30 “But as for you, son of man, the sons of your people who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘Come now and hear what the word is which comes forth from Yahweh.’ 31 They come to you as people come and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their greedy gain. 32 Behold, you are to them like a lustful song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not do them. Ezekiel 33:30-32 (LSB)
In the book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3 contain the seven letters Christ dictated to John to be sent to seven churches that existed in John’s time in Asia Minor. I have heard several sermons and read some exposits of these chapters that were geared towards these seven churches each representing one of the seven church ages….
For this to be true there would have to be seven separate, distinct church ages that we could clearly line up with the each church description in these two chapters. First, let me say that I am not 100% convinced that this is valid, but it is intriguing.
For reference here are the seven churches and the church age each “represents.”
- Ephesus – the apostolic period of the church (A.D. 30-100).
- Smyrna – the age of martyrs of the church in the second and third centuries.
- Pergamos – the age of the state church, beginning with Constantine and continued until the first pope was recognized to have authority over the Roman Catholic church (A.D. 313-590).
- Thyatira – this church corresponds to the time period when the church was firmly established not only as a church, but also as a state (A.D. 590-1517). It begins with the first pope, Gregory the Great, and continues to the time of the Protestant Reformation.
- Sardis – this church represents the Reformation era of the church (A.D. 1517-1790).
- Philadelphia – represents the age of the missionary church which began with the rise of modern missions under William Carey (A.D. 1730-1900).
- Laodicea – represents the apostate or lukewarm church of the last days (A.D. 1900-present).