Dee Finney's blog July-9-12 - page 253 MUSIC OF SARDIS, LYDIA

SARDIS ACROPOLIS

Dee Finney's blog\
start date July 20, 2011
today's date Jul 0, 2012
page 249

TOPIC: SARDIS, LYDIA; JOHN OF REVELATION

7-9-12 - DREAM - LYDIA:

I went to a bar/pub type place where women went to practice their music.

In the first cubicle was a group of people hovering around a beautiful young woman named Lydia.

Lydia was the most gorgeous dark-skinned black woman I've ever seen, long eyelashes, gorgeous face, perfectly proportioned, with everything going for her - a perfect singing voice.

She stood there crying her heart out because she wasn't who she really wanted to be.

I said, "What is not what you want? She responded. I want to be blonde. "

|I said, "If you want to be blonde, then be blonde. You can be anything you want to be."

So, she made her hair blonde, and I put her in an Egyptian costume and she was beautiful.

The problem was - she had a boyfriend, shorter than herself, dressed in grey with a milkman type hat, and he stood in front of her with goo goo eyes and stared into her eyes from about a foot an a half distance. Nobody else could see Lydia but him.

I grabbed him by the back of his shirt and yanked him backwards and yelled into his face, "Did someone hire you? Give her some space."

Now she could be seen and heard for who she was and I praised her and she finally had a smile on her face.

I walked around to another cubicle that was wrapped in a plastic bag that was sealed.

I could see that three men were laying down inside the plastic bag and what was bei
ng pumped into the bag to keep it inflated I didn't know and I feared for them. So, I put my thumb through the plastic bag and deflated it.

Once the bag deflated, I could see my son Tom laying face down on the bed, laughing his ass off. I didn't know who the second man was, but the third man with his back to me was a fully dressed Indian in native regalia with a quiver of arrows on his back, ready for war.

NOTE: Joe woke me up just about 1 a.m. yelling and I heard the words 'alech lok' or alech loch'. I poked him awake and asked him what he was dreaming and he said he was in a house somewhere and a witchy type woman was trying to come into the house and he was trying to stop her. That's all he could recall. Those words are in several languages, but not together so I haven't identified them.

The meaning of the name Lydia is 'Noble kind; of the noble sort'.

Means "from Lydia" in Greek. Lydia was a region on the west coast of Asia Minor. In the New Testament this is the name of a woman converted to Christianity by Saint Paul. In the modern era the name has been in use since the Protestant Reformation.

Related Names

SARDIS ACROPOLIS
SARDIS IS THE CAPITAL OF THE LYDIAN EMPIRE

Known biblically as the home of the church that received the fifth of letters to the seven churches in Revelation, Sardis was the capital of the Lydian empire and one of the greatest cities of the ancient world.

Located on the banks of the Pactolus River, Sardis was 60 miles inland from Ephesus and Smyrna. The city was home to the famous bishop Melito in the 2nd century.

SARDIS - TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS

ARTEMIS was the main goddess of the city. and the temple dedicated to her in Sardis was one of the seven largest Greek temples (more than double the size of the Parthenon)

Artemis, known as Diana by the Romans, was the daughter of Zeus and twin of Apollo. She was the goddess of the hunt, the moon and fertility. \

ARTEMIS/DIANA was goddess of the Earth. Selene was goddess of the sky, and Hecate was goddess of Hell.

ARTEMIS AND THE DEER

In Greek mythology, the deer is particularly associated with Artemis in her role as virginal huntress. Actaeon, after witnessing the nude figure of Artemis bathing in a pool, was transformed by Artemis into a stag that his own hounds tore to pieces. Callimachus, in his archly knowledgeable "Hymn III to Artemis", mentions the deer that drew the chariot of Artemis:

in golden armor and belt, you yoked a golden chariot, bridled deer in gold.

One of the Labors of Heracles was to capture the Hind sacred to Artemis and deliver it briefly to his patron, then rededicate it to Artemis. His son Telephos was exposed as an infant on the slopes of Tegea but nurtured by a doe

Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities and one of the oldest. In Greek mythology of the classical period, Artemis (Greek:) was often described as the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the Hellenic goddess of forests and hills, child birth, virginity, fertility, the hunt, and often was depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows. The deer and the cypress were sacred to her. In later Hellenistic times she even assumed the ancient role of Eileithyia in aiding childbirth.

Artemis later became identified with Selene, a Titaness who was a Greek moon goddess, and she was sometimes depicted with a crescent moon above her head. She was also identified with the Roman goddess Diana, with the Etruscan goddess Artume, and with the Greek or Carian goddess Hecate.

ARTEMIS TWIN BROTHER APOLLO

In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo (in Greek, Apóllōn or Apellōn), is one of the most important and many-sided of the Olympian deities. The ideal of the kouros (a beardless youth), Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy; archery; medicine and healing; music, poetry, and the arts; and more. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto, and has a twin sister, the chaste huntress Artemis. Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu. Apollo was worshipped in both ancient Greek and Roman religion, as well as in the modern Hellenic neopaganism.

