The Seven Churches of Revelation

Patmos

Praised only

Praised and rebuked

Rebuked only

By sea

Letters' order

Road back

Patmos (Revelation 1:9–20)

John, on a small island off the coast of Asia, sees the risen Christ and is told to write to seven churches.

“I John, your brother and partaker with you in the tribulation and kingdom and patience which are in Jesus, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”

On the Lord's day John hears a voice like a trumpet: “What thou seest, write in a book and send it to the seven churches: unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.”

He turns and sees seven golden candlesticks, and among them one like a son of man, holding seven stars. “The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks are seven churches.” Most letters open with part of this picture of Christ, and every letter carries the same call: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.”

The route on this map. Revelation 1:11 names the churches in the order a messenger landing at Ephesus would reach them on a loop of roads: north to Pergamum, then south-east to Laodicea. William Ramsay proposed this in 1904 and many commentators follow him, but the text does not mention a courier. The lines are drawn straight between the cities; they are not traced roads.

Historical background (not Scripture) - Patmos is a small, rocky island about 100 km south-west of Ephesus. - Early writers understood John's stay as banishment. Irenaeus (Against Heresies 5.30.3) dates the vision near the end of the emperor Domitian's reign (about AD 95), and Eusebius (Church History 3.18, 3.20) says John was exiled then and later returned to Ephesus. Some scholars prefer an earlier date, under Nero, before AD 70. This chart does not take a side. - Asia had other churches, such as Colossae, Hierapolis and Troas, so why these seven were chosen is not said. Seven is a number of completeness throughout Revelation. - Most commentators read the letters first as messages to real first-century congregations. Some also see in them a picture of successive ages of church history.

Ephesus (Revelation 2:1–7)

The great city of Asia. The church works hard and tests false teachers, but it has left its first love.

How Christ presents himself: “he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, he that walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks” (compare 1:13, 16).

Praised: their toil and patience. They “didst try them that call themselves apostles, and they are not, and didst find them false”, and they hate “the works of the Nicolaitans.”

Rebuked: “I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love.”

Call: “Remember therefore whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works”, or else “I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place.”

To him that overcometh: “to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.” The tree of life stood in Eden (Genesis 2:9) and grows again in the new Jerusalem (Revelation 22:2).

Historical background (not Scripture) - Ephesus was the leading city of the Roman province of Asia and a great port. Its temple of Artemis (the Diana of Acts 19) was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. - The river Cayster silted up the harbor over the centuries. The ruins now lie several kilometres inland. - In the Bible the Nicolaitans are named only in Revelation 2:6 and 2:15. Irenaeus (Against Heresies 1.26.3) linked them with Nicolaus of Acts 6:5, but this is uncertain. - Early Christian writers (Irenaeus, Eusebius) place John's last years at Ephesus.

Elsewhere in the New Testament - Paul taught there, first in the synagogue and then in the school of Tyrannus, “for the space of two years; so that all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:8–10). The silversmiths' riot followed, with its cry “Great is Diana of the Ephesians” (19:23–41). - At Miletus Paul warned the Ephesian elders that “grievous wolves shall enter in among you” (Acts 20:17–31). In Revelation 2:2 the church is praised for testing false apostles. - Paul's letter to the Ephesians (the words “at Ephesus” in 1:1 are missing from some early manuscripts), and his charge to Timothy to stay there (1 Timothy 1:3).

Smyrna (Revelation 2:8–11)

Poor, slandered and about to suffer, Smyrna receives no rebuke, only “Be thou faithful unto death.”

How Christ presents himself: “the first and the last, who was dead, and lived again” (compare 1:17–18).

Praised: “I know thy tribulation, and thy poverty” (“but thou art rich”). They are slandered by “them that say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”

Rebuked: none. Smyrna and Philadelphia are the only two churches with no word of blame.

Exhortation: “Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer”; “ye shall have tribulation ten days.” “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.”

To him that overcometh: “He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.”

Historical background (not Scripture) - Smyrna (modern İzmir) was a rich port and a loyal friend of Rome. It built a temple to the goddess Roma as early as 195 BC, and in AD 26 it won the right to build a temple to the emperor Tiberius, his mother and the Senate (Tacitus, Annals 4.55–56). - The old city was destroyed by the Lydians around 600 BC. Its people lived in villages for about four centuries until it was refounded after Alexander the Great (Strabo 14.1.37). Some commentators (Ramsay, Hemer) hear an echo of this in Christ's title, but the title points first to his own death and resurrection (1:18). - About sixty years later Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, was martyred in the city's stadium (most date it about AD 155–156; some later). The account of his death has him tell the proconsul he had served Christ eighty-six years (Martyrdom of Polycarp 9.3), and says some of the city's Jews joined in the demand for his death (12.2).

