Revelation Class #4: February 3, 2019; Seven churches of Asia Minor

 WELCOME: this is Revelation class #4. Check out church website for recap videos of previous classes. o Another good resource is a YouTube search of “Dr. Robert Lowery” o Your best resource is still: www.shanejwood.com (lectures) (Book of Revelation)  RECAPITULATION: first 3 classes did a lot to set the foundation of how to interpret Revelation o Literary context: looking through the immediate surrounding verses, the rest of the book, and the rest of the Scriptures to find literary context to help interpret o Historical & cultural context: words, symbols, and dates are interpreted differently depending on the historical or cultural context; Revelation churches had context of conflict o Genre: Revelation has 3 genres (epistle, , and apocalyptic). All of these give direction for how we interpret something and should dictate the questions we ask. o Symbols: apocalyptic literature uses symbols because they’re powerful; interpret as such  TODAY’S FOCUS: look at the seven churches of Asia Minor, the primary audience of Revelation o The content of Revelation is not entirely events in the past or events in the future; whatever interpretation we take must make sense to the churches of Asia Minor o There are some similarities and specifics in each letter to a church o Show map of churches in Asia Minor; Acts and other books show us there were more than 7 churches here. John likely chooses 7 because of the symbolic power behind it.  TABLE TIME: each table will have the name of one of the 7 churches with its scripture reference. o Read and answer the following as a group: how was this church encouraged? How was this church rebuked? Write down your answers – we will cover them throughout the morning. o With any remaining time, skim through other passages to see if you can find any similarities, thematically or structurally (he who has an ear, let him hear)  Similarities through the letters to the 7 churches: o “To the angel…” = each letter is addressed to an angel of a specific church o “These are the words…” = identification of from o “I know…” = each church is known for their deeds, where they live, or their suffering o Each church is given encouragement and/or rebuke o “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says” = parable like phrasing from Jesus and a point to hear what God is saying to them (revealing God’s will) o “He who overcomes…” = a promise is given to those who overcome (traced to Rev. 21-22)  For each church, we will go through the encouragement and/or rebuke given, as well as 1 or 2 points of historical background that give the words “more punch” for that specific church  To the Church in ; :1-7 o Encouragement: hard work, perseverance, tested false teaching, and endured hardships, hate the practice of the Nicolaitans o Rebuke: forsaken your first love o Background: 1) Ephesus was a host to multiple temples, one of them being of emperor Domitian (claimed to be a god); there was a gigantic statue of him, head alone was 6 feet tall. “These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand” would have been a political jab to say these are words of the real Son of God, not an imposter, and this message needs to be heard. 2) Ephesus also hosted temple of Artemis, main symbol was a tree that symbolized life because she was a fertility goddess. “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life…” would be a jab saying this is the place to find true life!  To the Church in ; Revelation 2:8-11 o Encouragement: you are rich, despite affliction and poverty. Continue to be faithful. o Rebuke: none o Background: 1) the origin of the name Smyrna is attached to the word, myrrh. Myrrh was used for birth and burial (mostly burial). Smyrna was also well known for being a city that nearly died, but people returned to it and it “came back to life.” “Who died and came to life again” is clearly about Jesus, but would also resonate with this city.  To the Church in Pergamum; Revelation 2:12-17 o Encouragement: remain true to Jesus, even though persecution is rampant o Rebuke: hold to the teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans o Background: “Satan has his throne” is likely a reference to the fact that a mountain towered over Pergamum that held a temple dedicated to Zeus. Other gods were often worshiped as well, including Asclepius (snake along a staff), which brought healing/salvation. This church remained faithful to God, despite the heavy idol worship around it.  To the Church in ; Revelation 2:18-29 o Encouragement: love, faith, service, perseverance, and doing more than at first o Rebuke: tolerate (OT woman that introduced idolatry to Israel) o Background: 1) tolerate Jezebel is likely a reference to worshiping other gods, something they would have likely done because of how trade guilds were set up in the city. In order to trade (and survive), you had to give devotion to a specific god. 2) Thyatira was entrenched in these trade guilds that revolve around bronze; Jesus’ description is of those with bronze feet.  To the Church in ; :1-6 o Encouragement: there are a few people who have not soiled their clothes o Rebuke: reputation for being alive but actually dead; falling asleep on the job; wake up! o Background: 1) “To capture the Acropolis at Sardis” was a phrase we talked about a few weeks ago meaning something that was impossible. Sardis had “impregnable walls” and people couldn’t conquer it. But, it was captured a few times in history. Two of the three times it was captured was because literally no one was guarding the walls (fell asleep on the job).  To the Church in Philadelphia; Revelation 3:7-13 o Encouragement: have been attacked, yet keep God’s word without denial. Endurance o Rebuke: none o Background: in AD 17, an earthquake completely destroyed Philadelphia – it had to become a new city. Jesus references the people who overcome being a .  To the Church in Laodicea; Revelation 2:14-22 o Encouragement: none o Rebuke: have become useless and prideful; don’t realize their own need as poor and blind o Background: 1) Laodicea was known for 3 things: banking (gold), clothing, and a special kind of eye salve. Reread verse 18. 2) Also, hot and cold springs from cities made water lukewarm.  Summary statements: Ephesus teaches about love, Smyrna teaches about suffering, Pergamum teaches about truth, Thyatira emphasizes holiness, Sardis emphasizes authenticity, Philadelphia emphasizes the mission, and Laodicea emphasizes worshiping God when you have so many materials  Structure of these letters; what two cities received no rebuke? These cultures used “chiasm” o A and A prime are the churches of Ephesus and Laodicea; both of them are about to lose their positions as a church because of their spiritual depravity o B and B prime are the churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia; these are the two churches that are not rebuked at all. Both of them are steadfast in their faith and promised persecution, as well as a crown if they overcome o C and C prime are Pergamum and Sardis; both of them fell prey to compromise with the culture, whether it’s through lack of integrity or sexual sin o D, the center and main point, is the church of Thyatira. Why is that? They are struggling too, but they have improved from where they were at first. This would instill hope in all of the churches, because improvement and sanctification is possible -Remember, any interpretation of Revelation must have these churches in mind Map of churches in Asia Minor: