The context of the Revelation 3:16 statement.

After the pathetic disclosure of Christ’s nausea in 3:16 there are no less than seven appeals "unto the angel" to do something to heal Him of it, and they are expressed with intimate family love (phileo in verse 19):

  1. I counsel thee to buy from me gold (verse 18).

  2. . . . and white raiment (verse 19)

  3. . . . with eyesalve anoint thine eyes (verse 18)

  4. repent (verse 19)

  5. hear my voice (verse 20)

  6. open the door (verse 20)

  7. overcome (verse 21).

It defies all reason to understand why these appeals are made after the one appealed to has been totally, irrevocably rejected!2 In contrast, following Christ’s firm promise (without mello) to judge "that woman Jezebel" and "her children" in 2:22, 23, there is no further appeal or "counsel" to her to do this or that to avert her certain doom.

Christ does not tease "the angel of the church of the Laodiceans." For a doctor to tell a patient that he or she for sure is dying, and then to offer medicine for healing that is now useless, this would be deceptive and cruel.

Does Revelation indicate that "the angel of the church of the Laodiceans"
will ultimately fail and pass a point of no return?
 

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  1. "Christ, says the prophet, is sick of the lukewarm: as the purpose (mello) of rejection does not exclude the possibility of a change upon the part of the church which than shall render the execution of the purpose needless, advice to repent immediately follows upon the threat. The latter is unconditional only in form. Exclusion from God’s life forms one side of the penalty , humiliating exposure before men the other." (The Expositor’s Greek New Testament, Vol. V, p. 37l). [return to text]