The original audience of the book of Revelation were seven churches to who Jesus commands John to write a message.  All of these churches were located in “Asia” which is today is modern day Turkey.  As such these were churches that were predominantly Greek believers, many who first received the gospel through the ministry of Paul and his coworkers on their missionary journeys.  The entire 2nd & 3rd chapters of Revelation are dedicated to individual messages to these churches, just as the book of Romans was originally a letter to the church of Rome and the book of Ephesians was originally a letter to the church of Ephesus.  But, the book of Revelation differs from these letters in two distinct ways.  First, it is the recollection of a vision and is defined by the writer (John) as prophecy in 1:3.  The word “prophecy” has come to mean a prediction about the future in modern parlance, but the true biblical meaning is a message from God.  These messages usually contain a warning and call to repentance and often do contain predictions about the future.  The second major difference is that, while the book is written to seven churches, it has a message beyond that is for a larger audience.  Chapter 4 begins with a vision that is for an audience much larger than the original seven churches – it is written to all believers and carries a great vision of God’s greatness and ultimate victory.  Scholars may disagree (and many do) on just what this vision means for us today and for the future, but we can be sure that this greater message is intended for all of us and does have an overarching message regardless of individual interpretations.  God is great and Jesus is victorious! – that is the story of Revelation in a nutshell and one for us to hear over and over again as we struggle through life.

There is more to come on the messages to the churches, but here’s a map (courtesy of Nelson’s Quick Reference Bible Maps and Charts) of the churches and of Patmos, where John is writing from while in exile.

Map of the seven churches of Revelation chapters 2-3