A Study Of The Book Of Revelation
Lesson No. 5: Chapter 2

Date: May 21^st and 28^th, June 4^th and 11^th, 2003, Wednesday Evening Adult Bible Class
Speaker: John Phillis
Note: Much of the information for this Study of Revelation was taken from the book “Revelation Through First Century Glasses” by W. B. West. Other sources: “The Living Word, Study of Revelation, Parts I & II” by Dr. Frank Pack; “Revelation” by Jim McGuiggan; “Commentary on Revelation” by Homer Hailey; “Commentary on Revelation” by Burton Coffman; “The Book of Revelation – Spiritual Sword Lectureship, October 18 – 22, 1998”; “Commentary on Revelation” by Howard Winters; “Revelation for Christians Today” by Lonnie Woodruff; “Unlocking Revelation” by J. Stafford North.

A Review

Before we examine the first four of the seven letters to the churches in Asia, let us review some things. Why were these seven churches selected? Why were these seven churches specifically named? We don’t know exactly, but scholars have advanced several reasons or theories for this. I would like to share just a few of those for our edification.

Some emphasize the fact that these churches are located on a road that formed something of a “circle” throughout the interior of the province. Beginning with Ephesus, you could actually trace and go northward and make kind of a big loop around. There was a “royal road” that went through those areas. So some would say, well, those churches were logical choices because of their location.

Some have suggested that perhaps these seven churches were seven churches where John had done missionary work. So because these are the churches where he did his work, then these are the logical choice for the Lord to select and have these things to say. Of course, we have no specific evidence of that in the Scriptures.

Others have said that only these seven churches wore a title of “metropolis,” and were chief cities on the postal districts of the province. We know this is a fact from history itself. Indeed, these seven cities in the 1^st Century were major cities. Not all of them equal, and a better word to describe them would be “prominent”—they were prominent cities in the 1^st Century.

Another reason advanced for selecting these seven churches is that the number “7” is so prominent in the book of Revelation. As a matter of fact, in our very first lessons we talked about some of the symbolism in the book and numbers are significant. The number “7” is used some 54 times in the book of Revelation. It was regarded by the people of the day as a symbol of perfection. The reasoning is that the number “7” indicates not just those seven congregations. Yes, the letters are addressed to seven specific congregations. They were there—we know that from the Scriptures and also from history itself. But because the number “7” represents “perfection,” what is said in these seven letters to these seven churches transcends and goes beyond just what was applicable to those seven churches—but that what is said goes beyond to all of the churches, both those that existed in the 1^st Century, as well as churches throughout the ages.

With this idea in mind, then the conditions and the circumstances of the church at large are dealt with. Yes, specific things pertaining to those specific congregations are dealt with. But once again, these transcend and go beyond just those particular churches. There is a very early canon of the Scriptures dating from the year 170 A.D. We know that a canon is a compendium [a concise but comprehensive summary] of the Scriptures. It is the earliest canon where all of the books of the New Testament are actually listed therein. It also has a number of footnotes. One of the footnotes contained in this particular canon says, “For John also, though he wrote in Revelation to seven churches, nevertheless speaks to them all.”So this was something of a commentary, if you will, that was made in that very early canon of the Scripture.

Again, we don’t know the exact reason why seven, and specifically these seven, churches were selected. I suppose it really isn’t critical to our understanding, but I like to think that this latter reason we’ve been talking about is perhaps one that applies. Yes, seven specific congregations are selected, letters are addressed to them discussing and talking about specific issues they had in that day, but that those apply to us even today.

Here is something else to note: It is evident that the letters did not circulate separately. In other words, these were not like the “separate epistles” that Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, for example, or to the church in Colosse, and so on. These were not individual letters. These were intended to be and have always been a part of this apocalyptic book that we call Revelation.

Here are some common features that we might note as we look at these letters.

First of all, they are all dictated by the Lord Himself. Each one is addressed to the angel of the specific church. Except for Laodicea, the titles by which the Lord describes Himself are all drawn from the vision that is recorded in chapter 1. The titles by which the Lord describes Himself in the letter to the church in Laodicea are drawn, instead, from the salutation of the book, verse 5 and 6. We will notice these as we go through and you will see that each one is going to have a statement of how the Lord addresses Himself, or how He describes Himself.

Again, keep in mind that these are not just arbitrary things that He said; they are things that have come from the first part of the book of Revelation. We can look in the vision, beginning with [chapter 1] verse 12, and we can see the description. John is describing here what he sees and then these will be terms or descriptions that the Lord is going to choose, and each one is going to be different in each of the seven letters. As we said, the description there for the church in Laodicea is found in verses 5 and 6, part of the salutation.