Revelation 1:4- The Letters To The Seven Churches

*Revelation 1:4–

“John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia:  Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne,”

“John, To the seven churches in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him being and who was and who is coming, and from the seven Spirits before the throne of Him,”
(Greek-English interlinear)

➡  Context is key.
As you study each lesson, it’s a great idea to go back and read the verses that have come prior to the one we are looking at.
In studying the Bible together online at our pace (with friends jumping in at different times), I don’t ever want our understanding to be blurry because it’s out of context, so pardon the redundancy when I repost the same Scriptures frequently!  🙂

*Revelation 1:1-3–
“The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.”

And so John begins recording the 7 letters written to 7 churches in modern day Turkey.
This verse is the foundation for Chapters 2-4
Today’s study is just an introduction.  We will be talking about each of these churches in detail in the next 2 chapters.

➡  3 Ways The Letters To The 7 Churches Are Interpreted

You may notice that this is pretty much the same way people choose to interpret the Book of Revelation as well.
Personally, I don’t think you have to choose just one of these to understand the truth and intent of the messages to the churches.  For example, we know that these letters can be understood to literally be written to 7 real churches that existed in John’s lifetime, and also spiritually paint us a picture of every type of church in existence today.  There is also a really good case that can be made that these 7 churches represent a historical era of the Church Age.

1. LITERAL Interpretation
These letters were written to 7 churches in Turkey that literally existed at the time John wrote this.

2. SPIRITUAL Interpretation
These 7 letters were written to symbolize the spiritual strengths, weaknesses, and challenges that have affected all churches throughout history.

3. HISTORICAL Interpretation
Each of the 7 letters is representative of an era in the Church Age.
When we examine each of the 7 Letters we will talk about this in great detail and see what we all think!
Sounds a little strange, but wait till you see the parallels!  It’s akin to each of the 10 Plagues corresponding to one of the major Egyptian gods.

WHAT do you think?!?
We will be talking about this more as we move forward.

-John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia:

+A bit of background.
To begin it is good to note that we know historically that Paul came to this region  (modern day Turkey) preaching the Gospel, and the Church had taken root here. 
From ancient church tradition, it is believed that John also planted at least SOME of these 7 churches, and was a faithful pastor to the believers in the church in Ephesus.  Therefore, he likely knew, at least in a general sense, the churches he was writing to.
[Once again this history comes from the testimony of Ireanaeus who was a disciple of Polycarp, who was John’s own disciple.]

What John did between his days in Jerusalem (Acts) and his time in Turkey, we don’t know for certain, but we know that under the unimaginable persecution of Nero and Domitian, the first generation believers had dispersed far out from Jerusalem in all directions.   (See The 7 Churches of Revelation Map at the bottom of this page)

+John,
As if there were any doubt about the authorship of what is to come, we begin with a usual greeting in those days.
Today we might write something like-

Dear Seven Churches in Turkey,

Greetings. You’re doing a great job on some things.  Here’s some things you need to fix.
Repent about those things!  Listen to what has been told to you.
Do the things you’ve been told to do.  Here’s what will happen if you don’t.
There are great rewards in store for all the overcomers!  Hang on till He comes!

I wrote down what God said.
Love,
John

+to the Seven…

There seems to be a very important significance to the number 7!
It occurs more than 700 (of course lol) times in the Bible (not counting it’s multiples), and it occurs in the Book of Revelation at least 54 times alone!

Here are just a FEW mentions of #7 from Genesis to Revelation:

