THE "SEVEN CHURCHES" OF REVELATION

Paul uses this word "servant", i.e. doulos, 28 times in his letters to the churches, always speaking of their need to submit to the will of Christ. Indeed, the definition of the word refers to one who worships God and submits to Him, to one who gives himself up wholly to the will of God. Therefore, we should understand that the Revelation of Jesus Christ contained in this book is intended specifically for those Christians who are in an attitude of obedience to their Lord.

There is some dispute about the meaning of, "which must shortly take place", "for the time is near". Does this mean that the Revelation will not be understood until shortly before the final phases occur, or does it mean that the Revelation, which will span many centuries before its completion, was about to begin in the first century? The consensus among Bible scholars seems to favor the latter view, that the Revelation was to begin and has been open for all who have an attitude of obedience to the Lord, to study over the many centuries of the Church Age.

The next several verses provide important information regarding the identity of the seven churches, their standing before the Lord by virtue of His appearance, and the overall time span under consideration.

Of course these seven churches were historic assemblies that existed in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) during the first century, though the cities where the churches were located now lie in ruin or are mere vestiges of their former glory. A small number of Bible expositors restrict their interpretation to be purely historical, e.g. those holding a Preterist view of Revelation, but most see them as having a meaning more ecumenical. For example, these churches seem to depict characteristics, some of which might be found in Christian churches throughout the world at any time, or even over the entire span of the Church Age. However, in whatever way we interpret them, verses 5-6 identify these churches to be congregations of believers who have trusted Jesus Christ for their salvation, been forgiven of their sins, and been made "kings and priests".

The following excerpts from three commentaries capture the views held by many on the subject of the "Seven Churches".

The first two references acknowledge the universality of the Seven Churches throughout the Church Age, and their historic certitude. Although Wycliffe considers the seven letters to pose no major eschatological difficulties, citing their wide expository use, there is nevertheless a troubling feature about these Seven Churches that seems to have been overlooked. Like almost everything else in Revelation, there will be seen shortly a characteristic of these churches that is difficult to explain, leaving us surprised and perplexed. Perhaps we should be alerted to such a possibility by Jesus' own statement concerning them.

(Revelation 1.20) The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches."

This verse indicates that a "mystery" must be associated with them. The word musterion (3466) has reference to a secret thing, not obvious to the understanding. It is used with reference to the secret counsels which govern God in dealing with the righteous, but which are hidden from ungodly and wicked men, e.g. it is the word used by Paul in (Ephesians 3.9) when speaking of the musterion of the Body of Christ, hidden in God through the ages, but now revealed during the Church Age. What could possibly be revealed in these Revelation churches concerning the Church Age not already presented by Paul in his nine church letters? 

This mystery appears to take two forms:

1. One aspect of the mystery relates to the "seven stars" held in the right hand of the Lord, who He reveals signifies the "angels" of the Seven Churches. When we read the letters to the seven churches below, we will discover that the Lord uses them as intermediaries between Himself and each of the churches. There appears to be no other information regarding them except perhaps for a reference in (I Timothy 5.21) regarding their role. 

One commentator explains this reference in the following way.

2. The second aspect of the mystery appears to concern the seven "lampstands", signifying the Seven Churches themselves.
   
   The "lampstand" is certainly an appropriate symbol for the Church, since a lampstand is only a container for the oil.  It is the oil, when ignited, that produces light. Likewise, the Church's function is to be the vehicle whereby spiritual light can be radiated to the world, but it can do so only if it has first received the "oil" of the Holy Spirit, and the "fire" of empowerment, from the Lord.
   
   Surely, this terminology makes it self-evident that these Seven Churches represent the Church of Jesus Christ, yet we are still left wondering what might be meant by their "mystery".

In verse 5, the Lord describes Himself as the "firstborn from the dead", by the fact that He died but was then resurrected from the dead after three days to ascend to Heaven where He presently resides at the right hand of the Father. 

In verses 8 and 11, He declares Himself to be the "Alpha and the Omega", the Great "I AM", the Almighty God.

In verse 7, He associates the promise of His coming with the time of His Apocalypse, not with the time of the rapture of the Body of Christ.

