To what do the seven churches of Revelation refer?

Question

I have heard of the Seven Church Ages interpretation of the seven churches of Revelation, specifically that each church identified there also represents ages of the church since that time. I've also heard people specify that we are now in the Laodicean church age, as we look around and see the church "rich, increased with goods, having need of nothing."

Yet, this appears to me to possibly be true of some elements of the church in America, but I can't see how the church in Iran or Vietnam would ever come to the same conclusion.

So, I see three possibilities, of which one or more may be true.

• The churches in Revelation are just churches that existed at that time.
• They not only refer to churches that existed then, but are symbolic of church ages
• They not only refer to churches that existed then, but are representative of churches that have existed in different places since then.

Am I missing any possibilities? What reasons are there to support each interpretation?

Answer 1

The seven churches are described in Revelation 2 and 3. My opinion is that the seven churches not only refer to churches that existed then, but are representative of churches that have existed in different places since then.

Here's what Revelation Commentary says about the seven churches:

With two thousand years separating the seven churches of Asia and the modern churches of the world, the question of relevance is critical. What is the relationship between the seven churches mentioned in Revelation and modern churches? Some commentators have tried to make the case that the seven churches of Revelation depict seven periods of church history. This view is woefully inadequate. First, there is no explicit scriptural support for this view. Second, the seven periods of church history must be subjectively determined, which undermines credibility and fosters date setting. Third, such an approach deprives the first century churches of any application for their time.

However, the messages, themselves, yield the necessary clues to answer the question of relevancy. For believers of all ages the issue is the same in connection with the Son of Man: forgiveness or judgment. The Lord instructs six of the seven churches that there are both immediate and long-term consequences to their deeds. The threat of immediate discipline for a lack of repentance is given to the churches of Ephesus, Pergamum, Thyatira, and Laodicea. Equally, each church is also warned about the possible rewards and punishments to be experienced at the Lord’s coming (parousia). This indicates that the messages to the seven churches have both a "near" application and a "far" application--both a temporal and an eternal application. The fact that each message ends with the same trademark: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches," is compelling. That the term church is plural extends the message and application to the church universal. Believers in two thousand AD can claim the same promises and fear the same warnings.

Here's a link to the contributors of Revelation Commentary.