Letters to the Seven churches of Revelation
Introduction
Revelation 2: 1-1-29
As we begin this study on the letters of the 7 churches of the book of Revelation, I have mingled feelings. For one thing Revelation is the final book of the bible of 66 books. We come to Revelation after reading and understanding all the other 65 books and its content. This means that we need to know the other sixty–five books before we get to this place. You need to have the background of a working knowledge of all the Bible that precedes it. You need to have a feel of the Scriptures as well as have the facts of the Scriptures in your mind.
Revelation was to prepare and strengthen the Christians of Asia Minor (seven churches) so that they will remain faithful against the impending persecution. Asia Minor was a region of the Roman Empire that is now the western part of the country of Turkey. Patmos is a small, rocky island off its coast.
There had been several waves of persecutions of Christians by Roman authorities. The vision John received offered encouragement to persecuted Christians and assurance that God was still in control. The forces of evil , would eventually be utterly destroyed by God and God's eternal kingdom will come into its fulfillment. In particular, John's vision offered encouragement and comfort to the persecuted Christians of Asia Minor that their suffering was not in vain.
Jesus said in Matthew 24:21 that “there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.” This book also shows the final consummation of the kingdom of heaven which is preceded by the fall and punishment of Satan and his demons as John writes; “the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev 20:11).
The book is, then, an exhortation and admonition to Christians of the first century to stand firm in the faith and to avoid compromise with paganism, despite the threat of adversity and martyrdom; they are to await patiently the fulfillment of God’s mighty promises.
Revelation does not originate or begin anything. Rather it consummates and concludes that which has been begun somewhere else in Scripture. It is important to have a right understanding of the book to be able to trace each great subject of prophecy from the first reference to the terminal. There are at least ten great subjects of prophecy which find their consummation here. This is the reason that a knowledge of the rest of the Bible is imperative to an understanding of the Book of Revelation. It is calculated that there are over five hundred references or allusions to the Old Testament in Revelation and that, of its 404 verses, 278 contain references to the Old Testament. In other words, over half of this book depends upon your understanding of the Old Testament.
The ten great subjects of prophecy which find their consummation here are these:
1. The Lord Jesus Christ. is the subject of the book. The subject is not the beasts nor the bowls of wrath but the Sin–bearer. The first mention of Him is way back in Genesis 3:15, as the Seed of the woman. When the scene moves to heaven, we see Him there, too, controlling everything. Not only in Revelation but in the entire Bible Jesus Christ is the major theme. The Scriptures are both Theocentric and Christocentric, God–centered and Christ–centered. Since Christ is God, He is the One who fills the horizon of the total Word of God. This needs to be kept in mind in a special way as we study the Book of Revelation—even more than in the Gospels. The Bible as a whole tells us (1) what He has done, (2) what He is doing now , and (3) what He will do in the future. The Book of Revelation emphasizes (1) what He has done (2) what he is doing now and (3) what He will do.
2. The church does not begin in the Old Testament. It is first mentioned by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 16:18: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
3. The resurrection and the translation of the saints (see John 14; 1 Thess. 4:13–18; 1 Cor. 15:51–52).
4. The Great Tribulation, spoken of back in Deuteronomy 4 where God says that His people would be in tribulation.
5. Satan and evil (see Ezek. 28:11–18).
6. The “man of sin” (see Ezek. 28:1–10).
7. The course and end of apostate Christendom (see Dan. 2:31–45; Matt. 13).
8. The beginning, course, and end of the “times of the Gentiles” (see Dan. 2:37–45; Luke 21:24). The Lord Jesus said that Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles until the Times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
9. The second coming of Christ. According to Jude 14–15, Enoch spoke of that, which takes us back to the time of the Genesis record.
10. Israel’s covenants, beginning with the covenant which God made with Abraham in Genesis 12:1–3. God promised Israel five things, and God says in Revelation that He will fulfill them all.
