In dispensational eschatology, the seven churches represent the 7 ages of church history. They break up church history into ages.
The ages go as follows:
- Ephesus- is the apostolic age
- Smyrna- the persecuted church till about 312 AD(Which is about the time Constantine “became a Christian”)
- Pergamum- This is age of the church that has become compromised(thanks to Constantine). Here church and state are linked together lasting 300 years.
- Thytira- Medieval age up until the Protestant Reformation
- Sardis- Protestant Reformation onward to the mid-eighteenth century
- Philadelphia- “the Missionary church of the eighteenth century through twentieth century church.”(Scot McKnight)
- Laodicea-Lukewarm church that we are all conveniently apart of as it is also the last church meaning we should get zapped up out of here anyday now.
As I have noted previously though, there is no biblical warrant for taking these seven churches and splitting them up into ages of church history and trying to decode some meaning from them.
As Michael Gorman says in his book ‘Reading Revelation Responsibly’:
This does not rule out any symbolic or ongoing significance to the churches, but this must be a matter of careful theological reflection, not wild speculation.
The other problem Michael Gorman points out with reading the letters to the seven churches with this dispensational view in mind is that it is very bias to a certain segment of the church.
This kind of schema uncritically reflects the perspective of very conservative(largely fundamentalist) and very American Protestantism, which finds its heroes in the earliest church and the Protestant missionary movement, and its enemies in both the Catholic Church and the magisterial Reformation and its heirs(“mainline Protestantism”)…This kind of interpretation of church history has no basis in the text but simply reflects the bias of the interpreter, and a very Eurocentric and Americentric reader at that.
Michael Gorman (Reading Revelation Responsibly)
John and Jesus have made it abundantly clear that the message to the seven churches are the literal churches that exist in the first century in Asia Minor. So we will look at these messages to the seven churches and see what Jesus had to say to them.
What Is the Purpose Behind Jesus’ Message to the 7 Churches?
These 7 churches have not experienced the level of persecution they are about to come across. They have experienced persecution to some degree but the persecution is about to become more severe, and so Jesus’ heart is for these 7 churches to be able to withstand and persevere in what is about the be some very hard times.
Jesus longs to see these churches make it through to the end, but in order for them to make it to the end, they have some work to do. So Jesus calls them back to Himself, back to the Gospel and the fuel for which they will feed off of in order to make through the suffering they are about to experience.
What Are The Messages to the 7 Churches?
1.) Ephesus- This church is the closest to John on the island of Patmos. It is also the largest church at the time and the most influential as Ephesus the city itself was. There was a rather large Jewish population that lived here but was still very pagan in its essence and the Jews were still a minority.
Augustus the first emperor had granted Ephesus the ability to build not one, but two temples in honor of him. Domitian named the city of Ephesus “guardian” as it is guarding the center of the imperial cult. The imperial cult(worship) was the practice of deifying and worshipping emperors as deity.
Ephesus had five years prior to the book of Revelation being written just started a new imperial cult. Ephesus was also known for its worship specifically of the goddess Artemis.
For the Ephesian church, Jesus recognizes how they not only work hard but take truth seriously. They are patient in their enduring. They have stood against false apostles and have not given up; yet they have grown callous and have abandoned their first love. Jesus thus urges them to remember where they came from and do what they used to do when they fell in love with Jesus.
2.) Smyrna- The city of Smyrna had a history of competing with Ephesus for prominence. They for the most part were unsuccessful. Smyrna was granted the opportunity as well to start an imperial cult. The city was known for its recovery centuries earlier. Thus resurrection language was common for this city.
Jesus sees the struggle the church of Smyrna has faced even though they are rather blessed. He encourages them as they are about to enter persecution. And in the nature of the resurrection language used for the city as a whole, Jesus uses that same language: “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.”(Revelation 2:10)
3.) Pergamum- Jesus says in Revelation 2:12 “Thus says the one who has the sharp, double edged sword.” This is a rather odd image. The sword is not in Jesus’ hand but rather comes out of his mouth. The reason why is because Jesus, the messianic King is not battling “over flesh and blood” but rather with his teaching. Jesus’ message is at odds with the message of the world so the sword coming out of his mouth displays Jesus’ words being at war with the words of the other influences of the day.
