Summary of the Seven
Letters
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Welcome to the conclusion of this section! Let's pray together:
Father,
The study of the letters to the seven churches reveals the wonderful riches of the
prophetic book of Revelation.
Please grant us Your Holy Spirit, so that the global picture may help us to fully
understand the seven letters.
We ask You, above all, to help us to put into practice the invaluable counsels Jesus gives
us in these letters. In His name we pray.
Amen.
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Revelation 1:11
What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven
churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to
Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.
In this lesson, we will draw the main parallels between the letters to the
seven churches.
These parallels will help us to discover some important messages which can go unnoticed
when each letter is studied separately.
Though the letters present a local application, we will linger over their prophetic
application.
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Revelation 1:19
Write the things which you have seen, and the things
which are, and the things which will take place after this.
Daniel 2:39,40
After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours;
then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And the
fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron.
Following the pattern of Daniel's prophecies describing the succession of
earthly kingdoms, the letters describe the succession of the seven stages of Church
history, between the first and the second coming of Jesus.
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Revelation 1:1
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to
show His servants - things which must shortly take place.
Keeping in mind each one of the stages of Church history, let's start by
quickly reviewing the content of each section of the seven letters.
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Revelation 22:10
And [the angel] said to me,
«Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.»
In our lesson «The Book of Revelation»,
we have seen that this book presents a mirrorlike organization, in which its historical
part (first part of the book) correlates with the eschatological part (second part of the
book).
In this mirrorlike organization, the letters to the seven churches (chapters 1 to 3)
perfectly correlate to the section describing the reward granted to the churches (chapters
21 and 22).
Let's look at this together.
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Revelation 1:1,3
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to
show His servants - things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by
His angel to His servant John (...).
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those
things which are written in it; for the time is near.
By looking more closely at the seven letters, we continue to find many more
amazing messages about the «things which must shortly take place»,
thus filling with zeal and hope the hearts of those who study Revelation.
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Revelation 2:7
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to
the churches.
«To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life.»
In addition to describing the condition of the seven local churches and the
seven stages of Church history between the first and second coming of Jesus, the seven
letters are also addressed to each one of us: «He who has an ear,
let him hear.»
They reveal seven spiritual states a Christian can experience during his life.
Then, they give the best advice and encouragements for each one of those spiritual states.
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Revelation 1:1
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to
show His servants - things which must shortly take place.
Each one of the letters to the seven churches gives us a valuable message which
strengthens our confidence by its prophetic application, but also guides us in our
Christian progress by its personal application.
But the book of Revelation still holds in store a lot of surprises for us, as we will see
in the next section about the seven seals.
Don't miss it!
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Let's pray:
Lord,
We sincerely thank You for giving us the book of Revelation, and for these seven letters
You sent to Your Church.
By their prophetic application, they strengthen our confidence in Your inspired Word.
By their personal application, they are a source of vital counsels and encouragement,
whatever our present spiritual condition may be.
May Your Holy Spirit continue to guide us, as we now tackle the study of the seven seals
of Revelation. In Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
Source of the Pictures of this Lesson
Screen 1: Picture Collection «Corel Gallery Magic» by Corel,
1997, CD #7, Photo Library 2, 199023.PCD. Screen 2: MANISCALCO, Joe. In:
«Revelation Seminars», Seminars Unlimited, 1986, lesson #5 («Sept Messages Particuliers
de Jésus»), p.1. Screen 3: RUDEEN, Herbert. In: «Uncle Arthur's Bible
Book» (MAXWELL, Arthur S.), Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1968, p.273.
Picture edited by Cyberspace Ministry. Screen 4: Picture Collection
«ClickArt 65,000» by Broderbund, CD #4, RELCR143.JPG. Table of Screen 4: «Cathedral
of Bourges, front, France». In: «Collier's Encyclopedia Deluxe 1998», Sierra Home.
