The Seven Churches in Revelation | TheLastDays

Does it seem strange that the Book of Revelation which reveals our future began with letters to churches way back in the past? Yet, here is the kicker: None of the seven churches of Revelation are around anymore! Maybe that’s the point. If they had heeded the sometimes-harsh warnings of their Lord, they just might have lasted all the way through to our day. Could faith and obedience change history to that degree? Our God calls us to be world changers, not those who are instead changed by the world as many of these believers were. Interestingly, this introduction to the churches goes hand in hand with Jesus’ stunning revelation of Himself to John on the Isle of Patmos. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ that changes us from "worldlings" into world changers. We will need both His past warnings and His present manifestations if we are to make it through the times coming upon us.

John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. Revelation 1:4-5a

All scripture citations are from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise noted.

Why these Letters?

Is it possible that the letters to the seven churches are simply that? Or are they something more? How likely is it that when Jesus decided to give a world-class vision to John on Patmos that He just dropped these letters in because there was room in the satchel? Are they an afterthought? An “Oh, by the way, could you deliver these while you’re at it?” appendage to the message that really mattered? That’s possible, but scarcely believable. To unravel this tangle, we will have to look at the histories of the seven churches in Asia Minor and the characteristics of the seven churches in Revelation.

We have three possible ways of viewing these letters to the seven churches of Revelation. First, they could simply be letters to seven individual churches that had issues back in the day. Jesus needed to address them, and we’re given privileged insight to how He did it. End of story. Instructive, but mainly of historical importance. We can mine them for morals and principals like anything else in scripture, but that’s it. There’s no connection to church history or to the world’s end. They’re not part of the prophecy. They just got themselves tacked on. As straight-forward as this seems, very few of us want to leave it there. Nor should we.

These seven churches aren’t haphazardly chosen for inclusion. They are on a kind of mail route that John’s package of letters would have followed from Patmos to Ephesus, then up the coast past Smyrna to Pergamum before turning inland to Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and finally Laodicea. There is an intentional, natural order to the letters. That’s not surprising knowing our God. He does nothing by chance. This encourages us to believe that there is something more to these letters than meets the eye. Why were they chosen to send along with a prophecy about the End Times? Why were these cities providentially placed in this order?

A second trajectory, therefore, is to see the churches as representative of the church age. From the beginning of the age of grace right through to the end they give us a living picture of what the church will be up against. Ephesus shows us the infant church facing the elementary struggle of discovering it must fight to maintain its first love—a fitting beginning for the church at large and each of us as individuals. Other struggles and other stages of growth will ensue but finding a key to unlock their chosen order has been elusive. Pinning them on the known historical timeline of the church universal is fraught with challenges, though it does seem that the first and last positions got it right. The lukewarmness of Laodicea is what much of the present-day church has decided to settle for in place of dynamic, self-sacrificial life. This approach is certainly possible but fails to deliver relevance for our time from all seven.

Instead of a sequence of successive church epochs, could it be that we are being shown something else, something of more universal application? A third possible interpretation is that these seven churches represent predicaments or problems that many churches will face world-wide in the Last Days. Not every church will face all seven of these trials, but all churches will face some of them. What’s true for churches could also be true for individuals. The troubles, trials and temptations these seven churches faced are things we can all expect to face going forward. Maybe not all of them, but enough to be thankful that we have read these letters and know what Jesus would want us to do to walk faithfully through them.

List of Articles

Visitation at Patmos  John begins his extraordinary book in the customary manner of greeting the seven churches which will receive these letters. He also gives honor and praise to their common Lord. Finally, he introduces himself briefly (for they know him well). Then, he drops the hammer: Jesus visited Him! There he was on the Isle of Patmos filling the empty days of exile with worship, when totally out of the blue the very one he was worshipping appeared right in front of him. This was—and wasn’t—the same gentle Teacher he walked beside over sixty years earlier. This was the awe-inspiring, fear-invoking Lord of the Universe—and He said He had messages for His Church. We have been unpacking those messages ever since.