As the patron of Delphi (Pythian Apollo), Apollo was an oracular god — the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle. Medicine and healing were associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius. Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague as well as one who had the ability to cure. Amongst the god's custodial charges, Apollo became associated with dominion over colonists, and as the patron defender of herds and flocks. As the leader of the Muses (Apollon Musagetes) and director of their choir, Apollo functioned as the patron god of music and poetry. Hermes created the lyre for him, and the instrument became a common attribute of Apollo. Hymns sung to Apollo were called paeans.

In Hellenistic times, especially during the third century BCE, as Apollo Helios he became identified among Greeks with Helios, god of the sun, and his sister Artemis similarly equated with Selene, goddess of the moon.^[1] In Latin texts, however, Joseph Fontenrose declared himself unable to find any conflation of Apollo with Sol among the Augustan poets of the first century, not even in the conjurations of Aeneas and Latinus in Aeneid XII (161-215).^[2] Apollo and Helios/Sol remained separate beings in literary and mythological texts until the third century CE.

NOTE: Apollo is mentioned in the Bible several times, particularly in the book of Revelation. I dreamed about Apollo just last week (April, 2009)

http://www.greatdreams.com/constellations/right_hand_of_Apollo.htm

4-7-09 - DREAM - I was working in a small office. I hadn't been well for some reason and wasn't working. I was just resting.

I was taken to another upstairs office by my friend Erv, who drove me when I needed to get somewhere as I didn't have a car of my own. This place was where a woman kept the small animals I needed to do my job. They were very tiny as infants, which is what I was going to get. She kept these animals in an aquarium in small boxes - like a small matchbox. The whole place smelled like an animal lair.

She handed me this tiny box that was broken on one side, and inside was this cute little creature that looked like a wolf. I said that we wouldn't be taking it home that day as we didn't have an aquarium set up for it yet, and she said okay. But I wondered how we would tell the difference between the animal that had been picked out and all the others - except this box was broken on one side that it was in.

I had seen a full grown animal also- which was sitting upright like a human and just as large. It had a regular paw on the left, but on the right, the paw was very large and looked like a giant club. The left paw pushed something into place, and the large clubbed right paw did the work. The woman said, 'They have the right hand of Apollo!"

APOLLO IN REVELATION:

1 And the fifth angel sounded the trumpet: and I saw a star fall from heaven upon the earth. And there was given to him the key of the bottomless pit. A star fall... This may mean the fall and apostasy of great and learned men from the true faith. Or a whole nation falling into error and separating from the church, not having the sign of God in their foreheads. And there was given to him the key of the bottomless pit... That is, to the angel, not to the fallen star. To this angel was given the power, which is here signified by a key, of opening hell.

2 And he opened the bottomless pit: and the smoke of the pit arose, as the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke of the pit.

3 And from the smoke of the pit there came out locusts upon the earth. And power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. There came out locusts... These may be devils in Antichrist's time, having the appearance of locusts, but large and monstrous, as here described. Or they may be real locusts, but of an extraordinary size and monstrous shape, such as were never before seen on earth, sent to torment those who have not the sign (or seal) of God on their foreheads. Some commentators by these locusts understand heretics, and especially those heretics, that sprung from Jews, and with them denied the divinity of Jesus Christ; as Theodotus, Praxeas, Noetus, Paul of Samosata, Sabellius, Arius, etc. These were great enemies of the Christian religion; they tormented and infected the souls of men, stinging them like scorpions, with the poison of their heresies. Others have explained these locusts, and other animals, mentioned in different places throughout this sacred and mystical book, in a most absurd, fanciful, and ridiculous manner; they make Abaddon the Pope, and the locusts to be friars mendicant, etc. Here it is thought proper, not to enter into any controversy upon that subject, as the inventors of these fancies have been already answered, and fully refuted by many controvertists: besides, those who might be imposed on by such chimerical writers, are in these days much better informed.

4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth nor any green thing nor any tree: but only the men who have not the sign of God on their foreheads.

5 And it was given unto them that they should not kill them: but that they should torment them five months. And their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when he striketh a man.

6 And in those days, men shall seek death and shall not find it. And they shall desire to die: and death shall fly from them.

7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle. And on their heads were, as it were, crowns like gold: and their faces were as the faces of men.

8 And they had hair as the hair of women: and their teeth were as lions.

9 And they had breastplates as breastplates of iron: and the noise of their wings was as the noise of chariots and many horses running to battle.

10 And they had tails like to scorpions: and there were stings in their tails. And their power was to hurt men, five months. And they had over them

11 A king, the angel of the bottomless pit (whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek Apollyon, in Latin Exterminans).

12 One woe is past: and behold there come yet two woes more hereafter.

13 And the sixth angel sounded the trumpet: and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before the eyes of God,

14 Saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet: Loose the four angels who are bound in the great river Euphrates.

15 And the four angels were loosed, who were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year: for to kill the third part of men.

16 And the number of the army of horsemen was twenty thousand times ten thousand. And I heard the number of them.

17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision. And they that sat on them had breastplates of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone. And the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions: and from their mouths proceeded fire and smoke and brimstone.

18 And by these three plagues was slain the third part of men, by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone which issued out of their mouths.

19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails. For, their tails are like to serpents and have heads: and with them they hurt.

20 And the rest of the men, who were not slain by these plagues, did not do penance from the works of their hands, that they should not adore devils and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which neither can see nor hear nor walk:

21 Neither did they penance from their murders nor from their sorceries nor from their fornication nor from their thefts.

