BEMA 180: Revelation — Philadelphia and Their New Name

Transcription Status

23 Mar 24 — Initial public release

10 Jan 24 — Transcript approved for release

Revelation — Philadelphia and Their New Name

Brent Billings: This is the BEMA podcast with Marty Solomon. I’m his co-host Brent Billings. Today, we examine John’s apocalyptic letter to the church of Philadelphia and look for context as well as Text spoken into that context.

Marty Solomon: That’s right.

Brent: Was the episode on Sardis the first time we explicitly used that phrase “Text-to-context”?

Marty: I’ve used it in passing, but never pointed it out in the same way we did.

Brent: We’ve certainly been talking about the concept the entire time of Revelation.

Marty: Really, it even goes back to Session 3.

Brent: That’s true. Yes.

Marty: Just rabbinic thought and PaRDeS and everything in between. It’s how Jews think. They think in terms of Text, all the time, every time. We’re being blown away by culture and the historical context. We have to learn how to double down, and then realize that it isn’t just culture, it’s also Text. When we understand that everything starts to—hopefully, we appreciate it on a whole new level. It’s brilliant, brilliant writing. So we’ll probably make a little quicker conversation maybe today. We’ve been exposed to the hermeneutics in Revelation. We should be able to cover some more ground, maybe a little bit more quickly. We’ll take a look at the context of Philadelphia and we’ll let it shape the way that we read the letter. Then we’ll ask where John is drawing his material from in the Old Testament, in the Hebrew scriptures.

Philadelphia is another city that was plagued in the first century by earthquakes, talked about that last episode with Sardis. This led to—by the way, if you remember all the way back in our lesson on 1 Thessalonians, in fact, we have put that in your show notes. For this episode, we have put—what episode was that?

Brent: That was 161.

Marty: 161 was our lesson on 1 Thessalonians. We titled that parousia or parousia. It was about the Second Coming and this idea of an emperor coming back. We said it would usually happen after things like what, Brent?

Brent: Like an earthquake, like some sort of disaster.

Marty: Something destroys your city. Rome needs your city to be functional. Rome comes, essentially, bails you out, gives you a bunch of money, helps you rebuild, and then that emperor has a parousia where he shows up and says, “Let me see what you’ve done with the place.” That was our conversation about that. You can go back and review that if you want to. That conversation is very relevant for Philadelphia because it was decimated by earthquakes and had multiple rebuilds.

In AD 17, that was the first of the earthquakes we mentioned in the last episode. There was a major earthquake that essentially destroyed Philadelphia. The rebuilt city was given a new name to honor the Caesar who helped them rebuild. They called it Neo-Caesarea. In AD 60, another major earthquake hit and the city was rebuilt again by the Flavian dynasty. They sought to rename the city Flavia, but the name was rejected because of how the residents of the city despised the Flavian dynasty.

We’re going to do some more talking about Domitian and the Domitian era, and how much people just hated and despised Domitian. Domitian was the last of the Flavian Emperors, and their whole dynasty will die out. They were not a popular dynasty. The general public did not like the Flavians. Even though they tried to rename the city Flavia, nobody really accepted the change colloquially, like locally, and nobody recognized it.

They just called it Philadelphia again. It was Philadelphia, then it was Neo-Caesarea and then it was Flavia—or guess not —Philadelphia. Among the many things that plagued the early Roman empire, the lack of grain production. I think we’ve mentioned that before on our podcast, Rome’s big struggle, if our struggle is, what is a great resource, Brent, we have to have. In our world today, America has to have?

Brent: Oil.

Marty: The oil of their day was grain. Rome was having a major grain shortage and they were doing everything they could, treaties and agreements with Egypt, trying to get enough grain for their empire. That lack of production was crippling the Rome economy. Rome was doing everything they could think of to produce more grain. In fact, one of the references is in the book of Revelation, found in Revelation 6:6—I don’t know if I like that number—matches exactly what we found in Roman records.

The price mentioned is 500 times the average price prior to the grain shortage. Actually, can you just pull up Revelation 6:6? Pull up Revelation 6:6 for me. This phrase in Revelation is exactly the same phrase we have found in archeology when we unearthed different records about the same period of time.

Brent: Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures saying two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine. I’ve got some footnotes on that. Two pounds is one kilogram, that’s not very helpful. Days’ wage’s denarius, six pounds, three kilograms, and days’ wage’s denarius.

Marty: Imagine spending your entire day’s wage, working a whole day, having to spend it all on two pounds of wheat, a kilogram of wheat. That’s 500 times, by the way, what the average price was prior to the grain shortage in the same area of the world. One of the major exports of Philadelphia was its incredible wine. They loved their wine and were known throughout the land as having wonderful grapes. The Flavian dynasty—remember, how did everybody feel about the Flavian dynasty, Brent?

Brent: [sarcasm] Oh, they loved them. Favorites.

Marty: [laughs] Favorite Flavians. The opposite. They hated, they despised the Flavians. Well, these Flavians, in an effort to curb the grain shortage, ordered more than 75% of the grapevines of Philadelphia uprooted. They were replaced with grain fields that never produced healthy grain and they were certainly warned by experts that the grain wasn’t going to grow in the first place. In light of this, you can understand the anger of the residents of Philadelphia towards the Flavians.

