Read Revelation’s 7 Letters as Pastoral Epistles

When you identify the New Testament’s Pastoral Epistles, which books do you include? Most Bible commentaries group 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus together in this category. Some may include Philemon as well. But I contend there are seven additional overlooked pastoral epistles in the New Testament.

Because they’re found in a book of the apocalyptic genre, we usually don’t associate what Jesus says to seven churches in Revelation 2–3 as directed toward pastors. The challenge of translating the phrase “to the angel of the church in . . .” has obscured Jesus’s vital message to pastors about his care and love for them.

Why do I think this repeated phrase should be understood as addressing seven pastors? Here are seven reasons.

1. The Greek word angelos can be translated ‘messenger.’

Let’s start with the “angel.” Each of the seven letters begins with the phrase “to the angel of the church in . . .” That phrase concludes with the name of a specific city where each church is located. What does Jesus mean by “the angel of the church”? The New Testament does speak of angels present in our corporate worship (1 Cor. 11:10, cf. Heb. 12:22), but we don’t usually think of angels shepherding our churches. Yet the Greek term for “angel” is translated consistently as “messenger” in the New Testament. It can refer to both human persons (Matt. 11:10) and spiritual beings (1:20).

In this case, it seems more likely that Jesus refers to the one who reads the letter before the congregation in each city, most likely the pastor or an elder. This interpretation isn’t innovative. It’s been suggested by faithful expositors across denominational traditions from the early church to today, teachers like Augustine of Hippo, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, Peter Leithart, and John MacArthur.

2. As the leader goes, so goes the church.

The Bible is filled with times when God addresses the leaders of his covenant people as the people’s representatives. As the leaders go, so goes the church. Since Jesus is writing to address particular needs and concerns in each of these churches, it seems logical (and wise) for him to begin by addressing the leaders who will be involved in carrying out the needed changes.

3. The issues presented in each letter require pastoral oversight.

Who can help an entire congregation not to abandon their first love (Rev. 2:4)? Who should correct false teachers that have run amok in the church (vv. 19–20)? Who will tell the church to persevere and endure the coming suffering (3:10–12)? You need a leader, an elder, a pastor to support and direct the church through these complicated issues. Yes, Gabriel spoke directly to Zehcariah’s spiritual blindness (Luke 1:18–20), but more typically this is a pastor’s role with his congregation.

4. The responsibility for repentance falls on the church and its leaders, not on an angelic being.

Repentance is a personal responsibility. While there are certainly corporate sins a church or community can be guilty of, the act of repentance must come personally. So when Jesus calls for repentance in Revelation’s letters (2:5, 16, 22; 3:3, 19), he’s calling the “messenger,” or pastor, and the members of his congregation to repent, not a spiritual being who merely represents the church as a corporate entity.

This reading corresponds with how the New Testament regularly speaks of pastors as responsible for calling their congregations to repentance. The writer of Hebrews, for example, makes no qualms about telling the church to obey their pastors. Similarly, in the Old Testament, Ezra the leader confessed his sins first then led the congregation in repentance for their corporate sin (Ezra 9–10). In each case, the responsibility for keeping watch over a congregation’s souls falls on its leadership. They’ll give an account for the health of the people (Heb. 13:17).

5. Revelation is bookended with blessings for messengers.

The entire book of Revelation is framed around the proclamation of the cosmic victory of Jesus and the consummation of all things. At the book’s start, a blessing is pronounced on “the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it” (1:3). These words assume a leader (probably a pastor) would read the book of Revelation to his congregation. He’s to be commended for that.

At the end of Revelation, both blessing and warning are given to the ones who share, hear, and keep unadulterated the message of this book (22:7, 16, 18–19). This bookend makes clear that church leaders, specifically pastors, have a significant role in carrying forward Jesus’s word to the churches.

6. The message of Revelation provides hope for God’s people, and that’s a big part of the pastor’s job.

The book concludes with Jesus’s statement of intent: “I . . . have sent my angel [messenger] to testify to you about these things for the churches (22:16, emphasis mine). It’s intended to strengthen, encourage, and fortify the church with good news that though Jesus’s church may suffer and die at the hands of the “Babylon” powers they live among, Jesus will return to rule and reign and make all things new.

The entire book of Revelation is framed around the proclamation of the cosmic victory of Jesus and the consummation of all things.

Jesus wouldn’t have a view of the church and its leadership here that’s inconsistent with the church structure given elsewhere in the New Testament. He’s appointed pastors and elders for his churches, not angelic beings. So it seems fitting to read the letters as addressing pastors from the outset, to understand it’s their job to proclaim the book’s truths and lead their people in hope.

7. I need a word from Jesus.

I’ll close with a subjective reason for my approach to these letters as pastoral epistles. Nothing has helped my spiritual growth, leadership development, and understanding of my security and standing in Christ more than reading them as if they were written to me.

As a pastor, I’ve faced most of the issues in the seven letters. My love has grown cold. I’ve had to confront immorality, endure slander, repent, and lean on friendships. When I read and hear these letters as letters to me, a pastor, Jesus’s strength and his promises spur me on to persevere. I’m reminded again and again that I belong to Jesus and he is enough for me.