Old Testament first published 1609 by the English College at Douay
www.newadvent.org/bible/rev009.htm

APOLLYON, or, as it is literally in the margin of the AV of Revelation 9:11, "a destroyer," is the rendering of the Hebrew word Abaddon, "the angel of the bottomless pit."

[And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.--Rev 9:11]

The Hebrew term is really abstract, and signifies "destruction," in which sense it occurs in Job 26:6; 28:22; Proverbs 15:11; and other passages.

[Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.--Job 26:6

Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.--Job 28:22

Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?--Prov 15:11]

The angel Apollyon is further described as the king of the locusts which rose from the smoke of the bottomless pit at the sounding of the fifth trumpet. From the occurrence of the word in Psalm 88:11, the Rabbins have made Abaddon the nethermost of the two regions into which they divided the under world.

[Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?--Psalm 88:11

Hell has seven divisions, one beneath the other. They are called Sheol, Abaddon, Beer Shahat, Tit ha-Yawen, Sha'are Mawet, Sha'are Zalmawet, and Gehenna.-- The Legends of the Jews, Louis Ginzberg]

But that in Revelation 9:11 Abaddon is the angel, and not the abyss, is perfectly evident in the Greek. There is no authority for connecting it with the destroyer alluded to in 1 Corinthians 10:10; and the explanation, quoted by Bengel, that the name is given in Hebrew and Greek, to show that the locusts would be destructive alike to Jew and Gentile, is far-fetched and unnecessary.

[Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.--1 Corinthians 10:10]

The etymology of Asmodeus, the king of the demons in Jewish mythology, seems to point to a connection with Apollyon, in his character as "the destroyer," or the destroying angel.

(Dr. William Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, 1872)

APOLLYON. The Greek name, meaning "Destroyer," given in Revelation 9:11 for "the angel of the bottomless pit" (in Hebrew called Abaddon), also identified as the king of the demonic "locusts" described in Revelation 9:3-10...In one manuscript, instead of Apollyon the text reads "Apollo," the Greek god of death and pestilence as well as of the sun, music, poetry, crops and herds, and medicine. Apollyon is no doubt the correct reading. But the name Apollo (Gk Apollon) was often linked in ancient Greek writings with the verb apollymi or apollyo, "destroy." From this time of Grotius, "Apollyon" has often been taken here to be a play on the name Apollo. The locust was an emblem of this god, who poisoned his victims, and the name "Apollyon" may be used allusively in Revelation to attack the pagan god and so indirectly the Roman emperor Domitian, who liked to be regarded as Apollo incarnate.

(Anchor Bible Dictionary)

APOLLO, one of the most important and many-sided of the ancient Greek divinities. Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto and the twin brother of Artemis [Diana]; he was born on Delos, where Leto had fled, persecuted by the jealousy of Hera...

Apollo's origins (perhaps Oriental) are quite uncertain; his name yields no convincing Greek etymology, although he became the most thoroughly Greek of all gods...A remarkable feature of his cult was his characteristic, though not only, way of giving oracles, especially at Delphi, to possess the priestess and speak through her mouth in a way reminiscent of Siberian shamanism.

His oracles, especially the Delphic, were consulted on all manner of subjects, and good advice was often given, especially on such matters as colonization, by the obviously well-informed clergy, who "edited" the utterances of the priestess...

Someone in the fifth century BC started a wholly ungrounded theory that Apollo was identical with the sun. This became popular in later times and lingers in poetical expressions such as "Phoebus 'gins arise," meaning that the sun rises; Phoebus ("bright, pure") is one of Apollo's titles. It also led to his identification with real sun gods.

There were numerous representations of the god in Greek art, from the archaic statues of the sixth century BC to those of the later period in which he appears as the ideal of youthful manliness and beauty. His worship was taken over by the Romans, who dedicated a temple to him in 430 BC and instituted gamees in his honour (the ludi Apollinares) in 212 BC. He became one of the chief Roman gods in the age of Augustus, who erected a temple to him on the Palatine...

(Collier's Encyclopedia)

____________________

APOLLO (Gr. Apollon), a Greek god, the son of Zeus, the father of the gods, and Leto, daughter of the Titan Coeus, and the twin brother of Artemis, goddess of the moon. The twins were born on the island of Delos, whither their mother had fled to escape the jealous anger of Zeus' wife, Hera. Apollos is one of the most versatile of the Olympian gods. As the god of youth, manly beauty, music, and song, he represents the Greek mind at its best. He was the god of prophecy, with his oracle at Delphi, the protector of flocks and herds, the helper and averter of evil, and also the god of righteous punishment. To his oracles people turned in sickness, and he is represented as the father of Aesculapius, the god of healing. He delighted in the foundation of cities, and as the spiritual leader of colonists he was invoked as Delphinius; as Euryalus, he was god of the broad seas, and of the embarker and disembarker; as Agyleus he was god of the streets and roads; and as Phoebus he was god of the sun. Although the Greek poet Homer represents Apollo and Helios, the sun, as distinct divinities, Apollos' identification as the sun-god is universal among later writers...The attributes of Apollo are the bow and quiver, the cithara and plectrum, the snake, raven, shepherd's crook, tripod, and laurel. In art Apollo is represented more frequently than any other ancient deity...

