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Seven Churches of Asia Ryan Goodwin

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Seven Churches of Asia Ryan Goodwin The Seven Churches of Asia Ryan Goodwin History As we enter in to our study of the epistles to the seven churches of Asia in Revelation 2- 3, it is important to consider the background and historical context of the literature. What were these Christians facing in terms of persecution? Why write letters to only churches in Asia, and not other areas of the Roman empire? What does history teach us about adversity and triumph? Christians faced very menacing circumstances in the closing decade of the first century. The Roman emperor, an unstable, cruel man named Domitian, despised Christianity for several reasons, chief of which was their refusal to honor him as a supreme deity. Even though they could not be charged with any real crimes, the believers were persecuted because they did not fit in to society. Many of them lost jobs, businesses, homes, and even their lives because of the illicit religion they practiced. Of course, this was not the first time that trouble had come to the young religion. In 64 AD, during the reign of Nero, the followers of Christus, as they were sometimes called in a derogatory way, were wrongly blamed for a catastrophic fire in the city of Rome which left half the city in ruins. Nero was a terribly unpopular emperor at the time and he could sense that the ravaged population of the city was looking for someone to blame. While it is likely that it was nothing but an accident – the fire first broke out in a section of the city where many shops were located, containing stacks of flammable wares – Nero found a convenient scapegoat in the strange, unpopular Christians. According to Roman historians such as Tacitus and Seutonius – who themselves did not blame the Christians, even though they disliked them – horrible punishments were meted out. Believers were tortured and mistreated in unimaginable ways. Nero’s death marked the beginning of a short period of turmoil in the empire, with three men becoming emperor in a span of only two years. Out of this chaos Vespasian finally emerged and reigned from 69-79 AD. It was a time of relative peace, as the capable general ruled with a strong, sober spirit. It was his son, Titus, who was left in charge of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, a pivotal point in religious history that God had been predicting for some time, especially in the words of Jesus in Matthew 24. With the Temple and capital city of the Jews destroyed, God’s punishment of His recalcitrant people finally came to fruition. Titus became emperor in 79 AD, but ruled only two years. He is most remembered as a mild and popular ruler who finished the construction of the Colosseum in Rome – a facility where many Christians and other “marked” or unsavory people would meet their demise in the coming decades. Vespasian’s second son Domitian became emperor in 81 AD and ruled until 96 AD. While there is much debate about when the Revelation was written, it seems to fit the content of the book best to place its writing sometime near the end of Domitian’s reign, perhaps 95 or 96 AD. This sweeping, epic apocalyptic piece of literature is primarily about victory over evil and overcoming persecution. “Christ is victorious” would be a good way of summing up the book. Even though Nero’s persecution was a dark time for the early Christians, it was limited in scope. Nero also was not as willing to accept deification as Domitian – Nero believed that he should only be deified after physical death whereas Domitian enthusiastically commanded worship in all corners of the empire. Throughout the Revelation, good and evil are pitted against each other in a moral battle, a battle for souls and spiritual allegiance. Nero’s persecution against the Christians was a convenient way to pass blame, and was first and foremost a political persecution. Domitian despised the Christians because they refused to worship him, and they did not fit in with Rome’s social, spiritual, or ethical models. His persecution was far-reaching, extending to the edges of the Roman empire, and should be considered a persecution on more spiritual and moral grounds than political. So why write letters to churches in Asia? How does this fit in with the overall theme and purpose of the Revelation? Remember that Asia was the most prosperous of all the Roman provinces. Roman emperors loved touring the clean, bright Asian metropolises. The Asian cities were populated by tradesmen and craftsmen, architects and philosophers. There were Greeks, Roman colonists, and travelers from all over the world sharing ideas and practicing business. Most of all, though, the Asian cities were the ancient homes of the many gods that were both adored and feared. The immoral, pagan, indulgent polytheists were, therefore, starkly set against the Christian monotheists and their unique morality. Asia, in a sense, was the battleground for the mind of the Roman world. If emperor worship and paganism were going to destroy Christianity, it would be there. Cities like Philadelphia, Laodicea, and yes, even Ephesus – home of the temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world – were the front lines in the battle to annihilate the pesky little religion of Christus. Domitian is eventually replaced by Nerva as emperor. While he was humane and considerate, the ease in tensions with the Christians did not last long. Over the coming centuries, the Christians would be persecuted eight more times – as in, officially proscribed by the word of the emperor – to varying degrees. Trajan (100-113), Aurelian and Commodus (161-185), Septimius Severus and Caracalla (202-213), Maximinus I (235-238), Decius and Gallus (249-252), Valerian (251-260), Aurelian (274-275), and a string of emperors including Diocletian, Maximian I, Galerius, and Maximinus II (303- 313) all initiated or continued persecutions against Christianity. This series of sad historical events is the reason why the Revelation was given to Christians in the first century. They were facing two hundred years of off-and-on persecution and needed to know that, in the end, Christ would emerge victorious over all His enemies. Introduction To The Letters “As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches” (Revelation 1:20). Having witnessed the peculiar visions of seven stars and seven golden lampstands, John is about to have the mystery explained to him. According to Christ, these objects represent seven congregations located in the region of Asia Minor, an area under the control of Rome at the time. Some have speculated that these seven churches are supposed to represent different epochs in church history, but such a claim is easily refuted when we see that this is incongruent with actual historical events. That an entire span of history can be summed up in any one of these descriptions is irrational, for no Biblical evidence can be offered to support the claim. Rather, what is presented in these seven short epistles is a series of praises, problems, and exhortations that seemed to exist amongst the congregations of the first century. More importantly, the things we can learn from the seven churches of Asia can be applied directly to problems that have existed in congregations throughout all the world and in all time periods since the first century. In each of the seven epistles, we are presented with a condition that may perfectly describe our own congregation, as well as a response that may be necessary in order for our lampstand to remain bright in the eyes of God. Each of the epistles holds loosely to a formula, which indicates the broad nature of the exhortations in each. First, the Lord begins each epistle by addressing it to one of the churches. “To the angel of the church in…” The angel in question is likely symbolic of the spirit, or collective nature, of that congregation. Next, Jesus gives a brief description of Himself. Each description is different, and they are an indication of the content of the impending letter. For more positive letters, Jesus describes Himself in more positive terms. For the more negative letters, His descriptions are often meant as warnings of His power to judge, destroy, or see the sins of the world. In five of the seven letters, there is a bit of praise given, after which all but two of the letters include a description of some fault with the congregation. Finally, a warning is given to those congregations with serious problems, and a final exhortation brings the letter to a close. The lessons that can be learned are never meant for single churches, either, as the Lord Himself states in Revelation 2:29, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Spoken in the plural, the message given to each church is meant as a warning to all of the churches, for each problem or praise can exist in any place. The Seven Churches of Asia Ryan Goodwin Ephesus – “You have left your first love” Revelation 2:1-3 – “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.’” As a congregation, the church in Ephesus had maintained a high standard of doctrinal purity.
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