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Evidence for Eras
Chapter I
The Evidence of a Prophetic Book
Exhibit 1
No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man:
but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
II Peter 1:20-21
The seven letters are set within the framework of a book that is entirely prophetic. The book of Revelation was written as a chronological record of events that would occur over vast periods of time. This is apparent from the very first verse in the book. Notice that the angel introduces Christ’s vision with these words:
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John (Revelation 1:1).
This opening statement makes two important points. First, the entire vision is directed to God’s servants. Since John’s vision covers events that were to take place over thousands of years, it is written to all of God’s servants including those who would live at the end of the age. This is apparent as the prophecy almost immediately moves to the end time, stating that Christ will come “with clouds; and every eye shall see Him” (Rev. 1:7).
Second, this verse tells us that the entire book was written to show things which must “shortly come to pass.” By this, God is NOT referring to events that were to occur immediately. Rather, He is speaking from the perspective of Heaven in which Jesus considers the last two thousand years of man’s rule as the “last days” (Heb. 1:2; I John 2:18).
Therefore, the purpose of this entire vision was to reveal pivotal events that would begin in the first century and continue right up to the return of Christ and beyond.
Seven Letters—One Book
Jesus instructed John to write everything that he saw in the vision. Then, he was to send the entire record of these events to seven specific churches. If these future events had no bearing on these congregations, the letters would NOT have been recorded as an integral part of the book. Instead, they would have been written to each congregation individually just like all the other epistles penned by John, James, Peter and Paul. However, these seven letters are included as an intrinsic part of a book that is entirely prophetic!
This fact generates a vital question. Why would God send the entire book filled with these prophecies to only these seven congregations if they had no practical application for them? Why send them warnings of the beast, the false prophet, and the great tribulation if these events had no impact on them? The only purpose of giving the churches the entire book was to pass it down to succeeding generations who would experience these things.
The only way these prophecies would have meaning is if the churches represented eras throughout time. By recording these prophecies and handing them down to successive eras, as each age came to pass, the Church existing at any point in time would understand both the history that went before it and the circumstances it would face during its time.
Therefore, God intended these missives to be an inherent part of the entire vision for a divine purpose. They too are symbolic and prophetic! Their warnings and admonitions correspond to prophesied events that would begin in John’s time and continue throughout the future of God’s Church and all of mankind! For this reason, the angel tells John:
Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter (Revelation 1:19).
These profound introductory verses were written to set the stage for Christians to understand as their era in time arrived. The book of Revelation is a calendar of successive world events that would begin in the first century and continue over vast periods of time—culminating with the end of this age.
These prophecies describe successive stages of a great whore riding atop an enormous empire called the beast. They chronicle the rise of a great merchandising superpower—a modern day Babylon. They document the pivotal steps in man’s history leading up to the unleashing of God’s wrath just prior to the return of Christ. They reveal the establishment of God’s Kingdom on the earth and describe the creation of the new heavens, a new earth, and the glorious New Jerusalem!
The entire book of Revelation is a panoramic prophetic chronology, and the messages to the churches are set within it as an indelible part of its framework and purpose. Therefore, while these letters might have had an application for the congregations existing in the first century, they were engrafted within Christ’s entire revelation. They carry enormous meaning for God’s servants who would experience later circumstances. They were written to ALL of God’s servants, and therefore the messages within them are inextricably tied to the forward march of history.
The fact that the letters are directed to churches existing at different times becomes more obvious as the letters to Philadelphia and Laodicea are read. The messages to these two churches are clearly directed to Christians living in the last days—not those existing during the first century (Rev. 3:10-20).
Based on these facts, it is evident that these seven churches represent seven distinct eras of God’s Church throughout time. They were written to the Ephesian era in the first century, but were also addressed to Pergamos, Smyrna, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea—Church eras that would exist centuries later.