2. “ What thou seest, write in a book"--1:11. The voice appointed John to be only the amanuensis of Jesus Christ--only the scribe of documents that were not his own; the mere chronicler of events of a supernatural apocalypse. 3. “ And send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia"--1: 11. This oracular command of the Addresser in this scene specified the seven churches as the addressees, and named them. Again, here is the indication of the period and date of the visions. If the seven churches were figurative, as some authors claim, why this factual designation of the actual names and locations of figurative churches. The argument for the early date of Revelation, as previously shown, is in the historical fact that there were only the seven churches in these western Asian provinces before the destruction of Jerusalem, but after that event the churches became numerous by the diffusion of Christianity over the empire, the opportunity for which was greatly enhanced by the removal of Judaism, its greatest foe, from the path of the church. It has been more than once mentioned that such eminent scholars as Schaff, Terry and MacDonald (and others) verify the historical fact that after the Great Earthquake (before the destruction of Jerusalem) the churches at Colosse and Hierapolis did not again maintain a separate existence, but consolidated with the nearby Laodicean church. Concluding his remarks on this point in The Life And Writings Of John, page 154, MacDonald says: “ There appear to have been but seven churches in Asia . . . when the book was written. It is dedicated to these seven alone by the careful mention of them one by one by name, as if there were no others. . . . The expression ‘ the seven churches’ seems to imply that this constituted the whole number, and hence affords one of the most striking incidental proofs in favor of an early date. . . . Those who contend for the later date, when there must have been a greater number of churches than seven in the region designated by the apostle fail to give any sufficient reason for his mentioning no more. That they mystically or symbolically represented others is surely not such a reason.” Again, Doctor Tilloch, in his work entitled Dissertations, says “ There were but seven churches in Asia when the Revelation was written.” The historical evidences from these, and many others, cannot be spurned or waived aside with a theoretical assertion. It is weighty evidence that the visions of Revelation were composed before the destruction of Jerusalem. The history of these cities and churches supports John’ s specific statement. It is a vital point in the divergence of view on the chronology of Revelation. It involves the claim that the church at Colossae is an example of another Asian church than the seven mentioned, but as previously proven by historical data, Colossae was destroyed by the earthquake in the reign of Nero, and was not thereafter identified by that name, but merged with the Laodiceans, as was true of other cities and churches in the region. In his own one volume work titled A Dictionary Of The Bible, Philip Schaff, commenting on Laodicea, makes the following statement: “ When, in the middle of the first century of our era, an earthquake destroyed Colossae, Hierapolis and Laodicea, the latter was rebuilt by its own inhabitants without any aid from the Roman senate.” The casual reader cannot fail to observe the significance of the statement that “ the latter (Laodicea) was rebuilt,” which, mentioned in direct connection with Colossae and Hierapolis, can only mean that these two were not rebuilt. Laodicea was rebuilt, but Colosse and Hierapolis were not. This accounts for the disbanding of the two churches as separate congregations, and refutes the claim that there were more than the seven churches in the period when the Apocalypse was composed. If the facts of history mean anything at all, there is firm proof here for the pre-Destruction of Jerusalem date for John’ s Patmos apocalypse.