Table of Contents Chapter Page # 1. Introduction to the Seven Churches .......................................................................... 3 2. Revelation and the book The Great Controversy ....................................................... 5 3. Message to Ephesus ................................................................................................... 35 4. The Message to Smyrna ............................................................................................. 41 5. The Message to Pergamum ........................................................................................ 49 6. The Message to Thyatira ............................................................................................ 71 7. The Message to Sardis ................................................................................................ 85 8. The Message to Philadelphia ..................................................................................... 97 9. The Message to Laodicea ........................................................................................... 117 10. The Barren Fig Tree .................................................................................................... 141 11. Additional Study Material on the Judgment Process During the Churches of Philadelphia and Laodicea .......................................................................................... 147 12. The Examination of the Robe ..................................................................................... 159 13. Study on the 1844 Movement (Philadelphia) ............................................................ 169 14. Study on the End Time Philadelphia Movement ........................................................ 179 Contact Information ................................................................................................... 193 ______________________________________________________________________________ Studies in Revelation – The Seven Churches by Pastor Stephen Bohr | Secrets Unsealed.org | Page 2 of 193 “STUDIES IN REVELATION-THE SEVEN CHURCHES” by Pastor Stephen Bohr Lesson #1 - Introduction to the Seven Churches There were many Christian churches in Asia Minor—such as Troas, Assos, Miletus, Colossae, Hierapolis, Tralles and Magnesia, to mention a few. Why, then, were these specific seven chosen? One reason is that they geographically form a candelabrum (see the picture at the end of these notes) and further, they had characteristics that illustrate the condition of the church in seven successive stages of church history until the end of time. Thus, Ellen White stated: “The names of the seven churches are symbolic of the church in different periods of the Christian Era. The number 7 indicates completeness, and is symbolic of the fact that the messages extend to the end of time, while the symbols used reveal the condition of the church at different periods in the history of the word.” AA, p. 585 Relationship between Revelation 1-3 and 21-22 There is a close relationship between Revelation 1-3 and Revelation 21, 22. While Revelation 1- 3 portrays the church militant on earth, Revelation 21-22 portrays the church triumphant in the Eternal kingdom. Most of the promises that Jesus made to the seven churches in chapters 1-3 are repeated and fulfilled and realized in chapters 21-22. Patmos Patmos is an island in the Aegean Sea about 50 miles southwest of Ephesus. It covers an area of about 16 square miles and has no trees or rivers. Patmos was the Alcatraz of the Roman Empire where criminals were sent into exile. The question is: how did the apostle John end up on the island? According to Ellen G. White, the emperor Domitian (AD 81-96) threw John into a cauldron of boiling oil in the hopes of burning him alive but he was preserved, as were the three young men in the fiery furnace: “John was cast into a caldron of boiling oil; but the Lord preserved the life of His faithful servant, even as He preserved the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace.” AA, p. 570 Christian tradition is in harmony with what Ellen White stated. According to Tertullian, John “was plunged into burning hot oil without being hurt and then banished to an island.” Clement of Alexandria added that John was later released by the Roman emperor Nerva and was permitted to return to Ephesus where he became bishop. ______________________________________________________________________________ Studies in Revelation – The Seven Churches by Pastor Stephen Bohr | Secrets Unsealed.org | Page 3 of 193 The Process of Inspiration in the Book of Revelation Revelation 1:1-3 explains that God has a chain of command in the communication of His will to mankind:  God gave the message to Jesus  Jesus gave the message to the Holy Spirit  The Holy Spirit gave the message to the angel  The angel gave the message to John  John wrote the message in a book and sent it to the seven churches  The churches were then supposed to share the contents with the world ______________________________________________________________________________ Studies in Revelation – The Seven Churches by Pastor Stephen Bohr | Secrets Unsealed.org | Page 4 of 193 “STUDIES IN REVELATION-THE SEVEN CHURCHES” by Pastor Stephen Bohr Lesson #2 - Revelation and the book The Great Controversy John’s Visionary Experience There is a remarkable parallel between the manner in which John received the book of Revelation and the manner in which Ellen White received the information that she included in The Great Controversy. Let’s take a few moments to draw the parallels beginning with John. Revelation 1:2: John had the testimony of Jesus “Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.” See also 1:9; 21:16 Revelation 22:16; Revelation 2:7: The testimony of Jesus was particularly for the church “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. . . He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. . .” Revelation 1:17: John fell as one dead when he entered the visionary experience “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last. . .” More than 50 times in his book John uses the expression “I saw” and God told him “I will show you”. John was shown vivid panoramic views of heavenly realities and of the conflict between good and evil. Revelation 2:11; 22:16: The message