4. The book is inscribed to the seven Asiatic Church, and to the universal Church in the type of those.
Now, this book is inscribed ταῖς ἑπτὰ ἐκκλησίαις, ταῖς ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ, to the seven churches which are in Asia. Arethas, Bishop of Cæsarea: By the seven Churches, says he, and the septenary number he designates τὸ τῶν πανταχοῦ ἐκκλησιῶν πλῆθος, συστοίχων βίῳ παρόντι, the multitude of Churches everywhere, answering to the present life. Not otherwise does Primasius of Utica, an African Bishop, explain this septenary number. Thus our Venerable Bullinger on this passage: Therefore, this salutation, this book, and the whole doctrine of Jesus Christ written by John, pertain to the universal Church of Christ existing in all the world and through all ages. Whence also it pertains to us, as many as are in the Church of Christ. For, even if the Epistles were inscribed to the Romans and to the Galatians, it does not then follow that they are not ours. He emphatically expresses his sense in these words: The Seven Churches REPRESENT the universal Church.