In verses 13-16, He is clothed as the High Priest, but His appearance is awesome, similar to that of the "Ancient of Days", depicted in (Daniel 7.9-10) at the time of the final Judgement. 

However in verses 17-18, when John falls at His feet in stark terror, He gently lays His right hand on John, telling him not to be afraid, comforting him in the fact that He has the keys of "Hades", i.e. the place of the departed souls, and "Death", i.e. the grave, thereby assuring John that He is the resurrection and the life.

Verse 19 is taken by many Bible expositors to define the overall organization for the book of Revelation. According to this reasoning, "the things which you have seen" is understood to be everything that John had already witnessed up to this verse; "the things which are" is taken to mean everything concerning the Seven Churches through chapter 3; and "the things which will take place after this" to comprehensively cover the remainder of the Revelation from chapter 4 on. It is seen that this organization will require that everything following chapter 3 must occur in a time frame following the Church Age, since the Church described in the first three chapters must continue until the Church Age is completed.

Unfortunately, this arrangement creates a potentially serious limitation if we wish to correlate the Revelation with respect to those timelines constructed earlier in that section of The Prophets Speak dealing with "Daniel's 70 Weeks", because "Daniel's 70th Week (Part I)" is now history, suggesting that the Times of the Gentiles may have already ended. Clearly, if this is the case and verse 19 must be interpreted as just indicated, then none of the Revelation would be useful for our correlation with that timeline.

Fortunately, the wording of verse 19 allows for the possibility of another way of organizing the Revelation. The assumption that produces the above limitation is that everything pertinent to the Seven Churches is included in the phrase "the things which are". However, if we simply allow the time reference to be the first century when Lord's communication to John actually took place, then it would follow that anything disclosed in those prophetic letters to the Seven Churches, pertinent to future times, must likewise be future to John, thereby requiring that "the things which will take place after this" must also relate to the Seven Churches. 

Therefore, the way verse 19 is interpreted depends solely on the time to which verse 19 is referenced. If we simply choose the time reference for verse 19 to be the time when John was actually given this Revelation, and if the Seven Churches prophetically encompass the entire Church Age, then the entirety of verse 19 may be understood to apply only to the Seven Churches. In such a case, we only need to show that these Seven Churches are indeed prophetic as well as historic to make this a valid alternative. 

As indicated by the remarks in the Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, the majority of Bible commentators have no difficulty with the view that the Seven Churches encompass the entire history of the Church Age. Some have gone a step further by breaking out the Church era into seven discrete time periods, each one portrayed by one of these Seven Churches, so that they become descriptive of the entire Church Age through the centuries following the time when John received the prophecy. Consider such a prophetic breakout in the following chart that summarizes the chief features of the Seven Churches on the left, and compares them against what is known about church history during the indicated time periods.

Notice that this chronology is further supported by the fact that Paul also wrote to "seven" churches, but only the church of Ephesus is common to both of the sets. Of course, if these Revelation churches, as organized above, are meant to be prophetic for the entire Church Age, Paul would be restricted to write only to "Ephesus", for Paul lived only during that period of the Apostolic Church, prophetically portrayed as "Ephesus".

Notice also that this chronology is further substantiated by the Lord's specific references to His return, appearing only in His letters to Sardis and Philadelphia, the last two church periods before His return. The fact that Philadelphia, the next to last church, is specifically assured that they will be kept from the "hour of trial" would be in keeping with a prophetic chronology that leaves Laodicea to represent the final historic period of the Church Age, and to experience the End Time Great Tribulation and trials to follow.

The fact that there are two independent sets of "Seven Churches", both covering the Church Age but with only the church of Ephesus in common, raises a question. Why would it be necessary to represent Church Age believers by two sets of seven churches rather than just one? I believe a possible answer to this question will surface when we compare the unusual content of the letters to the "Revelation Churches"  with the church letters written by Paul. In order to facilitate this comparison, let's briefly review the general thrust of Paul's letters to the churches. 