was imparted by the Holy Spirit to John through the ministration of an angel “He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. . . I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.” This is true of the book of Daniel as well. The angel Gabriel was the being who was sent by God to give visions to Daniel. Revelation 1:11 (also 1:19; 19:9; 21:5): John was ordered by the angel to write what he saw while he was in vision ______________________________________________________________________________ Studies in Revelation – The Seven Churches by Pastor Stephen Bohr | Secrets Unsealed.org | Page 5 of 193 “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, what thou seest write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.” Daniel 7:16: Daniel and John both conversed with angels “I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.” Revelation 10:9 “And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.” Revelation 7:13, 14: John also spoke with beings other than ordinary angels “And one of the elders answered, saying unto me: What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me: These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Revelation 1:12: John also conversed with Jesus “And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man. . .” Revelation 21:9, 10: John was transported by his angel to faraway places (1:10; 4:2; 17:1, 3; 21:9, 10) “And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.” 2 Corinthians 12:2-4: The visionary experience of a prophet who was transported in vision to heaven was so very real that the prophet actually thought that he was physically there. “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth) such a one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” Revelation 21:10, 11: John struggled for words to describe heavenly realities “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. . .” ______________________________________________________________________________ Studies in Revelation – The Seven Churches by Pastor Stephen Bohr | Secrets Unsealed.org | Page 6 of 193 John’s Literary Sources There can be no doubt that the book of Revelation was inspired by the Holy Spirit. But what sources did God employ to give John the information? Was everything that was given to John original? The book of Revelation seems to have three sources:  John borrowed words, phrases, and sentences from other inspired sources. There are hundreds of allusions to the Old Testament (for example, Revelation 14:7). Many ideas also come from other New Testament sources (for example, Revelation 1:7 with Matthew 24:30)  John borrowed words, phrases and sentences from other non-inspired sources. We know, for example, that John occasionally used the language of Enoch and Tobit. Does this mean that the books of Enoch and Tobit were inspired? Of course not! It simply means the language of these books was common jargon in John’s day and God gave him permission to use this language, which was well known to the recipients of his book. Let’s notice a few parallels between Revelation and the book of Enoch: Enoch 40:1 “After that [Revelation 7:9] I saw thousands of thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand [Revelation 5:11], I saw a multitude beyond number and reckoning [Revelation 7:9] who stood before the Lord of spirits.” Enoch 91:16 “And the first heaven shall depart and pass away, and a new heaven shall appear” [Revelation 21:1] Enoch 90:26 “. . . They were judged and found guilty and cast into the fiery abyss” [Revelation 20:15].  John received much information in visions and dreams, which was original and is not found in any other extant source that we know of. John’s Literary Ethics  John used no direct quotations from his sources. He generally paraphrased them and used allusions.  John never gave any source credit in his book though he borrows prolifically from other inspired sources and less frequently from non-inspired sources.  Was John a plagiarist because he did not credit his sources? Someone might say: “But the literary ethics of John’s day did not require authors to credit their sources.” This may well be true, but Matthew, in contrast to John, is very careful to give credit to his sources (1:22; 2:15, 17, 23; 3:3; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35; 21:4; 22:31; 24:15; 27:9, 35)  Though John borrowed material from other sources, his book is a totally new literary production. In fact, those who have carefully studied the literary structure of this book have concluded that it is a work of art. The book is meticulously organized around the ______________________________________________________________________________ Studies in Revelation – The Seven Churches by Pastor Stephen Bohr | Secrets Unsealed.org | Page 7 of 193 Hebrew sanctuary. In fact, it follows the precise order of the sanctuary service. Like a mosaic, each part of the book is linked beautifully with every other part.  We could use the following example: Let’s suppose that ten different contractors go to Home Depot and each of them buys the necessary materials to build a house. They all buy nails, lumber, concrete, sand, drywall, tile, shingles, doors, windows, electrical wiring, light fixtures, etc. But when each of them finishes his house, there are ten totally different houses. They all used the same materials but they all put them together differently. Revelation’s Symbolic Character The book of Revelation presents God’s end time message in symbolic, coded language and therefore the language must be deciphered. For example, the book describes the dragon, the beast, the false prophet, the harlot, the wine, the twelve stars, the waters, the earth, the two witnesses, the seal of God, the mark of the beast, the 1260 days, the seven horns, the seven eyes, etc. But what do these symbols mean? In order to comprehend the book it is necessary to decode or decipher this symbolic language. The Central Thesis and Theme of Revelation Even a casual look at the book of Revelation reveals that the central theme of the book is the great controversy between Christ and Satan with Christ being the final victor! This theme is especially revealed in chapters 12 and 13 where Christ and Satan are in a death struggle. This battle is constantly in the background of the book. The book of Revelation actually reveals