Like all the letters of Yeshua HaMashiach to the erring remnant of the seven churches, the letter to the church of the Laodiceans follows the same procedure of interpretation. “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Revelation 1:3, NKJV). Someone with the gift of prophecy will read and interpret and those who hear and follow will be blessed by God. Not anyone can give the proper and acceptable interpretation of all the things written in the coded book of Revelation.
During the eras of Philadelphia and Laodiceans, a group of people that shall become the remnants of those two prophesied Churches were being prepared by God through the works and teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong. But when Mr. Armstrong died on January 16, 1986, Satan had got his firm foothold in the Worldwide Church of God. Joseph Tkach became the Pastor General of the Worldwide Church of God but God struck him dead with bone cancer quickly after 40 days had passed. The era of the Laodiceans had its beginning, when Joseph Tkach Sr and his son brought into apostasy the Worldwide Church of God. They subtlety introduced many doctrinal changes to majority of its members with shallow spiritual understanding and unconverted mind.
Herbert W. Armstrong, the Founder of the Worldwide Church of God
It was the Worldwide Church of God that had done the work of God during the Philadelphia era starting in 1933 up to the death of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong. Ironically, the members of the Worldwide Church of God were unable to become the prophesied Church in Philadelphia. Instead of becoming Philadelphians they become members of the prophesied Church of the Laodiceans. They became the prophesied lukewarm and blind Church of the Laodiceans, as it is written and prophesied in the seventh letter of Rabbi Yeshua Hamashiach to the seven churches.
Many groups of believers left the Worldwide Church of God when it went into apostasy due to the erroneous and wicked teachings of Joseph Tkach and his son. Most of those break-away churches that appeared in the era of the Laodiceans, were loyal to the true teachings of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong hoping to remain part of the prophesied Church in Philadelphia. But those innumerable off-shoot Churches from the Worldwide Church of God have become Laodiceans due to the many erroneous and anti-Semitic teachings of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong.
In the year 2003, the era of the Church of the Laodiceans ended when the fledgling and prophesied remnant of the Philadelphia congregation appeared. At that time, the prophesied generation of the Church of the Laodiceans manifested itself when Garner Ted Armstrong died, marking the official end of the era Church of the Laodiceans.
The letter of Rabbi Yeshua to the Church of the Laodicean helps us to precisely ascertain the true remnant of the last and seventh prophesied Church in Revelation 2 and 3. The prophetic letter must be read and decoded first by someone guided by the Holy Spirit or the Shekinah. That is the only way the true message of Yeshua HaMashiach to the Laodiceans can be unraveled and understood. Afterward, the repentant people of the Church of the Laodiceans can get out of the splinter Churches from the Worldwide Church of God if they will keep the true teachings of God preached by the New Jerusalem congregation in this end of time.
Take a note of the Letter of Yeshua to the prophesied seventh Church of God known as the Laodiceans:
"And to the angel of the CHURCH OF THE LAODICEANS write, 'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'--and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked--I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" ' " “(emphasis by the writer, Revelation 3:14-22, NKJV).
You will notice in the preceding letter that God is seeking repentance from the people that are part of the Church of the Laodiceans, which means there is still hope for some of the Laodiceans. Rabbi Yeshua is telling them to ‘be zealous and repent’ and ‘To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne ‘ (Revelation 3:19-20, NKJV).
Salutation
The prophetic message of Yeshua HaMashiach (true name of the son of Joseph and Mary) to the Laodiceans, begins with a coded salutation. I have expostulated many times before what the true purpose of the salutations in the seven messages of Rabbi Yeshua are. They symbolize what God had given to the prophesied remnants or generations of the seven Church eras and help us identify each of the remnants of the seven churches in prophecy as well.
For instance, in Revelation 3:7, we read how Yeshua identified himself to the Church in Philadelphia, “He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens” (NASB). The salutation of Yeshua HaMashiach here tells the seven Churches that the Philadelphians are holy and true. God has given the Philadelphians the Key of David, which is a key in understanding the fulfillment of biblical prophecies. The remnant of the Church in Philadelphia can open door and no one can shut it. When the Philadelphians shut the door, no one can open that door anymore.
In case you have not read the article concerning the letter to the Church in Philadelphia, the Key of David does not refer to the Key of David TV Program of the Philadelphia Church of God. At this time, you can still watch in the internet what the TV Program of the Philadelphia Church of God is all about. If you have no understanding of true biblical prophecies you could be deceived into thinking their interpretation of prophecies are true. But that is not really the case especially when Gerald Flurry is indeed a false prophet.