+There are 7 days of creation (Genesis 1-3)
+God enjoyed His creation and rested on the 7th day (Genesis 2:2-3)
+The Sabbath was instituted on the 7th day of the week  (Exodus 20:9-11)
+In the account of Noah (Genesis 7-9)
*God told Noah to take “seven pairs of every kind of clean animal” into the ark
*He told Noah it would begin to rain in 7 days
*After it stopped raining Noah waited…after 7 more days, the dove returned with a green olive leaf
*God set His rainbow in the sky as a sign of His promise.  The rainbow has 7 colors visible to the human eye!
+God gave Abraham 7 blessings (Genesis 12:2-3)
+Blood is sprinkled 7 times for cleansing and atonement for sin  (Leviticus 4 and 8)
+Jericho’s walls came down after Joshua and Israel marched around them 7 times    (Joshua 5 & 6)
+God’s perfection is often described in 7’s-
*“And the words of the Lord are flawless,  like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times.”  (Psalm 12:6)
+There are 70 weeks of Daniel’s prophecy  (Daniel 9:24)
+Jesus gave us 7 “I Am’s”,  and the account of 7 miracles in the gospel of John
+Jesus spoke 7 statements from the cross  (Luke 23 and John 19)
+Jesus tells Peter we are to forgive not 7 times, but 77 times  (Matthew 18:21-22)

+And in Revelation, we will read about the seven angels, seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven vials, seven horns, seven candlesticks, seven stars, seven plagues, seven spirits, seven eyes, seven lamps, seven thunders, seven heads, seven crowns, seven mountains, seven kings, and MORE!

The number 7 is still a daily part of our life today-
+7 day weeks
+7 continents
+7 notes in the basic musical scale
+Lucky 7
+Phone numbers, News Articles, Blog posts, etc with 7 digits or points 
   (It is said this is the amount of numbers most people can remember easily!)

The number 7 is regarded by Christians, Jews, Muslims, and even among the occult.
We know that GOD has meant it for a deeper meaning, but have to be alert to not believe everything we read that could be attached as significance to the number 7!

SO… what are some apparent significances of the number 7?
+Completion
+The end of a labor
+Perfection
+Fulness or Wholeness
+Rest
+The completion of God’s promise or covenant

+churches
There were many churches by the time John wrote the words of Revelation, but these Letters were addressed to these very specific eklessias.   Eklessia is the Greek word, “meaning called out ones gathered together”, that we see in our English translations of the Bible as “church”.

➡  Random rabbit trail I went down…
Did you know that the English word “church”  wasn’t used until around the 7th century?!?!
It didn’t even originate with the word eklessia, but came from the Medieval word ciricea, which came from the Greek word kyriakón, meaning belonging to the Lord.  Though the word kyriakón existed when the New Testament was written, it was never used in reference to the church.
Over time, cirice developed into chirche and eventually the modern English word we use today, “church.”

Why did God ONLY write these letters to 7 Churches?  Or were they?
Does anyone know the answer?
The best I have are a few guesses.

➡  Maybe the message is complete and covers all churches throughout the Church age by God’s use of the symbolic number 7.
As we read just a few of the Scriptures that include the number 7, we saw the significance of the number has been highlighted since the creation of the world in Genesis 1.     (see notes above on the #7 if you missed it!)

➡  Maybe for continuity of meaning?
At the introduction to this study, we talked about the fact that symbols will abound in this book.
Time changes the definitions of words, and the cultures in which the Church existed would change, but the symbolism would remain the same. We can see just how accurate these encouragements and admonitions still are to the Church today as we read!  We will see this A LOT as we read through this Book.

+in the Province of Asia

The province of Asia referred to here, sometimes known as Anatolia, is what we now consider modern day Turkey.
“Asia” in Paul’s writings expands a bit farther and refers to “Roman Asia”- Troas, Mysia, Lydia, Caria, Phrygia. and the capital, Ephesus.
Each one of the 7 churches listed here represented the local group of believers in each of the 7 cities listed.  These 7 churches span on either side of what was a major trade route in those days.

[Below the chart I made, I’m including a map that I found on the internet.  It’s been several years ago, and I’m not sure where I found it, or I’d give the creator of it credit.  Apologies!  Also, you’ll notice I went ahead and filled in the Church Age represented by each church as mentioned at the beginning today. Some theologians believe that the 7 churches also represent 7 ages of the Church throughout history.  While this is good to THINK about, it is NOT a certain interpretation.  We will talk more of this as we go over each church.]

–Grace and peace to you

This is after all, a LETTER!  And as all polite written correspondence begins with a friendly and warm introduction!
Grace to you! (cháris)  was a common greeting in ancient Greece.  And “Peace to you!” is still a common greeting.  Where?  At least between those who speak Hebrew.  Shalom! 

