Hello @St. SteVen, I remember being taught that the "hot" and "cold" water spoken of in Revelation 3 did not have the same meaning to those living in the 1st Century as they do to us today (and that makes sense when you consider the fact that the Lord Jesus wished that the people in the Laodicean church where not lukewarm, but either "hot" ~OR~ "cold" instead. IOW, "hot" and "cold" would have both been understood as something that was good back then (something that was useful), especially in Laodicia.
Hey Papa Smurf, Thanks for joining the discussion.
I like what you are saying here. Tracks with some thoughts I have been having along this line.
And I also wonder if God uses this differently to speak to different individuals in different places in their faith walk.
When I shared this topic key verse with my wife, the word "cold" stood out to her as well.
Neither of us had taken notice of it in the past. We had come away with the idea that God wanted HOT instead of lukewarm.
We read right over the COLD aspect.
While reading your post it occurred to me that hot and cold, as it related to food and drink, has different uses.
The usefulness you mentioned. (good call)
When we are hot and thirsty a cold drink is refreshing. And when you are feeling cold, something hot to warm you up.
It might be worthwhile to look at the NT Greek. How are these words defined? - zestos and psychros (see below)
zestos
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 2200: ζεστός
ζεστός, ζεστη, ζεστον (ζέω), boiling hot, hot, (Strabo, Appian, (Diogenes Laërtius, others); metaphorically, of fervor of mind and zeal:
Revelation 3:15f.
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
hot.
From
zeo; boiled, i.e. (by implication) calid (figuratively, fervent) -- hot.
psychros
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 5593: ψυχρός
ψυχρός, ψυχρα, ψυχρόν (ψύχω, which see), from Homer down, cold, cool: neuter of cold water, ποτηρτιον, ψυχροῦ,
Matthew 10:42 ((ψύχρω λουνται, Herodotus 2, 37); ψυχρόν πίνειν, Epict ench. 29, 2; πλύνεσθαι ψύχρω, diss. 4, 11, 19; cf. Winers Grammar, 591 (550)); metaphorically, like the Latinfrigidus, cold i. e. sluggish, inert, in mind (ψυχρός τήν ὀυργην, Lucian, Tim. 2): of one destitute of warm Christian faith and the desire for holiness,
Revelation 3:15f.
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
cold.
From
psuchos; chilly (literally or figuratively) -- cold.
/