DESTINATION
DESTINATION
John directs the record of his visions to seven churches in the Roman province of Asia, which incorporated approximately the western third of Asia Minor. These churches were probably personally known to John from years of ministry in the area. His reason for selecting these seven churches, as well as the order in which the churches are listed, probably has to do with geography and communications. As Ramsay pointed out long ago, the cities in which the churches are located are all centers of communication; a messenger bearing Revelation to the cities would arrive from Patmos in Ephesus, travel by secondary road north to Smyrna and Pergamum, and then go east on the Roman road to Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. 48