The Seven Churches Summary

“The Seven Churches” by Jamie Bell, Revelation, 7th Period, October 2, 2017
In the first chapter of Revelation, John introduces himself and them proceeds to include the letters addressed to seven churches in Revelation. These churches were relatively close to each other in location and were in the same regions. The churches varied in the amount of wealth and attitudes that they possessed. These churches included, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Each church had a letter about them that told them what God wanted from them as well as a description of how they behaved.
The first of the churches mention is the church of Ephesus. Ephesus actually means to let let go or relax which reflects how this church behaved. It is considered a “desirable church that left its first love.” This means that it was a good church but it was not always like this. The church of Ephesus was started by the Apostle Paul. He even warned the church of what it would eventually become in Acts 20:29-30. He talked about “wolves” joining the church and corrupting the members. He said that they would speak unkindly and start many fights. The second church is the Church of Smyrna. This church was located in what would currently be known as Izmir, Turkey. At the time, it was …show more content…
It was a “dead” church which seemingly “fell asleep”. They were told that they appeared to be alive but were in fact dead. It was made clear that there were some members of the church which claimed to be believers and lived in such a way that they looked like they were but, God knew their hearts and that they did not honestly believe in him. However, God recognized that there were a few people there that followed God. He said that their names were written in “the Book of Life.” On a different note, the city focused heavily on appearances. The city had many flashy and complex temples as well as bath houses like the ones in