Pergamum was a prosperous city because they partnered with Rome early in its imperial ambitions. “Anyone visiting the city would immediately see the old temple of Augustus on Pergamum’s citadel…The cult of the emperor would also be the likeliest cause of persecution.”(Craig Keener)
For Pergamum, Jesus recognizes how they have kept the faith even as they watched their own get persecuted. They are in “Satan’s throne” and yet still have faith. But they have had many who have bought into false teaching. Teaching that hinders others. Jesus ultimately call them to repent. To turn away from this false teaching and come to the teaching that offer’s life.
4.) Thyatira- In the atompsohere of the air, there was already as have mentioned the imperial cult where emperors were linked and worshiped to as deity. One of the patron gods of Thyatira was Apollo the son of Zeus, who was often linked to these emperors. Along with the imperial cult specific ties to Thyatira, the city was also known for its prominent business of metal working.
Jesus for the church in Thyatira brings this image of “burnished bronze”(2:18) up for the metal working community. An image they would likely know of all too well.
Jesus recognizes the “love, faithfulness, service and endurance”(2:19) of this church, but a key problem with this church is that they tolerate a lady called “Jezebel.”
Jezebel in earlier pages of Scripture sponsored 850 prophets as she also aimed to kill all of God’s true prophets. Jezebel, was not literally promoting sexual immorality but rather a spiritual sexual immorality. If God’s people are His bride, then Jezebel was a woman promoting God’s people to cheat on their groom.
In this section of revelation, there is plenty of debate on whether the Jezebel of Thyatira was actually promoting a literal sexually immoral lifestyle, but what is true is that she was promoting the spiritual one. There was an ongoing debate in the church at the time on whether to eat food sacrificed to idols. If, the church in Thyatira did refuse to eat this food, which means as well to buy this food, economically there would be an impact and these Christian believers who are refusing would face persecution. So much of the culture in this city is wrapped into the imperial cult, Jesus is thus calling his followers not to tolerate this imperial worship, to not fall into the trap of Jezebel.
For those who did not fall into the trap, Jesus does not give the burden for them to carry. Jesus instead encourages them to “hold fast.”
5.) Sardis- Jesus says that this church has works that they are known for that make them look alive, but in reality they are dead. Jesus then calls them to wake up, use the strength they have left and repent.
Sardis was a city that was not actually conquered in war, rather twice according to their history they were conquered at night unexpectedly. The guards failed to keep a lookout. Jesus uses this imagery to talk about the coming of His Kingdom.
“Stay alert, you do not want to miss the coming of the Kingdom I am brining.” “Wake up, and become apart of it.”
6.) Philadelphia- Jesus recognizes this churches works. He honors them and promises to have those claiming to be Jesus who are not, to bow down and worship Him.
7.) Laodicea- This is probably the most famous passage out for these messages to the seven churches for its imagery of “lukewarmness.”
Jesus says “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.”( Revelation 3:15-16)
This is rather strong language and the famous interpretation of it boils down to you picking a side, team Jesus or team Satan. Jesus here though is not talking about being “on the fence.” Laodicea was known for its horrible water supply, so they had to pump their water in from afar which meant by the time it got to them, the water was lukewarm. It was disgusting. It was also useless. Where as hot water from hot springs was used for bathing and healing. Cold water from cold springs was refreshing. Jesus language here to this church is a major insult. He is essentially saying “you are neither refreshing like cold water nor healing like hot water.”
Jesus says to this church “you are pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” This would also be very insulting as Laodicea was a very prosperous city. They had tons of material things, they were rich, yet Jesus says that they are really poor. Jesus words here would be humbling to hear.
Common Theme
In all seven messages to these 7 churches there is a repeated formula.
The formula goes like this: (I am getting this breakdown from the “Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible NIV)
- To the angel of the church in (a city) write
- Jesus (depicted in glory, often in terms from Revelation 1:13-18) says
- I know (in most instances some praise is offered)
- Yet (where relevant) I hold this against you
- Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches
- To the one who is victorious (a promise)
Summary
These 7 churches are all in the world of Babylon and face a great danger of having the Babylon of their day creep into who they are called and created to be. Jesus thus encourages, challenges, and provokes them to remember the good news that sets them free from the bondage they may find themselves in.
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