els of the Seven Churches borrowed their names from these
functionaries. If so, the angel of the Church must have occupied the
same position as the angel of the synagogue, for the adoption of the
same title indicated the possession of the same office. But it was the
duty of the angel of the synagogue to offer up the prayers of the
assembly; [266:1] and as, in all the synagogues, there was worship at
the same hour, [266:2] he could, of course, be the minister of only one
congregation. If then the angel of the Church discharged the same
functions as the angel of the synagogue, it would follow that, towards
the termination of the first century, there was only one Christian
congregation in each of the seven cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos,
Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. It may, however, be fairly
questioned whether the number of disciples in every one of these places
was then so limited as such an inference would suggest. In Laodicea, and
perhaps in one or two of the other cities, [266:3] there may have been
only a single congregation; but it is scarcely probable that all the
brethren in Ephesus still met together in one assembly. About forty
years before, the Word of God "grew mightily and prevailed" [266:4] in
that great metropolis; and, among its inhabitants, Paul had persuaded
"much people" [266:5] to become disciples of Christ. But if the angel of
the Church derived his title from the angel of the synagogue, and if the
position of these two functionaries was the same, we are shut up to the
conclusion that there was now only one congregation in the capital of
the Proconsular Asia. The angel could not be in two places at the same
time; and, as it was his duty to offer up the prayers of the assembled
worshippers, it was impossible for him to minister to two congregations.

These considerations abundantly attest the futility of the imagination
that the angel of the Church was a diocesan bishop. The office of the
angel of the synagogue had, in fact, no resemblance whatever to that of
a prelate. The rank of the ancient Jewish functionary seems to have been
similar to that of a precentor in some of our Protestant churches; and
when set forms of prayer were introduced among the Israelites, it was
his duty to read them aloud in the congregation. The angel was not the
chief ruler of the synagogue; he occupied a subordinate position; and
was amenable to the authority of the bench of elders. [267:1] It is in
vain