But of course, here comes some more of the UNVEILING!!!
When you think of this as coming only from John, we think that it’s a warm greeting.
But when you remember that before it came from John’s pen, it came from GOD, it becomes all the more rich in it’s benediction!  THIS tells us who the resurrected, and in Heaven Jesus is and what our RELATIONSHIP is like with Him NOW!

Cháris + Eirḗnē =  God’s HUG
When you put the two Greek words together it almost sounds like a GIANT HUG from God!   My [God’s] nearness and blessings and favor reaching down to you all, and wrapping you up all together unto Me as a whole!

➡  Literally, together this is like God leaning down to show you His hand of favor and the gift of His wholeness!  WOW!

∆  grace– cháris – from xar-, “favor, disposed to, inclined, favorable towards, leaning towards to share benefit”, and (xáris) is preeminently used of the Lord’s favor;  freely extended to give Himself away to people (because He is “always leaning toward them”.  Xáris (“grace”) answers directly to the Hebrew (OT) term Kaná (“grace, extension-toward”). Both refer to God freely extending Himself (His favor, grace), reaching (inclining) to people because He is disposed to bless (be near) them.

∆ peace– eirḗnē – from eirō, “to join, tie together into a whole”;  wholeness, i.e. when all essential parts are joined together; peace. (God’s gift of wholeness-  SHALOM in Hebrew!)

+First grace, then peace.
Every word is so important!  Even the order they were recorded is meaningful!
You will notice this is the order in much of the New Testament as well.  Grace MUST come first.  Peace cannot come without His grace coming first!
This book gives us the grace to live, and the peace to live in this world… even for those who must live through the Tribulation!
And for people like me who can’t stand a cliff hanger, or too much tension in a movie, this is good news!
We know the END OF THE STORY before we arrive there!

-from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come

+Who is the GRACE and PEACE coming from?
Here’s a hint, it’s not John!
From Him who is, who was, and who is to come–  the I AM!  (Also in Revelation 4:8 ;11:17)
WOW!

+Since there’s only ONE who is eternal in nature, this is an easy  interpretation!
I am blown away by the goodness of God, that He TELLS us who He is so clearly.  He who IS, WAS, and IS TO COME!  The I AM!  Think of the continual comfort this one name offers for ALL people throughout the AGES!
He was the God of Abraham and the God of John, and He is Our God today!  Before Adam was, He was!  And after the end of the world, guess what?!  He will be the I Am then too!
The whole world’s system may be constantly shifting and changing, but not the I AM!
And because He is, and was, and is to come, and though we are finite with a beginning, because He has made US in His image…we too are ETERNAL!   WOW!

➡  There are going to be LOTS of Names of Jesus revealed in this book!
For years, as I’ve read through the Bible, I’ve written His names on the tops of my pages as I’ve come across them.  It is always a comfort to flip through from time to time and be reminded of who He is!  You could also take a unique colored pen or highlighter and use it to set apart the Names as you read them in this study.

–and from the seven spirits [Pneumatōn] before his throne, 
 
So this letter is written TO the believers in the province of “Asia” or modern day Turkey,  FROM the heart of the Father to Jesus, who REVEALS it to John…. AND from the 7 spirits before His throne! 
This is the greeting sending grace and peace to the 7 Churches, not from John himself, but from the TRINITY!
From the Father (the One who was, is, is to come), and from the 7 spirits, and from Jesus Christ (vs. 5).
Phew!

WHO are these 7 spirits?

➡ What we know-
     -7– complete or perfect
     ∆ spirits– pneúma – properly, spirit (Spirit), wind, or breath             
     ∆ before– enṓpion – literally, “in the eye (of God)”

+We know from MANY passages that there is ONLY ONE Holy Spirit… that said, we also know He is referred to by more than one name in the Word, as is God and Jesus.

*Ephesians 2:18–  “For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”

+These same “7 Spirits” are mentioned again in Revelation 3:1;  4:5 and 5:6.

+In Revelation 3:1, Jesus is said to “have” (∆ echó- to possess; have, hold) the 7 Spirits.

WHAT do you think?!?