(Universal Standard Encyclopedia)

____________________

APOLLO BELVEDERE, a famous marble statue in the part of the Vatican museum called Belvedere...Montorsoli, a pupil of Michelangelo, restored the hands but did so wrongly, for the right hand was not empty but held a laurel branch, and the left hand held a bow, as testified by the quiver on the back of the figure. The statue was thus intended to depict the two aspects of Apollo, the god who punishes wrong-doers and purifies repentant sinners...

(Collier's Encyclopedia)

____________________

APOLLO BELVEDERE, ...It is regarded as one of the most nearly perfect representations of the human figure.

(Universal Standard Encyclopedia)

___________________

BELVEDERE, a court, gallery, or detached structure, usually located to command a view (Ital. bel, "beautiful" and vedere, "to see"). The best known Belvedere is the court of that name in the Vatican Palace, and the gallery surrounding it, built in 1484-1492 by pope Innocent VIII. In this gallery are some of the finest masterpieces of Classical antiquity, including the famous statue of Apollo Belvedere, the Laocoon [a Trojan priest who warned his countrymen against the wooden horse left by the Greeks--according to Pliny the sculpture stood in the palace of Titus in Rome], and a torso of Hercules.

(Collier's Encyclopedia)

____________________

The slime with which the earth was covered by the waters of the flood produced an excessive fertility, which called forth every variety of production, both bad and good. Among the rest, Python, an enormous serpent, crept forth, the terror of the people...The famous statue of Apollo called the Belvedere represents the god after this victory over the serpent Python.

Aesculapius, the son of Apollo, was endowed by his father with such skill in the healing art that he even restored the dead to life.

Orpheus was the son of Apollo and the Muse Calliope. He was presented by his father with a lyre and taught to play upon it, which he did to such perfection that nothing could withstand the charm of his music.

(Bulfinch's Mythology)

____________________

PHEOBUS APOLLO...the lord of the silver bow, the Archer-god, far-shooting... He is the God of Light, in whom is no darkness at all, and so he is the God of Truth. No false word ever falls from his lips.

O Phoebus, from your throne of truth,
From your dwelling-place at the heart of the world,
You speak to men.
By Zeus's decree no lie comes there,
No shadow to darken the word of truth.
Zeus sealed by an everlasting right
Apollo's honour, that all may trust
With unshaken faith when he speaks.

Delphi under towering Parnassus, where Apollo's oracle was, plays an important part in mythology. Castalia was its sacred spring; Cephissus its river. It was held to be the center of the world, so many pilgrims came to it, from foreign countries as well as Greece. No other shrine rivaled it.

Apollo at Delphi was a purely beneficent power, a direct link between gods and men, guiding men to know the divine will, showing them how to make peace with the gods; the purifier, too, able to cleanse even those stained with the blood of their kindred.

sardis synagogue

SARDIS SYNAGOGUE

The synagogue of Sardis is notable for its size and location. In size it is one of the largest
ancient synagogues excavated. In location it is found in the center of the urban center,
instead of on the periphery as synagogues typically were. This attests to the strength
and wealth of the Jewish community in the city. This synagogue came into use in the
3rd century AD.

Sardis, capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, was 46 miles east of Smyrna, 28 miles west of Philadelphia and 31 miles south of Thyatira, in the valley of the Hermus River (modern Gediz) on the banks of its tributary, the Pactolus (modern Sart Cay). The wealth of Lydia and Sardis is legendary. The Pactolus was said to have become rich in gold when the fabled King Midas of Phrygia bathed in its headwaters to rid himself of the "golden touch." The legend of the "Golden Fleece" supposedly originated from the method of laying sheep skins in the shallows of the Pactolus to collect gold particles. The expression "rich as Croesus," the last Lydian king, is used to indicate an extremely wealthy person.

CHAPTER 3 - THE LETTER TO SARDIS (5)

• Previous • Revelation Study List • Next

"So be very careful about the sort of lives you lead, like intelligent and not like senseless people. Make the best of the present time for it is a wicked age. This is why you must not be thoughtless but must recognize what is the will of the Lord."

-Ephesians 5:15-17

1) Preamble: 3:1a "...Here is the message of the one who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars."

2) Historical Prologue: 3:1b "I know about your

behavior...."

3) Ethical Stipulations: 3: 2 "Wake up; put some resolve into what little vigor you have left.."

4) Sanctions: 3:3 "Repent! If you do not wake up I shall come to you..."

5) Succession Arrangements: 3:4-5 "There are a few...Anyone who proves victorious.."
.

The city of Sardis was founded circa 1200BC and became the capital of the Lydian kingdom. Situated at the junction of five roads, and commanding the Hermus valley, Sardis was a wealthy commercial city. The city was built on a hill so steep that its defenses seemed impregnable and yet in the past this sense of false security had led to the conquest and destruction of the city by both the Persian king Cyrus (549BC) and by the Selucid king Antiochus III(218BC). On both occasions enemy troops had scaled the hill at night and had found that the over-confident Sardians had not even bothered to set a guard. In 17AD city had been severely damaged by a great earthquake but, the city was soon rebuilt through the generous aid of the Roman Emperor Tiberius to whom the people of Sardis were immensely grateful. This gratitude was reflected in the city's loyalty to the Roman Empire.

