The meaning of the word Laodicea is "justice of the people". This sounds familiar… This gets close to our understanding of the word "democracy". God's laws opposed to our precious, democratic body of thought.

This letter isn't merely addressed to one congregation, but to the western world as a whole. This makes clear why the letter to the Laodiceans is written in plural form. This letter is addressed to the western church. Today's church. This church is criticized severely.

"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—"

Instead of being the salt of earth, we voluntarily opened our church doors to the world's wisdom and possessions. Materialism, money, a career, participation and western systems, you name it. God's opponent, the devil, hardly had to make an effort. He sits in the front row in the church, relaxed, smoking a big cigar. The stream of living water that was meant to stream into the world from the church was replaced by the worldly stream of money that gushes into the church like a smooth avalanche of mud. While the church was instructed:

"to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 3:10)

World powers have sold their wisdom and systems to the church. Knowledge increased, revelation disappeared. You can draw your conclusions. It weren't the prophets and spiritual leaders that outlined the spiritual direction, but well-paid consultants taught their lessons to church leaders that were eager to learn. Watch the result: many spin around and drift about powerless. We sing our hymns and listen to another sermon and get convinced to implement the next foreign system that will surely lead to a revelation. Forget it! As long as the church doesn't return to its roots, there will be no revelation.

We will have to return to our Jewish roots. Over the centuries, we have strayed off. But this will change. We will have to catch sight again of Jerusalem. God will shake and rearrange the congregation. This doesn't sound nice and fun. Yet, it will be inevitable. We will get a second chance. Romans 11 will become a familiar passage from the Bible again in the church. We, the Gentiles, are grafted into the olive tree Israel. We are connected. Like the Argentina born Princess Maxima is grafted into the House of Orange through her marriage with Dutch Prince Willem Alexander, we are grafted into the House of Israel through our relationship with Yeshua (Jesus' real name). As soon as we acknowledge and re-establish the relationship with Jerusalem the church will receive an indication of direction and revelation. Re-establishing the ancient relationship with Israel is the key to a spiritually healthy and vivid church. The church will fulfil the task of messenger again.

The young generation will lift the banner where we (the older generation) got caught by the democratic spirit of Laodicea. Let's invest in our young adults. Send them to Israel, to be watchmen on the walls. This is the season where the wise girls get up, their stone bottles filled with oil.

If you listen carefully on the walls of Jerusalem, you can hear the bridegroom's footsteps get closer.