by S.M. Baugh, Ph.D.
First published in Evangelium, Vol.
4, Issue 2
Church discipline properly concerns individual members of the
church. The elders of the church watch over the souls of its
members and engage in the unpleasant but necessary task of
discipline for their good and for the peace and purity of the
whole flock. Revelation chapters two and three are remarkable
for many reasons, not least of which is that we see a different
kind of church discipline here: the Lord of the church
disciplines his seven, representative congregations. This is
church discipline on the next level for some of the
congregations, whose elders and people have failed in their
covenant discipline so that the Great Shepherd of the Church now
intervenes, and in the case of one congregation, with a sentence
of excommunication.
About the Book of Revelation
Revelation is a record of visions that John saw in the same vein
as the Old Testament (OT) prophets Isaiah, Zechariah, Daniel,
and the others. The visions of prophets were like dreams and can
be full of symbolism and mysterious content, which is why they
are called “dark sayings” or “riddles” in Num 12:6–8. Indeed,
John repeatedly calls his book “prophecy” (Rev 1:3; 22:7, 10,
18; cf. 10:11) to show its similarities to the Old Testament
prophecies. This means that careful study of how visionary
prophecies communicate throughout the Bible is needed before
rushing to interpret the visions of Revelation. (1) Furthermore, Revelation 2–3 has attracted the most
attention of any section of the book both among scholars and
pastors. In scholarship, the historical background of the seven
cities has been thoroughly investigated. We have fascinating
studies into the social, political, and geographical
characteristics of ancient Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, etc.
Pastors who preach from Revelation naturally gravitate to the
seven “letters” of Revelation 2–3 with their familiar and
important themes: being watchful against false teaching and
false apostles, “I stand at the door and knock,” and the warning
against being lukewarm—themes that are eminently “preachable.”
Seven Churches
“I heard
behind me a loud voice like a trumpet. . . .” (Rev 1:10). John’s
visions in Revelation begin with a command to communicate what
he sees to the seven churches, and this results in the book of
Revelation. The seven churches named here in Rev 1:11 and
elsewhere in the book were real churches in Asia Minor, but
there were at least four other cities in the area with churches
at this time (Colossae, Troas, Miletus, and Magnesia). Why were
they left out? Obviously, the seven churches symbolize the whole
church. The number seven occurs over fifty times in Revelation
and is well-known to be used as the number of completeness. And
if you trace the seven churches of Revelation on a map (Ephesus
to Smyrna to Pergamum, and so on) you will get a big circle
reinforcing the fact that Revelation is addressed to the whole
church, not just to these seven. (2)
Seven Messages
You may have
noticed earlier that I refer to the seven “letters” of
Revelation 2–3 in quotation marks. Exactly what these messages
are is worth careful consideration. Letters in antiquity have a
pretty standard opening and closing format as is found in the
letters of Paul, James, the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:23–29),
and in the opening of Revelation itself (Rev 1:4–6). But the
messages in Revelation present themselves not as letters but as
something much more formal and stunning. What they are exactly
will require some careful observation and discussion. The
seven messages of Revelation 2–3 are very carefully structured
both as a whole and individually. As a whole, there are elements
in each and main themes which help us to interpret the
individual message. For example, in the messages to four of the
churches: Ephesus (Rev 2:1–7; message #1), Pergamum (Rev
2:12–17; message #3), Sardis (Rev 3:1–6; message #5), and
Laodicea (Rev 3:14–22; message #7), the Lord brings indictments
against them and calls for them to repent (see Rev 2:5, 16; and
3:3; cf. 3:18). The message to the church of Smyrna (Rev 2:8–11;
message #2) is paralleled by the message to Philadelphia (Rev
3:7–13; message #6) in that the Lord has no charges against
either church. But the message to Thyatira (Rev 2:18–29; message
#4), which is right in the middle of the seven, is unique in
that the Lord does not call for repentance but announces his
immanent judgment and excommunication. Furthermore, each
message has a very unusual and formal structure. One scholar
believes that each message is modeled along the lines of ancient
Persian royal decrees, which would certainly account for their
formality and magisterial character. However, I believe the
messages show themselves as covenant indictments (or lawsuits)
in general form along the lines of OT exemplars found in the
prophets Isaiah (Isa 1:2–3, 18–20), Jeremiah (Jer 2:4–13), Micah
(Micah 6:1–8) and Hosea (Hosea 4:1–3). This makes sense because
of what we saw above about Revelation being visionary prophecy
in line with prophesies of the OT. As just one example of this
formality and linkage with the OT, each message includes a
distinctively old-fashioned oracular formula which can be
rendered, “Thus declares” (Rev 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14).
