Many have attempted to make sense of Revelation chapters 2 and 3 (the letters to the seven churches of Asia) by taking them as a unified whole. It is significant that Jesus chose these particular seven congregations to address, though there were other churches in the region which are not written to (such as the church at Collosse). Additionally, some have pointed to the order of the letters as evidence of their significance as a broad explanation of church history in the period between the Ascension and Jesus to His return.

It is also interesting, to note that Paul addressed seven churches as well: Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Colosse, Phillipi, and Thessalonika. Some very early commentators on the book of Revelation emphasized that as seven is a number of completion and fulfillment, so Jesus wrote to seven churches, and Paul wrote to seven churches as a message that they were in fact speaking to the complete church, not just these seven congregations. (Some also note with interest that Jesus gives seven "Kingdom Parables"). Speaking to seven churches means speaking to the church in perfection, in completion and totality. As one commentator puts it, "The churches of all time are comprehended in seven."

Here is what some say about each of these periods as they relate to church history:

Henry Morris, The Revelation Record (1983)

"Although it is by no means the dominant theme, there is a sense also in which the seven churches seem to depict the respective stages of development and change of Christ's churches during the ensuing centuries. History has, indeed, shown such a general development through the years . . . He is not capricious in His selection. There is bound to be some significance in the sequence of the seven, as well as the total."

Church Period in Church History Dates

• Ephesus Apostolic Age Before AD 100

• Smyrna Age of Persecution 100 to 313 AD

• Pergamos Imperial Church Age 313 to 590

• Thyatira Age of Papacy 590 to 1517

• Sardis Reformation Age 1517 to 1730

• Philadelphia Missionary Age 1730 to 1900

• Laodicea Age of Apostasy 1900 to ?

Joseph Seiss, The Apocalypse (1900)

• Ephesian: Warmth and love and labor for Christ; defection beginning with a gradual cooling of love, false professions and clergy/laity distinctions.

• Smyrna: Sweet and precious martyrdom, but a progression of clergy/laity distinctions and Judaizing tendencies, with an increasing departure from the simplicity of the gospel.

• Pergamite: True faith more and more disappearing; clericalism systematized, union with the world.

• Thyatiran: Purple and glory for the corrupt priesthood; false prophets enthroned in a time when truth was exchanged for darkness (up to the Reformation).

• Sardian: Separation and return to the rule of Christ; many great names, but also deadness, and lethargy (Protestant centuries).

• Philadelphian: Closer adherence to Jesus' word, more fraternity among Christians (modern evangelical movement of the 19th century).

• Seiss does not give much of a description of the Laodicean church along this same pattern, because he felt that in his day (1900), it was yet to really emerge upon the scene

Clarence Larkin, The Greatest Book on Dispensational Truth In the World (1918)

• Ephesian: 70 to 170 AD; "the backslidden church"

• Smyrna: 170 to 312; "the persecuted church"

• Pergamite: 312 to 606; "the licentious church"

• Thyatiran: 606 to 1520; "a lax church"

• Sardian: 1520 to 1750; "a dead church"

• Philadelphian: 1750 to 1900; "a favored church"

• Laodicean: 1900 to the end; "a lukewarm church"

Taylor Bunch, The Seven Epistles of Christ (1947)

• Ephesian: The "universal church of the days of the apostles, or the first century of Christianity"

• Smyrna: Second and third centuries, "the age of martyrdom, when pagan Roman emperors attempted to destroy Christianity with the violence of the sword"

• Pergamite: Covering 250 years (Constantine to Justinian the Great) "the church was exalted to royal power and kingly authority through a union, or marriage, with the state."

• Thyatiran: 538 to 1520; the corrupt, political church of the Middle Ages.

• Sardian: 1520 to the mid 1700's ("but doubtless embraces the entire history of Protestantism to the end of the gospel dispensation"); the church of the Reformation, and a partial work.

• Philadelphian: From the mid 1700's to the present; the church of 18th and 19th century revivals, worldwide missions movements, and renewed expectation of Jesus' return.

• Laodicean: Middle 1800's to the end of the Christian dispensation; "a sad comment on modern Christendom."

Chuck Smith, What the World is Coming To (1977)

• Ephesian: The early church, up until the death of John.

• Smyrna: 2nd to 4th centuries; Roman persecutions.

• Pergamite: Beginning in 316; "development of church-state system under Constantine."

• Thyatiran: The unrepentant, unfaithful church destined to go through the Great Tribulation.

• Sardian: Dead Protestantism.

• Philadelphian: The faithful church of the last days.

• Laodicean: The apostate church of the last days.

Evaluating These Interpretations

There is validity in this approach if these periods are seen as broad, imprecise descriptions of the church through history, allowing for generous periods of overlap. For example, it seems that the last four churches will persist until the coming of Christ (see 2:25; 3:3, 11, 20). If one accepts these seven letters as descriptive of the flow of church history, it does not require that we see them as exclusive, rigidly sequential ages.

Secondly, it is good to remember that if these letters are a prophecy of the course of church history, this is their secondary significance. First and foremost, the letters were written to real, existing first-century congregations, and to "all who have an ear to hear." As Morris says,

"Since there is nothing directly said by Christ to require - or even to suggest - such an (prophetic) application, a literalistic approach to the study of Revelation cannot place much emphasis on it."

As well, we must remember that every age has had some characteristics of all seven churches. Though certain historical periods are marked by the conditions spoken of in these letters, we could never say that "only one letter" applies to us or our age. Joseph Seiss speaks to this well:

"There are Protestant Papists, and Papistical Protestants; sectarian anti-sectarians, and partyists who are not schismatics; holy ones in the midst of abounding defection and apostasy, and unholy ones in the midst of the most earnest and active faith; light in dark places, and darkness in the midst of light."

We need to hear what the Spirit says to the churches (in the plural sense), not just one church.

A View of Church Ages

• Letter Church Age Dates (A.D.)

• Ephesus Apostolic Age < 100

• Smyrna Age of Persecution 100 - 313

• Pergamos Imperial Church 313 - 590

• Thyatira Age of Papacy 590 - Tribulation

• Sardis Reformation 1517 - Tribulation

• Philadelphia Missionary Church 1730 - Rapture

• Laodicea Apostate Church 1900 - Tribulation

Why These Seven Churches?

1) Local: actual churches; valid needs.

2) Admonitory: "hear...churches" ...all seven letters apply to all seven churches.

3) Homiletic; personal: "He that hath an ear...." It applies to you and me personally.

4) Prophetic: In their particular order, they lay out the entire history of the church. [They fill the gap implied in Daniel 9:26, and between Rev 12:5 and 6, etc.] Whereas the Book of Acts covered the first 30 years of the church, the Book of Revelation takes it from Acts to His Second Coming (covering about 2000 years). Cf. Matthew 13; Pauline letters...Any other order--it doesn’t fit!