John wrote to "the seven churches that are in Asia" (Revelation 1:4), specifically, churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea (Revelation 1:11) . These cities were in the Roman province of Asia, the western part of modern day Turkey, across the Aegean Sea from Greece. He wrote as a partner in tribulation while confined to the island called Patmos, a small Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea about 35 miles west of Miletus.
Conditions in the churches of Asia at the time of writing can be inferred from the letters to the churches in chapters two and three. Two churches faced hardships caused by Jews. The church in Smyrna faced tribulation and poverty and slander by the Jews. As a consequence, some of them would be tested and imprisoned for ten days (Revelation 2:9-10). The church in Philadelphia had kept Christ's word and not denied his name while they also endured hardships caused by the Jews (3:8-10). In a third church, certain men found to be false apostles may have had Jewish connections (2:2). Hardships created by Jews were not new but no longer seemed to constitute the majority of the hardships as they had during the lifetime of Paul.
In one church, the church in Pergamum, a saint by the name of Antipas had been slain because he held fast to the name of Christ and did not deny the faith (2:13). The explanation for his death was that Satan dwelled in Pergamum (an allusion to Pergamum being a center of worship for Asklepios, whose symbol was a serpent) and that Satan's throne was there (an allusion to the seat of the Roman Proconsul and to the first temple of the Imperial cult in Asia). Apparently Antipas had offended Roman and religious authorities in some manner. Still, persecution resulting in death must have been comparatively rare at the time because Antipas is the only one mentioned in the seven letters as dying for the faith.
Two churches had compromised with the pagan world in order to participate in the social and economic benefits enjoyed by those who gave at least a token recognition of the patron gods of the cities and trade guilds. Although those in the church in Sardis had soiled their garments by compromising with the pagan world (3:4), they had gained a reputation for being alive (3:1). They were no longer social outcasts in fear of their lives. Although Jesus considered the church in Laodicea to be shamefully naked and destitute because of her compromise with the pagan world, the church herself said, "I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing" (3:17) making herself uncomfortably like Babylon the Great in 18:7 and 16. By compromising with pagan society, Sardis enjoyed security, and Laodicea enjoyed economic prosperity.
False teachers in several other churches were advocating compromise with the pagan world. In Pergamum, false teachers held the teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans who taught people to eat food sacrificed to idols and to practice sexual immorality (2:14-15). The Nicolaitans were also active in Ephesus (2: 6). The church in Thyatira tolerated the prophetess Jezebel, who bore the family resemblance of the Great Prostitute in Revelation 17. Jezebel also encouraged the saints to compromise with the pagan world (2:20). The faithful in all three cities, however, were commended for their patient endurance (2:2-3, 13, 19), which apparently meant that they shared the hardships of being social outcasts and living in poverty rather than compromising their faith.
Taken together, these accounts give a picture of some Jewish persecution in two cities (Smyrna and Philadelphia), imperial and pagan persecution in one city (Pergamum), and the seduction of pagan wealth and pleasure in five cities (Sardis, Laodicea, Pergamum, Ephesus, and Thyatira). Therefore, we should look for a time when there was some persecution from both Jewish and imperial sources, but when the greatest threat to the churches was the seduction of pagan culture.
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