Description
Some pipes that were found close to the Central Baths show that the poor quality of the water caused them to fur up, slowing down the water supply. Water was brought in through a five-mile long aqueduct from a spring near present-day Denizli, but its water had a high mineral content and was lukewarm on its arrival in Laodicea. The drinking of this water often induced vomiting.
When Jesus, in the letter to Laodicea wrote: “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3.16), the believers would have recognized immediately what Jesus had in mind, namely that their works were done in a half-hearted spirit and therefore as distasteful as their lukewarm water supply.