the history, which is being written behind history. Revelation’s Two Halves The first half of Revelation is of historical emphasis. The churches, the seals and the trumpets all begin to be fulfilled in the days of the apostles and climax at the end time (chapters 1-9) The second half of Revelation (chapters 12-22) deals primarily with events at the very end of history including the powers which will oppose God’s people (12, 13), the warning against these powers (14) the close of human probation (15), the plagues (16-18), the second coming (19), the millennium (20) and the earth made new (21, 22). In the very heart of the book is the episode about the little book (Revelation 10) and the opening of the Most Holy Place (Revelation 11:19) Satan Attempted to Kill John Christian tradition has it that during the reign of the emperor Domitian, John was thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil but was miraculously preserved, as were the three young men in the fiery furnace in the days of Daniel. Ellen White supports this tradition: “John was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil, but the Lord preserved the life of His faithful servant, even as He preserved the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace.” AA, p. 569 ______________________________________________________________________________ Studies in Revelation – The Seven Churches by Pastor Stephen Bohr | Secrets Unsealed.org | Page 8 of 193 Ellen G. White’s Visionary Experience Ellen White had the testimony of Jesus: Revelation 12:17: Ellen White had the testimony of Jesus “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (19:10; 22:8, 9) Ellen White frequently called her messages “the testimonies” because she had the Testimony of Jesus (Rev. 12:17) Ellen White’s message was primarily for the church: Ellen White’s message, like that of John the Baptist was primarily for the church. She wrote an entire series of nine volumes called, Testimonies for the Church. 1 Corinthians 14:22: The gift of prophecy is primarily for those who believe “Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.” Ellen White was as dead when she was in vision: “They thought that I was dead, and there they watched and cried and prayed so long, but to me it was heaven, it was life.” Manuscript 16, 1894 Ellen White repeatedly used expressions such as ‘I Saw’ and ‘I Was Shown’: In the earliest edition of the great controversy story (Spiritual Gifts), Ellen White the expression “I saw” or “I was shown” an average of about once per page. Later, in the book The Great Controversy, these expressions were not included because the book was used for the general public and Ellen White did not want to prejudice them against the book. Ellen White’s message was given to her by the Holy Spirit through the ministration of an angel: Though Ellen White’s message was given to her by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, yet it was imparted to her by an angel whom she called “my guide”, “my instructor” or “my accompanying angel.” The angel ordered Ellen White to write while she was in vision: “While in vision, I was commanded by an angel to write the vision. I obeyed, and wrote readily.” (Testimonies, volume 1, p. 73) Ellen White asked her angel questions: “I begged of my attending angel to let me remain in that place. I could not bear the thought of coming back to this dark world again. Then the angel said, "You must go back, and if you are ______________________________________________________________________________ Studies in Revelation – The Seven Churches by Pastor Stephen Bohr | Secrets Unsealed.org | Page 9 of 193 faithful, you, with the 144,000, shall have the privilege of visiting all the worlds and viewing the handiwork of God." Early Writings, p. 40. In the famous “train vision,” she asked her angel who the conductor was to which the angel replied that it was Satan disguised as an angel of light. (Early Writings, p. 88) Ellen White spoke with inhabitants of other planets: God took her in vision to another world where she asked one of the inhabitants why they were so much lovelier than those on the earth to which he replied: “We have lived in strict obedience to the commandments of God, and have not fallen by disobedience, like those on the earth.” Christian Experience and Teaching, p. 98 Ellen White once saw Enoch on a planet with seven moons. She asked Enoch if this was the place to which he was translated from the earth to which he said: “It is not, the city is my home, and I have come to visit this place.” (Christian Experience and Teaching, p. 98) Is this really so preposterous? The Bible says that Enoch was translated to heaven from among the living. Hebrews 11 says that the Old Testament heroes looked forward to a city whose builder and maker is God. Ellen White also spoke with Jesus: Ellen White once asked Jesus if the Father had a form such as Himself. Jesus answered that He did and then added: “If you should once behold the glory of His person, you would cease to exist.” (Early Writings, p. 54) Ellen White witnessed future events as if they were transpiring in the present: Ellen White was sometimes transported to the future where she witnessed events as if they were transpiring in the present. For example, she saw in vision a future conversation that she had with brothers Fitch and Stockman under the tree of life. Christian Experience and Teaching, p. 61 Ellen White was transported in vision by her angel to distant places: “Soon I was lost to earthly things and was wrapped in a vision of God’s glory. I saw an angel flying swiftly to me. He quickly carried me from the earth to the Holy City. In the city I saw a temple, which I entered.” Early Writings, p. 32 Ellen White described her experience while she was in vision: “As inquiries are frequently made as to my state in vision, and after I come out, I would say that when the Lord sees fit to give a vision, I am taken into the presence of Jesus and angels, and am entirely lost to earthly things. I can see no farther than the angel directs me. My attention is often directed to scenes transpiring upon earth.” Selected Messages, volume 1, p. 36 ______________________________________________________________________________ Studies in Revelation – The Seven Churches by Pastor Stephen Bohr | Secrets Unsealed.org | Page 10 of 193