The Seven Congregations

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After explaining that John’s Revelation was a vision of ‘the Lord’s Day’ (at Revelation 1:10), the first portion speaks of messages that were to be sent to seven nearby congregations.

These may represent all faithful congregations, lamp stands, or Christian religions in our time (‘the Lord’s Day?’). For, notice how all the problems of modern Christian religions seem to be represented by these seven groups:

· One had lost the love that it had at the first

· One was faithful but was being ‘blasphemed’ by opposing religious zealots

· One was faithful, but had become infected by the teachings of the Nicolaitans and/or of the teachings of BalaAm

· One was serving faithfully, but was influenced by a Jezebel

· One was spiritually dead

· One was plagued by the synagogue of the Opposer (possibly a Judaic form of Christianity)

· One was neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm.

So it appears as though this prophecy is foretelling that the Opposer would infiltrate Christian religion to the core during the Lord’s Day, and that just a few among them will still be found faithful.