Structure of the Letters

I found a great article at The Gospel Project, by Brian Dembowczyk, which gives a great overview of the structure of the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3.  Each of the seven letters follows the same basic structure, or outline, with a couple of exceptions where a church is either not commended for anything or not condemned for anything.  Here’s to what it says. 

First, each has a Greeting. This is identical in each letter with only the recipient’s name being different. Each letter is addressed directly to the angel of the church. Some believe this is a literal angel. Perhaps God has assigned an angel to look over each church. Others believe that this references the primary elder, or pastor, of each church. Since “angel” means “messenger” in Greek, this certainly is a possibility.

Next, there’s Reference to the Son of Man from Revelation 1. In the first chapter of Revelation, John described a vision he had of Jesus. The imagery John describes is highly symbolic and each letter draws from part of this description.  

 Then, Commendation. Jesus’ praise of the church. 

Next, Condemnation. Jesus’ rebuke of the church. 

Then, Warning/admonishment. A warning to “repent.”  

On to Reward. A specific reward is promised to those who are victorious or overcome until the end.  

Finally, the Refrain. Each letter ends with the same refrain: Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

While our local churches today are not the specific audience of any of these letters, we are to read them and learn from them all the same.  Did you learn something new by reading these letters?  Please share it with me at Lifting Her Voice, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.