(6th in a series on the Seven Churches of Asia Minor. Revelation 1-3)
“Now, all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (I Corinthians 10:11).
When I asked on Facebook why we should study the Seven Churches of Asia Minor, a professor friend gave what must be the simplest, clearest and best answer: “Because it’s easier than anything else in Revelation.” I laughed out loud, realizing that he had expressed precisely what I have felt over the years in turning to that book.
My New Orleans buddy Jim Smith came up with he most creative answer: “Because the churches of Asia Major weren’t so interesting?”
But, back to the question: Why should we study letters to seven churches we would never have heard of otherwise?
Maybe the Lord is using it for discipline? Like putting us through boot camp, giving us something really hard–and it is that–to toughen us up for whatever lies ahead.
Maybe He wants us to be historians?
Does the Lord somehow need His children to know what went on two thousand years ago? Are we to be trivia buffs regarding the first century of believers? History experts? Why does this stuff matter?
It’s a legitimate question, one every generation asks.