REVELATION – THE FINAL SEPARATION

Hi, my name is Tom, and this is TheBibleGuy.com. I was writing the book Revelation the Final Separation and got STOPPED at the Seven Churches of Asia. Why? Because I have been wrestling with this word CHURCH for over 40 years. This year it seems that all of the puzzle pieces have finally come together!

UNDERSTANDING THIS MYSTERY WILL DIRECT YOUR PATH IN THIS HOUR!

Who are the Seven Churches of Asia in the Book of Revelation?

Here is the answer right up front. What are “called” the seven churches of Asia in the Book of Revelation are… seven Jewish Synagogues. Let that sink in for a moment. The Jewish author John was not commanded by Jesus to write to the Southern Baptist convention in Georgia or the First Assembly of God in Springfield Missouri and definitely not The Roman Catholic “Church” at the Vatican! Most importantly, John was not writing to the Gentile followers of Jesus who were saved according to the Apostles Paul’s Gospel:

1 Corinthians 15:1-8

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, ² by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

³ For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received:

• that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures
• and that He was buried
• and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures
• and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve

After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

Why were these stone-building, Jewish synagogues called churches in most Bible translations? I have personally struggled with this question of the use of the word church for over 40 years. In 2024 I started the overwhelming task of writing the book Revelation the Final Separation as I felt I had a grasp on the connection of the book of Daniel to interpret the Seven Year Tribulation. But the book of Revelation does not start at the beginning of the Tribulation; it actually starts as a letter to seven groups of people. I then realized I did not know who these seven groups were as I was not satisfied with most of the traditional ideas.

1st Clue to the identity of the Seven Churches of Asia

Two Groups: Jews and Gentiles, Two Gospels: The Gospel of Jesus and the Gospel of Paul

Jesus’ Gospel

I will not do a full teaching on this subject but enough to keep to our subject about the word church.

The good news of Jesus’ Gospel was for the Jews:

• The Jewish Messiah and King had arrived
• The Kingdom of God was there
• The Holy Spirit, promised to the Jews had descended
• The Jews killed Jesus their Messiah King rejecting God like a harlot wife; being dead to God you must be born again.
• Repent for not accepting Him and killing Him on a cross
• Be baptized in water for the remission of sins
• Continue in the Lord’s Supper
• Receive the power of God through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Paul’s Gospel

The good news of Paul’s Gospel was for the Gentiles; simply believe:

• that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures
• and that He was buried
• and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures
• and that He is coming back to gather those who believe with Him in the air

The people in these seven Jewish Synagogues were mostly born again Jews who were following the Gospel of Jesus which was the Gospel of the Kingdom and still following all of the Torah and law. The very language John uses to these seven groups has nothing to do with salvation by grace alone, rather continued good works of the law.

2nd Clue to the identity of the Seven Churches of Asia

Assembly, Tabernacle, Temple, Synagogue, Mosque, Cathedral, Church

Finally after 40 years of study, prayer and costly experience I can now define the word church without offending too many.

Church what is it?  Usable meaning of the Greek word “Ekklesia”

Using original scriptural language almost every Bible teacher agrees that the word church; Greek word ekklesia, does mean assembly and people were called out to assemble. Wow that took 40 years to figure out. But this definition has also brought 2000 years of confusion of which I am now ready to explain.

History Lesson of all religious groups from the beginning of time

Picture if you can a chart where lines are drawn across the page from left to right, representing every religious group from the beginning of time. We will call the first Pagans and colored in RED, because they are ALL inspired by the demonic.

Pagans to present day Cults and their Temples

These Pagans or Cults have been around the longest as we see God calling Abram out from the practice of Pagan worship of idols. There are idols of Zeus, Athena, and some of their temple ruins still preserved to this day.  What were these Temples called? Assemblies; people were called out to assemble. We see these Pagan Cults still Assembling in Temples today which many are called churches and they will continue all the way through the Tribulation.

Abraham to Moses with the Tabernacle or church in the wilderness

Abram branched off the Pagan line and started his own line on our paper, colored in YELLOW, which continues to the right becoming the Hebrew, Jewish line as we find Moses building a Tabernacle: moveable Tent of Meeting; where (Acts 7:38) calls it the church in the wilderness where they were call out to assemble and meet with God.

