Revelation 1:11 — First of the Seven

Exiled on Patmos "for the word of God" (1:9), John hears the great voice behind him and receives an assignment with an itinerary. The seven cities are named in an order any Roman postman would recognize: land at the nearest port and ride the circuit — up the coast to Smyrna and Pergamon, then inland and around through Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. The nearest port to Patmos, and the first name dictated, is Ephesus.

First by more than geography

Ephesus earned its position twice over. It was the metropolis of Asia and, by John's day, the hearth of Asian Christianity — Paul's three-year base, Timothy's see, and by unanimous early tradition, John's own city. The letter that follows in chapter 2 reads like a message home. From these shores Patmos is nearly visible; the exile was addressing the skyline he knew best.

Standing in the verse

The harbor quarter of Ephesus is where the book of Revelation, physically, first arrived in the world — some courier walked it up from the quays into the streets you tour. For travelers who wish to go further, we happily build tailor-made routes toward the other six churches, and the story of the whole circuit is told on every biblical tour we run.