Paul had been chosen by God as a vessel to bear the Lord's salvation by grace primarily to the Gentiles. In that role, he had been given a very special revelation directly from the Lord, that in "the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ". Paul indicated that this was a new "mystery" from God, never made known to men in prior generations, but revealed by Paul as the "Body of Christ" for the Church Age (Ephesians 3.9-10). Consequently, the unique terminology associated with this spiritual union of Jews and Gentiles into one "organism" appears over and over again in his writings, to such an extent that the following terminology has become commonplace in any discussion of Church Age believers. 

• Believers who are in Christ, e.g. (Romans 6.2)

• Believers who form the Body of Christ, e.g. (Ephesians 2.19-22)

• Believers who are described as making up the members of His Body, e.g. (I Corinthians 12.12-27)

• Believers who walk in the Spirit, e.g. (Romans 8.1)

• Believers who are led by the Spirit, e.g. (Galatians 5.18)

• Believers who are betrothed to a marriage union with Christ, e.g. (II Corinthians 11.2)

• Believers who are seated with Christ in the Heavenlies, e.g. (Ephesians 2.6)

• Believers who are glorified, e.g. (Romans 8.30)

Therefore, it is startling to discover that these terms so descriptive of the Body of Christ are totally absent from the letters to the Revelation Churches, nor do there appear any direct statements in those letters that can absolutely connect them with the Body of Christ, even though the Revelation Churches certainly have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ (Revelation 1.4-5).

The impact of these omissions is made even more poignant when we realize that John must have been fully aware of these terms, because Paul's writings had already been recorded and disseminated to the Churches years before John's writings. That John clearly understood the concept of the Body of Christ is also evident from numerous texts in his own writings, even including later chapters in the book of Revelation itself, e.g. (John 14.20, 15.4-7, 17.20-23; I John 1.6-7, 2.27-29, 3.6, 24, 4.16; Revelation 19.7, 21.9). Thus, John's total omission of all these terms in connection with the Revelation Churches is worth noting, and should alert us to the possibility that this is an intentional omission.

This initial discovery is augmented by a more thorough study of the implications of our study of the Revelation Churches so far, along with a careful reading of the contents of the letters to them. Here are the results.

1. In Paul's letters, He is the loving Bridegroom, and they are joined with Him as members of His Body, of His flesh and bones (Ephesians 5.22-33) ---
   
   But to the Revelation Churches, He is the High Priest and mediator (Revelation 1.13), presenting Himself apart from them as the awesome Judge (Revelation 1.14-17).
   
   

2. In Paul's and John's letters, apart from the Revelation Churches, the Lord communicates His will directly to those who abide in-Christ (I Corinthians 2.16; Philippians 3.14-16; I John 2.27) ---
   
   But to the Revelation Churches, He speaks to them through intermediaries, i.e. "angels/messengers" (Revelation 2.1, 2.8, 2.12, 2.18, 3.1, 3.7, 3.14).

In Paul's letters and John's writings apart from the Revelation Churches, they are not to be approved according to works of the Law (Galatians 5.18); rather they are to "walk in the Spirit", thereby receiving the "fruit of the Spirit" which is not subject to the Law. (John 15.7-8; Galatians 5.22-23; I John 3.5-6), so that the works performed through them are credited to God which He prepared beforehand that these should walk in them (Ephesians 2.10) ---

But to the Revelation Churches, they are evaluated on the basis of "their works" (Revelation 2.2, 2.9, 2.13, 2.19, 3,1, 3.8, 3.15) which are not always right before the Lord. Since they are occasionally guilty of sin, they are admonished and commanded to repent (Revelation 2.5, 2.16, 3.3, 3.19).

1. In Paul's letter to the church of Phillipi, they have the unconditional assurance that "He who began a good work in them will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1.6).
   
   But to the Revelation Church of Ephesus, their continuing presence with Christ in their midst is conditional upon their repentance and return to their first love who is Christ (Revelation 2.5). Although it is recognized that John wrote the Revelation perhaps 30 years or so after Paul wrote to the Ephesians, this type of rebuke is nevertheless shocking when it is realized that it was this very same assembly of believers to which Paul initially spoke of the mystery of the Body of Christ, extending to them some of the most comforting assurances of salvation given in any of his Church letters.
   
