of the Seven Churches
Ephesus 60 million 32-100 AD (~70 years, 2 generations @40 years per generation)
Smyrna 120 million 160-320 (~160 years, 4 generations)
Pergamum 245 million 320-600 AD (~280 years, 7 generations)
Thyatira 1200 million 300-1500 AD (~1200 years, 30 generations)
Sardis 180 million 1500-1650 (~150 years, 4 generations)
Philadelphia 100 million 1850-1930 AD (~80 years, 2 generations)
Laodicea 900 million 1930-present (~90 years, 3 generations)
This article is about the transcendence of God, His Verticality. He is also Immanent.
As the "high and lofty One who inhabits eternity," God experiences our past, present and future as eternally "now."
If we think of God as living in the Third Heaven, above the stars, then there are lower tiers of heaven also.
There is an eternal temple up there
seen in Revelation 16.
Lower down is Supreme Headquarters, described in Revelation 4 and 5.
Lower still is the orbiting city of New Jerusalem.
The Apostle John visited there in a vision in AD 95.
Let's visit New Jerusalem and the Mezzanine
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Each of the Seven Churches has had its "day in the sun."
All seven churches existed at the end of the First Century.
The Apostle John showed up at the end of the Apostolic Church (Ephesus) as persecution was increasing.
The Church of Smyrna then prevailed for a season estimated to have lasted about 160 years.
The colored lines above suggest the time season when each of the seven churches had the greatest influence in the world.
Note that the influence of the Church of Thyatira lasted about 1200 years!
Notice how the population of the world has been increasing. The last church, Laodicea, therefore probably has the greatest number of members.
In our new resurrection bodies we can probably visit the entire 2000 year history of the true church.
Saints from the entire 2000 year hitory of the church will all arrive in the City together at the Rapture.
The Data in the Chart Below is Highly Tentative
See:
The Seven Churches of New Jerusalem
When a believer dies, in any age of church history, he or she leaves time and enters eternity.
He or she then time travels to the Rapture of the Church (which hasn't happened yet in earth time).
All believers get to heaven at the same "time."
New Jerusalem, the orbiting city is ready and waiting, but presently unoccupied.
The Great Uncovering
The Last One Percent
The Story of Two Sisters
Jerusalem: An Adulterous Woman
The Excluded Ones
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Notes by Lambert Dolphin