Philadelphia is also known as the door to Asia Minor. When you go to Philadelphia, you are sitting on the doorway between Asia and Asia Minor. Go past Philadelphia and you are now in Asia Minor. If you’re going from west to east, if you’re traveling eastward, you’re going through the door to Asia Minor when you pass through Philadelphia.

It was the border between the two regions on the main highway. Once you passed through Philadelphia. on your way, if you’re going west, you would’ve entered the province of Asia. Now let’s read the letter to Philadelphia and let’s listen for context, Brent Billings.

Brent: To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of him who is wholly and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens, no one can shut and what he shuts, no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet, you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews, though and they are not, but are liars. I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Marty: Alright. Let’s just talk culture here. How about this phrase? “What he opens, no one can shut. What he shuts, no one can open… See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.” Give me some context, Brent.

Brent: Philadelphia is the door.

Marty: They are the doorway. “The synagogue of Satan,” most scholars have—we talked about this in our discussion about Smyrna, by the way. The synagogue of Satan being a group of Jews who did not accept the Gentiles. They said, “These Gentiles are not Jewish. We’re not accepting any Gentile followers of the God of Israel.” Paul calls that, if you’re that, in his mind, you’re not even truly Jewish because you don’t even understand the mission and the message of Judaism. That’s strongly stated, but that’s the cultural context of that phrase.

How about “I am coming soon”? Can you think of anything that would be relevant to the context of “I am coming soon”?

Brent: Parousia.

Marty: Brilliant. Parousia. The parousia speaks to a city that has experienced at least two of them, maybe even more. How about this phrase? “I will write on them the name of my God” and “the name of the city of my God… I will write on them my new name…” three different references to names. Why that, Brent?

Brent: They had three names for the city. They had gone through more than any other city, all kinds of chaos surrounding their name. Without the cultural context, that little chunk of text sounds ridiculous. It’s like how many times do you have to say this, over and over. But when you count it and you know the culture, whoa.

Marty: Yes, absolutely. Now, what’s the next question we’re going to ask, Brent? We’ve learned our hermeneutic. We’ve now looked at culture.

Brent: What’s the Text behind it?

Marty: Really great; what’s the Text? Hopefully, listeners are jumping ahead of us and already there. We need to talk about John’s source material. Consider the following passage from Isaiah 45. Give me some Isaiah 45, Brent.

Brent: This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut. I will go before you and will level the mountains. I will break down the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel who summons you by name. For the sake of Jacob, my servant of Israel, my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor though you do not acknowledge me.

Marty: Alright, so here we see another reference of God opening doors that cannot be shut. Isaiah spends an unusual amount of time talking about somebody in Cyrus by name. Not only this, but the whole passage is about God using a Gentile to save and redeem His own people. Could it be a deliberate reference because of the synagogue of Satan who says we’re not accepting the work of Gentiles. John says, well, the work of Gentiles has been a part of our story for a long time. How about Isaiah 62. Let’s look at chapter 62 and see what’s showing up there. Go ahead, Brent.

Brent: For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

Marty: Another incredibly fitting source from which to grab material for the letter to Philadelphia. John made mention of nobody taking their crown, a reference to a passage that is also filled with references to a new name, again, an unusual amount of naming. You’ll be called this but you won’t be called that and I will call you this and you will be given a new name, name, name, all linked up because of a reference to John saying something about a crown. There’s more but wait, there’s more. Go to 2 Chronicles 3, Brent, and read us some of the third chapter of 2 Chronicles. Another one of those abstract portions of this letter to Philadelphia that once you read some Text, you’re like, “Oh, that’s brilliant.”

Brent: For the front of the temple, he made two pillars which together were 35 cubits long, each with a capital 5 cubits high. He made interwoven chains and put them on top of the pillars. He also made 100 pomegranates and attached them to the chains. He erected the pillars in front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south, he named the Jachin, and the one to the north Boaz.

Marty: John said that they would be pillars in the temple of my God. Such a reference would take any Jew’s mind back to the Temple of Solomon because when we were told of Solomon’s project, one of the notable things he did was to set up two pillars. However, as you can see above, he doesn’t just set up two pillars. He does something incredibly peculiar. He gives the pillars what, Brent?

Brent: Names.

Marty: Again, I’m forced to recognize the literary genius that is the Book of Revelation. We could write, we could talk, we could fill up so much conversation about all the different things we find in the Book of Revelation, just on the different hidden sermons that are being preached through revelation by John referencing these passages, known as remez. May we continue to push in and learn more about the book that has perplexed so many for so long, but may we remember that if we’re going to study the last book of the New Testament, one of the most critical things we can bring with us is the Old Testament, so letter of the Philadelphians.

Brent: What’s interesting is that in the 2 Chronicles passage, he sets one pillar up to the north and one to the south, thereby creating a doorway going from west to east.

Marty: Absolutely, and they stand right in front of the door of the temple framing the doorway. Absolutely brilliant. Sorry, I had to get that last one.

Brent: Yes. It’s good.

Marty: I just noticed that. Well, that’s it for Philadelphia. We have one more church to go: Laodicea.

Brent: Well, if you have any questions about the show, go to bemadescipleship.com. You can get a hold of me or Marty there. Thanks for joining us on the BEMA Podcast this week. We’ll talk to you again soon.