Turkey is sometimes described as the “Forgotten Bible Land” as more biblical sites are to be found here after Israel than any other country. Starting with Genesis, key places such as the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris, Mt. Ararat, and Haran are all situated in Turkey. While maps of Turkey are found at the back of most Bibles, many Christians are unaware of Turkey’s major role as a Bible land, especially in the New Testament, because it is generally referred to as Asia Minor. Approximately two thirds of the books of the New Testament were written either to or from church communities in Turkey. The major apostles Paul, Peter and John all ministered in Turkey. Thus this land is crucially important in understanding the background to the New Testament of the Bible.
The Seven Churches of revelation
The Seven Churches of Asia are all located in Anatolia; Smyrna (Izmir), Pergamum (Bergama), Thyatira (Akhisar), Sardis (Sart), Philadelphia (Alasehir), Laodiceia ad Lycum (Goncali) and Ephesus (Efes).
These churches are associated both with Saint Paul and with Revelations (the Apocalypse); letters written in c.95 AD to the Seven Churches by John. There should have been more than seven cities with major Christian congregations in Anatolia at the time That Apostle John wrote and it is unknown why he addressed only these seven. These were possibly the most important ones at that time or letters to other churches were lost.
These churches were not church buildings as such but congregations. These early congregations had their meetings in private homes as there had been no original church buildings until the 3C AD. St. Paul possibly founded some of the Seven Churches on his missionary journeys between 47-57 AD, as he was thought to have visited all seven cities.
The seven churches described in Revelation 2-3 are seven literal churches at the time that John the apostle was writing Revelation. Though they were literal churches in that time, there is also spiritual significance for churches and believers today. The first purpose is to write to the literal churches and meet their needs at that time. The second purpose is to reveal seven different types of individuals/churches throughout history and instruct them in God's truth.
A possible third purpose is using the seven churches to represent seven different periods in the history of the Church. The problem with this view is that each of the seven churches describes issues that could fit the Church in any time in its history. So although there may be some truth to the seven churches representing seven eras of the Church, too many people go into far too much speculation in order to determine which church fits which era. Instead, our focus should be on what message God is giving to us through the seven churches.
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