Thursday, October 6, 2011

The Significance Of The Seven Churches In Revelation

By Allyson Stanley


The seven churches in Revelation are also known as The Seven congregations of the Apocalypse or the seven congregations of Asia. These are the congregations established in the early days of Christianity and they are mentioned in Revelations which was written by Ignatius of Antioch. All the structures are located in modern day Turkey but they lack any Christians due to the treaty of Lausanne which required they be evicted.

The structures are found in Philadelphia, Thyatira, Sardis, Pergamum, Laodicea, Smyrna and Ephesus. In the book of Revelations Jesus instructs his servant John while on the Greek Island called Patmos to take down what he sees and later send it in form of scrolls to each of the churches.

Each of the congregations had its own needs. The congregation in Ephesus had forgotten their first love while that of Pergamum was required to ask for forgiveness. The church in Sardis had fell deep asleep while that of Thyatira worshiped a false prophetess. The church in Smyrna was destined to be persecuted and the Christians in Laodicea had little faith and those of Philadelphia had patiently endured.

The congregations were all sent messages through letters. The letters were sent by the Lord of hosts. In each letter he would address the church and proceed to describe what he knows about the church. After this he would give a challenge and end with a promise of a reward from Christ to the conquerors. The letters vary because they have different needs for different congregations but hold the same message to listen to the spirit.

Interpretations of this book seem to lead to a conclusion that the churches symbolize the phases that will have passed since Paul's time to the return of Jesus.

The angels to whom the messages were directed are interpreted as the Human Bishops in every church while an alternative view claims they are actual angels. Read more about: the seven churches in revelation




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