REVELATION SEVEN CHURCHES HISTORICAL OVERLAY SARDIS PHILADELPHIA

REVELATION SEVEN CHURCHES HISTORICAL OVERLAY SARDIS & PHILADELPHIA Lesson 16

SARDIS Reformation Age 1517 – 1648 Dead Church RUINS OF SARDIS Present Day Turkey

SARDIS MESSIAH SEVEN SPIRITS SEVEN STARS He has all power and authority over the CHURCH / HIS BODY “WAKE UP, strengthen what is about to die. ”

EHPHESUS Apostolic Age 30 – 100 A. D. SMYRNA Persecution Age 100 – 313 A. D. o PERGAMUM Imperial Age 313 – 606 A. D. THYATIRA Papacy Age 606 - 1517 A. D.

EPHESUS ANTI-HEBRAISM THE CORRECTION: “You have forsaken the love you had at first. ” Ignatius of Antioch 40 -115 A. D. , Ante-Nicene Church Father, wrote, “Now, if anyone preaches Judaism to you, pay no attention to him. ” Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson, eds. , The Ante -Nicene Fathers; Translations of the Writings of the 10 Vols Ignatius Philippians 14, 5, 6,

SMYRNA – ANTI-HEBRAISM Ante-Nicene Church Fathers Writings 100 – 313 A. D. Origen 185 - 254 A. D. Origen is credited as the father of the allegorical method of interpretation. He made allegory the only way to truly understand the Scriptures. PERGAMUM – 313 – 606 A. D. When Constantine in the fourth century, made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, the Hebraic Ways were treated with greater disdain and Jewish persecutions intensified.

JOHN CHRYSOSTOM 347– 407, Nicene Church Father. He initiated Adversus Judaeo (anti-Judaic) sermon genre. “Jews must live in servitude forever. . . God always hated Jews. It is incumbent upon all Christians to hate Jews. . Don’t you realize if the Jewish rites are holy and veneable, our way of life must be false? ” “ST. AUGUSTINE held all Jews responsible for killing Christ but unlike those before him he held they should be treated like Cain, that is, not murdered (though Catholics violated this restriction time and again), but made to suffer as living witnesses to their ‘crime. ’ ” Cited in Robert Michael, A History of Catholic Antisemitism P. 2

Anti-Hebraism Conceived At Ephesus / Smyrna Breeds Anti-Judaism, Anti-Semitism At Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis The Inquisitions presented the Jews with an ultimatum, Christian baptism or death. At the hands of Inquisitor Tomas de Torquemada terror invaded the land. From town to town he hunted down Conversos, Jews who had accepted conversion but secretly practiced Judaism. The Jews faced mobs, massacres and martyrdom. In twelve years the Inquisition discovered and consigned to death by fire more than 13, 000 men and women who had been converted to Roman Christianity accused of practicing Judaism secretly. Cited in Chaim Potok, Wanderings, History of the Jews, p. 415

THYATIRA BRIDGE TO SARDIS Christianity’s Controversy with Judaism Expressed in Anti-Semitic Diatribes and Atrocities Potok relates, “The Inquisitions continued to seek out those who practiced Judaism secretly. . Their lives were edged with the constant dread of exposure. ” Neighbors were encouraged to report any acquaitance who showed “a reluctance to eat pork, the lighting of candles on Friday evening, the observance of certain fast days, the absence of smoke from chimney on the Sabbath—Jewish law forbids the making of a fire on the day of rest—these were telltale signs of possible secret Jews. ” p. 416 -417

Popes In Defense of the Jews Pope Innocent IV appointed a committee to study the issue in 1247. It was established that there was no truth in the Blood Libel allegations and that Jewish law strictly forbids the consumption of blood. Pope Gregory X in 1275 published a letter ordering that no Jew should be arrested under such silly pretexts. He further demanded that no Christian should ‘stir up anything against the Jews. ’ Pope Nicholas IV 1291 issued a papal bull that the church would not tolerate Christian injury to Jews. Four other popes denounced Blood Libel but others were not as supportive. Cited in Walter Laqueur The Changing Face of Antisemitism p. 56

