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1Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them. 4They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.

5Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under the sky. 6When this sound was heard, the multitude came together and were bewildered, because everyone heard them speaking in his own language. 7They were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Behold, aren’t all these who speak Galileans? 8How do we hear, everyone in our own native language? 9Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, 10Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabians—we hear them speaking in our languages the mighty works of God!” 12They were all amazed and were perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13Others, mocking, said, “They are filled with new wine.”

14But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and spoke out to them, “You men of Judea and all you who dwell at Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words. 15For these aren’t drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is only the third hour of the day. 16But this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel:

17‘It will be in the last days, says God,

that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.

Your sons and your daughters will prophesy.

Your young men will see visions.

Your old men will dream dreams.

18Yes, and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days,

I will pour out my Spirit, and they will prophesy.

19I will show wonders in the sky above,

and signs on the earth beneath:

blood, and fire, and billows of smoke.

20The sun will be turned into darkness,

and the moon into blood,

before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.

21It will be that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

22“Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him among you, even as you yourselves know, 23him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed; 24whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. 25For David says concerning him,

‘I saw the Lord always before my face,

for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.

26Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced.

Moreover my flesh also will dwell in hope,

27because you will not leave my soul in Hades,

neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.

28You made known to me the ways of life.

You will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

29“Brothers, I may tell you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31he foreseeing this, spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul wasn’t left in Hades, and his flesh didn’t see decay. 32This Jesus God raised up, to which we all are witnesses. 33Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you now see and hear. 34For David didn’t ascend into the heavens, but he says himself,

‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit by my right hand

35until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’

36“Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

37Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

38Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.” 40With many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”

41Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls. 42They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer. 43Fear came on every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44All who believed were together, and had all things in common. 45They sold their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all, according as anyone had need. 46Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved.

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Asia

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Region
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39.640, 31.033

John Writes to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor

 Site Study | Hershel Wayne House | Patmos

The apostle John identifies several congregations of believers in southwestern Asia Minor (Turkey), in a clockwise path from the southwest, to whom he sent this book. The first one mentioned in his letter is Ephesus, where he apparently lived, and the remainder on a Roman circuit, which are  Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea (Rev 1:11 lists each of these).1

John greets his readers similar to the apostle Paul, with the Greek and Hebrew words grace (charis, a Greek greeting) and peace (shalom, a Hebrew greeting), from the eternal God (Heb 13:8) and (most likely) the seven spirits before the throne.2 The apostle Paul greets in a similar manner to churches to whom he wrote. This grace and peace comes from the eternal God and the seven Spirits who are before His throne. 

These seven Spirits may refer to the seven angels of the seven churches in chapters 2-3, to the seven angels mentioned in Rev 8:2, or to the fullness of the Spirit of God referred to in Isaiah 11:2.3 At times numbers in the book of Revelation, and other places in the Bible, have meaning beyond the literal meaning of the text.4

  1. See Map of Seven Churches. ↩︎

  2. See the Word Study on grace and peace in 1 Corinthians 1:3. ↩︎

  3. See the discussion on the "seven spirits of God" in Isaiah 11:2. ↩︎

  4. Reference to John Jefferson Davis, Biblical Numerology: A Basic Study of the Use of Numbers in the Bible. ↩︎

Copyright © 2026 Hershel Wayne House. All rights reserved.

Seven Churches in Asia Minor (NKJV)

 Site Study | Hershel Wayne House

When John wrote his work to the seven churches, what is today known as Turkey was known as Asia Minor. The Revelation of John was specifically addressed to churches in seven communities within an area with fifty miles on each side. The letters are addressed clockwise from the church at Ephesus to Laodicea. John's method of address begins with a common greeting that includes the Greek word for grace (charis) and the Hebrew greeting for peace (shalom). The origin of this grace and peace comes from the eternal God and the seven spirits of God (most likely a reference to Isaiah 11:2). Some have argued that the seven spirits speak of the angels (chs 2 and 3) or pastors of the seven churches. More likely, the text speaks of the Old Testament passage of Isaiah 11:2.

The Seven Churches in Asia

 Site Study | Gary W Derickson

1:4  John now communicates God’s greetings to the seven churches, which were the original recipients of this Revelation. Their location is identified as “Asia,” the designation given to the region by the Romans. Today, it is often referred to as Asia Minor in light of our knowledge of the existence of East Asia. We are also introduced to the first trinitarian formula in Revelation. The order of the members of the Godhead differs from other parts of the New Testament, identifying God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and then the Son. However, it reminds us that the members of the Godhead are co-equal.

     God the Father is identified as the eternal One, “who is and who was and who is to come.” The grammatical construction of this title emphasizes the eternality of God, present, past, and future. It involves a solecism, which means that it uses Hebrew grammar with Greek words. Here, the title is in the nominative case, which is normally used for the subject of a sentence. However, it is the place of a direct object and so should, in normal Greek grammar, be in the accusative case. In Hebrew, God’s names and titles are always in the nominative case even when not the subject of the sentence. This is a sign of respect for God and recognizes that He is the subject of the universe. 

     The Holy Spirit is referred to as “the seven Spirits” before God’s throne. Later, in chapter 4 the Holy Spirit will be symbolized by a menorah with seven lamps.

Copyright © 2026 Gary W Derickson. All rights reserved.
Person & place data: Theographic Bible Metadata by Robert Rouse (Viz.Bible), CC BY-SA 4.0.