Narrator: An Elder of Laodicea
Primary Scriptures: Revelation 2, 3
Story Summary: Background of the letters to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3 Location: Roman Empire, Island of Patmos
Time:
AD 30 Jesus crucified and resurrected; Pentecost; Holy Spirit arrives
AD 48 Paul’s “famine visit” to Jerusalem; First Missionary Journey starts Council at Jerusalem
AD 50 Start of Second Missionary Journey.
AD 53 Start of Third Missionary Journey
AD 67/68 Paul probably killed in Rome
AD 85-95 John writes Revelation
Suggested Memory Scriptures: Revelation 2:2, 2:4, 2:10, 2:23; 3:3, 3:5, 3:11, 3:15-17, 3:19-20
John had possibly been living in Ephesus for many years prior to the writing of Revelation. If so, he would have been very familiar with the churches in Asia, including the seven churches addressed in Revelation 2 and 3.
Revelation 1:19-20 introduces Revelation 2 and 3, and these two verses are sourced from Revelation 1:12-16. All seven letters in Revelation 2 and 3 are addressed to the angel of that church, but it is not clear to modern readers what that means. It is possible that angel refers to the human leader of each church or to the envoys these churches had sent to John. It seems as if the letters are meant to be applied both by the angel and the church members.
The seven churches are located in a rough geometrical oval. The order of the church letters starts with Ephesus on the southwest side and progresses in a clockwise fashion to Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. The church at Ephesus was the largest of these churches and, along with Laodicea, is the only church mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament (although Lydia of Thyatira is mentioned). Due to its location, it seems like the church at Colossae should have been included in this list; we don’t know why it was not.
The letters of Revelation 2 and 3 are from Jesus. The general pattern of the letters is: the address to the angel of the church, a characteristic of Jesus, an acknowledgement of the condition of the church, something good about the church, a warning to the church, and a promise of a reward for changed behavior.
Although the letters are addressed to seven specific churches, you can easily see that the problems addressed in them are experienced by modern churches, making Revelation 2 and 3 very valuable and relevant to modern Christians and churches. To many people, some of the most sobering verses in the Bible are found in passages such as Revelation 2:4-5, 2:14, 3:3 and 3:15- 17. However, some of the most encouraging verses of the Bible are also found in these two chapters.
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