“John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;”
John to the seven churches that are in Asia — grace to you and peace from the one who is and who was and who is to come — the greeting modifies the traditional Pauline form to emphasize God's eternal transcendence with the formula echoing Exodus 3:14. The seven churches represent both actual congregations in Asia Minor and, in the apocalyptic symbolic register, the fullness of the church universal across all time.
Church Fathers on Revelation 1:4
“Grace unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come.” He is, because He endures continually; He was, because with the Father He made all things, and has at this time taken a beginning from the Virgin; He is to come, because assuredly He will come to judgment. “And from the seven spirits which are before His throne.” We read of a sevenfold spirit in Isaiah, — namely, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, of…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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