Gerald Flurry, False Prophet of Philadelphia Church of God
Let us go back to the letter of Yeshua HaMashiach to the Church in Sardis. The salutation says, “He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars” (Revelation 3:1, NASB). The word ‘seven’ in this verse should help us identify the remnant of the Church in Sardis. With a good sense of history, we can find only one Church of God in existence today that has the word ‘seven’ on its name, whose history goes way back to the Sardis era.
“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God” (Revelation 3:14, KJV).
In this salutation, Yeshua identifies himself as the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. This prophetic verse shows that the Church of the Laodiceans is the Amen or the last of the seven Churches in prophecy, as in prayer we say ‘Amen’ when we are done and nothing follows anymore. Thus, we know that in the seventh letter of Rabbi Yeshua there would no longer be another Church that would follow the Church of the Laodiceans.
Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong
This salutation is implicitly telling the Laodiceans that God is sending his ‘faithful and true witness’ to the former members of the Worldwide Church of God that became part of the Church of the Laodiceans. In short, one of the two witnesses could come from the people that would become Laodiceans and he shall preach his message to the Laodiceans to save them for the Laodiceans are formerly his own brehren. The Laodiceans are not the ‘faithful and true witness’ of God in this prophetic verse otherwise Rabbi Yeshua would not vomit them from his mouth.
The truth is the people known prophetically in the seventh letter as the prophesied Church of the Laodiceans are the former members of the Worldwide Church of God under the leadership of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong. They have now become the prophesied Laodiceans known for their lukewarmness and many other bad things, as it is written, “Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing' and--do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked--” (Revelation 3:17, NKJV).
Let us say there are more than 500 Church of God organizations that have splintered from the WCG organization including the Sunday-keeping Christian Churches that are still connected to the Grace Communion International (Worldwide Church of God). Out of these 500 false off-shoot Churches that are part of the Church of the Laodiceans, there is only one faithful and true witness that had become the prophesied Church in Philadelphia.
That one ‘faithful and true witness’ could be none other than the New Jerusalem congregation, or one of the members of the New Jerusalem congregation that became the remnant Church in Philadelphia. There is no truth to the assumption of the false prophetess Ellen G. White of the Seventh Day Adventist that her church (the Seventh-Day Adventist) is the seventh and last Church that would become the prophesied Church of the Laodiceans. She is, in fact, ‘the woman Jez'ebel, who calls herself a prophetess’ (Revelation 2:20, RSVA).
We now wait for the appearance of the promised Messiah or the appearance of the prophesied Two Witnesses of Revelation 11 that would testify to the Jewish people who the Promised Messiah really is.
Poor, Blind, and Naked
The members of the prophesied Church of the Laodiceans are rich and wealthy in comparison to the Church in Philadelphia that has “little strength” (Revelation 3:8, KJV). But the truth is the Laodiceans are “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17, KJV). Sometimes rich and wealthy people, like the Laodiceans, have the tendency to become miserable, poor, blind and naked spiritually, without them knowing it.
When you are a blind Laodicean, you cannot really feel and see clearly the truth. You will not know how wretched and miserable you have already become in the eyes of the other people.
You can become rich, or even experienced being rich, without knowing you have already become Laodiceans in the eyes of God. There would be times in your life that you have already received riches and wealth, or having great amount of money, as prophesied. You have become a rich Laodicean already, even if you are presently poor at this present time. There are Laodiceans that continue being rich and wealthy while others only experienced being rich for a short period of time.
Take for instance, the members of the Philadelphia Church of God under Gerald Flurry, they know not how wretched and miserable they have become through the miserable teachings of that false prophet—Gerald Flurry.
There are also many former members of the Worldwide Church of God that turned their back from the true teachings of God and consequently become rich and wealthy. But in the eyes of God, they are really ‘poor, blind and naked’ spiritually speaking.
Being ‘poor, blind and naked’ in the case of the prophesied Church of the Laodiceans has something to do with clothing or things we wear before the presence of God during our worship on appointed times like Shabbat, New Moon Days and Holy Days. The Laodiceans have become blind and unable to see the truth about their nakedness or the nakedness of the wicked people for they are mostly anti-semitic and anti-Jewish.
They despise and hate the Jewish people greatly on account of their replacement theory. They erroneously believe that God had already rejected the Jewish people and taken them as the replacement of the children of Israel.
