Now, on to Chapter 1 — the book/letter is addressed to “seven churches.” Indeed, there ARE seven churches, and anyone who has spent any time reading Revelation knows that the number seven has great significance, as it is held to be the “number of completion.” This originates with the seven days of creation, and the 7-day sabbath cycle of the Old Testament — each representing that when the 7th day is reached, the concept is complete.
The number 7 is interwoven throughout the book. And by making that number stand out in this introductory section, John is setting up the framework as to how we are to understand how Revelation is put together. Most Jewish apocalyptic literature from this time in history unfolded their stories via symbolic imagery conveyed with numbers (like “7”). Now, it’s not meant to be some secret code that can be used to predict when the end of the world is coming. John’s narrative in Revelation is drawing on texts and symbols from the Old Testament, which presumes his audience is familiar with and understands these references and are willing to go back to the source material and connect it to his unfolding story about both the here and now and about the future.
Also, because Revelation is in the form of a letter, John is actually addressing issues he sees each of the churches identified here are embroiled in. Therefore, we need to keep in mind that while the prophecies contained in Revelation speak to us today, we have to place the meaning of the texts, symbols, and numbers John presents as being established first in the historical context of the time and place he was writing, and the specific audience he was speaking to. Indeed, church history and tradition hold that the entire book of Revelation was sent to each of these 7 churches shortly after John finished it.
These seven churches were located along the western coast of turkey. The first of the seven churches (Ephesus) was located right on the coast, with the island of Patmos, where John received the vision, just off the Ephesian coast. Each of the next two churches are each an additional 50 miles up the coast. The 4th church (Thyatira) is to the east, further inland, and then the remaining churches follow a similar patter of each being about 50 miles further to the south, until we arrive at Laodicea, which is back even with Ephesus to the east. So, the seven churches sort of form an oval along the Mediterranean coastline.
As the vision begins, John identifies both himself and the people of these churches he is addressing as being “brothers” and “companions” in “the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus.” (1:9). These three concepts — suffering, kingdom, and patient endurance — will serve as pivotal themes throughout the book.
The first section of the book (chapters 1-3) is a message delivered by Jesus to the seven churches. As noted, John is using Old Testament imagery that his Jewish audience would be familiar with — here, this relates back to the book of Zechariah. Revelation 1:6 states that Jesus has made his people into a “kingdom of Priests,” which connects to Zechariah 3, and a vision of the exaltation of the high priest as he welcomes God’s servant, the “branch,” a foreshadowing of the Messiah. John sees a vision of the risen Jesus, dressed in the manner of the high priest, glorified and exalted as the ruler of the universe, standing among 7 lamp stands. Of course, a lamp stand would be filled with candles, burning with light. Chapter 1, verse 20 tells us these seven lamp stands represent the 7 churches. Again, the connection would go back to the prophet Zechariah, who saw a vision of a lamp stand with 7 lamps. (Zechariah 4:2).
Some see the charge Jesus gives to John in verse 19 as an indicator of the structure of the book — he told to write “what you have seen” (this first vision of the glorified Jesus in chapter 1), “what is now” (the specific admonishments given to each of the 7 churches in chapters 2 and 3), and “what will take place later” (chapter 4 to the end). Others interpret the verse 19 with the initial clause (“Write, therefore, what you have seen) as the essential command, with the following concepts serving as two explanatory clauses. This would mean that John was told to write about everything he was ABOUT to see, both what is happening now, and what will take place later. This latter view allows for a broader interpretation of Revelation that doesn’t necessarily pigeonhole all of the book from Chapter 4 on as being a prediction of the future, but, rather, that the entire book is a mixture of “now” and “later” in every part.
