Wedding Prep

Jesus tells the church at Laodicea to go shopping (Revelation 3:18). They’re supposed to buy purified gold, white clothing to cover their nakedness, and eye salve to anoint their eyes. Why these particular items? Because they are the necessaries as Laodicea prepares to be the bride for the coming of her husband.

That becomes clear when we look at the OT background to Jesus’ exhortation to purchase eye salve to “anoint” ( egchrio ) the eyes ( ophthalmos ). The only passage in the LXX where these words appear together is Jeremiah 4:30: “you anoint your eyes with paint” (in the LXX translation). That same verse refers to gold, and also go garments, though the garments are scarlet rather than white, as in Revelation 3. Jeremiah 4:30 describes harlot Judah as she prepares (like Jezebel) to meet her lovers (v. 29). It won’t work any better than it did for Jezebel: “In vain you make yourself beautiful; your lovers despise you; they seek your life.”

While Jeremiah describes a harlot adorned with gold, scarlet, and with anointed eyes, Jesus urges Laodicea to become a true bride, with the gold ornaments, white robes and anointed eyes befitting a wedding supper. Laodicea is to do this because the Bridegroom is coming to knock at the door (Revelation 3:20) and ask to enter, just like the Bridegroom of the Song of Songs, calling to his dove, his perfect one (5:2), whose anointed eyes are like pools of Heshbon (7:4) and who is adorned with gold ornaments (1:11).

In this context, “be zealous” (Revelation 3:19) takes on an erotic coloring. After all, who wants a lukewarm bride? Jesus urges the Laodiceans to cultivate the love that is stronger as death, as jealous (LXX, zelos ) as the grave (SoS 8:6).