Revelation 1:11; The Seven Churches
Revelation 1:11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last:and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
These 7 churches are “the seven churches which are in Asia Minor” – Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
It was a Sunday around A.D. 90, when the Apostle John, a prisoner on the island of Patmos, saw the exalted and resurrected Christ in the fullness of His glory speaking to him. The first church is Ephesus. If you would travel to modern day Turkey today and if you stand in the ancient of Ephesus, you could see the island of Patmos with a hill on a clear day. The church at Ephesus would have existed for 40 years by now with Paul as the first pastor and there was Timothy. And strong church tradition tells us that John pastored there after Paul’s death and now John is asked to write a message to that church, after a time has lapsed.
The distance of the cites of Symrna and Pergamos from Ephesus were like the distance from Singapore to Kulai and Muar, in Johore between 70 and 160 km. When we were on the Holy Land tour in 1998 going to the 7 churches of Revelation in modern day Turkey, we were on a coach. The places were within driving distance from each other. Little is known concerning the beginning of these churches, we can surmise that they came as a result of the spread of God’s Word from the church in Ephesus where Paul nurtured for two whole years Acts 19:9-10 tells us:
Acts 19:9-10 …disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. 10 And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
Possibly the gospel went out and a gospel outpost were established that became beacons of light in the region beyond.
Thyatira is the name of the modern Turkish city of Akhisar (“white castle”), a small city still existing today.[1] It was a military outpost in the olden days where conquering armies must pass through to reach the more strategic and bigger citiies like Pergamos. It is located on a flat plain in a valley. This is the smallest of the 7 cities mentioned with a population today of about 25,000. Sardis (modern Sart) is located in the fertile Hermus River valley approximately thirty-five miles southeast of Thyatira and sixty miles east of Smyrna. Philadelphia (modern Alascehir) is located about thirty miles southeast of Sardis.Laodicea (three miles north of modern Denizli) was situated forty miles southeast of Philadelphia along the Lycus River valley.¹
It is a most spiritually profitable journey to know the Lord’s assessment of His church. May the Lord bless this study to the strengthening of the faith of His church today.
¹ Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, NewTestament – Hebrews to Revelation.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thyatira