Recently, in a discussion with someone, my correspondent said that Revelation 1-3 talks about the seven ages of the church. I asked him to explain what he meant by that, but he either didn’t know or he was unable to explain it. Of course, the Bible does not mention what he was talking about, but a search of the Internet yielded some information. Apparently, Hal Lindsay and some others believe this doctrine. Since he wrote The Late Great Planet Earth, where he described several flights of fancy (and presented it as truth), hold on to your hats; this theory is also far out.
Although people who hold this view probably believe that Jesus wrote the seven letters to seven churches in Asia, they also think that the seven letters are prophetic—in that they describe seven ages of future history, beginning in the first century and lasting until “the tribulation” or the “rapture” or some other non-Biblical designation. That is to say, each church letter represents a period of history. One version can be found on a website dealing with “The Seven Churches of the Apocalypse.” Below is their chart.
1. The Church in Ephesus: Apostolic Church (A.D. 33–100)
2. The Church in Smyrna: Era of Persecution Under the Ten Caesars (A.D. 100–312)
3. The Church in Pergamum: Era of Church-State Union (A.D. 312–590)
4. The Church in Thyatira: Era Spanning the Middle Ages (A.D. 590–1517)
5. The Church in Sardis: Protestant Reformation (A.D. 1517–1750)
6. The Church in Philadelphia: Era of Revival and Great Awakening (A.D. 1750–1925)
7. The Church in Laodicea: Era of “Higher Criticism” (A.D. 1900–Tribulation)
If none of it makes any sense, the reason is that it is not Biblical. Nowhere does the book of Revelation teach that the seven letters are describing seven church ages. This notion was invented by men without any Divine statement (or even hint of such a thing). Considering number 2, it is true that persecution broke out in Smyrna and that Christians suffered persecution on and off until the Edict of toleration, but what happened in Smyrna was before A.D. 100, and so was the persecution under Domitian. So, the dates are off at the very outset. The Protestant Reformation occurs at the “time” of Sardis, when the church was dead. There’s not a word of truth in any of this; it is all guesswork. We are all far better off to remain with what the Scriptures actually teach rather than playing games with them.