Revelation 1:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Although there were many local churches, he sent only to the seven churches. He did this because of the sevenfold number, which mystically signifies all existing churches. It also corresponds to the present life, in which the sevenfold cycle of days is received. For the same reason he mentions only seven Angels and seven churches, to whom he sends his greeting: “Grace to you and peace from the Trihypostatic Godhead.” By the word “He who is,” the Father is signified, who said to Moses, “I am He who is” (Ex 3:14). By the expression “who was,” the Word is signified, who “was in the beginning with God” (Jn 1:1). By the word “who is coming,” the Comforter is signified.

What, then, is the people of Asia, that it alone was deemed worthy to receive the apostolic revelation? There is a mystery in the number and a sacrament in the name of the province. First we must discuss the meaning of this number. Both the number six and the number seven, recurring in the Law of Moses, are always used in a mystical sense. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested from His works (Ex 20:11; Heb 4:10). And again here: “They shall not enter My rest” (Heb 4:5). Thus the seven here signifies the state of the present age. Therefore the Apostle seems to send this epistle not only to the seven churches, or to that world in which he then lived. He hands it on to all future ages until the dissolution of the world.

Asia is understood as elevation, by which the human race is depicted.

These seven churches and seven lampstands require close attention, since they represent the sevenfold grace given by God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, in whom we have believed, to our human race.

For He promised to send us the Spirit, the Comforter, from heaven. He also sent Him to the Apostles, who seemed to be in Asia, that is, in the elevated world.

There the Lord, through His servant John, also handed down sevenfold grace to our churches.

The seven spirits are the seven angels. They are joined to the Most Holy Trinity not as equal in honor or coeternal. By no means. They are joined as close ministers and faithful servants. For the prophet says to God that “all things serve Thee” (Ps 118:91), and the angels are included in all things. In another place he says of them: “Bless the Lord, all His hosts, His ministers who do His will” (Ps 102:21). When composing the first letter to Timothy, the Apostle used this manner of speech: “Before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels” (1 Tim 5:21). Clearly, by saying “the seven spirits who are before His throne,” John again bore witness to their rank as dwellers with and ministers of God. He did not testify to equality of honor.

Nothing good can be done without grace and peace of soul. The seven spirits signify the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit. In the prophet Isaiah this Spirit, resting upon the rod from the root of Jesse, is also described sevenfold: “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,” that is, upon the rod from the root of Jesse, “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety” (Isa 11:2). The number seven appears here as mysterious and highly significant. Although there were many churches in the world, John sent epistles to only seven of them, signifying in the sevenfold number the mystical destiny of the whole Church.

“John to the seven Churches which are in Asia.” The Revelation was intended for all Christians, but John addresses only seven Churches because they stood in the closest relation to him. From them this word was to pass to the whole Church. The sevenfold number is chosen here as the most perfect. Asia means Asia Minor, or that part which among the Romans was called Asia Proconsularis. “Grace to you and peace from Him who is.” We meet the same good wishes in the Epistles of the Apostle Paul. The similarity of the greetings had to show the unity of the teaching of both Apostles. Grace and peace are sent from God, who is called here ό ών και ό ήν και ό ερχόμενος. This name, as a translation of the name Jehovah, expresses the eternal and self-existent being of God.

First, what does it mean that St. John addresses his prophetic word to the seven churches of Asia Minor? This does not shake the universal purpose of the Apocalypse for all Christians. But because St. John the Theologian had especially close and frequent relations with the above-mentioned churches, the Lord Himself commands him (Rev 1:11) to communicate first to these very churches the revelation of which he was deemed worthy. These churches are taken here as a part in place of the whole, that is, in place of the whole Church. In her totality, the Church could of course present the same picture as the seven churches under the Apostle of Christ’s immediate care. Nor should one forget that in Scripture the number seven is usually taken to express fullness in various respects.

What are the seven spirits? They are the seven chief Archangels: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and the others. Saint Gabriel said to Saint Zachariah: "I am one of those who stand before God" (Lk 1:19).