Elsewhere in the New Testament - Smyrna is named only in Revelation (1:11; 2:8).

Pergamum (Revelation 2:12–17)

Holding fast “where Satan’s throne is”, even after Antipas was killed, yet tolerating teaching that led to idol feasts.

How Christ presents himself: “he that hath the sharp two-edged sword” (compare 1:16).

Praised: “thou holdest fast my name, and didst not deny my faith”, even in the days of “Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwelleth.”

Rebuked: some hold “the teaching of Balaam”, who led Israel to eat idol sacrifices and commit fornication (Numbers 25:1–2; 31:16), and some hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

Call: “Repent therefore; or else I come to thee quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth.”

To him that overcometh: “to him will I give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it.”

Historical background (not Scripture) - Pergamum stood on a steep hill above the Caicus plain. It had been the capital of the Attalid kings, whose kingdom passed to Rome in 133 BC. - Antipas is known only from this verse. Later tradition makes him a bishop of Pergamum martyred under Domitian. - The hidden manna and the white stone have been read in many ways (the manna kept in the ark; stones used as tokens or votes). The text does not explain them.

What was Satan's throne? It has been explained in several ways, and none is certain:
- the great altar on the acropolis, usually called the altar of Zeus (now in Berlin);
- the temple of Rome and Augustus, the first temple of the emperor cult in Asia, allowed in 29 BC (Tacitus, Annals 4.37; Cassius Dio 51.20);
- the healing cult of Asclepius, whose emblem was a serpent;
- Pergamum as a seat of Roman rule, where the governor held court and could pass sentence of death (Ramsay's view; whether Pergamum or Ephesus was then the governor's chief seat is debated).

Many recent commentators lean toward the emperor cult, but the text does not say.

Elsewhere in the New Testament - Pergamum is named only in Revelation (1:11; 2:12).

Thyatira (Revelation 2:18–29)

The longest letter goes to the least famous of the seven cities: growing in love and service, yet tolerating “the woman Jezebel”.

How Christ presents himself: “the Son of God, who hath his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like unto burnished brass” (compare 1:14–15). This is the only place Revelation uses the title Son of God.

Praised: “thy love and faith and ministry and patience, and that thy last works are more than the first.”

Rebuked: “thou sufferest the woman Jezebel, who calleth herself a prophetess; and she teacheth and seduceth my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols.” The name recalls Jezebel, whose marriage to King Ahab brought Baal worship into Israel (1 Kings 16:31–33; 21:25).

Call: Jezebel was given time to repent and would not (2:21–23). To the rest: “Nevertheless that which ye have, hold fast till I come.”

To him that overcometh: “authority over the nations” (echoing Psalm 2:8–9), and “the morning star”, a title Christ takes for himself in 22:16.

Historical background (not Scripture) - Thyatira (modern Akhisar) lay on the road between Pergamum and Sardis. Strabo (13.4.4) calls it a settlement of the Macedonians; it began as a Seleucid military colony. - Inscriptions show many trade guilds there: wool-workers, linen-workers, dyers, leather-workers, potters, bronze-smiths and others. Guild meals were held in honor of patron gods, which may explain the pull of teaching that allowed eating things sacrificed to idols. - Some link Christ's feet of burnished brass to the city's bronze-workers (Hemer). This is a suggestion, not a certainty.

Elsewhere in the New Testament - At Philippi Paul met “a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira” (Acts 16:14–15), his first recorded convert in Europe. Dyers are attested at Thyatira in inscriptions.

Sardis (Revelation 3:1–6)

A church with a name for being alive, yet dead. Only “a few names in Sardis” are commended.

How Christ presents himself: “he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars” (compare 1:4, 16).

Rebuked: “thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art dead.” “I have found no works of thine perfected before my God.”

Praised: only a remnant: “thou hast a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments: and they shall walk with me in white.”

Call: “Be thou watchful, and establish the things that remain, which were ready to die.” If they do not watch, “I will come as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”

To him that overcometh: “He that overcometh shall thus be arrayed in white garments; and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”

Historical background (not Scripture) - Sardis had been the capital of the Lydian kings, Croesus the most famous, on a citadel thought impossible to take. Twice it fell because the walls were not watched: to Cyrus of Persia in the 540s BC, when a soldier climbed an unguarded cliff (Herodotus 1.84), and to Antiochus III about 214 BC in a similar surprise (Polybius 7.15–18). Many commentators see this history behind the call to watch. The thief saying is also Jesus's own (Matthew 24:42–43; compare 1 Thessalonians 5:2). - A great earthquake in AD 17 struck twelve cities of Asia, Sardis worst of all. Tiberius sent relief and remitted its taxes for five years (Tacitus, Annals 2.47).

