ROMANS, CORINTHIANS, GALATIANS, EPHESIANS, PHILIPPIANS, COLOSSIANS, THESSALONIANS, REVELATION
When Paul wanted to communicate with another church1 miles from his current location, a handwritten letter was often the vehicle of choice. A quick glance at the titles of these letters reveals the name of the city or region to which it was originally written—for example Romans to Rome, Corinthians to Corinth, and Colossians to Colosse. At times the city mentioned in the title of the letter marks a city that Paul had visited on an earlier journey, and at other times Paul’s letter is written to a church Paul had not yet visited. In either case, we will call these the city letters of Paul.
Each of the communities to which Paul wrote had its own unique history, geography, and culture that we can explore. A number of the cities Paul visited and honored with a letter had similar characteristics. They enjoyed a sizable Jewish population or were located at important transportation hubs.
When we look carefully at these cities, we find that they differ from one another in history, geography, and culture. By inquiring about such matters, we often obtain insights about the city or region and why he wrote a letter to them. For example, a visit to Paphos and an acquaintance with Sergius Paulus, the procurator, opened the door for Barnabas and Paul to visit Pisidian Antioch and its satellite cities in Galatia. But shortly after this visit, Paul wrote an urgent letter to the churches in Galatia because they were so quickly and unexpectedly “turning to a different gospel” (Gal. 1:6). In his letter to Philippi, Paul describes a “citizenship” that is even more wonderful than the Roman citizenship enjoyed by the retired Roman soldiers in that city (Phil. 3:20). And he wrote two back-to-back letters to the church in Thessalonica because circumstances unfolding in the Roman Empire had required him to leave Thessalonica so quickly. In each case the letter’s content had a unique link to the location.
In this final section we will focus on certain cities that received letters from Paul, surveying the qualities and circumstances of that city. We will then turn our attention to Revelation, an apocalyptic discourse that starts out as a letter written by John to seven churches in Asia Minor. It was written to these churches at the close of the first century when abuse and persecution were unsettling realities for the followers of Jesus. In response, the Lord gave John this revelation to lift their eyes to the final overthrow of evil and Satan’s ultimate demise. We will explore why both the Roman government and the Lord had a purpose for John on the island of Patmos, where he received the incredible vision relayed in the book of Revelation. We will consider why this book was addressed to the seven churches in Asia Minor in general and take a closer look at the way geography motivates and shapes the message to the church in Laodicea. We will close with a look at Armageddon, the location where the kings of the nations will gather together against the Lord Almighty.
The area of Three Taverns. Believers in Jesus came to meet Paul at the Three Taverns along the Appian Way (Acts 28:15), about thirty-three miles from Rome.
Ephesus cardo (view looking west).
