Just as the Old Testament can be divided into the categories of the Law, history, the Prophets and Poetry; the New Testament can be divided into the Gospels, the Epistles and Revelation. Some categorize Acts as historical which is fine. Most of the letters (13 or 14 if you count Hebrews) were written by Paul – seven of them to churches that existed at the time. However, what is often overlooked is that Jesus also wrote seven letters and they are in the New Testament.
Before I go too far along on this, I want to explain a principle of biblical interpretation that I think will help in a study of these letters. It is a principle called PARDES and it comes from the Jews. You might remember them, the feature prominently in the bible. PARDES is an acronym made up of the first letters of the Hebrew words used to describe the four levels of interpretation of biblical scripture. I will supply a brief description of these levels just so you get an idea of their meanings. Not all passages have all levels of meaning. All do have a P’shat.
P – P’shat – meaning simple. It is the natural or literal interpretation of the events described given context and cultural references. This does not mean there are no figures of speech. Quite the contrary. This is just the simple most basic level of interpretation that can be applied to scripture.
R – Remez – meaning hint. All verses have a P’shat meaning, but some have an implied hidden meaning. This isn’t to say it is secret knowledge that defines doctrine. That leads to cultism. This is just that a passage may have a deeper, wider application of its meaning. One example being:
False weights and measures—the LORD surely detests both of them. (Pro 20:10)
This has the obvious simple (p’shat) meaning of not using different weights and standards among your customers to determine price, however, it can also be applied in a wider sense to not apply a different standard of fairness in your day to day dealings with other people.
D – Deh’rahsh sometimes called Midrash. It is the conceptual meaning. How the passage can be applied.
S – Sud this is the mystical meaning. One example is Jesus speaking of eating his flesh and drinking his blood. He isn’t speaking about literal cannibalism.
These four levels of interpretation can be applied to the seven letters I told you about above. I am going to simplify them by naming them, literal, hidden, application and for lack of a better word, mystic (or prophetic).
The seven letters Jesus wrote to us were dictated to John (the traditionally held youngest apostle) while he was exiled on the island of Patmos. They are found in chapter 2 and 3 of Revelation. Jesus appeared to John and instructed him to “Write on a scroll what you see, and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.“
In the literal category, these were actual seven churches that existed at the time John was writing. They indeed had the very problems (those that had problems) outlined in the letters. Each letter, however, has an admonition to “let everyone listen to what the Spirit says to the churches”. More commonly remembered as “let he who has an ear let him hear”. It is a phrase Jesus used many times. Just before the parable of the sower and the seed, in fact. Note, also, that the letters say to listen to what the Spirit says to the CHURCHES. That is plural. Therefore it is not only for the specific church addressed. Every letter here is addressed to all churches and to all peoples of those churches. That is these letters apply literally, personally and for all time. I have noticed in my life that God (and thus Jesus) never wastes anything. Here, one (seven really) letter covers three levels of meaning. Very efficient.
| Letter to Ephesus | Letter to Smyrna | Letter to Pergamum |
| Letter to Thyatira | Letter to Sardis | Letter to Philadelphia |
| Letter to Laodicea |
You might notice some things about the letters. Each has a title of the Christ appropriate to each church it is written to. All but two have a commendation. All but two have a criticism. Each of them has the admonition of “let everyone listen to what the Spirit says to the churches” in it. Each of them has a promise to the overcomer. The first three have the admonition before the promise to the overcomer. The final four have the admonition at the end.
I wrote that three levels of interpretation were clearly covered. I submit, as do others, that these also have the fourth level of interpretation. In the order they are written, they cover the history of the church age from time written of in Acts to now. The only question is where we lie on that history. Are our modern times correspondent to Laodicea? It might be. Read the letters and come to your own conclusion.
Read the letters. They hold meaning not just to the historical churches addressed, but they are for every church and every believer to apply to their lives to become overcomers. They may even be prophetic of church history. In fact, go ahead and read the entire book of Revelation. It is the only book that promises a special blessing to the reader. It is a highly symbolic book and it may not make a lot of sense but as you get to know the bible more, especially the Old Testament, it will actually begin to make some sense.