to “Book(s)” in the Old Testament.  There were “Books of Generations” or “History”, for example Genesis 2:4; Numbers 1:2, 3, 17-46, etc.  There were books, lost to us now, of prophets, such as those of Jashar, Joshua 10;13 and 2 Samuel 1:18; of Nathan, Ahijah and Iddo, 2 Chronicles 9:29.

            It is clear from Exodus 32:32-33 that Moses believed that God had a “Book” in which the names of His people were recorded:

Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin – ; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. 33 And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. (Exod. 32:32)

 

There is the “Book of Remembrance” spoken of by Malachi:

Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard [it], and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. (Mal. 3:16)

 

            These latter two books contain the names of those who do not sin and those who fear the Lord.  It is a book kept in heaven by the Lord Himself.  It is this book that continues into the New Testament and is called “The Lamb‘s Book of Life.”

            In the Old Testament “to remember” was “to record.”  There is a suggestion in the word zâkâr that it means “to mark.”  The word also means ‘a man,’ or ‘male persons,’ especially in connection with circumcision.  It appears that the young male child was “recorded” in the genealogies at the same time he was ‘marked’ by circumcision.  This ceremony enrolled him in the earthly “Book of Remembrance.” 

            However, it was possible to be “blotted out” of this book, and even in some cases to reverse the marks of physical circumcision.  The result of this “blotting out” in the earthly realm was that one was considered to no longer exist.  He was ostracized from the community.  He was considered ‘forgotten,’ not remembered.  The writer of 2 Esdras mentions this “blotting out.”  Of the desolate house of Israel that has been rejected by God Almighty he says:

Let them be scattered among the nations, let their names be blotted out from the earth, because they have despised my covenant, (2 Esd. 2:7).

            In the New Testament Christ is the “minister of circumcision“, (Rom. 15:8), which enrolls us in the “Lamb‘s Book of Life,” the genealogy of God’s children, (Col. 2:11-12).

            The entire New Testament may be summarized as the “Generations of Jesus Christ,” (see Matthew 1:1), for it is the record not only of Jesus’ “Forefathers” but also of His “descendants,” those who through Him make up the Chosen People of God, the tribe of Priests and Kings.

            It records the closing out of all the fleshly tribes because of sin and unbelief.  But God’s Kingdom is not defeated nor depleted but alive and well in a more glorious form than ever.  No promise has failed; all is fulfilled in spite of the total loss of the carnal identity.  That all of this is true depended entirely upon the identity of Christ as the True Prophet, Priest, and King.

            In the book of Enoch, we find the Book of Life mentioned:

Another book which Enoch wrote for his son Methuselah and for those who will come after him, and keep the law in the last days.  2. Ye who have done good shall wait for those days till an end is made of those who work evil, and an end of the might of the transgressors.  3. And wait ye indeed till sin has passed away, for their names shall be blotted out of the book of life and out of the holy books, and their seed shall be destroyed for ever, and their spirits shall be slain, and they shall cry and make lamentation in a place that is a chaotic wilderness, and in the fire shall they burn; for there is no earth there.[2]  (See WS at 3:5 “Generation(s)” and “Remembrance”.)

 Philadelphia

 Revelation 3:7: “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth.”

 This verse is parallel to Isaiah 22:22:

And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

            The Rabbis used the phrase “openings of the wise” to refer to interpretation of Scriptures.  The word “key” was used of “teachings”.  The Revelator is declaring that Christ is the One spoken of by Isaiah, Who has been given the Key of David, that is, the key to interpreting the Scriptures.

     There seems to be a play on the Greek word ‘Philadelphia‘ and the Hebrew word deleth, ‘door’.  The word ‘Philadelphia‘ can be divided in the middle like a two-leaved door, swinging both ways: philad – (spelled backwards is daleph).  This door motif is first seen in verse 7:

He that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth.

The motif is seen again in 3:8:

I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

This kind of play on words and use of cryptic devices is typical of apocalyptic writings.

 

Word of Patience

 Revelation 3:10: “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”

             The “word of my patience” is the word which treats of “patient waiting for me”, i.e. the word of the prophecy of His return (Bullinger, Lexicon, 574).  Weymouth translates it: “Because you have kept the word for which I suffered.”  The word for which Jesus suffered was that the Jewish nation and Jerusalem would be destroyed, (Matt. 26:61; 27:40; Acts 6:14).  The church is encouraged to maintain this word even in the face of martyrdom.

            The word ‘earth’ is the same word as for ‘land’ in Hebrew, therefore it might be translated by either term, that is: “That dwell upon the earth”, or “That dwell upon the land”.