Philadelphia

Philadelipha was the youngest of all the churches, it was located a mere 28 miles from Sardis.  Attalus the Second, founded it.  He was a ruler from Pergamum living around 159 to 138 B.C.
Philadelphos is the Greek word for one who loves his brother.   Attalus had a brother, Eumenes who was called Phiadelpos and it was after him this city was named.   Philadelphia was on the edge of a great plain of Katakekaumene, meaning Burned Land.  Aptly named because it was a great volcanic plain having the lava and ashes of the old volcanoes.   This land was extremely fertile and grapes grew very well there.  Where there are grapes, there is wine and great wine came from this area as well, which lead to growth and prosperity in the city.
Phiadelphia had a special reason for being set up, it's location was in little danger, it was a perfect place for peace and education to occur, and it did.  It was to be a missionary of Greek culture and for the Greek language to Lydia and Phrygia.  This did happen well enough that Ramsay spoke of Philadelphia as "the center fro the diffusion of Greek language and Greek letters in a peaceful land and by peaceful means."  In Revelation Chapter 3 :8 Christ  says, "I have set before thee an open door,"  this is what He was talking about, the open, peaceful educated place that was Philadelphia.  Philadelphia was given full reign to spread the Greek ideas, to have a huge missionary opportunity.

In 17 a.d. there was an earthquake which destroyed Sardis and other cities.  The quake was so large that the after shocks went on for years.  These shocks drove the people to live outside the city walls due to the large cracks and crevices left from the aftershocks.  Eventually the shocks subsided and the city lived on, it went through two name changes (in attempts to forget the tragedy) but, they did not last and the title "Philadelpha" was restored.

Of all the cities mentioned in Revelation, Philadelphia received the most praise.  We will see why when we dive into the Word next blog.  However, it needs to be known that the city became great, even when other towns had fallen into enemy hands, Philadelphia stood.  It continued to stand, a Greek Christian city surrounded by pagan peoples.  It finally fell in the fourteenth century but it continues to hold Christians in that area where it once stood.   It still stands for what it was meant to be, a Christian banner of faith.

Next blog, what went right, and how we can learn from it!


Blessings on all,

Calabash