The most important religion at Sardis was the worship of the goddess Cybele but there was also a temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis. Both goddesses were commemorated on the city's coins. By the second century AD, Sardis began to seriously decline as a trading center. Today Sardis is a small village called Sart.

Read Chapter 3: 1-6.

3: 1a The Preamble: Write to the angel of the church in Sardis and say, 'Here is the message of the one who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars:'" Again we have a repeated pattern of chapter 1 verses 4 and 16. In our discussion of this phrase in chapter 1 we commented that the number 7 is one of the "perfect" numbers and symbolizes spiritual perfection. This passage also refers to the prophetic mission of the Holy Spirit. The prophets speak for God under the power of the Holy Spirit. In the Rev. 1:4 passage, John is addressed in "grace and peace" from 1) "He who is, was, and is to come (recalling God the Father's holy covenant name "Yahweh"), 2) from "the Seven Spirits who are before His throne, 3) "and from Jesus Christ." The first and third are clearly God the Father and God the Son and therefore the most likely interpretation is that John's greeting is from the Triune God and the 7 Spirits symbolize God the Holy Spirit in all His spiritual perfection (reference Chapter 1 notes for more information on this passage). The seven stars, Christ tells us in 1:16 & 20, are the messengers (angelos) of the seven churches to whom the letters will be sent. They are held in Christ's right hand; under His power and authority they will speak to the churches on His behalf. The messengers of the churches belong to Him and they are accountable to Him for their actions as well as their inaction. The elders of the church in Sardis desperately need to be reminded of this because they had allowed the church to fall into spiritual decay.

Verse 1b: "I know about your behavior: how you are reputed to be alive and yet are dead." After the vivid reminder of the dignity and authority of the risen Christ there is a severe condemnation of the community at Sardis. Question: What does it mean to be "alive for Christ?" Question: What does Jesus mean when He tells them they were "reputed" to be "alive" but that they are "dead?" Answer: The church at Sardis had a good reputation for being an active faith community "alive" for Christ. It seems likely that this church was well known in the Roman province of Asia as the people of the Christian faith in such a prosperous and famous city. They had once been spiritually alive for Christ but now they had only their past reputation. They were no longer yielding "fruit." Their tree of faith was weakened to the point of death.

Question: Was this church suffering under any external persecution like the churches at Ephesus, Smyran and Pergamum? It is interesting that of these 4 churches the Christians at Smyrna were suffering the most on account of the faith yet they were yielding the "sweetest fruit" for Christ. How do you account for the differences between Smyrna and Sardis?

Answer: There seems to be no evidence, in an era of growing Roman persecution, that the church at Sardis experienced either theological controversy or persecution. The body of the letter to Sardis seems to indicate that the church had almost completely compromised with the pagan culture of the city. The result of this "ecumenical" approach of the church at Sardis to the pagan religions was that the once busy, fruitful church was compromising itself almost to death. The death of Sardis did not necessarily come from a lack of youth activities, or 'spiritual awakening' programs'which is the reason why most churches today tend to be called "dead." Rather, it seems the church at Sardis lacked the depth of conviction, which is necessary to even begin a fight against heresy. Sardis was drowning in mediocrity while she pursued non-controversial "works." The church at Sardis had, in fact, become "secularized." Its fundamental worldview had become the same as that of the surrounding pagan culture. It had become what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:1-2 "And you were dead, through the crimes and the sins which used to make up your way of life when you were living by the principles of this world, obeying the ruler who dominates the air, and the spirit who is at work in those who rebel. We too were all among them once, living only by our natural inclinations, obeying the demands of human self-indulgence and our own whim; our nature made us no less liable to God's retribution than the rest of the world." Satan must have been pretty happy with Sardis' progress not to bother to add persecution and suffering.

Question: Are there those in the Catholic Church today who urge a more secularized world view? What is the agenda they propose to bring the Catholic Church into the 21^st century?

Verses 2"Wake up; put some resolve into what little vigor you have left: it is dying fast. So far I have failed to notice anything in your behavior that my God could possibly call perfect; remember how you first heard the message. Hold on to that. Repent!" Question: Christ gives Sardis two admonitions. What are they? Answer: (1) He tells them to "wake up!" and (2) He commands them to "remember." (1). Considering Sardis' past history when the city was captured and destroyed twice because of the city's smug complacency this is fitting advice. There is a parallel with the city's history and the church's lack of vigilance and the urgent call to "wake up" before it falls under God's judgment. It is also interesting that if Sardis can wake up there is hope. This infers that the church is not completely dead but even though the community is in the last stages of life Christ has not given up on this church yet. The danger is real and the judgment is coming but there is time. Question: What are the elders required to do while time remains? Answer: See verse 2; "strengthen the things that remain." Question: What is it that was remaining? Answer: The problem is that Sardis was involved in the "works" of God but they were not completed; their "works" were unfulfilled in God's sight.