Christian Persecution of Jews 1505 Jews from Worms, Germany wear the mandatory yellow badge. A moneybag and garlic in the hands, an antisemitic stereotype. Ten Czech Jews were tortured and executed after being accused of killing a Christian girl. On his death bed, a shepherd confessed to fabricating the accusation. 1506 April 19 – Lisbon, Portugal. A marrano expresses his doubts about miracle visions at St. Dominics Church. The crowd, led by Dominican monks, kills him, then ransacks Jewish house, slaughtering any Jew they could find. The countrymen hear about the massacre and join in. Over 2, 000 marranos killed in three days.

Christian Persecution of Jews 1510 July 19 – Forty Jews are executed in Brandenburg, Germany for allegedly desecrating the host; remaining Jews expelled. 23 November, 38 Jews burned at the stake in Berlin. 1511 – June 6 - Eight Roman Catholic converts from Judaism burned at the stake for allegedly reverting. 1516 – The Church initiated the ghetto in Venice, the first in Christian Europe. 1519 – Martin Luther leads Protestant Reformation. . . “deal kindly with the Jews that they come over to us. ” 1528 – Three judaizers are burned at the stake in Mexico City’s first auto da fe.

Christian Persecution of Jews 1535 – After Spanish troops capture Tunis, all the local Jews are sold into slavery. 1543 – Martin Luther released his pamphlet On the Jews and Their Lies, (convert or suffer expulsion). 1547 – Ivan the Terrible becomes ruler of Russia, refuses to allow Jews to live or even enter his kingdom because they “bring about great evil. ” 1553 – Pope Julius III forbids Talmud printing, burns any found. Inquisitor Cardinal Carafa (later Pope Paul IV) had Talmud publicly burnt in Rome on Rosh Hashanah, starting a wave of Talmud burning throughout Italy. About 12, 000 copies were destroyed.

Martin Luther 1483 – 1546 Continues Christian Persecution of the Jews The Jewish Virtual Library Addresses Martin Luther’s Attitude and Actions: “Luther used violent and vulgar language throughout his career. While we do not expect religious figures to use this sort of language in the modern world, but it was not uncommon in the early 16 th century. ” Martin Luther Wrote, On The Jews and Their Lies (1543), frequently reprinted during the Nazi era.

Martin Luther 1483 – 1546 Continues Christian Persecution of the Jews Walter Laqueur The Changing Face of Anti. Semitism writes, “Martin Luther at the beginning of his career had entertained hopes that the Jews would be converted to his new creed and stressed in particular that Jesus had been born a Jew—a fact frequently ignored in church discourse. But he did not win converts among the Jews and in later years turned sharply against them. His views are of considerable importance because they helped to shape the outlook of the Protestant churches up to the twentieth century, through his pamphlet entitled On The Jews and Their Lies (1543). ”

Martin Luther Continues Roman Church Persecution of the Jews Laqueur further states, “Luther was a highstrung man who felt persecuted all his life by various kinds of demons; he believed in the power of prayer to make Satan disappear. But to be quite safe, he also threw inkpots at the satanic apparitions that came to visit him. No wonder therefore that Luther turned against the children of the devil, the Jews. ‘What shall we do, ’ he asked, ‘with this damned, rerejected, blasphemous, accursed, evil, poisonous race? ’ He observed that the Jews had been punished ‘a thousand times more than we might wish them. ’ but all this seemed insufficient. . . ” hence he wrote his 1543 pamphlet. ” p. 63

Martin Luther 1543 Pamphlet “On the Jews. . . ” “Their synagogues should be burned. . Their homes should also be destroyed and they all be put under one roof or stable. . . ’that they realize that they are but miserable captives. ’ They should be deprived of their prayer books and Talmud, and their rabbis should be forbidden under threat of death to teach any more. They should not be given travel permits for they had no business to take them into the countryside. All roads should be closed to them and they should be forced to stay at home. Jews should not be protected by the authorities and everything should be done to free the world of this insufferable, devilish burden— ‘our plague, pestilence and misfortune. ’ ” Walter Laqueur p. 64. Martin Luther continued