The Laodiceans are naked because of their lack of clothing and covering spiritually. A prayer shawl and a head covering are physical things but the Jewish people wear them for spiritual reason, not because they will make them look good. A male Jew with no kippa or head covering is naked in the eyes of God. A Jewish woman with no head covering is also naked in the eyes of God. The Laodiceans think they are not really Jews but only spiritual Jews. But why do the Laodiceans worship the anointed King of the Jews they called Jesus who actually is Jewish?
If Rabbi Yeshua called the scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites, the Laodiceans are also hypocrites. They are worse than the scribes, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They have the Bible but could not understand the true teachings of God for they are blind. It is the blindness of the Laodiceans the hinder them from knowing and seeing the truth. They could not see clearly.
That is the reason why God is commanding them to buy an eyesalve or an ointment for the eyes so they could see. Maybe, they also need eyeglasses but that is not written at all in.
The Laodiceans are identified and known for their lack of clothing or nakedness. God is not going to tell anyone directly or easily through the Bible what we need to do to become true and righteous in His eyes. There are many wolves that have entered already into the seven Churches of God. It is easy for the righteous to determine at this time the false prophets and false teachers. There are so many wolves-dressed-in-sheep-clothing today for even the Messianic Jews are wearing prayer shawl and kippa in their worship. They want to look like the Jewish people so they follow the dress code of the Jews, like wolves in sheep’s clothing.
White Raiment
“I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see” (Revelation 3:18, KJV).
God is counselling the Laodiceans to buy His true teachings that are like gold tried in furnace of fire so they can become really rich in comparison to the teachings of the false teachers and false prophets from the Church of the Laodiceans. The true teachings of God are being offered and sold by the prophesied Church in Philadelphia. It is like gold tried in the fire, as it is written, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Psalm 12:6, KJV). The furnace uses fire to purify the gold that is put into it for purification or removal of dross.
According to the book of Proverbs, “The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts” (Proverbs 17:3, KJV). Somehow God wants to try the hearts of the Laodiceans in the furnace of affliction, so they can become acceptable before Him. So, in this particular letter, God wants the Laodiceans to really become rich before His eyes.
The Lord our God is also seeking repentance from the members of the Church of the Laodiceans, whatever their affiliation is in this end of times. God loves repentance and when we repent and return to the true teachings of God written in the Tanach or the Holy Bible, God would also welcome us back just like what He would do to the rebellious people from the lost ten tribes of Israel once they repent.
The erstwhile members of the Worldwide Church of God have a much better understanding of the teachings of God written in the Holy Bible than the Christian people, whatever generations they come from. They merely need correction through the true teachings of God written in the Torah of Moses, and the coded teachings of Rabbi Yeshua written in the New Testament portion of the Holy Bible. White raiment or white garment is a coded word for the JEWISH PRAYER SHAWL that the Jewish people wear whenever they worship in the Jewish synagogue on Sabbath days and Holy Days.
When a person follows all the teachings of God written in the Torah, beginning with the Jewish prayer shawl, he or she would soon understand that the nakedness of the Laodiceans refers to the clothing they do not wear. The Laodiceans have learned from the ways of worship of the Protestant people, which is what the Worldwide Church of God really is. Herbert W. Armstrong came from the worship rites and customs of the Protestant people, even the church in Sardis worship like the Protestant people for they are also naked.
Take a note what Rabbi Yeshua had written to the Church in Sardis, “You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in WHITE, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in WHITE GARMENTS, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels” (emphasis by the writer, Revelation 3:4-5, NKJV).
The preceding verses testify to us that Rabbi Yeshua, the promised Messiah of Israel, wants all the people on earth that believe and follow Him to dress properly in worship. He commanded in the Torah of Moses that his servants and ministers should dress and worship in accordance to the laws specified and written in the Torah. White prayer shawl is only one of the garments that the true worshippers of God must don and wear whenever they come to worship with God on the seventh-day Sabbath Day, on New Moon Days and on Holy Days.
“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with WHITE ROBES, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in WHITE ROBES? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (emphasis by the writer, Revelation 7:9-14, KJV).
When the Great Tribulation we are facing right now ends, a great multitude of people would survive, and they would all be dressed in WHITE ROBES or WHITE GARMENTS, as it is written above. The English word ‘robes’ is translated from the Greek word ‘stole’ with the Strong’s number G4749. The greek word ‘stole’ can also be translated to the English word ‘garments.’ This type of garment from the Greek word ‘stole’ denotes long robe or long garment like ‘tallit hagadol’ that refers to big Jewish prayer shawl.
