7 Churches Tour - Laodicea, Philadelphia, Sardis

Tuesday morning we went to Laodicea, which is very close to Pamukkale. From Laodicea you can look across the valley and see the limestone hot springs. On this tour we are visiting the churches in backwards order, so Laodicea is actually the last church mentioned Revelation. It also would have been the last letter delivered by the messenger, as the road connecting all of the cities would have begun in Ephesus and winded through all of the cities, finishing in Laodicea.

The excavations at Laodicea are being paid for by local business owners whose goal is to rebuild as much of the city as they can in order to give visitors a very clear picture of what it would have been like. When they need to use new materials, they still use natural marble like the ancient builders would have used, but they use a different shade of marble in order for the viewers to recognize which pieces are original. So far they have uncovered a temple to a deity, the marketplace, a Greek theater with a view of the ravine that includes the hot springs (Greek theaters have a wonderful view for the audience to enjoy as well in addition to the performance), a Roman theater (Roman theaters could care less about what the viewers could see, so its view is boring), the main road, which still has chariot wheel imprints and drainage systems in the roads. On either side of Roman roads, there would  have been a large sidewalk for the people to walk on with shops on bordering the sidewalks. Laodicea did not have a natural river or spring in the city, so the Romans built an aqueduct from the mountain hot spring 5 miles away using terra-cotta pipes. Because the water was hot, it would create a calcium residue on the pipes and this would need to be cleaned out periodically in order for the flow of water to not be clogged.

The Greek Theater. On the left side you can see the hot springs (white)

Laodicea

Temple to a deity

The calcium build-up (white) in
the terra-cotta pipe (orange)

Laodicea was a rich city thanks to it being on a trade route. In fact, the city denied Roman assistance to rebuild after an earthquake because they could pay for the rebuilding and still have enough money to pay their taxes. They were also famous for black wool coats and for inventing a type of hearing aid and something similar to glasses. However, in the Lord’s letter to the church in Laodicea, he says that they are lukewarm, poor, naked, and blind in their faith, taking each thing the city was proud of and turning it back on them. They had become distracted by the things around them instead of making Christ the center of the church. Jesus says “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” Why was Jesus having to knock? Because He was on the outside of the church. Keep Christ the central focus of church. Don’t let flashy things get in the way. And don’t let your life get clogged up by flack and gunk like the pipes in Laodicea. Clean it out so that God can flow through you.

The next church was Philadelphia in today’s city of Alasehir (pronounced Alashehir). The current city has been built right on top of the ancient ruins of Philadelphia, so the only excavated remains are the city gates and the ruins of a basilica built in 1000 AD. It is neat to think that people have been living in this same patch of land for at least 4000 years, but it would be nice to be able to see those remains as well. The area around Philadelphia has many earthquakes, so instead of constantly rebuilding, many people chose to live outside of the city, cultivating many foods, especially grapes, as the soil is very fertile around the city. A king from a neighboring city was offered a huge sum of money by the Romans if he would help them conquer the city of Philadelphia. He declined and, in addition, stood with his brother, the leader of Philadelphia, risking his own life in order to help his brother, displaying brotherly love.

The Basilica

Basilica with the modern city surrounding it

In the letter to the church of Philadelphia, there is no rebuke, only praise. The Lord does encourage the believers to “open your doors,” meaning minister to those living outside of the city and beyond. Get out of your comfort zone. Even though you have many things on your plate, like having to rebuild after an earthquake, look at those situations as opportunities instead of hardships. The Lord gives each of us opportunities to share the Gospel when we least expect it.

The last city of the day was Sardis. Sardis was the capital of the Lydian empire (it’s where we get the name for the Lydian mode in music – a very soothing sounding melody).  It was a huge city and remained important throughout the ages, having the honor to build a temple to Aphrodite, which you can still see today. You can also see a Jewish Synagogue from 3rd century AD baths built at the same time. And the ancient Roman bath house that has been rebuilt. It is truly fantastic. By visiting these ruins, you get an idea of the grandeur of these cities when they were at their height. The buildings are almost always 2 stories. Imagine if they were all still standing!

Jewish Synagogue

Roman Bath House

Temple to Aphrodite

However, the city fell to King Cyrus of Persia in a remarkable story. The city had a fortification on top of this huge hill, almost mountain, that was protected not only by man-made walls, but also by natural vertical cliffs, which makes it almost impossible to conquer. Cyrus laid siege to the city for 3 years but could not conquer it. One day, one of the soldiers on the wall of Sardis was a bit careless and did not strap on his helmet. It accidentally fell off and fell down the hillside. To retrieve it, he exited the city from a secret entrance, unaware that he was being watched by the Persians. That night, the Persians led a surprise attack through that secret entrance and conquered the city. Sardis became the western capital of the Persian empire, but it never returned to its former glory of the capital of the Lydian empire.

The church in Sardis had an issue with Reputation vs. Reality. The church body was known at one point from something amazing that they did. They thought their faith was strong and confident, just like their city, but the reality was that they were dead and needed to become alive again. Jesus says “Watch out. If you don’t watch out, you’re going to fall.” Even the little sins in life make us fall. Don’t underestimate the significance of the tiniest sins, because those are what lead to huge destruction. In addition to being vigilant against all sin, encourage the spiritual weak among the group, because you are only as strong as your weakest link. Do not shun them away, but bring them close to the group and protect them.