Towards the close of the first century the Apostle John must have been regarded with extraordinary veneration by his Christian brethren.  He was the last survivor of a band of men who had laid the foundations of the New Testament Church; and he was himself one of the most honoured members of the little fraternity, for he had enjoyed peculiarly intimate fellowship with his Divine Master.  Our Lord, “in the days of His flesh,” had permitted him to lean upon His bosom; and he has been described by the pen of inspiration as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” [269:5] All accounts concur in representing him as most amiable and warm-hearted; and as he had now far outlived the ordinary term of human existence, the snows of age must have imparted additional interest to a personage otherwise exceedingly attractive.  It is not to be supposed that such a man was permitted in apostolic times to pine away unheeded in solitary exile.  The small island which was the place of his banishment was not far from the Asiatic metropolis, and the other six cities named in the Apocalypse were all in the same district as Ephesus.  It was, therefore, by no means extraordinary that seven messengers from seven neighbouring Churches, to all of which he was well known, are found together in Patmos on a visit to the venerable confessor.

This explanation satisfies all the conditions required by the laws of interpretation.  Whilst it reveals a concern for the welfare of John quite in keeping with the benevolent spirit of apostolic times, it is also simple and sufficient.  In prophetic language a star usually signifies a ruler, and it is probable that the angels sent to Patmos were selected from among the elders, or rulers, of the Churches with which they were respectively connected; for, it is well known that, at an early period, elders, or presbyters, were frequently appointed to act as messengers or commissioners. [270:1] We may thus perceive, too, why the letters are addressed to the angels, for in this case they were the official organs of communication between the apostle and the religious societies which they had been deputed to represent.  It is obvious that the instructions contained in the epistles were designed, not merely for the angels individually, but for the communities of which they were members; and hence the exhortation with which each of them concludes—­“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches.” [270:2] When the apostle was honoured with the vision, he was directed to write out an account of what he saw, and to “send it unto the Seven Churches which are in Asia;” [270:3] and this interpretation explains how he transmitted the communication; for, as Christ is said to have “sent and signified” His Revelation “by his angel unto his servant John,” [271:1] so John, in his turn, conveyed it by the seven angels to the Seven Churches.  It was, no doubt, thought that the messengers undertook a most perilous