FEATURE
Congregations of Revelation
MAP: Congregations of Revelation
TOWARD the end of the first century C.E., the resurrected Jesus Christ in a very touching way showed keen interest in his anointed followers still on earth. How? By directing the aged apostle John to write letters to “the seven congregations that [were] in the district of Asia.” (Re 1:1-4) Those letters contained much needed encouragement, counsel, and warning.
Today, only ruins are found on the sites of most of the cities where those congregations were located. Yet, these give evidence that what was written deals with real places, actual situations, and people who truly lived. Of even greater interest, however, is the fact that these messages pointed to conditions that would exist at a future time in the Christian congregation.
Ruins of Ephesus. Some Christians in this materialistic city lost the love for Jehovah that they had at first
Reconstructed altar to Zeus from Pergamum. Christians in Pergamum were tested in regard to giving worship exclusively to Jehovah
Smyrna (now called Izmir). Early Christians here, though thrown into prison, were urged not to be afraid. Those in Philadelphia (at the head of a long valley that led west to Smyrna), though they had already endured, were also urged to keep holding fast what they had
Thyatira (now called Akhisar), columns and arches of a colonnaded street. Some early Christians in Thyatira, although sharing in good works, foolishly got involved in immoral conduct
Sardis, ruins of the temple of Artemis. Not all Christians here were truly alive spiritually
Laodicea. Christians in this city were reproved for being lukewarm, like the water that reached the city through its aqueduct