The Jewish people wear big and long prayer shawl in the shul or Jewish synagogue known as ‘tallit hagadol’. Thus, if you are planning to buy now a ‘white raiment’ choose to buy the big and large one instead of what the ‘synagogue of Satan’ in Revelation 3:9 prefers to wear—tallit hakatan (the small one).
The white raiment is simply a Jewish prayer shawl. Only the Torah-observant Jews wear a Jewish prayer shawl even when they are not in worship service. A white raiment symbolizes the righteousness that come from keeping the true teachings of God in the Torah.
Head Covering
Jewish Skull Cap or Kippot
The wearing of the ‘white raiment’ or ‘white robe’ is not enough without the Jewish head covering known as kippa or yarmulke. There are many people that despise anything Jewish so they would be wearing a prayer shawl without a head covering. On Sabbath day, the Jewish people wear a special color of head covering than what they wear during ordinary days.
Take a note what Rabbi Yeshua taught the Church in Philadelphia about the Jewish head covering.
“Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your CROWN” (emphasis by the writer, Revelation 3:10-11, NKJV).
The book of Revelation is a coded book and the word ‘crown’ on verse 11 actually refers to the head covering known as kippah or yarmulke. Actually, you can buy a kippah that really looks like a crown but you cannot wear that when you are a normal, ordinary person. Rabbi Yeshua is not really speaking of the crown of a king or a crown of salvation on verse 11. When people see you wearing a kippah on your head, they would try to stop you from wearing a head covering by saying bad things about it. That simply what Rabbi Yeshua is warning about in ‘hold fast … that no one may take your crown’ (verse 11).
A friend of yours or a neighbor may ask for your head covering (kippah) as a gift or a present for him. That may seem to be an act of kindness on your part but you would lose your crown in that way. Blessing comes to the people on earth that keeps the commandment of God. Keep the commandment of Rabbi Yeshua for He is a God as well.
“"You shall skillfully weave the tunic of fine linen thread, you shall make the turban of fine linen, and you shall make the sash of woven work.”For Aaron's sons you shall make tunics, and you shall make sashes for them. And you shall make hats for them, for glory and beauty. So you shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him. You shall anoint them, consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to Me as priests. And you shall make for them linen trousers to cover their nakedness; they shall reach from the waist to the thighs. They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister in the holy place, that they do not incur iniquity and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and his descendants after him”” (Exodus 28: 39-43, NKJV).
God had commanded the priest to have a covering or hats on their head for glory and beauty.
Jews Wearing Head Covering or Kippah on their head during their worship.
Eyesalve
The Torah or the true teachings of God are like eyesalve that can help the blind to see once their eyes are anointed with it. It depends largely on the one who is teaching the commandments of God written in the Torah of Moses. Not all people that are teachings the Torah can help the blind to see, like the unbelieving Jewish rabbis, whatever Jewish movements they are part of. The teachings of the unbelieving Jewish rabbi will not be able to bring healing to the blind for they are blind themselves.
“He summoned the multitude, and said to them, "Hear, and understand. That which enters into the mouth doesn't defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man." Then the talmidim came, and said to him, "Do you know that the Perushim were offended, when they heard this saying?" But he answered, "Every plant which my heavenly Father didn't plant will be uprooted. Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit."
“Kefa answered him, "Explain the parable to us." So Yeshua said, "Do you also still not understand? Don't you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly, and then out of the body? But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands doesn't defile the man" (Matthew 15:10-20, HNV).
We can infer from the preceding verses that the Laodiceans are blind on account of the wrong teachings of their blind ministers or blind teachers from the Worldwide Church of God. Bear in mind that there were more than 500 off-shoot churches that came out of the Worldwide Church of God and formed their own church organization. Majority of them were faithful to the established anti-Jewish teachings of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong from the Worldwide Church of God.
We can say the same thing to the Jewish rabbis from many Jewish movements that have not learned the truth from the true teachings of Rabbi Yeshua. They are blind guides leading the blind. Most of the times, their teachings are full of lies against Jesus Christ (false name of Yeshua HaMashiach) in the Holy Bible. They erroneously thought that the son of Joseph and Mary was the one that introduced the religion of Christianity to the world. But a thorough examination of the Holy Bible would show that the teachings of Rabbi Yeshua, the son of Joseph and Mary, are stricter than the teachings of the Jewish rabbis and tsaddikim when it comes to the Torah of Moses.
