The Seven Churches Of Asia — A Question
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesA querist asks, “We know for a fact that the number seven was the most sacred number to the Hebrews, symbolizing God’s completion, totality and perfection. In Revelation 1:11, Christ asks John to write what he sees in a book and send it to the seven churches in Asia — the number seven being a symbolic number.
My questions are: (1) Were there literally more than seven churches in Asia at the time that Christ through John wrote Revelation, and (2) if there were more than seven churches in Asia, in what cities were they located?”
In Revelation 1:11, even though Christ tells John to “send it [the book] unto the seven churches which are in Asia, ” we know there were more than 7 literal churches in Asia (see map of the Local Churches of the Bible – 70 AD.) Thus the “seven churches” would have to be symbolic of all the churches in Asia at the time of the writing of Revelation.