Screen 5: HARLAN, Russell. In: «Votre Bible et Vous» (MAXWELL, Arthur S.),
Press Publishing Association, p.286. Screen 6: GREENE, Nathan. «The
Invitation». In: «Inspirational Fine Art», Hart Classic Editions
(www.hartclassics.com), p.2. Table of Screen 6: In: «Revelation
Seminars», Seminars Unlimited, 1986, lesson #2 («L'Etoile du drame de l'Apocalypse»),
p.1. Screen 7: ANDERSON, Harry. In: «L'Espoir de l'Humanité» volume 2
(Ellen G. White), Editions Le Monde Français, Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1972,
front cover. Table of Screen 7: In: «Revelation Seminars», Seminars
Unlimited, 1986, lesson #2 («L'Etoile du drame de l'Apocalypse»), p.1. Screen 8:
Photo by Betty Blue and Duane Tank. In: «La Sentinelle» magazine (July 1990),
Pacific Press Publishing Association, p.7. Table of Screen 8: Mother
Teresa. Photo from the Web site: «En dulce memoria de Madre Teresa 1910-1997»
(http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Metro/9609/madre2.htm). Screen 9: In:
«Histoire du Monde: Volume 8 - Réformes et Explorations» (STEFFENSEN, J.-L.), Les
Éditions Maisonneuve, 1967, p.733. Table of Screen 9: In: WHITE, Ellen
G., «The (New, Illustrated) Great Controversy», Laymen for Religious Liberty Inc., 1990.
Screen 10: ANDERSON, Harry. In: «La Sentinelle» magazine (September 1980),
Pacific Press Publishing Association, p.11. Table of Screen 10: JORDAENS,
Jacob. «The four doctors of the Church» (17th century). In: «Illustrated Lives of the
Saints» (McNEILL, John), Bison Books Ltd., 1995, p.15. Screen 11: In:
«The Children's Bible, volume 11», Golden Press, 1981, p.657. Table of Screen
11: RUIZ, Eduardo. In: «La Sentinelle» magazine (April 1995), Pacific Press
Publishing Association, p.5. Screen 12: REMMEY, Paul. In: «The Bible
Story, volume 9» (MAXWELL, Arthur S.), Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1957, p.181.
Picture edited by Cyberspace Ministry. Table of Screen 12: JUSTINEN,
Lars. In: «La Sentinelle» magazine (November 1993), Pacific Press Publishing
Association, p.1. Screen 13: «The St. Daniel Monastery.» In: «Deluxe
Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia CD - 2000 Edition», Compton's Home Library, 1999.
Screen 14: In: «Revelation Seminars», Seminars Unlimited, 1986, lesson #1
(«Une Aventure Avec la Prophétie»), p.1. Screen 15: «One-way mirrors
cover a Toronto, Canada, building.» In: «Deluxe Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia CD -
1998 Edition», Compton's Home Library, 1997. Screen 16: PROVONSHA,
Clyde. In: «God Cares, volume 2» (MAXWELL, C.Mervyn), Pacific Press Publishing
Association, 1985, p.506. Table of Screen 16: PROVONSHA, Clyde. In: «God
Cares, volume 2» (MAXWELL, C.Mervyn), Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1985, p.88.
Screen 17: In: «The Watchtower» magazine (June 15, 1994), Watch Tower Bible and
Tract Society, p.10. Screen 18: MITOMA, Tim. In: «La Sentinelle»
magazine (March 1996), Pacific Press Publishing Association, p.2. Table of Screen
18: STEEL, John. In: «La Sentinelle» magazine (March 1996), Pacific Press
Publishing Association, p.4. Screen 19: In: «The Bible Story, volume
10» (MAXWELL, Arthur S.), Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1957, p.207.
Table of Screen 19: DORÉ, Gustave. In: «La Bible de Gustave Doré», Lausanne,
Edita, 1994, p.9. Screen 20: BOWER, Maurice. In: «The Living Bible
Encyclopedia in Story and Pictures, volume 14», New York, H.S. Stuttman Co. Inc., 1968,
p.1852-d. Screen 21: In: «Egermeier's Bible Story Book» (EGERMEIER,
Elsie E.), The Warner Press, 1963, p.484. Table of Screen 21: Photo by
SPRINGER, Joel. In: «Adventist Review» (September 1996), Review and Herald Publishing
Association, p.17. Screen 22: In: «Vous pouvez vivre éternellement sur
une terre qui deviendra un paradis», New York, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 1982,
p.128. Screen 23: In: «Photo Gallery 5,000 volume 2» by Media Graphics
International, 33_131.JPG.
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The test of Lesson 29 is waiting for you!