Posted on 08/16/2009 8:01:51 PM PDT by OneVike
While a prisoner on the island of Patmos John was visited by Christ who told him, "What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." He was told to address each letter to “the angel of the church”as represented by seven stars which were the angels of the seven churches, and the ”seven lampstands” which were the seven churches. (Rev 1:20) Popular opinion says that the angel refers to the person who publicly represents the church as its leader. Some however have put forth the opinion that the angel represents an emissary or messenger sent from each church who visited John while he was in prison as Paul was visited while imprisoned in Rome.
But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. (Phil 4:18)As for the meaning of the letters, you will find different opinions depending upon which scholar you reference. Probably the most prevalent belief is that of Cyrus Scofields who is considered the father of the modern day dispensational view of the end times. It could be said that his bible commentaries have had more influence in shaping the modern view of the end times than other published writings. In his companion commentary of the Scofield Bible, Cyrus saw four different meaning in the messages to the churches.
(1) Local, to the churches actually addressed; (2) Admonitory, to all churches in all time as tests by which they may discern their true spiritual state in the sight of God; (3) Personal, in the exhortations to him "that hath an ear," and in the promise "to him that overcometh"; (4) Prophetic, as disclosing seven phases of the spiritual history of the church from, say, A.D. 96 to the end.
Each letter followed a similar pattern that begins with a greeting, and then a description of the risen Christ. Next there is praise for each church then criticism, followed by a warning an exportation and finally a promise of what to be expected for those following His advise. By close examination, the reader will see that the description of our risen Lord is different for each of the seven letters. These various descriptions are not cute little extras phrases added to make the letters more colorful, but instead they are descriptions that enforce Christ’s message to follow. (Rev 2:1; Rev 2:8; Rev 2:12; Rev 2:18; Rev 3:1; Rev 3:7& Rev 3:14) It is small but not so insignificant nuances like these that make studying the Book of Revelation a true blessing as John’s introductory statement says in (Rev 1:3). For the next couple of weeks I will attempt to give a brief but concise description of each church and what its message means, starting with Ephesus and on through to the last, Laodicea.
The first church Christ mentions is Ephesus, the loveless church. Ephesus means darling, and with over 300,000 people it was the largest city and the Capital of the Asian Province. Founded by Paul around 50 AD it was also the location of the third ecumenical council in 431 AD. With an important seaport it boasted of being the home of the Greek goddess Diana, known to the Romans as Artemis the moon goddess, and to the Asiatic as the nursing mother of gods, men, animals, and plants. The Temple of Artemis was one of the seven ancient wonders of the world whose goddess was commercialized as a trinket god supplying great wealth to the local silversmiths. Paul’s preaching interfered with the commerce of this idol and aroused violent opposition from the merchants.
About that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning the Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen; these he gathered together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, "Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business.(Act 19:23-25)
At the time when Paul founded this church hardly anyone there knew of the true Gods temple. Now, two thousand years later, no one knows of Artemis. This ancient wonder was burnt and rebuilt and finally destroyed, and the world is better for that destruction. Meanwhile the true temple is majestically nearing completion with new members being added to the Lambs Book of life every day. Christ recognized the Ephesians tireless perseverance in bearing up under trial for His name’s sake, and how they opposed false apostles and the heretical Nicolaitians; (Rev2:2-3)& Rev 2:5) However, he reproved them for having left their first love, (Rev 2:4) and admonished them to remember where they had fallen from, (Rev 2:5). They are warned to repent and to do their first works or else He will come and remove the candlestick out of its place. As a reward to all that overcome and persevere, the fruit from the tree of life is offered. Those who allegorize the churches to represent the different ages match Ephesus with the early church age roughly from 33 AD to 70 AD, marking the fall of Jerusalem.
The second church John writes to is Situated at the head of the Gulf of Izmir where the Hermus River flows into the Agean Sea. Smyrna the persecuted church is the only church that remains to this day. The city had worshiped Rome as a spiritual power since about 195 BC, explaining Smyrna’s historical pride in its Caesar Cult. A fact that was not overlooked by Rome, as the Emperor Tiberius granted them the right to build a temple to him in 26 AD. Resembling a diadem, many beautiful and majestic public buildings formed a circle around the summit of Mt. Pagos that the locals called the “Crown of Porticoes”. Thus we have the reference in (Rev 2:10) to a crown of life for those who are faithful unto death.
Smyrna was famous for science and medicine and was a wealthy city, but the church itself suffered in abject poverty because its professing members would not renounce Christ in order to get work from the local trade unions. Smyrna means myrrh, like myrrh Smyrna was to be crushed to release its fragrance, thus its Saints were to be persecuted, becoming a sweet aroma to the Lord. Recognizing their spiritual commitment to Him, Christ encouraged them to persevere in the face of trials and tribulations that will last for ten days. As a result of persecutions, many Saints from this church would be martyred for their faith. The most famous of these would be Polycarp, a disciple of John who was martyred by fire in 155 AD.
