“Fed-Ex, UPS, and Angels”

Sunday, September 02, 2012

In the book of Revelation to John, when the seven churches are addressed, were these seven churches in Asia the ONLY churches in existence at this time, or was Jesus only addressing these seven specifically?

Secondly, I am curious to know, when John speaks that he sees seven stars held in God's right hand, which later were revealed to be the seven angels of these churches (Rev 1:20), can we conclude that God appoints an angel over each congregation in today's time?

Sincerely,
Seeing Stars

Dear Seeing Stars,

The seven churches addressed in the book of Revelation are seven congregations all in close proximity to each other, but they are not the only congregations that existed.  The gospel had turned the whole world upside down (Acts 17:6).  Paul had written letters to churches in Rome, Corinth, Colossae, throughout Galatia, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Ephesus… and all that was only from one apostle!

As for the angels mentioned in Rev 1:20, the word ‘angel’ simply means ‘messenger’ in the Greek.  The word is often used for heavenly servants of God (which is what we typically think of when we say ‘angel’) because the context of the verses show us that the messenger is supernatural.  However, the word really only means ‘messenger’; it is the context of a passage that tells us whether the messenger is a heavenly being or simply a normal messenger.  In the context of Rev 1:20, the angels are most likely human messengers carrying the letters from the apostle John to the individual churches.

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