Answer (2). The New American translation reads: "Call to mind how you accepted what you heard.." another possible translation is "Remember what you have received and heard." (unless otherwise stated all Scripture passages quoted in this study are from the New Jerusalem translation) Question: What have they heard and what have they received? Answer: They have heard the Gospel of Jesus the Messiah and they have received from Him the sacraments of the New Covenant Israel. The have also received'in the case of the bishop and elders to whom the letter is addressed, the privileges and responsibilities of the ministerial priesthood. Under the Covenanted Oath they were to keep watch over and to guard the Bride of Christ'the same admonition given to Adam in the Garden of Eden. And, by the way, the enemy was the same for both. Question: Who is the enemy? Answer: Satan the great serpent.

Now at the end of verse 2 Christ gives a command. Question: What is it that the Lord requires? Answer: Repentance.

Verse 3: "If you do not wake up, I shall come to you like a thief, and you will have no idea at what hour I shall come upon you." Question: And what will happen if they fail to repent? Answer: The church will face the judgment of Christ. This is the same threat as 1:7; 2:5; and 2:16. The threat of His coming against a local church or even against a nation is not the same as the 2^nd Coming of Christ at the end of history. The words used in this passage "to you" indicate a local coming not a futuristic, end of the world coming.

Verse 4 "There are a few in Sardis, it is true, who have kept their robes unstained, and they are fit to come with me, dressed in white." There was a remnant of the church who had remained faithful to what they had received and heard. They had not "soiled their garments" ; they hadn't become secularized and had not conformed to the dominant pagan culture. Question: What are the 2 promises Christ makes to this faith remnant? Answer: verse5

Verse 5 "Anyone who proves victorious will be dressed, like these, in white robes; I shall not blot that name out of the book of life, but acknowledge it in the presence of my Father and His angels." (1) Seven times in the Book of Revelation the saints are referred to as being "clothed in white garments": Rev. 3:4 & 18; 4:4; 6:11; 7:9 &13; 19:14. The white robes are a symbol in Scripture for righteousness and purity with origins in the sun-white brilliance of the Glory-cloud of God. In their resurrection in Christ the saints are re-created in the image of God and are clothed with the grace of Christ. This verse is a description of an aspect of salvation in which all who preserver to the end have an inheritance. Gal. 3:27 "...since every one of you that has been baptised has been clothed in Christ." Being clothed in the white robes of righteousness' takes place at our baptism and continues progressively as we work out our salvation daily in obedience to God as we participate in His sacraments and daily cloth ourselves in grace and virtue. Read Col. 3:5-17 (v. 10) "You have stripped off your old behavior with your old self, and you have put on a new self which will progress towards true knowledge the more it is renewed in the image of its Creator.." And finally at the end of the journey "But when Christ is revealed'and He is your life'you too, will be revealed with Him in glory." (Col 3:4).

(2) "I shall not blot that name out of the book of life.." This statement has been a source of controversy for centuries. Can you loose your salvation? CCC #162 "Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man. We can lose this priceless gift, as St. Paul indicated to St. Timothy: (1Tim 1:18-19)"Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith." To live, grow, and persevere in the faith until the end we must nourish it with the word of God; we must beg the Lord to increase our faith; it must be "working through charity": abounding in hope, and rooted in the faith of the Church.

The Bible is full of examples of those who profess Christ and by all accounts appear to be "saved", who finally apostatize from the faith and inherit damnation rather than salvation. Judas is the obvious example but he is not the only one. The Old Testament provides many examples of members of the Covenant who departed from the faith, and the New Testament warns us over and over again of the judgment of God against those who break His covenant (see Matt. 7:15-23; 13:20-21; 24:10-12; 2 Thess. 2:3, 11-12; 1Tim. 4:1-3; 2Tim. 3:1-9; 4:3-4; Heb. 2:1-3; 3:12-14; 6:4-6; 10:26031, 35-39; 2Pet. 2:1-3, 20-22; 3:17). The threat stated by Christ is very real. Those whose names are written in the Book of Life'the baptised who profess Christ'are counted as and treated as true believers but they must persevere in their faith. If they apostatize and fall into the sins of immorality, heresy, and secularization that characterized the church at Sardis, they will be erased from the Book of Life. But the promise remains to the Christian who overcomes and by faithfulness demonstrates that Christ has truly purchased him for His own; he is in no danger'his or her name will never be erased. For more about the "Book of Life" see Rev. 13:8; 17:8; 20:12,15; 21:27; Phil 4:3; Dan 12:1; Mt. 10:32.

This final promise is reinforced by Christ's statement: "..but acknowledge it in the presence of my Father and His angels." This statement is supported by Jesus' statements in the Gospels. Read Mat 10:32-33: "So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of human beings, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But the one who disowns me in the presence of human beings, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven." Also see Mark 8:38 and Luke 12:8-9. Christians at Sardis were denying Christ as they worked for the praise and acceptance of men rather than God. At the Last Judgment they would surely hear the words from the Son of God in Matt. 7:23 "Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, all evil doers!" Question: Is this message as important today as it was 2000 years ago? Do we ".. listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches"?(verse 6)

Salvation History references: The imagery in this letter comes from the prophetic period (the references to the Spirit and the "seven stars" speak of prophetic witness) and the end of the period of the monarchy in the Northern Kingdom of Israel when a disobedient and spiritually dead covenant people were defeated and taken into captivity. In 722BC the Assyrians conquered the Northern kingdom of Israel and took the 10 tribes eastward into exile. Years later only a remnant held on to what they had been taught, remained faithful, and returned to settle in the district of the Galilee. It was from this faithful remnant that Jesus chose His 12 Apostles.