Robert Michael in A History of Catholic Antisemitism writes, “The former Augustinian priest Martin Luther was especially influential in regard to the Jews. His enormous corpus of work. . . polemical fashion ‘was the most popularly read man of his age’ --and perhaps the most antisemitic. Luther held that by the mere fact of their existence, Jews were a threat to Christians everywhere; as active opponents of Christ, they did not deserve tolerance. In his later writings, he devel oped the medieval Catholic anti-Jewish defamations and held that Jews were unconvertible and should be slain. His program on how German leaders should deal with the Jews—attack the rabbis, Talmud, and synagogues. . . force them into labor; expel or murder them was followed. . . by Adolf Hitler. ” p. 102

Robert Michael continues on Martin Luther “We must not consider the mouth of the Jews as worthy of uttering the name of God within our hearing. He who hears this name from a Jew must inform the authorities, or else throw sow dung at him when he sees him and chase him away. And may no one be merciful and kind in this regard. . Just as you see the Jew praying. . . nevertheless, their prayers turn into sin. We are even at fault in not avenging all this innocent blood of our Lord and of the Christians which they shed for 300 years after the destruction of Jerusalem, and the blood of the children they have shed since then (which still shines forth from their eyes and their skin). We are at fault in not slaying them. ” p. 102 -103

Sardis Age - John Calvin 1509 - 1564 Laqueur writes, “For the Calvinists, the seed of Abraham was part of the body of Christ. The Jews were God’s first-born, and the grace of divine calling could not be made void. Calvin even expressed ‘great affection for the Jews; ’ and said that ‘our differences with them were purely theological’ ” Robert Michael’s view, “Calvin observed that ‘the degenerate and unlimited stubbornness [of the Jews] has served to justify their unending accumulation of misery without limit and without measure. ” p. 101 -102 Conclusion: Calvin breaks with a long-standing tradition of Christian anti-Jewish exegesis of the Old Testament. However, in the end Calvin does not escape the anti-Judaism of his day.

Sardis Age - Christian Persecution of Jews 1555 – In a Papal Bull, Pope Paul IV writes: “It appears utterly absurd and impermissible that the Jews, whom God has condemned to eternal slavery for their guilt, should enjoy our Christian love. ” He renews anti-Jewish legislation and installs a locked nightly ghetto in Rome and forces Jewish males to wear a yellow hat, females, yellow kerchief. 1563 February – Russian troops take Polotsk from Lithuania; Jews are given ultimatum: embrace Russian Orthodox Church or die. Around 300 Jewish men, women and children were thrown into ice holes of Dvina river.

Dark Age - Christian Persecution of Jews 1564 – Brest-Litovsk, the son of a wealthy Jewish tax collector, is accused of killing the family’s Christian servant for ritual purposes. He is tortured and executed in line with the law. 1590 – Jewish quarter of Nikolsburg burns; 15 (Jews) die while Christians watch or pillage. Seventeenth Century 1608 – Jesuit order forbids admission to anyone descended from Jews to the fifth generation, was not lifted until the 20 th century. 1612 – Hamburg Senate allows Jews to live in Hamburg on condition there is no worship. 1614 –August 23 Frankfurt expelled Jews “ 1380 old and young were counted at the exit of the gate. ”

Letter to Sardis Reward: Overcomers will be ~ Clothed in White Garments and ~ Their names secure in the Book of Life and ~ Messiah will confess their names before His Father (3: 5)

PHILADELPHIA AGE 1648 - 1900 BROTHERLY LOVE - MISSIONARY AGE “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the Holy One, True One, Who has the Key of David, He opens the doors of witness and service that no man can shut. The doors He shuts no man can open. ’ ” Rev 3: 7