(3) The only other place this phrase appears
in the New Testament (NT) is as an introductory formula from the
prophet Agabus: “Thus declares the Holy Spirit” (Acts 21:11).
But when we look at the Greek translation of the OT, this same
phrase appears over 200 times as a prophetic introductory
formula found so often in the KJV as “Thus saith the Lord”
(e.g., Isaiah 49:7; Jer 13:1; Ezek 6:3, 11; Nahum 1:12). This
formal structure conforms to the character of the messages as
having the prophetic lawsuit as their background. (4)
Three Kinds of Messages
In
the details of the structure of the messages given above,
exceptions to the general pattern were noted. When you look
closely, there are actually three different kinds of messages in
the seven of Revelation 2–3, which we will now examine. 1.
Prophetic Indictment: The first sort is the prophetic indictment
proper, which characterizes the messages to the churches of
Ephesus, Pergamum, Sardis, and Laodicea. These four messages may
be thought of as indictments of the churches for various forms
of infidelity to their liege Lord, but this is church discipline
for remedial purpose as the Lord holds out promise of eternal
blessings for the church that repents of the faults he
identifies. As one example of this indictment, look at the
message to the church at Ephesus (Rev 2:1–7). The Lord
identifies himself as the one who is in intimate fellowship with
his churches in the visionary symbol of his walking among the
seven golden lampstands (Rev 2:1; cf. 1:12–13, 20). Therefore
when he says, “I know your works” (Rev 2:2), this is because of
his personal presence in their midst. “But I have this against
you” (Rev 2:4) is his indictment and charge of their failure
followed by a call to repentance and to give evidence of
repentance through good works of renewed love for their covenant
Lord (Rev 2:5). The threatened sanction is the Lord’s ultimate
threat: “I will come against you and remove your lampstand from
its place unless you repent” (Rev 2:5). This is excommunication
of the congregation. Notice that the church might continue to
exist as a group of people, but they would no longer be one of
Christ’s lampstands enjoying his presence and blessing.
(5) 2. Imminent Judgment: The second kind
of message in Revelation 2–3 is the most awful: that to the
church in Thyatira (Rev 2:18–29). This message has moved beyond
indictment and warning to an announcement of imminent judgment
because this church had been given time to exercise its internal
church discipline against a “Jezebel” (Rev 2:20) and she had
been given time to repent “but she refuses” (Rev 2:21). This
church will now experience tribulation and the enmity of the
risen Lord Jesus Christ whose brazen feet (Rev 2:18) will tread
on his enemies. But notice this vital point: even in the midst
of this terrible picture, our Lord holds out hope, comfort, and
the promise of eternal blessings to the individuals in the
Thyatiran church who are faithful to him (Rev 2:24–29). The Lord
does truly shepherd his people both with a rod of iron for the
wayward and with his comforting rod and staff beside still
waters for the faithful (Psalm 23). 3. Comfort &
Encouragement: Finally, two of the messages of Revelation 2–3,
those to the churches of Smyrna and of Philadelphia (Rev 2:8–11;
3:7–13), have no indictment or threats of any kind, but are
loving words of comfort and encouragement to persevering faith
addressed to churches who have been loyal to their Lord. Both of
these churches will experience the hostility and persecution of
the “synagogue of Satan” (Rev 2:9; 3:9), so they are encouraged
to persevere (“conquer”) by promise of glorious rule and life
eternal with their Lord.
Conclusion
The common
identification of the seven messages of Revelation 2–3 as
“letters” runs the danger of seeing them as merely the Lord
passing on information to his church. When read in light of
their OT prophetic background, the messages instead show
themselves to be modeled as “covenant lawsuits.” As such, the
messages are not merely informational, but rather they are
instruments of the Lord’s discipline of his wayward
congregations, encouragement to the faint of heart, and
exhortations to the church militant throughout this age to heed
what the Spirit is saying to all (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22).
Through these messages, the Lord expresses his determination to
bring his repentant and persevering church to himself in great
glory, into the joys of the new creation.
Footnotes
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