   

2. In Paul's letter to the church in Rome, there is no condemnation, i.e. condemnatory judgement (Romans 8.1).
   
   But to the Revelation Church of Pergamos, failure to repent will result in Christ "fighting against them with the sword of the Spirit" (Revelation 2.16). It is understood that the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6.17), has two edges; one is Grace but the other is Judgement. The Word will Judge the unrepentant in the last day (John 12.47-48; Revelation 19.15).
   
   

3. In Paul's letters, they are betrothed to one Husband that they may be presented as a "chaste virgin" to Christ (II Corinthians 11.2; Ephesians 5.27), even though some had been guilty of all kinds of sins, including adultery (I Corinthians 6.9-11; Colossians 3.3-7). 
   
   But to the Revelation Church of Thyatira, some of the "children of Jezebel", who are also members of Thyatira, have committed "adultery" which the Lord threatens to punish by death (Revelation 2.20-24).
   
   

4. In Paul's letter to the church at Thessalonica, they are not to be surprised as others when He comes "as a thief in the night" (I Thessalonians 5.1-4).
   
   But to the Revelation Church of Sardis, He will come upon them "as a Thief" unless they repent (Revelation 3.3).
   
   

5. In Paul's letter to the church at Thessalonica, they will evermore be with their Lord in their Heavenly inheritance after the time of their gathering up, i.e. "rapture" (I Thessalonians 4.17b; Revelation 21.2).
   
   But to the Revelation Church of Smyrna, one must "overcome" in order to avoid the "second death", which is understood to occur following the Millennium when the Lord convenes His final Great White throne Judgement (Revelation 20.11-15).
   
   

6. In Paul's letters, they are unconditionally sealed for their day of redemption by the Holy Spirit who has been given them as a guarantee (II Corinthians 5.5; Ephesians 4.30).
   
   But to the Revelation Church of Laodicea, Christ intends to spew, i.e. vomit, them out of His mouth. Either literally or figuratively, this must surely imply separation. Even if only a separation of fellowship as some suggest, the metaphor gives every impression that it is to be permanent, since it would occur with the seventh and last of the Seven Churches (Revelation 3.16).

1. In Paul's letter to the church at Thessalonica, their promised redemption looks forward to the time of the Rapture (I Thessalonians 4.13-18). 
   
   But to the Revelation Churches, their promise seems to look forward to the Lord’s Apocalypse (Revelation 1.7).
   
   

2. In Paul's letters, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (II Corinthians 5.6-8), so that those who sleep in Christ are already with Him and will return with Him at the time of the rapture (I Thessalonians 4.14). 
   
   But to the Revelation Churches, the promise is that Christ has "the keys of Hades (86) and of death (2288)" (Revelation 1.18, 20.13-14). "Death" is understood to have reference to the body, whereas "Hades" has reference to the place of departed souls.
   
   

3. In Paul's letter to the churches in Galatia, they will inhabit that Heavenly City, the New Jerusalem (Galatians 4.26; Revelation 21.2, 9-10). 
   
   But to those of the Revelation Church of Ephesus who overcome, they will be given access to the "Tree of Life" located in the midst of Paradise (Revelation 2.7), available to those who reside outside of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 22.1-2, 14).
   
   

4. In Paul's letter to the church at Corinth, they are the "new lump of unleavened bread", i.e. without sin (I Corinthians 5.6-8). 
   
   But to the Revelation Church of Pergamos, those who overcome will be given some of the "hidden manna to eat" (Revelation 2.17). It is recalled that manna was given to the children of Israel while they remained in the wilderness en route to their physical inheritance (Exodus 16.12-36). However, as soon as they had entered the promise, manna was immediately discontinued (Joshua 5.12).
   
   

5. In Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus, they have been written in the "Lamb's Book of Life from the foundation of the world, predestined to adoption as sons, and accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1.3-6). 
   
   But to the Revelation Church of Sardis, one must overcome to avoid having his name blotted out of the Book of Life (Revelation 3.5).
   
   

6. In Paul's letter to the church at Corinth, they are the "temple" (3485), i.e. Holy of Holies, of God (I Corinthians 6.19) and their Heavenly habitation, the New Jerusalem, will consist exclusively of pure gold and precious stones (Revelation 21.10-11, 18-21). 
   