PHILADELPHIA – BROTHERLY LOVE PERSECUTION OF JEWS 1664 – Jews of Lemberg (Lvov) ghetto organize selfdefense against impending assault by students of Jesuit seminary. The militia sent to restore order, instead they joined attackers. About 100 Jews killed. 1670 – Jews expelled from Vienna. Eighteenth Century 1711 – Johann Andreas Eisenmenger writes Judaism Unmasked, a work denouncing Judaism which had a formative influence on modern antisemitic polemics. 1742 – Elizabeth of Russia issued decree of expulsion of all Jews out of Russian Empire. Her resolution to the Senate’s appeal regarding harm to the trade: “I do not desire any profits from the enemies of Christ. ”

Philadelphia 1648 - 1900 Eighteenth Century 1744 – Archduchess of Austria Maria Theresa orders, “. . . no Jew is to be tolerated in our inherited duchy of Bohemia. ” In December 1748 she reversed her position, on condition Jews pay for readmission every ten years. In 1758 she introduced a law limiting each Jewish family to one son. 1750 – Frederick II The Great (“heroic genius, ” according to Hitler) issues a document on general privileges and regulation for Jews. They had an alternative to “either abstain from marriage or leave Berlin” (Simon Dubnow). 1768 – Twenty thousand Jews, killed in Poland.

PHILADELPHIA AGE 1648 - 1900 1782 – Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II abolishes most of persecutions against the Jews on condition that Yiddish and Hebrew are eliminated from public records and judicial autonomy is annulled. Judaism is branded, “quintessence of foolishness and nonsense. Moses Mendelssohn wrote, “Such a tolerance. . . is even more dangerous play in tolerance than open persecution. ” Nineteenth Century 1805 – Massacre of Jews in Algeria. 1815 – Pope Pius VII re-establishes the ghetto in Rome after the defeat of Napoleon.

PHILADELPHIA AGE 1648 - 1900 1827 – Russia employs compulsory military service for Jewish boys under 18 years. The preparatory training lasted 25 years. They were encouraged and sometimes forced to be baptized. 1844 – Karl Marx published a degrading work, On the Jewish Question; conclusion: “In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism. ” “. . . ultimately, it is mankind (both Christians and Jews that needs to emancipate itself from ("practical") Judaism. ” Cited, Wikipedia 1858 – Edgardo Mortara, a six year Jewish boy whom a maid baptized during an illness, is taken from his parents in Bologna.

PHILADELPHIA AGE 1648 - 1900 1862 – During the American Civil War General Grant issues Order No. 11 commanding all Jews out of his military district, suspecting them of pro-Confederate sympathy. President Lincoln directed him to rescind the order. 1871 – Pope Pius IX - speech regarding Jews, “of these dogs, there are too many of them at present in Rome, and we hear them howling in the streets, and they are disturbing us in all places. ” 1878 – Adolf Stoecker, German antisemitic preacher and politician, found the Christian Social Party, which initially marked the political antisemitic movement in Germany.

PHILADELPHIA AGE 1648 - 1900 1879 – Wilhelm Marr introduces the term Anti. Semitism to distinguish himself from the religious position Anti-Judaism. 1881 – Pogroms Begin. “The word is of Russian origin. It designates attack, accompanied by destruction, looting of property, murder, rape. There were three major outbreaks in Russia. The word designates more particularly the attacks carried out by the Christian population. Each pogrom surpassed the other in savagery. ” Laureen Moe, Canadian, ICEJ (continued)

PHILADELPHIA AGE 1648 - 1900 1881 – Kiev, Odessa, The murder of whole families was a common occurrence. Partial data is available for 530 communities in which 887 major pogroms and 349 minor pogroms occurred. There were 60, 000 dead and several times that many were wounded. 1882, September 11 -12, The First Anti-Jewish Congress in Dresden, Germany. “Manifesto to the Governments and Peoples of the Christian Nations Threatened by Judaism. ” 1893 – Karl Lueger established antisemitic Christian Social Party. He became mayor of Vienna in 1897.

1895 – Alfred Dreyfus Affair. Dreyfus was a French Army Captain, the only Jew serving France. He was framed by a fellow officer for allegedly giving secrets to the enemy. He was arrested and tried for treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. Eventually Emile Zola took up the fight, proclaiming Dreyfus innocent and publishing an open letter to the President of France titled “I ACCUSE. ” Dreyfus was eventually declared unjustly convicted by the Parliament of France. Theodore Herzl (1860 – 1904) During the trumped-up trial, a Jewish journalist took notice. He was the man that was to lead the Jews back to their Homeland. Herzl called European Jewry together in Basle, Switzerland in 1897.

