SEVEN CHURCHES OF REVELATION

 

' I , ]ohn... was on the island called Patmos, because of the word of God and the testimony of ]esus. 1 was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, saying, "Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches. '' Rev. 1:9-11

Read the letters to the Seven Churches !

Welcome to BWDK's Seven Churches of Revelation (Seven Churches of Apocalyps) information pages and virtual tour gallery. Please select the destination for the detailed information about the Seven Churches of Apocalyps and the virtual tour gallery in each Seven Churches of Revelation mentioned in the Holy Bible. BWDK would be pleased to serve for customized visits as well as praying activities in Asia Minor thanks to the professional Biblical experienced staff.

Please select the desired destination and simply click on to each location for the details as well as virtual trip gallery consist of video snapshots.

In the book of Revelation of the Bible are written messages to seven of the most promi­nent churches of the Roman Province of Asia, which are located in western Turkey. When we use the word "church" we mean a group of Christians, not a building.

Therefore on a tour of the seven churches we are not looking for remnants of church structures. However, a visit to the impressive excavations of the sites of the ancient Roman cities where these seven churches existed can be quite fascinating, informative and moving. These sites show marks of the passing empires and cultures of the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Selcuk Turks, Ottomans and the modem Turkish Republic. A visitor to these ancient places finds remains of massive pagan temples, beautiful Muslim mosques, as well as many Christian church buildings, which were of course built much later in history.

 The seven cities mentioned in Revelation form what the Rev. John Stott calls "an irregular circle", and "are listed in the order in which a messenger might visit them if commissioned to deliver the letters". Sailing from the island of Patmos, to which John had been banished, he would arrive at Ephesus. He would then travel north to Smyrna and Pergamum, southeast to Thyatira, Sardis and Philadelphia, and finish his journey at Laodicea. He would need only to keep to what Professor William Ramsey calls "the great circular road that bound together the most populous, wealthy and influential part of the Province, the west-central region." seven_churches_revelation_pilgrimage_tour

Though the book of Revelation was penned by the hand of the Apostle John, it is claimed that these letters emanate directly from the lips of the ascended and glorified Jesus Christ. Stott notes that "in them, by praise and censure, warning and exhortation, He makes plain much of His will for His people. The seven churches of Asia, though historical, represent the local churches of all ages and of all lands". The onslaught on the Church was physical through a persecuting emperor and his deputies, intellectual through false cults and moral through sub-Christian ethical standards. As we look around the world today, the same pressures are harassing different churches and the messages in these letters are also for the Church in the world. Stott says "it's a call to Christians to endure tribulation, to hold fast to the truth, to resist the deceptions of the devil and to obey the commandments of God." In each of the seven letters, which follow, the risen Christ lays emphasis, either in rebuke or in commendation, of one particular characteristic of an ideal church. Put together, these characteristics constitute the seven marks of a true and living church.