It has long been my practice, when I need a time of relaxation, to read a detective story. I confess that mystery stories have been more or less a hobby of mine since my school going days. And as usual I like to know how it all ends. So I have a peek at the final chapter and I have the solution to the mystery.
The Book of the Revelation in the Bible tells me how this world scene is going to end. I will be frank to say that I get a little disturbed today when I see what is happening in the world. It is a dark picture as I look around me, read the news or see the TV, and I wonder how it is going to work out. Well, all I do is turn to the last book of the Bible, and when I begin to read there, I find that it’s going to work out all right. Even though it looks as if the Devil is having a grand holiday now, God is still in control—in fact, He has never lost control—and He is moving to the time when He is going to place His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, upon the throne of His universe down here. But it does look dark now.
I think that any person today who looks at the world situation and takes an optimistic view of it has something wrong with his thinking. The world is in a desperate condition. However, I’m no pessimist because I have the Book of Revelation, and I can say to every person who has trusted Christ, “Don’t you worry. Those who place their trust in Jesus will be victorious.”
The Book of Revelation divides itself very easily. This is one book that doesn’t require our labor in making divisions in it. John does it all for us according to the instructions given to him. In verse 18 of the first chapter the Lord Jesus speaks as the glorified Christ: “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” Notice the four grand statements He makes concerning Himself: “(1) I am alive.(2) I was dead. (3) I am alive for evermore. And I have the keys of hell and of death.”
Then He tells John to write, and He gives him His outline in chapter 1, verse 19: “Write
(1) the things which thou hast seen,
(2) and the things which are, and
(3) the things which shall be hereafter.
”My friend, this is a wonderful, grand division that He is giving. In fact, there is nothing quite like it.
This book reveals God in control of history. All life is moving toward the consummation of a great goal, according to the purposes of His will. Man may try to hinder, deflect, or delay God's plans, but he cannot destroy them. Righteousness ultimately will triumph and evil will forever be overcome.
The book of Revelation looks to the future, giving special prominence to the crisis to come upon the world just prior to the return of Christ, when the whole world will be brought to a decision for or against God.
The letters to the seven churches are “prophetic letters.” We have numerous examples of this kind of writing: We see it elsewhere in the Bible, such as 2 Chronicles 21:12–15 and Jeremiah 29.
These letters also bear some resemblance to “ancient royal and imperial edicts.” They resemble even more closely the biblical format of oracles concerning various peoples. We find instances of these in Isa. 13–23; Jer. 46–51; Ezek. 25–32; Amos 1–2.
Each letter follows a similar pattern:
To the angel of the church in a given city, write:
Jesus (depicted in glory, often in terms from 1:13–18) says:
I know (in most instances offers some praise)
But I have this against you (offers some reproof, where applicable)
The one who has ears must pay attention to what the Spirit says
Eschatological promise
Now that we know how the letters were written and structured, let’s take a look at how the churches would have read and received them.
It should be noted that each church receives the letter appropriate to it. The message to each church resembles what we know of the cities in which the churches existed.
This tells us that churches can easily reflect the values of their culture if we do not remain vigilant against those values.
Like all John’s audience (1:3; 13:9; 22:17), each church must “hear,” common enough language in both Jewish and Greek ethical exhortations; the particular expression likely echoes Jesus’ original teachings (Mark 4:9).
Each church is also summoned to “overcome,” which implies endurance in the coming trial depicted in much of the book (Rev. 21:7); the invitation probably also suggests the term’s meaning of “conquer,” especially if believers appear as God’s end-time army.
Each church shares the hope promised to the other churches; when the churches have heard this through to the end, they will recognize that the promises to all the churches are fulfilled in the book’s closing vision of the coming world (see Revelation 21–22).
The basic principle for applying these letters to ourselves and others today thus seems to be: “If the shoe fits, wear it.”
In the study of any book of the Bible or any topic of Scripture, a certain amount of ground work is needed for understanding, orientation, and motivation. This is particularly so with the Book of Revelation or prophecy in general.