Historical Overlay of the Epistle to Philadelphia Herzl predicted the Jews would be back in “the Land” of Palestine “within 50 years. ” In 1947, exactly fifty years later, the United Nations passed the “Resolution for The Partition of Palestine. ” This led to the Declaration of Israel’s Statehood on May 14, 1948. At the Dreyfus Trial, hearing shouts of “death to the Jews, ” Herzl became convinced that the only solution was the exodus of Jews from the lands where they were disbursed back to their Homeland. Out of the suffering of the Dreyfus family came the State of Israel. Herzl became the father of Political Zionism and founder of the World Zionist organization.

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion or The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion were privately published in Russia in 1887 at the time of the Dreyfus Affair. They were known to be an antisemitic forgery purporting a Jewish plan for global domination. They went public in 1905 and were used by anti-Semites throughout the nations. The spread of the publications brought untold suffering for the Jewish people worldwide. Cited, Jewish Virtual Library FRENCH ENGLISH SPANISH

Johann Bengel (1687 -1752) was a Lutheran clergyman and Greek scholar. He diligently pursued the treasures of the Apocalypse. He wrote, “The whole structure of Revelation breathes the art of God. . . ” Dr. Bengel stressed ministers should unlock the first three chapters of Revelation before going further into the Apocalypse. John Nelson Darby (1800 -1882) was a gifted Bible teacher and highly esteemed among the Plymouth Brethren. Some consider him to be the father of modern Dispensationalism and Futurism. His teaching began to awaken believers to the prominent role of Israel in Scripture. He was one of the first to recognize certain passages were for Israel while others were to the Church, the Body of Christ.

ANOINTED SERVANTS Jonathan Edwards 1703 -1758 John Wesley 1703 -1791 George Whitefield (1714 -1770) William Carey 1761 -1834 David Livingston 1813 -1899 D. L. Moody 1837 -1899 Some of the servants the Spirit called nationally and internationally to be preachers, missionaries, evangelists declaring the “Good News. ” Joseph Seiss 1823 -1904 was a Lutheran minister and pulpit orator known for his writings on Dispensationalism. He stressed Israel in Biblical prophecy. His book on Revelation continues to be in demand.

PHILADELPHIA AGE OF BROTHERLY LOVE Cyrus Ingerson Scofield 1834 – 1921 was a theologian and minister. His annotated Bible popularized Futurism and Dispensationalism among fundamentalist Christians. Futurism and Dispensational theology was systematized in the early nineteenth century with contributions from John Nelson Darby. The theology embraces a literal interpretation of Biblical text unless otherwise indicated, such as apocalyptic passages, i. e. , Ezekiel and Revelation. Biblical covenants are viewed as everlasting. Prophecy secures Israel’s future restoration with their Messiah to reign over the twelve tribes from the City of Jerusalem.

RESTORING TRUTH – BACK TO JERUSALEM Returning to our first Love, Messiah/Word. MESSIAH WAS HEBREW / JEWISH Luther The just shall live by faith Calvin Judaic Exegesis Seiss Darby Scofield Literal Interpretation Church / Israel Restored SARDIS PHILADELPHIA In the beginning was the Messiah/the Word, and the Messiah/the Word was with the Father/God, and the Messiah/the Word was the Father/God. John 1: 1

Christ the Messiah is the Head of the Church, His Body , and is Himself its Savior. Eph 5: 23 Will we walk with Him through the seven epistles? Will we hear what His Spirit is saying to His Body / Church?

REWARDS FOR THE OVERCOMER AT PHILADELPHIA Revelation 3: 9 Will be kept from the Great Tribulation that is coming upon the whole earth. Rev 3: 10 The Father’s Name, Name of His City, Christ Messiah’s New Name Rev 3: 12