See the Mass Chart: This chart compares the celebration of the Mass with John's vision. The Apocalypse of John is liturgical. As Dr. Scott Hahn writes: "..the golden thread of liturgy is what holds together the apocalyptic pearls of John's Revelation." See CCC # 1090; 1137-1139; 2642. Recommended reading: The Lamb's Supper, Scott Hahn

• Previous • Revelation Study List • Next

A related theme to be examined in this article is the symbolic meaning of being dead, asleep, or not awake. Often this seems to involve a male or male god who is dead and laying in a prone position, while a female or goddess is above or on top of him. With the awakening or resurrection, the male stands up alive. This general theme is quite universal throughout the word, but there are variations.

This strange symbolism seems to be speaking about humanity. The god and the goddess may represent the dual consciousness of mankind. In Jeff's dream above, the duality change symbol was in the from of the puppet pair undergoing a baptism. The healed dome will "jell" here in time, turn into stone, so-to-speak. Jeff had another dream prior to the one above, in which a paratrooper dressed in white came down from the sky and made him stand up from his prone position.

The dome of the world or Omphalos symbol connects with the duality symbol through the ancient Eastern idea that the phallus implanted in the vagina represents the all-pervading space of the universe.

The meaning behind this may be related to messages to the effect that we each create our own reality individually, yet there is an en mass nature to it by a higher level agreement. One could picture this symbolically as many domes connected together by threads of Spider Grandmother into a big web.

An Eastern symbol for this is Indra's Net, which is a "net of jewels" (or pearls) ,each of which reflects like a mirror and contains the reflection of each of the others. The Internet World Wide Web is a similar modern symbol.

The cycle of laying down dead seems related to the time cycle in the lower three levels of consciousness, associated with the chakras. The critical leap is from the third chakra to the fourth. The third chakra at the solar plexus, is basically the ego-centered will to succeed, and is represented by a ten petaled lotus flower and by the color yellow. The fourth chakra is at the heart, where love and compassion and a realization of our connectedness is realized. It is represented as a twelve petaled lotus flower and the color green.

This critical leap is often shown as three and one half, as the midpoint of seven. In some cases it seems to be represented as the fourth step. Somewhat paradoxically, it appears that seven steps or stages has a similar meaning.

There are hints that the seven days of creation are not over, and that we are not yet "man" with free will.

We are not entirely clear as to the meaning of the message of this "standing up" or revival from the dead of the male or male "god." We hope that the meaning will become more clear as the future unfolds. But, it certainly seems to be of a grand Cosmic magnitude. And, it may be just a few years away.

---------------------------------

More Clues

Keys:
the dead = not awake
Sardis = one of seven symbolic churches
soiled garments = dead, asleep
white = the awakened
" I know your works; you have the name of being alive, and you are dead. Awake, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death . . ." "Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy." Revelation 3:1-4

Clue to the time of the awakening:

"The year of the great seventh number accomplished,
it will appear at the time of the games of slaughter,
not far from the age of the great millennium,
when the dead will come out of their graves."
Nostradamus, Century 10, Q74

Clue to the 11:11 association with awakening

"Thus he spoke, and then he said to them, 'Our friend Lazarus
has fallen asleep, but I go to awake him out of sleep.'"
John 11:11

Another clue to the 11:11 association with awakening

"For three days and a half men from the peoples and tribes and tongues
and nations gaze at their dead bodies and refused to let them be placed in
a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make
merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a
torment to those who dwell on the earth."
Revelation 11:9, 10

"But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them,
and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them."
Revelation 11:11

Numeric clue: The midpoint of the seven chakras, or three and a half,
is a universal elementary idea found worldwide. The midpoint is
the heart chakra, which has the color green, and is symbolized
by a twelve petal lotus flower with a Star of David inside. The
English Alphanumeric of "green" is 49.

11:11 clue indicating the year, hour, and minute of the end of the cycle

2012	month	day	hour	2012	month	day	hour	minute	month	day	hour	minute
Perihelion	Jan	5	00	Equinoxes	Mar	20	05	14	Sept	22	14	49
Aphelion	July	5	03	Solstices	June	20	23	09	Dec	21	11	11

In the 28 years listed on the page from which the above table was taken, only the one 11:11 universal time is given. The end of the Mayan calendar falls on December 21, 2012. That is the famous "End Date" -

The How and Why of the Mayan End Date in 2012 A.D.
http://www.levity.com/eschaton/Why2012.html

Perhaps it is significant that 100 years after the sinking of the Titanic, the Mayan end date comes. A common factor seems to be the 11:11 AM times of the end of World War One on 11-11-1918 and the exact moment of the Mayan cycle end.

Clue to the 11:11 association with Lost Tribes.

"In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover
the remnant which is left of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from
Pathros, from Ethiopia, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from
the coastland of the sea."
Isaiah 11:11

On March 11, 1992 ,a voice spoke in my dream, saying, "Cycle of time . . . [long pause] . . . to identify the Lost Tribes." I saw an image of a circular swirled pattern.

