Kusadasi

Day 18 We plan to visit the sites of the 7 churches of Asia minor now called Anatolia) mentioned in Revelation, so on the bus we read Rev1.
First we drove to SARDIS.. Rev 3 "To the angel in the church at Sardis write.. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up and strengthen the things that remain.... the one who conquers will be clothed in white.. and I will never blot out his name from the book of life"
Some very impressive gymnasium and synagogue ruins, and the Temple of Artemis. (In other news.. the yummiest dried figs I've ever tasted😍).. This was clearly a wealthy community, gold mining and the origin of the coin was in this area..but perhaps it was all for show as is suggested in Rev 3.
PHILADELPHIA... Rev 3 "To the angel in the church in Philadelphia write.. You have kept my word and have not denied my name..I will keep you from the hour of trial.. hold fast..I will write on them a new name.."
Not a lot remains of the early church here, a modern city is built on the site. All that's left of the original city are a few ruins, but we saw 2 huge sides of a massive arch from St John's church built in the 6th century AD. The rest of the stones have been repurposed to build the modern city 😢 We sampled some delicious local sultana grapes

We then drove to Hierapolis.. (mentioned in Colossians 4:12.. Laodicea, Hierapolus and Colossae) This is an extensive ruin site, with the best preserved theatre in Turkey, where 95% of the seats are original. It's occasionally used today for performances. Right near here is Pamakkule..2 types of thermal springs.. The most well known are the White formations because of the calcium carbonate in the hot water(34°)(there is another pool with sulphur that is a hot spring 30°all year round) We walked on the White formations and waded in the warm pools
Next we drove to LAODICEA Rev 3 "To the angel in the church of Laodicea write.. you are neither hot nor cold.. You are luke warm..I am about to spew you out.. you say you are rich and have need of nothing...you are blind.. put salve on your eyes so you can see.. Repent.."
Here, instead of grapes there are fields of cotton, as this area is known for its textiles. Also in Bible times for its medical Centre.. particularly its eye salve. From here we can see the hot springs of Pamakkule and there are also mountains here with cold water from the snow.. they had everything they would've wanted here..a fertile area..perhaps this is why they were coasting along, in need of nothing, not thinking they needed God..neither hot nor cold, but luke warm. An analogy they would have well understood, along with the blindness/eye salve analogyRead more