God did not give us prophecy so we could become a prophet and thereby predict the future. It is not given so we can predict who the Man of Sin or the Antichrist or the beast will be, nor is it given so we can predict the precise day and hour when the Lord will return.
Then what is the purpose of prophecy?
Between a fourth and a third of the Bible is prophecy. Some of its longest books, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, are prophetic. Many of its other books, such as Genesis, Psalms and Paul’s epistles, also contain important prophecies.
One of Jesus Christ’s longest recorded discourses, found in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, is an extensive prophecy given shortly before He was crucified. And of course, the Bible ends with the book of Revelation, a series of prophetic visions describing the period from the early Church up through Jesus Christ’s return and beyond.
So it’s clear that prophecy is important to God. But why? Why is prophecy important to Him? And why should it be important to us? Scripture reveals a number of key purposes for prophecy, so let’s be sure we understand them!
(1) Prophecy reveals who and what God is.
As human beings, we are used to thinking in the three dimensions of breadth, height and depth, and so to a limited extent can grasp God’s great creative ability in those dimensions by viewing the world around us. But how does prophecy fit into that?
In one sense prophecy could be viewed as God exercising His creative power in yet another dimension, that of time—foretelling the future and then bringing it to pass when, where and how He sees fit. His abilities certainly far surpass anything human beings are capable of!
The test for any prophecy and the authenticity of its source is fulfillment, and hundreds of Bible prophecies have been fulfilled in minute detail. This is true of prophecies fulfilled in Old Testament times, in the life of Christ (birth, life, death, and resurrection), and in relation to even the shaping of world events of our day. Compare Deuteronomy 18:20-22; Jeremiah 28:9; but also Deuteronomy 13:1-5.
Now if a prophet’s prediction does not come to pass, he is a false prophet ( Deut 18: 22. But sometimes the Lord permits the message or event to come to pass. The determination of whether he was a true or false prophet was not made on this basis but on whether or not he led the people away from God. The success of false prophets was permitted in order to test God’s people (Deut 13:3).
The ultimate issue for all prophecy is its spiritual impact on the lives of God’s people. Does it cause men to follow the Lord or turn them away from Him?
Understanding prophecy can also protect Christians from the counterfeit strategies of Satan and the world system that lies under his control. As an example, one of the ancient counterfeits and one that will be a key note of his last day strategies, a strategy already prominent today, is the belief in one world government which is portrayed as a utopia and the last final hope for mankind. An understanding of prophecy warns us of Satan’s attempts to bring the world together under his last-time leader (an anti-God, anti-Christ figure) and warns us not to fall for any kind of one world movement.
(2) Prophecy shows that God is in ultimate control.
Not only can God reveal the future well ahead of time, but He can also bring to pass what He has foretold. In Isaiah 46:9-10 He declares plainly that no one or no thing can remotely approach His power, using prophecy as an example:
“Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come” (NIV). He ends this statement saying, “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” (NIV).
Clearly, only God can do this.
The overall lesson? God is in complete and ultimate control, raising up and striking down kings and empires according to His plan and to fulfill His purpose!
(3) Prophecy reveals the consequences of obedience and disobedience.
A theme found again and again in Bible prophecy is that choices and actions have consequences. One of the biggest mistakes individuals or nations can make is to assume they can act as they wish without those actions eventually catching up with them.
Paul summarized this very well in Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”
Two long chapters of the Bible—Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28—spell this out clearly. They’re commonly known to Bible students as the “blessings and curses” chapters. They’re called that because they describe in considerable detail what happens when a nation chooses to obey and honor God (blessings) and what results when a nation turns its back and disobeys Him.
“Now it shall come to pass,” begins Deuteronomy 28:1-2, “if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God …”
The chapter goes on to describe blessings of agricultural and other material abundance, good health, national respect and prestige, victory in conflict, divine protection, good weather, national wealth and more.
