According to church tradition, sometime after ministering at the church in Jerusalem the apostle John moved his ministry to Ephesus, one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire. From Ephesus John ministered to several other churches in the province of Asia, and his letters of 1, 2, and 3 John were likely addressed to churches in or around Ephesus. Later, however, John was exiled to the island of Patmos, and there he recorded visions of the end of the world. Included in his visions were messages specifically addressed to seven different churches throughout Asia, and each message was listed in the order that a courier likely would have delivered it to the church addressed (Revelation 1:11).
