| More to the Story - Philadelphia |
| Friday, 18 September 2009 10:40 | |||
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The city of Philadelphia was something like St. Louis is here in the US. Or at least, what it was, back in the days of the Oregon Trail. St. Louis was the city that everyone passed through to get to or from the west. Philadelphia was the same way. Anyone passing through from western Turkey or Greece to Tarsus and on down to Palestine would most likely take a route that lead through Philadelphia. It was a gateway, of sorts. Add to that the connection to Pergamum as their own personal gatekeeper, and the understanding of what it means to have an "open door that no one can shut" begins to come into focus. Cities have walls and gates, and can pick and choose who has access. Christ, being the "Key of David", flung open wide the door to heaven, and changed forever the scope of "you're good enough, you're not good enough", as well as "you're a Jew, you're not a Jew". An important Old Testament connection here is Isaiah 22:15-25. Almost the exact same wording is used in reference to replacing a bad steward of the palace with a new person, who would become the gatekeeper for everything that was allowed and disallowed into the palace. "I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open." (Isaiah 22:22)The founder of Philadelphia was King Eumenes II. He named it after his brother, and successor, Attalus II, who had earned the nickname "Philadelphos"- literally, "one who loves his brother". Attalus II handed the city over to his nephew, Attalus III Philometer when he died. The entire kingdom was bequeathed to their Roman allies in 133 BC, following the death of Attalus III without an heir. By the time this letter was written, Philadelphia had been devastated by at least 2 different earthquakes with help rebuilding by the Romans. The first in 17 AD and the second sometime around 75 AD. Both times, the city was renamed- first Neo Caesarea, and then Flavia. So at the time of writing- whether one believes the book was written around 67 AD or 90 AD, the city held a new name. And yet Jesus still refers to it as Philadelphia. This may be a key in understanding two different parts of the letter. One, is the reminder that you can change a name, but it doesn't have to change the city. "Hold onto what you have." But an even bigger connection than that is the promise at the end. I don't think our society places nearly as much emphasis on the importance of names as they did during this time. So to write to a city that was once named after brotherly love, and had been changed twice and dumbed down to honor Roman Caesars, and promise them "I will write on him 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 him my new name." That had to be special to these believers. Plus, writing them on pillars of the temple was a big thing. Asian temples were designed as much as possible to withstand earthquakes. They were the epitome of safety in times of duress. The promise to make those who hold on pillars in the temple of God to a city constantly devastated by earthquakes- that had to be the ultimate comfort for these people. Ultimately, the whole letter revolves around faith. It's what compels us to step through a door into the unknown. It's what allows us to not deny his name even when we have "little strength". It's what allows us to "endure patiently" and "hold onto what you have" even when dealing with the synagogue of Satan and someone trying to steal your crown. It's what gets us to the point where our greatest comfort is the promise "never will I leave you". Because when we get to that point of knowing that God is all sufficient and outside of him, we can do nothing... it drive us to our knees and breaks us, but it leaves us with the most comfortable feeling in the world. "It's not up to me. And it never was." Why is it that the things that are easiest and require the least amount of effort are the things that we have the hardest time accepting?
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