Letter 1: Ephesus  The Ephesian believers were like many of us. They had a sharp eye out for anything that smacked of deception or false doctrine. Jesus assured them that was good, nevertheless… That’s where the comparison gets scary. Despite their watchfulness against wrong thinking, their hearts had grown cold. Which matters more to the Lord: great head knowledge or a heart on fire with passion for Him? When we put it that way the answer is obvious, and the choice is clear. But real life is a murky business, where the cares of this world can easily overtake the good seed—without us ever noticing a thief of hearts came in to steal ours.

Letter 2: Smyrna  How would you like to get a letter saying unavoidable suffering was coming your way? And that the devil himself would be behind it, taking a personal interest in the pain he would be inflicting. You might stop checking the mail after that one. You might hold onto hope that the sender got it wrong. The trouble is this Sender is Jesus and you know He knows what He’s talking about. Oh, you’ll check your mail all right—even more frequently now that you know you need every word from “the mouth of God” to survive the coming ordeal.[1] This was Smyrna’s predicament. It was also their hope of glory.

Letter 3: Pergamum  What do you do when the world’s depravity is weaponized against you? What if you’re living in the very heart of the enemy’s empire? How do you handle it when you have to pass Satan’s throne on your way to work? Sound extreme? This was daily life for the believers who dwelt where Satan reigned. If you can’t run from such a place, you run to Jesus to keep you safe. Jesus calls on the Pergamum church to do just that—stick close. Hold fast, listen well and repent so that they can conquer this extreme situation. It’s good advice for us, too.

Letter 4: Thyatira  Tolerance is a lovely virtue when it is exercised to allow the full variety of God-given life to grow with freedom. It has its place and its limits. God gives all manner of personalities and gifts to people, but He never gives sin. The Thyratiran believers thought that they were giving grace to a questionable prophetess in their community, but in Jesus’ eyes they were “tolerating” her sin. That put fire in His eyes! This letter begins as a wake-up call to a church drifting from its moral moorings. Then, Jesus opens the letter and speaks through it to us. We need to hear what He’s saying here just as much as they did.

Letter 5: Sardis  Sometimes the harder you try the behinder you get. People pleasing is like that. No matter how hard you try, it’s never good enough to keep everybody happy with you. Trying to please God works the same way. The believers of Sardis aren’t “ripping and running” with the world (as sinners in the South describe a lifestyle of immorality). No, these are good church people trying to do good. In fact, they are working so hard at it that it’s killing them. If that sounds like anyone you know, read on. Jesus says their works are dead. He sure doesn’t sound pleased.

Letter 6: Philadelphia  The battle for faith is ultimately a battle for love. God is love. Because of His love the Father sent Jesus into the world so that everyone can be saved who yields to Him in trusting obedience. Not forced obedience, but a willing submission to the truth. Love would have it no other way. The great tragedy is that so much hatred surrounds this effort to bring divine Love to the earth. And that so many try to force their religious beliefs on others. Religious zeal can be fired up red hot in the entire absence of love. This often makes religion an enemy of the true spiritual life. The believers in Philadelphia know it only too well.

Letter 7: Laodicea The church of Laodicea is easily the most famous of the seven churches in the Book of Revelation. That’s not because Jesus saved the best for last. They were indeed last—last in line on the mail route and lagging way behind at running faith’s race. In fact, they weren’t running, or even walking with Jesus or towards Him. They weren’t running away either, or even running to the devil. He said He could have worked with any of that. What were they doing? They were “living the dream”—using His blessings to feather their own nest. They thought they had it made, but they couldn’t have been more wrong. Many have said that the church in America fits this picture too close for comfort.

Next Piece of the Puzzle

Visitation at Patmos  John begins his extraordinary book in the customary manner of greeting the seven churches which will receive these letters. He also gives honor and praise to their common Lord. Finally, he introduces himself briefly (for they know him well). Then, he drops the hammer: Jesus visited Him! There he was on the Isle of Patmos filling the empty days of exile with worship, when totally out of the blue the very one he was worshipping appeared right in front of him. This was—and wasn’t—the same gentle Teacher he walked beside over sixty years earlier. This was the awe-inspiring, fear-invoking Lord of the Universe—and He said He had messages for His Church. We have been unpacking those messages ever since.

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