There is no way for Rabbi Yeshua to start the false and fraudulent religion of Christianity. The New Testament writings comes with the book of Revelation that prophesied the burning of the Vatican City. It also foretells the destruction of the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian sects and denominations. Only the people with no sense and spirit of prophecy would start a religion based upon the so-called Christian Bible, especially when the Holy Bible foretells their coming destruction and the absence of salvation on their religion. There is really no salvation in the name of Jesus for it really means the son of Zeus (pronounced ‘sus’), the king of Mt. Olympus.
The Church of the Laodiceans still worship in the name of Jesus Christ for their Church leaders, ministers and members are still all blind, as of this writing or update.
When God had chosen the people that would serve Him in worship, like the priests or the Levites, He had taught the people of Israel of the special holy garment they should wear during services. The teachings of God about the holy apparel of the priest are also written in the Torah of Moses.
However, before Rabbi Yeshua left for heaven, he had already removed from their offices the priests (kohanim) and the Jewish rabbis (Perushim). Thus, the group of people that will replace them in their offices, whoever they are, must also wear the holy garment of the servants of God.
How can the Laodiceans see?
You must understand that the old manuscripts say you must also buy this eyesalve. It is not free at all especially when your eyesalve is coming from a member of the Church in Philadlphia with little strength. I may ask for ten-dollar donation but my Jewish brethren would probably demand more from you. However, I can give an eyesalve for free to anyone who will ask for it in the name of the Lord. But the truth is many Bible translations are saying the Laodiceans must buy it for they have the money and the means to do so.
“I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see” (Rev 3:18, NASB).
An eyesalve is symbolical of something that can make the Laodiceans see. It is used for anointing the eye that could not see, not that the eyes are truly blind. In the Bible and in Judaism, a poor man can be considered a dead person even though he is not really dead clinically or physically speaking. Being without money or poor is like an existence without life like a dead person in the grave or buried six feet underground.
When it comes to being blind, the Laodiceans are not really that blind. They can see like the Emperor in the Emperor’s New Clothes of Hans Christian Andersen. Something is blinding them. An eyesalve is something that will help them see. Ask yourself, how did the Emperor see in that fairy tale?
What is really the cause of the Laodiceans’ problem with God?
“Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it? But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
“Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you. For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
“They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof” (Jeremiah 5:21-31, KJV)?
It’s really rebellion against God. This is similar in saying they are not under the law but under the law of grace.
The Laodiceans are rebelling against God just like lost children of Israel. They are not keeping the Torah of Moses just like the rebellious people of Israel. The former members of the Worldwide Church of God are rich not because God has blessed them. They are rich because they are in rebellion against God just like the thieves and robbers of this present evil world.
There is also duality in the fulfillment of the prophetic letter of Jesus to the Church of the Laodiceans. If the Sabbath-keeping erstwhile members of the Worldwide Church of God have spawned more than 500 splinter-churches of God today the same thing has taken place to the Sunday-keeping version of the WCG members (Grace Communion International). Many of them are literally rich today in comparison to the true and humble servant of God.
God is telling the Laodiceans to anoint their eyes with something that can help them see. What that eyesalve could really be?
According to John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, “the law is a means of enlightening persons to see their sin and misery, and the danger they are in.” There are many things he said about the eyesalve but this one seems to be right. The Torah of Moses helps the believers to see. Can you believe that? The Torah can deliver the Jews and the Christians from the danger they are in if they would only keep all the things written on it.
“The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Psalm 19:8).
The Torah brings the light of truth to our eyes. It helps us to see the truth. Anoint your eyes with the 614-plus commandments of God. Even our Jewish rabbis are saying the Torah is an eye salve. Only when you keep the commandments of God can you see clearly. God gives his guidance and the Holy Spirit to the people who keep His commandments. The members of the church of the Laodiceans are clearly without the Holy Spirit. They only believe what they read in the Bible but they do not understand at all, like the unbelieving Jewish rabbis.
So the truth escapes the Church of the Laodiceans.
They are blind like most of the Christian people.
Be Zealous and Repent.
“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Revelation 3:19-22, KJV).
Rabbi Yeshua is rebuking and chastening the members of the Church of the Laodicean in this end of time known as the Great Tribulation. There is no zealousness in the Laodiceans for the seventh letter says they are lukewarm in many ways.
The letter of Rabbi Yeshua to the Laodiceans is a command or a teaching for them to become Jewish and more righteous than the Jewish rabbis.
“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” (Revelation 3:19).