   But to the Revelation Church of Philadelphia, their promise is to be "made a pillar in the temple" (Revelation 3.12). The only Temple pillars described in the Old Testament are those that stood on the porch of Solomon's Temple (I Kings 7.16, 21), but they were fashioned of bronze, not gold, and they stood on the "porch of judgement", inappropriate for the Body of Christ. It is also noted that this is a future possibility for the one who overcomes, and not a definite promise as are those given to the Body of Christ.
   
   

7. In Paul's letters, they are in oneness with Him (Ephesians 4.16; Colossians 3.3). 
   
   But to the Revelation Church of Laodicea, He is "outside", knocking, desiring to enter (Revelation 3.20).
   
   

8. To the Body of Christ, they are the Bride to be and He is the Bridegroom (Romans 7.4; Ephesians 6.30-32). 
   
   But to the Revelation Church of Thyatira, He is "the Morning Star" (Revelation 2.28) who has sent His "angel/messenger" to testify to the Revelation Churches, along with an appeal to "come" from the "Spirit and the bride" (Revelation 22.16-17). But if the "bride" refers to the "Bride of Christ", She then must be a different entity from the Revelation Churches to whom Jesus testifies.
   
   In connection with this verse, one commentator makes the following comments, reflecting on the distinction between the visible church and that smaller number of believers who are truly being conformed to the image of the Son through their steadfast devotion and allegiance to Him.

The Revelation Churches and the churches to whom Paul writes stand in such contrast with one another that the dissimilarities seem to be irreconcilable.

• There are no direct statements discovered that absolutely link the Revelation Churches with those of Paul, even though John was quite familiar with the concept of the Body of Christ and routinely employed the appropriate terms in his other writings, even including later chapters in the book of Revelation.
  
  

• Numerous examples of indirect evidence pertaining to the Revelation Churches, in areas which should be expected to yield consistency with those to whom Paul writes, fail to produce any definite correlation with related statements made elsewhere by both Paul and John concerning that body of believers.
  
  

• Furthermore, certain elements of that indirect evidence create obtrusive conflicts with what the Word of God says concerning the Body of Christ, thereby making them not only troublesome to reconcile, but also disparaging to doctrinal harmony if we attempt to force the Revelation Churches into the mold of those to whom Paul writes.

It will be left for the reader to decide whether or not this is the "mystery" to which the Lord refers in His preface to the Revelation Churches, while we continue our study of the possible reasons for these differences.

We are not able to personally discern the quality of the church's spiritually in centuries past, but we can evaluate what it has become in modern times. In this regard, it is useful to reflect on the current state of affairs within Christianity in the present time frame from the following survey of Christian spirituality in America conducted by the Barna Research Group, Ltd.

The previous chart focuses just on "born again" Christians, to show that their levels of commitment, lifestyle, and doctrinal beliefs on critical issues are not discernibly different from those of the general population. Therefore, the description of that last church of Laodicea seems to accurately portray the actual state of affairs among "born again" believers in the greatest Christian nation in the world today. Moreover, if our interpretation of the prophetic nature of the Seven Churches is correct, we presently stand in this last church period when the corporate church will come into such disfavor with the Lord that He will actively move to disfellowship Himself from it.

The implications of this are sobering and worthy of serious contemplation, because this disfellowship apparently occurs prior to His Apocalyptic return to Judge the world. Of course, we naturally expect eternally negative consequences from lack of commitment, careless living, and heretical doctrinal beliefs, of the sorts portrayed in the above statistics, but what about the possibility of temporal consequences for such believers who have no compelling desire to obey their Lord, have not reckoned themselves to be dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ, or desire to see themselves being conformed to His image? 

For example, the timeline discussed earlier in connection with Daniel's 70th Week suggests a rapture of the Body of Christ prior to His Apocalyptic return, yet the only reference of the Lord's return to the Revelation Churches is His Apocalypse at the time of Judgement. Consequently, though they have been forgiven their sins by the blood of Jesus Christ and have the ultimate promise of a Heavenly redemption, there appears to be nothing in the letters to the Seven Churches that provides them assurance that they will be raptured with the Body of Christ.