Those who lean toward a literal interpretation often consider the ten days as representing ten waves of persecutions the Christians suffered in the first three centuries until Constantine became Emperor and legalized Christianity. Between five and seven million Christians were martyred in this period. Like all Christians throughout history, Christ tells the Smyrna Christians to hold fast to their faith and stay true to Him and the second death will have no effect on them. To the allegorist, Smyrna represents the church age from the time the Temple was destroyed by Titus until Constantine became Emperor, 70 AD to 313 AD.
Laodicea exists today. Apostacy abounds. Just switch on TBN and all of the Prosperity Preachers that will surely ask for your “seed gift” so that you can prosper.
Of course the downfall is that God is blamed when prosperity never comes. Contrary to popular belief, God is not a vending machine.
But He will allow the church to take your spiritual money.
Thanks for the post. Our church is going through the book of Revelation together led by our Bible - teaching pastor. It has been very informative.
The letters to the churches was early on (over a year ago) in our study journey so I don’t remember much about those sermons. But I do know that we did not focus on the reason / interpretation - #4 listed above for these letters.
Each letter to each of the churches speaks to our churches today and to each individual Christian today, IMHO.
ALL of the churches mentioned in Revelation exist today in some form.
I think you missed the point of the post. Didn't read to me like the poster was inplying that the Laodicean church was still literally in existence as a continuous church through time to today. Instead, they were implying that a type of Loaodicean church exists today - many modern so-called Christian "churches" that follow very closely to what Laodicea was warned about.
I will be posting the other church articles in the coming weeks.
If you would like I could share them with you personally early, just free-pmail me and we can work out the details of getting them to you.
After I had posted my comment I later reread it and I must agree with you as to what he meant. Thanks
7 Churches of revelation ping,
Thanks for the ping!
The irony here is that the staunchest supporters today of this view of the seven churches as representing ages of church history are those who claim to be "literalists" when it comes to interpreting Revelation. See Dispensational Truth by Clarence Larkin and The Revelation of Jesus Christ by Peter Ruckman.
I wonder if this bit from Wikipedia is accurate:
Ruckman has many ideas that differ from those of typical Baptist fundamentalists. For instance, he does not believe that a fetus becomes a living soul until it is born and takes its first breath.[18] His unusual ideas extend beyond the Bible as well. Ruckman believes in UFOs and blue aliens with blue blood, black aliens with green blood, and gray aliens with clear blood.[19] Further, he believes that the CIA has implanted brain transmitters in children, old people, and African-Americans and that the agency operates underground alien breeding facilities.[20] In 1997, Ruckman claimed that Attorney General Janet Reno had drawn up a list with his name on it and prophesied that the "Government Mafia" would make a hit on him during "the next two or three years."[21]
If so, he'd probably get along with certain parties.
Those are the ones I call the Santa Clause God.
Yes you are right. I only added this allegorist part for those who may have responded with a reply about my leaving it out.
I agree.
Unfortunately the text does not support such a position.
It was Pentecost that made the difference to those who “tarried” in Jerusalem for weeks after the Resurrection.
Luke 24:25........”Then he opened their understanding.”
Those same “fishers of men” certainly knew of the Scripture even as the modern day critics must insist (and do) that the Apostles were mostly illiterate. (Personally, I have never met an illiterate Jew in my life.)
Their “understanding” was opened...unlike the so called learned higher critics who do not have the ability to discern the distinctions between what a “literalist” is relative to bogus scholars.
I am saying that being a “literalist” and understanding the text, are not mutually exclusive.
You cannot and likely will not see it from where you are seated.
You will bewilder yourself forever with the quite simple admonitions of the seven letters, simply because, you have your preconceived notions and positions hindering you from the Light that is shed there.
Your response is baffling to say the least. Perhaps you are making assumptions about my view that are not true.
You seem to disagree with the notion that the “seven churches in Asia” are representative of the “Ages” of the Church.
What am I to else assume? You do not disagree with that concept?
Was it the Resurrection that made the difference in the Apostles change of disposition or was it the events of Pentecost?
Point being that perceptions were changed after their “understanding was opened.” As if I did not post that already.
My post seems baffling and so you focused on the portion of it that perhaps you find least arguable by me. It seems so. You are correct, I do not know what you think. Apparently I am not alone in that distinction.
Some are, correct?
I was simply pointing out the irony that "literalists", who are often quick to label and attack as allegorists those who disagree with them, can adopt a purely allegorical interpretation when convenient.
My own views are immaterial to that observation.
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