Elsewhere in the New Testament - Sardis is named only in Revelation (1:11; 3:1, 4).

Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7–13)

Little strength but faithful. With Smyrna, the only church Christ does not rebuke.

How Christ presents himself: “he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and none shall shut, and that shutteth and none openeth”, echoing Isaiah 22:22.

Praised: “thou hast a little power, and didst keep my word, and didst not deny my name.” Before them stands “a door opened, which none can shut.” Because they kept his word, “I also will keep thee from the hour of trial.”

Rebuked: none.

Exhortation: “I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.”

To him that overcometh: “I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more”; “I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and mine own new name.”

Historical background (not Scripture) - Philadelphia (modern Alaşehir) was founded by the kings of Pergamum in the 2nd century BC. Its name, brotherly love, honors Attalus II Philadelphus, known for his loyalty to his brother Eumenes II. - It sat in an earthquake zone. Strabo, writing early in the 1st century AD, says its walls cracked almost daily and that most of its people lived out on the farmland (12.8.18; 13.4.10). Commentators often read the promise of a pillar that shall go out no more against this background. - After the earthquake of AD 17 the city took the name Neocaesarea in gratitude for Tiberius's help, and later, under Vespasian, the name Flavia. Some (Hemer) connect this with the promise of a new name. - An open door often means an opportunity for the gospel (1 Corinthians 16:9).

Elsewhere in the New Testament - Philadelphia is named only in Revelation (1:11; 3:7).

Laodicea (Revelation 3:14–22)

Rich, self-satisfied and lukewarm. The only church that receives no word of praise.

How Christ presents himself: “the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God” (compare 1:5).

Praised: none.

Rebuked: “thou art neither cold nor hot”; “because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth.” They say “I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing”, not knowing they are “poor and blind and naked.”

Call: “I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire”, white garments, and “eyesalve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see.” “As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

To him that overcometh: “I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne.”

Historical background (not Scripture) - Laodicea was a wealthy banking and trading city on the Lycus. Cicero, governing Cilicia in 51–50 BC, arranged to draw public funds there by bill of exchange (Letters to Friends 3.5). When an earthquake overthrew the city in AD 60, it rebuilt from its own resources without help from Rome (Tacitus, Annals 14.27). - Its sheep gave soft, raven-black wool that brought the city a splendid income (Strabo 12.8.16). Commentators often contrast this with the white garments Christ offers. - Strabo (12.8.20) mentions a famous school of medicine at a temple of Men between Laodicea and Carura, and ancient medical writers mention a Phrygian powder for the eyes. Linking these to the eyesalve is a common suggestion (Ramsay, Hemer), but the sources do not tie such a salve directly to Laodicea, so the link is inferred. - The water. Laodicea brought its water by aqueduct from springs several kilometres away, and its pipes are thick with lime deposits. Across the valley, Hierapolis (about 10 km north) had hot springs, and Colossae (about 15 km east-south-east) is often said to have had cold water. A widely repeated reading (Rudwick and Green, 1958) takes hot as healing and cold as refreshing, both good, and lukewarm as useless: the complaint is not a lack of zeal but works that do no good. Others are cautious. Craig Koester (2003) finds the local evidence thin, especially for Colossae, and reads the image from ancient dining, where drinks were served hot or cold and lukewarm was distasteful. The older reading takes hot and cold as degrees of zeal. On every reading, Laodicea's self-satisfaction is what Christ cannot stomach.

Elsewhere in the New Testament - Paul strove “for them at Laodicea” (Colossians 2:1), and Epaphras labored “for them in Laodicea, and for them in Hierapolis” (4:13). - The Colossians were to have their letter read “in the church of the Laodiceans” and to read “the epistle from Laodicea” (4:16). That letter is unknown; some suggest it is the letter we call Ephesians.

Back to Ephesus: the seven together (Revelation 2–3)

Seven letters, one refrain: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.”

The seven letters at a glance

• Ephesus: praised for toil and testing false teachers; rebuked for leaving its first love.
• Smyrna: praised; no rebuke.
• Pergamum: praised for holding fast; rebuked for tolerating Balaam's teaching.
• Thyatira: praised for love and service; rebuked for tolerating Jezebel.
• Sardis: rebuked as dead; only a few names commended.
• Philadelphia: praised; no rebuke.
• Laodicea: rebuked as lukewarm; no praise.

Each letter is addressed to one church, yet each calls every reader to hear “what the Spirit saith to the churches”, and each holds out a promise “To him that overcometh”.

The faint line back to Ephesus closes the loop of roads the letters' order seems to follow, down the Lycus and Maeander valleys to the coast. Revelation does not describe this journey; it is drawn only to show the circuit.

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