For Whom Was The Book Of Revelation Written?

The first verse of the book gives us the answer: “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.” (Revelation 1:1) Revelation was written specifically for God’s servants, the Church of God. So it should come as no surprise that the Church of God that Jesus Christ built is the primary topic of discussion in the first three chapters.


Jesus commissioned His Church to be the “light of the world” (Matthew 5:14-16). Here in Revelation, He symbolically introduces seven specific congregations of the Church as seven lamp stands (Revelation 1:12, 20). This imagery reminds us of the seven lamps on the golden lamp stand in ancient Israel’s tabernacle and later in its temple (Exodus 25:37; Zechariah 4:2). Now, however, God regards the Church itself as His spiritual temple (Ephesians 2:19-22). Since seven often represents completeness in Scripture, these seven lamp stands seem to portray a composite picture of the Church of God as the “light of the world.”


At that moment in time, Christ’ true followers were a persecuted and discouraged body. They longed for Jesus to return in power and glory to judge their adversaries and establish the Kingdom of God. They desperately needed encouragement and desired a better understanding of what their future held. And this is what the book of Revelation provided for the them. Church Historian Will Durant writes: “The influence of the Book of Revelation was immediate and profound. Its prophecies of salvation for loyal believers, and of punishment for their enemies, became the sustenance of a persecuted Church. Its theory of the millennium solaced those who mourned the long delay in the second coming of Christ. Its vivid images and brilliant phrases entered into both the popular and the literary speeches of Christendom.” (‘The Story of Civilization’: Part III, Caesar and Christ, p. 594, 1972).


The messages to the seven Churches therefore embody admonition suitable for churches in many types of spiritual need. Along with the messages to the Churches were exhortations which are personal in character constituting instruction and warning to the individual Christian. Each of the messages given to the churches therefore ends in a personal exhortation with the phrase “He that hath an ear, let him hear.”


The order of the messages sent to the churches


“Many expositors believe that in addition to the obvious implication of these messages, the seven Churches represent the chronological development of church history spiritually. They note that Ephesus seems to be characteristic of the Apostolic Period in general and that the progression of evil climaxing in Laodicea seems to indicate the final state of apostasy of the Church”.