Revelation 1:4

him that is. He wanted His eternity to be denoted by the present tense. This use of present time "today" is acknowledged to be peculiar to the divine Scriptures in this sense of perpetuity.

This is equivalent to saying, "Grace to you from God, the Father of all of you." For the Father names Himself, revealing Himself to the wisest Moses at the burning bush, saying, "I AM THE ONE WHO IS [ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν]." (Ex. 3:14) And …

This "7" is understood as the Church established in the world. St. Gregory says in Homily 25, "Because in 7 days all time is comprehended; the number 7 is a proper figure for the whole. Grace unto you In the present life. And peace in …

Although there are many churches in every place, he wrote to seven only. For through the number seven he indicates the mystery of the church which exists everywhere and that which corresponds to the present life in which there is a sevenfold period of days. …

John to the seven churches which are in Asia. By the number seven is represented the universal Church, because of the seven gifts of him who has filled the earth. Hence Elisha made the child upon whom he lay gape seven times, [2 Kings 4:32 …

QUESTION: What does it mean that John salutes only seven churches whereas the Master of truth says, Go ye into the whole world, and preach to every creature? [Mark 16:15] ANSWER: Through these seven churches, he writes to the whole Church. Indeed totality is often …

before his throne. Now the seven spirits indicate the activity of the life-giving Spirit which directed Christ, God who was made man for us.

John to the seven, etc. Through these seven churches, he writes to the whole Church. For the universality is often designated by the number seven, as this whole age is revolved in seven days.

Grace to you, etc. He wishes us grace and peace from the eternal God the Father, and from the sevenfold Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, who in the assumed man bore witness to the Father. He names the Son third, of whom he was going …

And from the seven spirits which are before his throne - Christ is he who "hath the seven spirits of God." "The seven lamps which burn before the throne are the seven spirits of God." " The lamb hath seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God." Seven was a sacred number in the Jewish church: but it did not always imply a precise number.

The churches are compared to candlesticks, because they hold forth the light of the gospel to advantage. The churches are not candles: Christ only is our light, and his gospel our lamp; but they receive their light from Christ and the gospel, and hold it forth to others.

John to the seven churches which are in Asia,.... In lesser Asia; their names are mentioned in Rev 1:11, grace be unto you, and peace; which is the common salutation of the apostles in all their epistles, and includes all blessings of grace, and all prosperity, inward and outward: See Gill on Rom 1:

A glorious vision or appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ to the apostle John, when he delivered to him this revelation,

Grace . . . peace--Paul's apostolical greeting. In his Pastoral Epistles he inserts "mercy" in addition: so 2Jo 3. him which is . . . was . . . is to come--a periphrasis for the incommunicable name JEHOVAH, the self-existing One, unchangeable. In Greek the indeclinability of the designation here implies His unchangeableness.

John to the seven Churches - The apostle begins this much in the manner of the Jewish prophets.

John to the seven churches which are in Asia - The word “Asia” is used in quite different senses by different writers. It is used: (1) As referring to the whole eastern continent now known by that name; (2) Either Asia or Asia Minor; (3) That part of Asia which Attalus III, king of Pergamos, gave to the Romans, namely, Mysia, Phrygia, Lycaonia, Lydia, Carla, Pisidia, and the southern coast - that is, all in the western, southwestern, and southern parts of Asia Minor; and, (4) In the New Testament, usually the southwestern part of Asia Minor, of which Ephesus was the capital. See the notes at Act 2:9. The word “Asia” is not found in the Hebrew Scriptures, but it occurs often in the Books of Maccabees, and in the New Testament. In the New Testament it is not used in the large sense in which it is now, as applied to the whole continent, but in its largest signification it would include only Asia Minor. It is also used, especially by Luke, as denoting the country that was called “Ionia,” or what embraced the provinces of Caria and Lydia. Of this region Ephesus was the principal city, and it was in this region that the “seven churches” were situated. Whether there were more than seven churches in this region is not intimated by the writer of this book, and on that point we have no certain knowledge. it is evident that these seven were the principal churches, even if there were more, and that there was some reason why they should be particularly addressed. There is mention of some other churches in the neighborhood of these. Colosse was near to Laodicea; and from Col 4:13, it would seem not improbable that there was a church also at Hierapolis. But there may have been nothing in their circumstances that demanded particular instruction or admonition, and they may have been on that account omitted. […]