How to Read the Seven Letters to the Seven Churches
These letters are incredibly important because they are the only messages we have directly from Jesus to His Church. How we read the letters will determine what we learn from them. Let’s start by examining the pattern of these letters.
Greeting – “To the angel of the church in…”
Jesus sends each letter to the person (celestial or earthly) overseeing the church. Jesus is holding this person primarily responsible for the condition of their church.
Statement of Authorship – “These are the words of…”
Jesus introduces Himself with a description of Himself, taken from chapter 1. How He describes Himself to each church is relevant to the condition of that church.
Commendation and Rebuke – “I know…”
Jesus examines each church according to one or more of the following. Their:
- Efforts in ministry
- Passion for the faith
- Doctrinal teaching (wrong teaching leads to wrong living)
- Perseverance under persecution
The Wider Audience – “Whoever has ears…”
Jesus is dictating these letters to three audience levels, going from the narrowest to the widest audience: the “angel” of the church, the members of the church, and everyone else. The messages of the letters are not for that local, historical church only; they are applicable for everyone throughout time. Anyone who has ears to hear or eyes to read or fingers to feel should take very seriously Jesus’ words to these churches.
Eternal Promise – “To the one who is victorious…”
Being part of the Book of Revelation, these letters look forward to the Day of Judgment. Each letter ends with hope as Jesus promises what His faithful followers can look forward to.
Revelation 2
To the Church in Ephesus – faithful in doctrine and doing good works but not operating in love
[Jesus speaking:] “To the angel[a] of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him [Jesus] who holds the seven stars [angels] in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands [churches]. 2 I know your deeds [good works, ministry], your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand [church] from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
How would you describe this church? They’ve been faithful to the truth and are working hard for the Lord, but they’re not operating in love.
Do you know of any churches or Christians that fit this description?
What will happen to a church that doesn’t operate in love? It will cease to be a church.
Why does Jesus describe Himself as holding the stars [angels of the churches] in His hand and walking among the golden lampstands [churches] when He speaks to this church? He wants this unloving church to realize He is the one who either preserves them as a church or removes them.
If we’ve lost our love, how can we repent and do the things we did at first to regain it? A church or a Christian who has lost love needs to go back to the basics and concentrate on the Gospel – what Jesus has done for us, what He’s saved us from – and spend time in the spiritual disciplines of Scripture reading, prayer, meditation, fasting, and worship.
To the Church in Smyrna – poor, persecuted, persevering
8 “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 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.
11 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death [the lake of fire, after the final Judgment, where the devil and the beast and the false prophet are thrown.]
Revelation 20:14-15 - Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 21:8 - But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Who will be saved from the second death? In general, those who have repented of their sins and are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. In specific, those who persevere through persecution, even to the point of death.
Will you be faithful to Jesus, even to the point of death? Will you be able to persevere through persecution? When Christians were first persecuted under the Roman Empire, provincial governors would have suspected Christians arrested and give them the choice to renounce their faith in Jesus and sacrifice to the gods or else be tortured and killed. Christians have faced death in different parts of the world ever since. A time is coming when you very well may face the same choice.
Why does Jesus describe Himself as the one who died and came to life when He speaks to this church? He wants them to know that even though they might die for their faith, death is not the end. They can have confidence in the hope that He will raise them back to life, just as He came back to life when He was killed.
Why does Jesus tell this church that their upcoming period of persecution will last ten days? He wants them to know that their trial is for a limited time. They need to hold on for ten days, and then it will be over. The Scriptures teach us that the period of worldwide persecution against Christians will last 3.5 years. We can have hope that if we can hold on for that long, Jesus will bring our suffering to an end.
What does Jesus mean when He calls some Jews a synagogue of Satan? In not accepting Jesus as the Messiah, the Jewish people had failed to follow God’s plan of salvation. In persecuting Christians, they were serving Satan more than the Lord.
To the Church in Pergamum – persevering through persecution but indulging in sin
12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13 I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.
14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. 15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.
How would you describe this church? They’ve persevered through persecution but are allowing sexual immorality and other sins to continue.
Do you know of any churches or Christians who fit this description?
Why does Jesus say that Satan lives and has his throne in Pergamum? The fact that believers are being to death in this city shows that Satan is in control there. As we’ll see later, Satan and his Anti-Christ will be in control and putting Christians to death during a worldwide persecution.
What is the teaching of Balaam? He “taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality.” Balaam wanted the Israelites to think they could commit certain sins and still be faithful to the Lord.
What is the teaching of the Nicolaitans? The Nicolaitans thought they could share everything with the Body of Christ, even their wives, so this is a specific form of sexual immortality.
Why does Jesus describe Himself as having the sharp, double-edged sword when He speaks to this church? Scripture is described as a sword (Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 6:17). Jesus wants the church to understand that He will judge them by what Scripture says.
Why does Jesus promise manna to the faithful person? Jesus will preserve us and give us everything we need.
Why does Jesus promise a white stone to the faithful person? When judges cast their verdict, a black stone indicated the person was judged guilty, while a white stone indicated a not-guilty verdict.
Why does Jesus say the faithful person will have a new name known only to them? The secret name shows that Jesus knows us personally and intimately.
To the Church in Thyatira – good works but a mix of false doctrine and faithfulness
18 “To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. 19 I know your deeds [ministry], your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.
20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, 25 except to hold on to what you have until I come.’
26 To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— 27 that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’[b]—just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will also give that one the morning star [Jesus]. 29 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
How would you describe this church? They’re growing in service and have great love and faith and have persevered through persecution but are following a false teacher into sin.
What churches or Christians do you see following teachers with false doctrine?
Why does Jesus describe himself as having eyes of blazing fire and feet like burnished bronze when He speaks to this church? The fire shows His fury at the false doctrine in this church, while the bronze feet are to inspire steadfastness in the faithful people in the church.
Revelation 22:16 - “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
Jesus is the Morning Star. When He says He will give the church the morning star, He’s saying He will give Himself to them.
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