From Tabernacle to Jewish Temple

Continuing the yellow colored Jewish line, King David collected all of the money and resources for his son Solomon to build the first stationary House for God called a Temple. Same word assembly or church and same phrase: people were called out to assemble. Jesus said to His disciples:

…on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom… Matthew 16:18

And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Matthew 18:17

Jewish Temple adding Jewish Synagogues

It is hard to get the exact date on the first Synagogue but we do know that when King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and the first Temple, he took the Jews into captivity to Babylon. The Jews were free to build meeting places called Synagogues; same word assembly or church and same phrase: people were called out to assemble. When the Jews returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the Temple, Synagogues were already a common structure and many more were built. Paul writing to the Jews about gathering in Synagogues:

…not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together… Hebrews 10:25

Two types of Jews and two types of Synagogues

Unbelieving Jews:

When the Temple was once again destroyed by Rome in 70 AD we find two groups of Jews; the first are Jews who did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God: Unbelieving Jews. Those Unbelieving Jews, who killed Jesus on the cross, continued to follow the law and we continue our yellow line going across our chart clear through the Tribulation. These Jews continued to build Synagogues especially since the Temple was destroyed. Same word assembly or church and same phrase: people were called out to assemble.

Believing Jews:

These would be the Jewish apostles who followed Jesus, Peter, James, John and the rest. Just as Abram branched off of the Pagan cult line on our chart and Ishmael branched off of Abraham’s line, these Believing Jews branched off from the Unbelieving Jews line and became a separate line themselves, which I have colored BLUE.

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. Acts 2:41

Yes they continued as the Church in Jerusalem or the Assembly in Jerusalem but in (Acts 8:1-3) their disciples scattered from Jerusalem and built their own Synagogues in many different cities including:

• The Seven cities of Asia
• The Seven Assemblies of Asia or
• The Seven Churches of Asia.

BUT HOLD ON, WE ARE NOT DONE!

Do you see the pattern presented here? Let’s continue.

Muslim Mosques, Assemblies, Churches from Ishmael

Remember our chart with Abram branching off from the Pagan Cult line thus starting his own line that would turn into the Jewish line? Well Abram’s first son Ishmael and his mom Hagar had to leave the camp after Abraham’s second son Isaac was born. Ishmael started his own line which I have also colored RED, called Muslims and their Assembly was called a Mosque also interpreted as church, a place to assemble.

Gentile Believers who received Paul’s Gospel of Grace and their Church

This is where most of us enter into the timeline as we are Saved Gentiles. In Paul’s ministry he would go to the Jewish Synagogues first, of which there were many Greeks or Gentiles or non-Jews who would listen. Some Jews believed Paul’s Gospel of Grace and probably joined the Believing Jews in their Synagogues. These believing Gentiles start their own line as they literally branched off of the Believing Jews line. I have colored the Believing Gentile line in Green. Where did the Jesus believing Gentiles assemble, what was their Church? Finally we understand our history! The Believing Gentiles assembled House to house! No Temple, no Synagogue, no Mosque; rather in believer’s homes. This is why we read Paul writing to the church; same word assembly or church and same phrase: people were called out to assemble.

Start with Paul’s transition statement from Temple to individual Gentiles

Do you not know that you are the temple of God (dwelling place of God, assembly, church) and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, (dwelling place of God, assembly, church) God will destroy him. For the temple of God (dwelling place of God, assembly, church) is holy, Which you are. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

Next – the Gentile Church Gathering together House to House

³ Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, ⁴ who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles, same word assembly or church and same phrase: people were called out to assemble. ⁵ Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Romans 16:3-5

¹⁵ Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas and the church that is in his house.Colossians 4:15

To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer, ² to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house, same word assembly or church and same phrase: people were called out to assemble.Philemon 1:1

Gnosticism starting around 50 AD

Around 50 AD one of the first lines that quickly branched off the pure Gentile Jesus followers was called Gnosticism. I will use the color in RED again for this schism.  The term “gnostic” derives from “gnosis,” which means “knowledge” in Greek. The Gnostics believed that they were privy to a secret knowledge about the divine Jesus, hence the name. The Gnostics history is a combination of thought from the Pagan Cults, Jewish ideas and Paul’s Gospel believing that only spiritual things are good and material things are bad or don’t really matter. Therefore any “sin” of the flesh was OK, it didn’t really matter. The goal was to have special knowledge of the spiritual, which only a few could obtain, to be saved. These false doctrines were a result of Non believing Jews attacking these Jesus followers as well as false cult teachers spreading false ideas about Paul’s Gospel. This cult also had churches: same word assembly or church and same phrase: people were called out to assemble.

