WORD STUDY – THANKSGIVING – תודה

Revelations 3:20: “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.”

Psalms 26:7: “That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.”

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Millions upon millions of families are coming together to enjoy fellowship and a lavish meal. 98%-99% will begin that meal with a prayer of thanks to God. For some, it may be the only time in the year that they bow their heads in prayer but for the sake of that dear crazy aunt who finds her religious beliefs to be oh so important they will bow their heads and offer that moment to God. It will cause them, whether they like it or not, to pause and reflect on what they have to be thankful for.

I have heard many sermons on the church of Laodicea in Revelations 3:14-22 and what it was that Jesus meant when he said they were a lukewarm church, neither hot nor cold and that God would spew them out of His mouth. I would listen intently as I did not want to be spewed out of God’s mouth.

The church of Laodicea was established during the Apostolic Age and was one of the earliest centers of Christianity. Paul mentions this church in the book of Colossians (2:1; 4:13,15,16) which would date the church of Laodicea as early as the 50’s AD. The City of Laodicea was a place of great finance and wealth. It was hit by an earthquake in the 60’s and refused help from Rome to rebuild choosing to rebuild it themselves. They were also famous for their production of black wool perhaps the reason there was a mention of the “white raiment” in Revelation 3:17 -18. It was also noted for a medical school and the development of the Phrygian powder used for an eye lotion.

It is from this passage in Revelations that we have the famous picture of Jesus standing at a door knocking. Most commentators agree that is a metaphor of a longing that Jesus has for an intimate relationship. There are many pictures and stories from various papyri such as Poxy 3693 which tells of an invitation from the gods to attend a dinner, but this is the only record of a deity coming to a home seeking an invitation to dinner.

For the majority of the families celebrating Thanksgiving today, they will celebrate with a feast in a comfortable home with furniture, heat, indoor plumbing, and luxury that is unknown in many parts of the world. Clearly, we could parallel the church of Laodicea which the Revelator describes as rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and yet are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. Many commentators say that in their wealth they became relaxed and casual in their relationship with God, neither hot nor cold. Some say this hot and cold business is really a metaphor drawn from the water supply of the city which was lukewarm in contrast to the hot springs at the nearby Hierapolis and the cold, pure waters of Colossae. Archaeological discoveries have shown that there was an aqueduct that carried water from the hot springs some five miles away. As the water would travel five miles it would cool down to being at best tepid before entering the city. The imagery of the Laodicean aqueduct suggests that hot water is good and useful and cold water is good and useful, but lukewarm water will make you puke.

The idea of cold or hot is that hot is good, you are zealous for the Lord and God desires that cold is good in the sense that you are not pretending spirituality and not living in hypocrisy and thus you are more easily aware of your need for God. Lukewarm is the picture that you are just pretending to be spiritual, putting on a spiritual act. You know the type, you’ve seen them in the pulpits, showboating, pretending spirituality to get you excited and motivated for their own purposes. Sometimes the hypocrisy is so apparent it actually makes you sick and causes you to want to vomit and the tragedy is that the person showboating does not even see it. He thinks he is so holy he will want his picture taken to send to the Vatican to put on a holy card. This does more harm to the name of Christ than the person who is cold toward God.

But my question is not what is hot, cold or lukewarm but what causes a believer to be lukewarm, what causes him to be in that position that God wants to spew him out. Is it to not be zealous for the Lord to evangelize? It is just going through the motions of worship and but having no heart for God? Is it just not giving any real thought to God throughout your daily activities? Yes, yes, yes and something more.

I believe there are meanings behind Hebrew letters, not so much for linguistical purposes, but for purpose of illustration, to drive home the meaning of a word. To make you think about a word and how important that word is. For instances, what does it really mean to give thanks? Yes, Thanksgiving is to express gratitude. But how can you express it?

Let’s look at this word thanksgiving in the Hebrew which is todah. It has no relationship to the Spanish word toda which means everything. But it does make me think of the Hebrew word todah that we should be thankful for everything. In Hebrew, it comes from the root word yadah which means to rain, shoot an arrow, to send something off. But it also has the idea of laying a foundation. When you offer thanksgiving, you are sending forth a message of gratitude which is laying a foundation to a relationship. A relationship cannot exist if a person does not express gratitude for the benefits of that relationship.

What did the people of Laodicea hear when Jesus said: “I stand at the door and knock?” Maybe they thought of the word todah or thanksgiving. The word starts with the letter Taw which represents praise, the next letter is a Daleth with represents a door and the last is the Hei which represented intimacy with God. Maybe Jesus was saying: “You have grown so lukewarm that you feel no gratitude or thanks. I am knocking at your door longing to be intimate with you but we cannot be intimate if you do not offer praise and thanksgiving.” In ancient times when people would reconcile, they would invite that person to eat with them. Jesus is saying He wanted to sup with them suggesting that in praise and thanksgiving you will be reconciled with Jesus and will then intimately close with Him.

Why do families and friends come together to share a meal on Thanksgiving Day? Maybe in the simplest sense, it is because they long to become more intimate and to reconcile differences. What better way to do this than to come together in thankfulness to God and share a meal. It is a perfect opportunity to not only grow intimate with each other but to grow intimate with God together.

Happy Thanksgiving,

CHAIM & LAURA