Day 61

“So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Then if you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.” Rev 3:3 NASB

The history of ancient Sardis bears some resemblance to Jesus’ description. It was once the supreme city of the region, the capital of the kingdom of Lydia, ruled by the famously wealthy king Croesus. But by the time Revelation was written Sardis had slipped to secondary status behind Ephesus, Pergamum and even Laodicea. So in the first century the reputation of the city far exceeded its reality.

The resemblance of history to the text may be even closer. (Ramsey’s records the history in his book on the Seven Churches). Ancient historians suggest that Croesus consulted the oracle at Delphi before heading into battle against Cyrus, the Persian ruler who would conquer Babylon eight years later. He asked the oracle if he should cross the Halys River to attack Cyrus or not. The oracle responded that if he crossed the Halys River he would destroy a mighty empire.

He confidently assembled an army and was overwhelmingly defeated. But he was not greatly concerned. Not only did he have the oracle’s promise (he thought), but he knew that he could retreat to his impregnable fortress (Sardis) and raise an even larger army for the following year. But Cyrus pursued rapidly and surrounded Sardis before the new army could be raised. Croesus was still unconcerned, thinking that Cyrus was vulnerable so far from his base and that his army would crush him against the cliffs in time.

The acropolis of Sardis sat on the top of Mount Tmolus. The sides of the mountain are nearly sheer cliffs. Croesus retired one night in confidence that things would soon turn in his favour. He woke up to find the enemy in control of the acropolis and his kingdom was history.

What seems to have happened is that while the rock face below the city was almost perpendicular, a crevice had developed in the rock, allowing the possibility of assailants climbing up one at a time to enter the city. Such an attack would only work if the defenders were unawares, so Cyrus’ attack must have been at night. Along the lines of Jesus’ message, destruction came upon Sardis like “a thief in the night.”

May we be constantly alert and aware of the devil’s angles as he assails our weakness’s.