320 AD Enter Constantine and Romanism

This pure pattern for the Gentiles lasted through the Roman persecution where meeting House to House was actually an illegal Underground movement up until around 320AD. Constantine the Great was the Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and history says he was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. Whether that was true or not, the fact is that Constantine was trying to unite his divided by making it legal for all religions to “worship” publicly. Did you catch that? This is not Christian; this is all religions coming together as one. I will use the color in RED again for this next schism. The truth was that Constantine freely opened public buildings called Cathedrals, churches: same word assembly or church and same phrase: people were called out to assemble.

Roman Catholicism 1600’s

While there was always and still is, a remnant of True Jesus Followers clinging to Paul’s Gospel, with the Blessed Hope of being the raptured Bride of Christ,  Romanism continued until around the 1600 where it evolved into Roman Catholicism or the Universal undivided Christian Church; what an evil farce. The next red lines in our chart that branch off of Catholicism number over 4200 branches of division to this day. From Orthodox whatever Cathedrals, Lutherans, Wesleyans, Nazorean’s, Baptists, Assemblies of God, Mormons, Non-Denominational to the Theaters of the prosperity movement, because all carry the name CHURCH: same word assembly or church and same phrase: people were called out to assemble.

Conclusion of ALL groups called The Church

As of the year 2022:

• Some Pagan Cults, some Muslims, some Believing and Non believing Jews and several divided branches from Catholicism have already joined with the Catholic Pope as a Prelude to the one world religion and their RED lines will continue through the Tribulation in the Book of Revelation.
• The small remnant of true Jesus following Gentiles will soon take their position as the Bride of Christ and their Green lines will be raptured before the Tribulation.
• The Yellow Highlight of the 144,000 Believing Jews will be raptured half way through the Tribulation.

What Assembly are you in?

The question I would present to you at this hour would be: What Assembly are you in? What Church do you go to?

• Temple of Pagan Cults
• Mosque of the Muslims
• Synagogue of Believing or Non believing Jews
• House to House of the pure Body of Christ
• Church of the New Age Gnostics
• Cathedral of the Catholics
• Theater of the false prosperity preachers

Be a good student of the Word of God and let God’s Word guide your life. Paul wrote to Timothy:

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2Timothy 2:15

That word study means exactly that, study.

Because of what you know now, when you say the word church you will need to identify what church or assembly the Bible is referring to.

If you are referring to the letter to the Seven Churches of Asia then understanding that these assemblies are actually the Seven Jewish Synagogues of Asia will bring the student to understand what Jesus was really explaining to the John the writer of The Book of Revelation.

What Assembly should you be in?

Spend some time to take inventory of this question. If the FORM you are using to promote the Gospel of Paul is heaping on rules and laws to any new or old convert then what you are doing is Ungodly. You just can’t get around it.

The Thief on the Cross

Jesus actually gave us the example of present day evangelism to every Gentile with the thief on the cross:

• No building to go to
• No water baptism; sprinkle or dunk
• No voting on pastors or deacons
• No titles
• No tithe
• No church membership
• No Sunday or Saturday meeting laws
• No funny hats, costumes or rings to kiss
• No sprinkling of blood
• No circumcision

Could it be we only need Jesus to believe in, confess to and hope for our future?

The Bible reveals that there will be people (maybe one of your loved ones) saved after the RAPTURE. Please purchase this book, write your personal testimony in the space provided & store with your Legal papers. Once you are RAPTURED your loved ones will find the book which explains where you are & have one more opportunity to accept Jesus!

Click here to read the book for FREE, but please order the paperback while it is still available! Thanks Thomas

Thomas Spencer -TheBibleGuy

Continuing Jan 1, 2025 – Journey with me as I write this exciting book, one blog at a time. Click subscribe and receive every blog in our Email!

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Thomas Spencer

TheBibleGuy.com