by
Forerunner, "Bible Study," June 22, 2023

Traditionally, the modern church of God has taught that the seven churches

Part One concentrated on the Bible’s internal evidence regarding the seven churches of Revelation 2-3. Scripture asserts that their letters’ primary application pertains to the subject of the book of Revelation, the end of the age, specifically “the Lord’s Day” or the Day of the Lord (Revelation 1:10). Even though their messages primarily target the saints living in the last days, the spiritual principles within the seven letters relate to all of God’s elect at any time.

Decades ago, Herbert W. Armstrong taught that the seven letters represent Christ’s messages to seven successive eras in church history, establishing this doctrine as a cornerstone of prophetic interpretation. In this teaching, a letter’s content—the weaknesses, strengths, attitudes, and even specific events and personalities—identifies an era’s dominant characteristics and its place in history. One era passed the baton of Christianity to the next era down through history to the present day, when many assume Laodiceanism will dominate.

Is this idea of church eras valid? How should we interpret Revelation 2-3?

1. Do the facts that all seven churches existed in the apostle John’s day and the internal evidence that all seven will exist at the end time contradict the idea of historical succession? Revelation 10:1-4.

Comment: The church’s traditional doctrine about eras teaches that the fledgling apostolic church represented the Ephesian era, lasting through the lifetimes of the original apostles and their immediate successors. The eras of Smyrna, Pergamos, and Thyatira followed one after another through the Middle Ages until early modern times. Herbert Armstrong believed he became involved with the remnants of the Sardis era in the last century’s early decades and that God used him to preside over the next era, Philadelphia. With his death in January 1986, many members assume the final era, Laodicea, has begun.

However, the book of Revelation provides only the barest hint of such an interpretation. If the seven thunders in Revelation 10 are the works of the seven churches, we can suppose they are successive, as counting seven distinct peals of thunder is only possible when they boom sequentially. Otherwise, the doctrine of church eras has been cobbled together by attempting to match details in the letters with historical evidence left by Christian Sabbath- and Passover-keepers and full-immersion baptizers down through the centuries. Many of the matches seem correct, but ultimately, they are unprovable.

Thus, the idea of a historical succession of church eras linked to the seven letters of Revelation 2-3 is not out of the realm of possibility. Prophetic material in Scripture frequently has a type and an antitype. It sometimes has a physical fulfillment as well as a spiritual one. Nothing hinders us from supposing that these prophetic letters could have first-century and end-time applications along with a sequential one. But as the interpretation least supported by the Bible, understanding Christ’s epistles to the seven churches as historical eras is perhaps not the best way to view them.

2. Can we in any other way make a watertight case for a nose-to-tail succession of seven eras from the original apostles’ time to today? Matthew 16:18; Revelation 2:1-7.

Comment: Upon establishing His church, Jesus affirms it would not suffer defeat by satanic forces of evil but continue until His return, and a body of true believers seems to have endured from Pentecost AD 31 until today.

In addition, the record of the Ephesian church in Revelation 2 closely resembles what happened to the apostolic church. After the first century, however, we have no inspired text on the activities and faith of God’s people. We must rely on vague connections to the true faith often chronicled by the enemies of God’s church.

Research into the sketchy history of true believers has uncovered promising parallels between others of Christ’s letters and historical events and people. This secular information implies a possible but not completely confirmable succession of eras.

3. Are we living in the Laodicean era? Revelation 3:14-22.

Comment: If one reads the letters as a chronological record, the Laodicean attitude logically follows the Philadelphian. One would expect a lukewarm, proud group to follow a persevering, faithful, “little strength” church making the most of Christ’s open door. Indeed, our Savior informs the Laodiceans that their evaluation of themselves—as rich, wealthy, and needing nothing—is horribly mistaken: They are really “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked,” unaware of the shame of their spiritual poverty.

Sadly, the shoe tends to fit. A few among the splinter groups comprising the greater church of God have taken on a bunker mentality and refused even to consider refinements to their understanding (Revelation 3:18). Some, satisfied with their righteousness, have struck out on their own, alleging they have no need for the Body of Christ or its ministry. Others claim the mantle of “remnant Philadelphians” while blinded to their own spiritual deficiencies. At a time when irrational human self-identity proudly parades in the streets, could not some in the church have adopted a skewed perception of themselves and their spiritual state? A kind of Laodiceanism is the prevailing attitude in the world, and we know that such attitudes soon seep into the church.

A succession of church eras through the centuries may be a fulfillment of Revelation 2-3. Undoubtedly, God inspired the Bible to apply to every generation until the return of Christ. No matter when a reader lives, most passages in God’s Word apply, though the final, most significant fulfillment of many prophecies concerns the latter days and Christ’s return.

In sum, we can understand Revelation’s letters to the seven churches in at least four ways:

1. All seven existed as historical church congregations in cities in first-century Asia Minor.

2. They successively span the church’s 2,000-year history.

3. They coexist as groups or attitudes just before Christ returns.

4. Their weaknesses, strengths, and attitudes always exist somewhere in the church, making Christ’s warnings and instructions perpetually relevant and beneficial.

Subsequent studies will explore each of Christ’s seven epistles in detail.