➡  2 Possible interpretations–

+1-   The 7 spirits represent the completeness of the Holy Spirit
+2-   The 7 spirits represent 7 literal spirits or angels before the throne

#1-  The COMPLETENESS of the Holy Spirit (or His various “ministries”)-

+This interpretation holds to the fact that the “7 Spirits” are representative of the ONE Holy Spirit, and uses both Old Testament and New Testament Scriptures to make this case. 

+This interpretation cements the example of the Trinity in the greeting of this letter that we saw above.

+Each manifestation of the ONE Spirit corresponds to a need in each of the 7 Churches!  Cool!

+ In this verse, when read all together, we can see that the GRACE and PEACE to the Churches is from the TRINITY!!   The Father, the Holy Spirit, and in verse 5, Jesus Christ.

+Scripture References for this possible interpretation-

*Isaiah 11:1-2–  “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;  from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might,  the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord-“

1.  Spirit of Truth.
“When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).

2.  Spirit of Holiness.
“Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord . . . declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness” (Romans 1:3,4).

3. Spirit of Faith.
“We having the same Spirit of faith . . . believe, and therefore speak”
(II Corinthians 4:13).

4. Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation.
“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him” (Ephesians 1:17).

5. Spirit of Power, Love, and Sound Mind.
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (II Timothy 1:7).

6. Spirit of Grace.
“Of how much sorer punishment . . . shall he be thought worthy, who . . . hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:29).

7. Spirit of Glory.
“If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, . . . the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (I Peter 4:14).

*List of references in New Testament loosely taken from-  https://www.icr.org/article/seven-spirits/

#2- Literal 7 “spirits”,  or Angels

This interpretation argues that the 7 “spirits” here refer to 7 actual angels (though angels are most often, but not always, referred to with the Greek word “aggelos”). 

In Revelation 3:1 where the 7 Spirits are mentioned again, along with an ANGEL, two distinct Greek words are used-
aggelo and pneumata.

+Scripture References-

*Revelation 8:2–   “And I saw the seven angels [aggelos] who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.”

*Revelation 3:5– “ The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. [aggelōn]”

*Hebrews 1:6-7 –  “And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,  ‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’ 
In speaking of the angels [aggelos] he says,  ‘He makes his angels spirits [pneumata] , and His servants flames of fire.'”

*This is a quote from Psalm 104 which worships God as the CREATOR.  Thus in context of Hebrews and Psalm 104, Jesus is greater than angels… who were created by Him!

This verse points us right back to the reminder to constantly be looking for the Revelation of Jesus … reading His words, hearing what they are saying, and then applying them to our actual daily lives!

Revelation 1:4 reminds us that our confidence is not found in what we can see or control, but in who God is.
He is the One who was, who is, and who is to come!  And He is/has been faithful throughout every season of our lives with all grace and peace (shalom!) extended to us.  His perfect, complete Spirit is at work in our lives too, meeting every need and strengthening us for every good work and every day ahead!

So grace and peace to you this week dear ones!

Here are just a few more reflective kinds of questions to think on during the week if you want.
What questions do YOU have?
Leave them in the comments at the bottom of this post!

+What unveiling did you see today?  What does Revelation 1:4 reveal about God?  

+Why do you think this message begins with “grace and peace”?
What would a life characterized by God’s grace and peace look like?

+What does it mean to you personally that God is “the one who is, and who was, and who is to come”?
How does it reveal more about God’s character to know that He has not only existed eternally, but that He has been present PERSONALLY with you each step of your life?

+What tends to steal your sense of peace, and how does Revelation 1:4 challenge the way you respond to those things?

+What do you think John wants us to understand about God by mentioning the “seven spirits” before God’s throne?

+If the seven spirits represent the fullness or completeness of the Holy Spirit’s work, what did that mean to you personally?

PLEASE join our Gather Around The Table Facebook group page! 
Leave your comments to each week’s study there too if you want.  It’s an easier way to share if you like that platform.
I’m learning how to take my notes and put them into bite size studies.  It’s more challenging than I thought it would be.
I really would love to hear your ideas of any ways you can think of to make this study more concise or engaging!

Share on Facebook

Post on X

Follow us

Save