Love Letters

When John sees Jesus in glory (Revelation 1:9-20), he describes him from head to toe and back (vv. 14-16). It’s a wasf, a blazon, like the descriptions of the Song of Songs. Jesus is the Lover, and He commissions John as His amanuensis to write love letters to His bride. We know these letters as the “Letters to the Seven Churches.”

John describes seven features of Jesus’ person: 

1. Head and hair white like wool

2. Eyes

like flame of fire

3. Feet
like burnished bronze

4. Voice
like many waters

5. Stars in
right hand

6.
Two-edged sword from the mouth

7. Face
like sun

At the introduction of each of the lover letters, Jesus describes himself, but only four of the seven features are mentioned in the letters – numbers 2, 3, 5, 6. When writing to the churches at the beginning of the prophecy, he leaves out His head and hair, His thunderous Voice, His sun-face. 

Over the course of the book, each of these is unveiled. His shining head and hair become a crown (14:14; 19:12); His voice, joined with the voice of the saints, becomes oceanic (14:2; 19:6); in the new Jerusalem, the Lamb is the ever-shining (21:22; 22:5). What John sees in full, the letters give only in fragments. It’s not until the end of the prophecy that the seven churches see Jesus in His full glory, because it is only when the saints join Him that He is finally and consummately crowned; only with the saints does Jesus find His voice; only in the bridal city does He shine like a sun. What John sees is the eschatological Bridegroom, what the Bridegroom will look when He has consummated His marriage. What is presented in the messages are glimpses of the bridegroom to come.

More specifically, as James Jordan has pointed out, the messages anticipate the vision of 19:7-16, the marriage supper of the Lamb and the vision of the Lamb’s army:

19:7. Marriage supper – Laodicea (dinner)

19:8
& 14. White linen – Sardis (white garments promised)

19:11.
Faithful and True – Philadelphia (Holy and True)

19:12.
Eyes a flame of fire – Thyatira (eyes of flame)

19:12.
Many crowns – Smyrna & Philadelphia (crown of life promised)

19:12.
New secret name on Him – Pergamum (secret new name)

19:15.
Sharp sword from mouth – Pergamum (sword of mouth)

19:15.
Rule with rod of iron – Thyatira (rule with rod of iron promised)

(No
direct allusion to Ephesus) 

Again, what is fragmentary in the letters is presented in full in chapter 19.

Each letter also promises some blessing to those who overcome, and Jordan observes that these too are taken up again at the end of the book, in chapter 21-22: 

21:7. Overcomers –
all churches

21:8.
Second death – Smyrna (no second death
promised)

21:14.
Foundation stones with names – Pergamum
(name on stone)

21:22.
God as Temple – Philadelphia (pillar in
Temple promised)

21:25.
Gates never closed – Philadelphia (open
door)

21:23.
God as light – Ephesus & Sardis (7
stars); Thyatira (morning star)

21:27.
Book of Life – Sardis (not to be erased,
promised)

22:1.
Throne of God – Laodicea (Throne
promised)

21:2.
Tree of Life – Ephesus (Tree of Life
promised)

22:4.
Christ’s Name on foreheads
-Philadelphia (Name on pillar promised) 

The promises of the letters, in short, describe the bridal city that is only seen in completeness at the end of the book. Both the Bridegroom and the Bride are revealed partially and in fragments at the outset; by the end of Revelation, they are both fully revealed.

This suggests that the movement of the book is the gradual “revelation of Jesus Christ.” As the saints endure through suffering witness, Jesus shows more of Himself. Through the events of the book, He will prove Himself
the snow-haired Ancient of Days, speak to them with a Voice of thunder, shine His sun-face
on them. By the same token, by overcoming,
they are being formed into the army and bride of Jesus, the bride who will see
Jesus face-to-face in a marriage supper, the bridal city that will be the
ultimate tabernacling of God with man. 

And this is where the love letters come in. To reach the point where Jesus is fully unveiled and the church is fuller herself, the churches must
hear the messages from Jesus, the Lover. Each letter is sent to an “angel” of the church, who, as a friend of the Bridegroom, prepares the Bride for her wedding. Jesus’ messages prepare the churches to be a bride adorned for her husband, a bride ready to see her husband unveiled, a bride without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.