Verse 19 follows quickly what is written last on verse 18. Rabbi Yeshua wants the Laodiceans to become zealous with the Law of Moses just like the Jewish believers during New Testament times when all the believers were Jewish. The word ‘zealous’ here in verse 19 should be applied only to the Torah of Moses and not on anything else at all.
“When we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. On the following day Paul went in with us to James; and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed; they are all ZEALOUS for the LAW” (Acts 21:17-20, RSV).
God wants the Laodiceans to learn and understand that Yeshua is a Jew. Rabbi Yeshua kept the Torah of Moses during His first coming. He is not keeping the Torah for the sake of the Gentile believers. The Jews keep the Torah for that is what makes them the Chosen People of God. If you have Yeshua or Rabbi Yeshua, you’ve got to keep also all the teachings of God and Yeshua. But the Laodiceans are like the Christian people, they do not really want to keep the Law of God.
That’s what makes the members of the Church of the Laodiceans, miserable and poor, blind and naked as well.
Early Deaths
The Laodiceans are about to experience very soon the rebuke and chastening of our Lord God. Do not think and consider that God does not love you when you are going through trial and tribulation after experiencing earning millions of money. God wants you to come back and return to Sabbath-keeping. You can only repent righteously in the eyes of God through the 614-plus commandments and not through the doctrines of the Worldwide Church of God under Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong (18 Restored Truth of HWA). God desires to see you become zealous of the Torah of Moses and all things written on it just like the many thousands of Jews that believe in Rabbi Yeshua before.
You should not be impartial in keeping the Law of God (Torah of Moses). Think of the unbelieving Jewish people during New Testament times. They did not keep wholeheartedly the Law of Moses but were impartial. They did not believe Him who is like the prophet Moses (Deuteronomy 18:18) so God permitted them to be destroyed just like what Peter had said (Acts 3:22-23). The WCG brethren before the falling away were keeping the so-called 18 Restored Truth and God allowed them to be taken away. Many of them had already died at that time and many shall follow still before the end of the world happen unless they repent. Be zealous, then. Read and study the entire Holy Bible especially the Pentateuch portion where the Torah can be found.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:20-22, NKJV).
During my younger days, we were given advice about the voice. They said, at night when you are sleeping in bed and hear your name being called you should not answer at all. You should not open the door. Even when you hear someone knocking at the door you should not open it. Otherwise you shall end up dead tomorrow or the next day.
The angel of death could be passing by your house seeking for someone to take to the world of the dead. You open the door of your house while he is passing by, you would be taken away. If you answer him when he calls out your name, you could be taken away. It is not the rapture. It is death coming to take you away from the land of the living.
In verse 20, Rabbi Yeshua is showing us what the unrepentant former members of the Worldwide Church of God had gone through and still going through today in their Laodicean state. Yeshua is already at their doors standing, ready to take them away but not to the place of safety. Yeshua is already knocking at the door of the houses of the Laodiceans. Yeshua is already calling out their names. Our Lord is already at the door waiting to take the Laodiceans away.
The members of the Church of the Laodiceans are already dead. God has rejected them. God has already spitted them out of his mouth.
When people died according to the doctors that study the people that have already experienced death, they often see Yeshua standing nearby. They heard the voice of Rabbi Yeshua calling out their names. Then, they died. But for some reasons the doctors have managed to resuscitate them back to life.
That is the current state of the Laodiceans today.
They are already dead in the eyes of God for God has already vomited them out of His mouth. They have already been rejected by God and Rabbi Yeshua.
If you are not dead, what you should be doing. Repent and be zealous to the Law of Moses, says verse 19. Verse 20, shows us what will happen to the unrepentant Laodiceans. Verse 21 now shall show us what shall happen to the Laodiceans when they repent.
“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne” (Revelation 3:21, KJV).
The Laodiceans are supposed to overcome while they are still alive and kicking. God loves them and for that reason they are being chastened and rebuked. You know, rebuke as in REBUKE.
Yeshua says that once you return to the Law that God had given to Moses the Prophet, you can sit with him in his throne when He comes again. God loves you. This thing we know as life shall pass away and we will be given eternal life with the word LIFE in it.
“The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it. He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him. He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch” (Proverbs 11:25-28).
The truth in a simple news story is hard to discern for the Laodiceans for they have no love for the truth. The truth would escape them always.
There are many members of the Church of the Laodiceans that had died before when Mr. Joseph Tkach Sr. died of bone cancer. Many of them died of natural causes and many died as if God had punished them from something wrong that they have done. Deadly accidents came into their lives, taking the lives of some of their loved ones.
Rav Yeshua Ed, the Writer