“But it shall come to pass,” the chapter’s warning begins Deuteronomy 28:15, “if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you …”
As might be expected, the curses that follow are the opposite of the blessings just listed—agricultural and material decline, “rebuke in all that you set your hand to do,” diseases, drought, military defeat, mental illness and confusion, oppression by foreigners and invaders, natural disasters and more.
“Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, therefore you shall serve your enemies,” God declares (Deuteronomy 28:47-48). The warning continues with graphic and sobering details of what happens when civilization and moral standards begin to completely break down, leading to utter depravity. Leviticus 26 presents the same outcome.
So in obeying the commands of God the end result will the pursuit of holiness by His people. This is everywhere evident in one prophetic passage after another. Check all the passages dealing with the return of the Lord and you will find that, almost without exception, our Lord’s return is used as a basis for an exhortation to godliness. This includes living as aliens in His service, living for heavenly treasure, and finding comfort in the midst of suffering and persecution through the assurance of Christ’s return. Philippians 3:15-21 Colossians 3:1-5 1 John 2:28-3:3 Titus 2:9-15 1 Peter 1:13-17
(4) Prophecy reveals God’s will—that He wants all to receive His gift of salvation.
There’s no question that much of Bible prophecy is grim and at times frightening. It’s a sobering subject for the reasons described above—God wants us to understand the painful consequences that will follow from choosing the wrong way and the judgments that will come in disobeying God and the blessings that come from obeying Him. Just as a wise parent warns his children of the pain that will result from disobedience, so does God warn us as His children.
God doesn’t want any of us to suffer. In one of the Bible’s great books of prophecy, Ezekiel, He says: “Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’” (Ezekiel 33:11).
But the prophecies of the Bible almost always end with hope and good news. This is because, as Paul told Timothy, God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).
(5) Prophecy reveals God’s plan for humanity.
Bible prophecy reveals that God is working out an incredible plan here below—a plan for how He will bring us to salvation and eternal life in His divine family! Notice a few key prophetic statements from His Word that hint at the marvelous future awaiting those who surrender their lives to Him now:
“I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:18). Don’t spiritualize this away—He means it literally!
“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).
God’s promise is that as His divine children, we will be like the glorified Jesus Christ!
“Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:6).
(6) Prophecy should motivate us to repent and turn to God.
In Jeremiah 25:4-5 we see Jeremiah himself summarizing the message of God’s prophets to His people: “The Lord has sent to you all His servants the prophets … They said, ‘Repent now everyone of his evil way and his evil doings …’”
We see that another of God’s purposes for prophecy is to urge humankind to repent—to turn from our own evil ways and to wholeheartedly follow God. The apostle Peter, in 2 Peter 3:9, tells us: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (NIV).
In Jeremiah 18:7-8 God says: “The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.”
We see this in the remarkable story of the prophet Jonah, whom God sent to the Assyrian capital city of Nineveh to tell them of their judgment and impending doom for their wickedness. But Jonah detested the Ninevites for their cruelty to his people, the Israelites, and refused to go—fleeing instead in the other direction. You probably remember what happens next—God had Jonah swallowed by a great fish and three days later spewed out on land, which changed his mind. This time he went as he’d been told to.
He delivered his message, and much to his embarrassment the Ninevites believed God and repented. They fasted, put on sackcloth (a sign of mourning), and even had their animals and cattle wear sackcloth and go without food and water. As a result, “God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it” (Jonah 3:10).
The message of every prophet of the Bible is that if you turn your life around, if you listen to God and heed His warnings and change, you can avoid the terrible times prophesied to come on our world.
All prophecy is ultimately a message of hope. We have God’s assurance that He is in perfect control, that He is a God of love (1 John 4:8, 1 John 4:16), that His desire is for us to turn to Him in heartfelt repentance and turn our lives over to Him. If and when we do so, He promises to bless and care for us, intent on fulfilling His purpose for us.
He tells us what we must do in Isaiah 55:6-7: “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
The key lesson for us is that they repented and changed. Can we? Can you?
This is the message of the Book of Revelation and also the message of the Letters to the Seven churches of Revelation.
