Fifty Shades of Grace: November 2016

Chapter 19-Revelation Made Easy—Part Two—Divorce Court

The book of Revelation reveals Jesus Christ as the Redeemer who was promised long, long ago in Genesis 3:15. He is the King who restores Eden, the offspring of the woman Eve, and the Son of David. When a King begins to rule, the first thing he does is to secure his borders and build up his fortresses. The way Jesus did this is shown in the book of Acts. As new converts came to Christ, he secured them by giving them the gift of the Holy Spirit who dwelt within them and was a seal of their salvation. They could never again be captured by any enemy. They are His forever.

Then he sent them out all over the world to establish churches. These churches were His way of building up his fortresses. Cities and towns all over the Roman Empire had pockets of Christians who were slowly building up the army of believers.

Once these fortifications are in place, a King begins to make war on his enemies. In the first century, the greatest enemies of Jesus and the church were the unbelieving Jews. They were the ones who had Him crucified. Jesus made war on Jerusalem and completely destroyed the city and the temple and all evidence of the first (old) covenant. He did this in A.D. 70 and all the events of that time were recorded by a man named Josephus.

You may remember back in Fifty Shades of Grace Chapter 8 how God divorced the ten tribes of Israel. Revelation is a compelling divorce court drama about how God divorced Judah and put an end to the old covenant. Here is the evidence from the Old Testament:

1.Israel was under a legal covenant from the time of Mt. Sinai in Exodus 19.

2. As in any court, there were witnesses to this: Deuteronomy 4:26 says, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed.”

3. We know it was a marriage covenant: Jeremiah 2:2 says, “Thus says the Lord,“I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown."

4. Judah followed Israel down the path of idolatry which God calls adultery because she was his bride. Jeremiah 3:6-10 says, “The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord.”

From all these passages in the Old Testament, we know that Judah will also be divorced by God and that he will begin a new covenant with a new bride—the church of Jesus Christ. We know from the Old Testament that judgment always begins at home. Israel was judged and then the other nations were judged.

It is the same way in Revelation. Before beginning to destroy the unbelieving Jews, Christ sends letters to the 7 churches in Asia Minor warning them about staying faithful to the end. He commends them for what they are doing right and rebukes them for their lack of faithfulness and tells them what they have to do while they wait for him to return. Some of the things he tells them seem a little strange to us today because we don’t know the background of these cities. Just to give you a little idea of the context, I will give you a short history lesson on these seven churches.

Interesting facts about the 7 churches of Revelation

Ephesus (the city of change) was the most important city and capital of Asia Minor. It was a port city on the coast and its layout was a grid. IT had the largest amphitheater in the world and the breeze from the sea carried the sound so you could hear well in the cheap seats! The temple of Artemis (Diana) was located here and was one of the 7 wonders of the world. It also boasted a huge gymnasium which brought workouts to new heights. The gym was adjacent to bathing areas and had public toilets that accommodated up to 36 people at a time all in the wide open spaces with no privacy. It has a large library with four pillars inscribed with wisdom, knowledge, intelligence and destiny. Ephesus also had a huge Agora which would be like a modern day shopping mall where they sold textiles, wine, perfumes, foods—anything at all. Today Ephesus is about 6 miles inland from the shore because the harbor began to fill with soot and the coast receded. Ships could no longer harbor there. Jesus warned this church that they had lost their first love and needed to repent.

Smyrna (the city of life) is Ismir today. The church was probably founded by believers from Ephesus. It was very wealthy and the ruins of Smyrna lie in the heart of Ismir today. It was a crossroads of sea and land travel. The Agora in Smyrna was a 3-story structure. Polycarp, a disciple of John was martyred in Smyrna. He was appointed by John to be the bishop of Smyrna. He was martyred under the rule of Marcus Aurelios. While he was being tied to the stakes, the people heard a voice from heaven saying “Be strong Polycarp and play the man.” They meant to burn him alive, but after they tied him to the stake and started the fire, a wind came and swirled around him keeping the fire from burning him. His executioners then plunged a sword into his side and his blood gushed out extinguishing the fire. His death inspired and emboldened other saints. Interestingly, John had written in Revelation: “Do not fear what you are about to suffer...Be faithful unto death.”

Pergamum (the city of authority) became the capital city of the Roman province in Asia and was a center of learning, medicine, and religious books. Its library rivaled the Alexandrian library and drew many princes, priests and scholars. Noted for its marble carvings and architectural beauty. They worshipped Zeus and Athena, the Roman Emperor and other gods. Some scholars believe that John’s friend Gaius was the first bishop of Pergamum. Jesus warned them in Revelation that some of them were going astray and they needed to repent.

Thyatira (Weakness made strong) was a small town noted for commerce and guilds such as tanners, coppersmiths, potters, and purple dyers. Lydia was from Thyatira. A woman whom Jesus called Jezebel was destroying this church with her immorality and the church was tolerating it. Jesus warned them about her and told them to hold fast until he returned.

Sardis (the city of death) was a very wealthy city and also had a temple to Artemis. The people lived in luxury and had their gymnasiums and bath houses, one of which included a frigidarium for cold water baths for athletes. They looked vibrant and alive, but John wrote: “You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” There were only a few true believers left at the time of Revelation.

Philadelphia (the missionary city) An earthquake destroyed the city in AD 17, but Tiberius rebuilt it. It was famous for its grape industry, textiles and leather goods. It was called the “Gateway to the East.” Dionysius was the major god, but they also worshipped the sun and serpent gods. It was captured by the Turks in 1390. Christians lived there until the early 1900s. Jesus said this church was holding fast and keeping his word and they would be spared from the hour of trial coming on the whole world.

Laodicea was extremely wealthy. It was located in the Lycus Valley and the city Hieropolis was to the north and had public baths from natural sources that had very hot water. Also nearby was the city of Colossae which had very cold water springs. However the aquaducts that brought water to Laodicea carried water that was tepid and tasteless and rather repulsive. So the Laodiceans knew what it meant to be neither hot nor cold and understood why a person would want to spit this out of his mouth. Jesus told this church it was lukewarm and said he would spit them out of his mouth. The Laodiceans were known for three things: wealth, clothing, and eye and ear medicines. Yet John wrote in Revelation that they were poor, naked and blind. Hmmmm.... Blinded by their affluence, they could not see what was coming.

It was only by the GRACE of Christ that he lovingly told his church how to endure the upcoming tribulation.

Random grace in my life looks like this: