by Kathy Beardsley
Speaking of himself, the apostle John begins his letter to the elect lady with “The elder.” Within the church, elders are most commonly known as overseers of the church who are often (but not always) elderly in age. Authority is given to them due to their title and or life-long experience.
“The creation of the office of elder is nowhere recorded in the New Testament, as in the case of deacons and apostles, because the latter offices were created to meet new and special emergencies, while the former was transmitted from the earliest times. In other words, the office of elder was the only permanent essential office of the church under either dispensation [aka ministration]. The “elders” of the New Testament church were the “pastors” Eph. 4:11 “bishops or overseers” Acts 20:28 “leaders” and “rulers” Heb. 13:7; 1 Thess. 5:12 of the flock. Everywhere in the New Testament bishop and presbyter are titles given to one and the same officer of the Christian church. He who is called presbyter or elder on account of his age or gravity [authority] is also called bishop or overseer with reference to the duty that lay upon him Titus 1:5-7; Acts 20:17-28; Phil. 1:1. (Easton)
With the definition of “elder” being what it is, it would not be inappropriate to presume the reason John chose to begin his letter with his title instead of a more personable greeting is that he is writing to a specific church rather than to an individual person. To include “and her children,” one can also assume he is speaking of the offspring churches that resulted from the parent church. Because the Bible was assembled according to importance of substance rather than to a chronological timeline it is also reasonable to believe that John’s epistles (1-3 John) were written just after Jesus revealed his testimony (the book of Revelation) to John, thus the following explanation.
The letters John is instructed to write at the start of the book of Revelation and send to the seven churches include Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Since John was on the isle of Patmos (located off the west coast of Asia Minor) with others who had been exiled he likely would not have known current events on the mainland let alone have a supply of papyrus to write on nor implements to write with. Though John was still on the isle when he saw the visions, an important clue that he was no longer on the isle when he wrote the letters and recorded the book of Revelation is given in verse nine of Rev. 1. John is introducing himself to those of the seven churches as “your brother,” and “companion in tribulation” who “was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Not only does the communication indicate he has been freed, but the implication may be seen as his absence from them had been for a time long enough that he may have been given up for dead. Now freed from imprisonment John shares his understanding of their troubles by relating that he, like them, is no stranger to persecution for his faith and testimony of Jesus. It is not specifically known when John was first exiled, but if it was during Ceasar Nero’s reign (A.D. 54-68), which is most likely, then it would have been several years earlier at least, and just prior to A.D. 70 that he was released. Hence, Rev. 1:1 “The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass;” affirms the fact that the book of Revelation and the three epistles of John were written before A.D. 70. It also brings into better focus the importance of the exhortation to walk in truth and love after his (God’s via Jesus’s) commandments. The fulfillment of Jesus’s prophecy in Matthew 24 is very close—the destruction of Jerusalem is that “which must shortly come to pass.”
Now, consider the content of the letter to the elect lady in conjunction with the timing of writing the letters to the seven churches. If John was ignorant of the churches’ status until he learned of it while he was writing the letters as dictated to him, his response would be just as we read it—“I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth…” (v. 4).
One might ask why only these seven churches received letters and not churches within Judæa or surrounding cities? One theory may be that the seven churches (and their offspring) were of Gentile origin not Jewish—these were the Gentile churches that Paul and his fellow disciples started. A look at a few of the names John references attests to this fact—Gaius, Diotrephes, and Demetrius (3 John 1, 9, 12). Though the Jews dwelt in great numbers far and wide, at the time of the Passover, the Jews were congregated in Jerusalem (John 11:55) leaving behind Gentile converts. These converted believers of Christ were spiritually accepted but were not under the same rules of Jewish customs as the natural-born Jews. For example, celebrating the Passover was only for the children of Israel who were passed over by the angel of death and brought out of Egypt, and their descendants.
Exhorting the Gentile converts to continue in the commandments as first received without surrendering to heathen compromise was of utmost importance. The reason for the wrath of destruction in A.D. 70, with the exception of a remnant, was because the Jews had turned their backs on the God they once claimed they loved and worshipped. Committing spiritual adultery, they worshipped heathen idols and sacrificed to pagan gods. They abandoned their faith and their God.
“Acceptance by God is the reward of faith; by it, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were adopted; from want of it, Ishmael, Esau, and the three eldest sons of Jacob were rejected, and finally the whole Jewish nation, the Gentiles being received instead through faith. Because of unbelief the former were broken off, and the latter [grafted in] stand by faith.” (excerpt from the summary to the book of Romans; Sunday School Teacher’s Edition Bible 1881)
To further substantiate these books being written in A.D. 68 or 69 after Nero’s death, John’s third letter is to the man named Gaius, aforementioned. There were two men noted by that name; one from Macedonia (Acts 19:29) and one from Derbe (Acts 20:4). Either could be the man to whom the letter is addressed but the key point is that both are mentioned circa A.D. 59 and 60 respectively. It is more within the realm of probability than out that John’s three letters and Revelation were written nine or ten years later just prior to the conclusion of God’s judgment upon the children of Israel in A.D. 70 rather than twenty to twenty-six years after the fulfillment of the this (Jesus’s) prophecy.
So what is the answer to the identity of the elect lady? “Elect” being defined as “chosen, favored, set apart,” and the church is sometimes spoken of in the feminine sense (symbolically), I submit that she is the highest praised church of the seven listed earlier. Only two churches were of good report having nothing against them; one more than the other. This one standing above the rest is the church at Philadelphia Rev. 3:7-12. The lesser praised “elect sister” v. 13 being Smyrna Rev. 2:8-11.
As examples go, the church at Philadelphia is one to strive toward following.
Truth with Snares!? 
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