Richard Bauckham in his book, The Theology of the Book of Revelation, says this:
John's work belongs to the apocalyptic tradition of visionary disclosure, in which a seer is taken in vision to God's throne-room in heaven to learn the secrets of the divine purpose (cf., e.g., i Enoch 14-16; 46; 6o:1-6; 71; 2 Enoch 20-i; Ap. Abr. g-18). John (and thereby his readers with him) is taken up into heaven in order to see the world from the heavenly perspective. He is given a glimpse behind the scenes of history so that he can see what is really going on in the events of his time and place.
The throne is the heavenly temple. What does John see from there? That's where the messages to the churches enter the picture:
The whole book of Revelation is a circular letter addressed to seven specific churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea (I:I I; cf. I:4; 22:16). They are probably named in the order in which they would be visited by a messenger starting from Patmos. ...
Thus the call to conquer, addressed to the Christians in each of the seven churches in chapters 2-3, is a call to engage in the eschatological battle ....
In future posts I will discuss the message given to each church.
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Quotes in green text are from Bauckham, Richard. 1993. The Theology of the Book of Revelation, Cambridge [England]; New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press.
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