Seven years later, on July 4, 1999, a similar pattern appeared as a crop circle formation near Hackpen Hill, near Broad Hinton, Wiltshire. It was called the Crescent Vortex. The geometry of the formation was similar to a pattern developed by Wolfgang Held, showing the zones of total solar eclipses over a period of time, called, "Saros-Cycle 145."

I have found that other people have had dreams about the Lost Tribes.

On August 11, 1999, an amazing solar eclipse took place, along with a "Grand Cross" alignment of the planets. The "Diamond Ring Effect" happened at 11:11 AM over Cornwall, England. Coincidentally, there are many legendary connections to the Lost Tribes related to Cornwall and Great Britian.

The terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 also seemed to be a symbolic event. The 11:11 was one part of it. The Lost Tribes were another part.

Part of this symboic story relates to Joseph Smith and the Mormons, along with the city of Salt Lake, Utah. Great Britan and the USA symbolically represent the two sons of the Biblical Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob.

REVELATION 3 - THE MESSAGE TO SARDIS - COMMENTARY

The Message to Sardis

"We have met the enemy," Walt Kelly announced a generation ago in his comic strip Pogo, "and he is us!" The message to Sardis lists no specific enemies, internal or external. There is no name calling--no liars, no Balaam or Jezebel, no deep secrets of Satan, no synagogue of Satan, no throne of Satan. Consequently, of all the congregations in Asia, we know least about Sardis and its problems. Yet no other message is more damaging or more urgent than this one. Walt Kelly was right. Too often, when we encounter no spiritual adversaries, it is because we are the enemy. The only enemy named at Sardis is the angel to whom the message is addressed.

Sardis was situated almost directly south of Thyatira, in the direction of Smyrna and the sea. Its greatest days were behind it, but this once proud capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia (later the western capital of the Persian Empire) was still, under Roman rule, an important center of the woolen industry. Abundant archaeological remains include a temple to Artemis, a huge gymnasium and the largest synagogue yet found in the ancient world, suggesting a Jewish community numbering in the thousands (Finegan 1981:177-78). A sermon of Melito, a Christian bishop at Sardis, entitled On the Passover (see Hawthorne 1975:147-75), testifies to a spirited, sometimes bitter, debate with this Jewish community in the second century. Yet as far as we are told, the problem of the congregation in John's time was not with the Jews, nor with the Roman Empire, nor with false prophecy, but solely with itself.

The Speaker's grim indictment of the angel at Sardis swings between overstatement (3:1) and understatement (v. 2). You are dead (v. 1) is a dramatic way of saying "you are spiritually asleep" (compare Eph 5:14), for the angel is then told, Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die (v. 2). The call to awake, and to remember, obey and repent (v. 3) assumes the real possibility of change. Yet the milder-sounding words that follow, I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God (v. 2), are deliberately understated, implying that the angel's works are unacceptable to God, and therefore a failure (Beckwith 1922: 474; compare Dan 5:27, "You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting").

This message makes it clear that the angel, like any human leader, is deeply involved in the life of the congregation. The message recalls Jesus' words to the faltering Simon Peter in Luke 22:32, "I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." This angel, dead or not, has the responsibility to strengthen what remains and is about to die (v. 2). He functions much like a human pastor, except that what is said to him is actually said to the congregation as a whole.

Sardis faces a threat: if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you (v. 3). Many (for example, Ramsay 1904:377-78; Mounce 1977:110-11) have tried to link this pronouncement to certain incidents in the history of Sardis, when the city was taken unawares by hostile armies. This is unlikely because (1) these incidents were centuries earlier; (2) the message is to the Christian congregation, not the city of Sardis; (3) the image of the thief in connection with a command to "watch" or "stay awake" was common in early Christianity, based on well-known sayings of Jesus (see Mt 24:43-44 par. Lk 12:39-40; 1 Thess 5:1). The warning could as easily have been directed to Ephesus or Laodicea, or to the unfaithful in any congregation.

The message to Sardis reveals nothing definite about the church's predicament beyond the fact that it is about to die. Only the metaphorical reference to those few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes (v. 4) offers a possible clue. They are promised that they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy (v. 4), a promise immediately reinforced by a word to those who "overcome," who will, like them, be dressed in white, whose names will not be blotted from the book of life, but rather acknowledged before my Father and his angels (v. 5; compare Mt 10:32-33 par. Lk 12:8-9). At Sardis, clearly, the few who had not soiled their garments were the "overcomers."

Clean, white clothing in the book of Revelation is consistently a symbol of religious and moral purity, especially in the face of persecution (see 3:18; 4:4; 6:11; 7:9, 13), while soiled or disheveled clothing, or no clothing at all, is a symbol of religious and moral impurity and shame (see 3:17-18; 16:15). It is likely that the problem at Sardis was a strong tendency to compromise Christian faith for the sake of conformity to social and cultural standards set by Asian society and the Roman Empire. This spirit of compromise was linked not to one particular faction in the Christian community (as at Pergamum and Thyatira) but to the majority. The ones who had not soiled their clothes had become marginalized. They were the small faction. This explains the severe tone of the message, but it is impossible to be more specific as to the exact nature of the compromises made at Sardis.

Next commentary:
The Message to Philadelphia