Revelation 13:9

If anyone has an ear, let him hear.
As when Jesus taught, prior to the formation of the church, all people are enjoined to hear (Mtt. Mat. 11:15). Unlike Revelation Rev. 2:1+ and Rev. 3:1+, there is no mention made of the seven churches which are no longer present upon the earth.

A textual clue found in Revelation Rev. 13:9+ has led many Bible interpreters to the conclusion that those addressed in Revelation Rev. 13:10+ are not the seven churches of Asia Minor but rather, consist of a different group all together. When Christ addressed the seven churches of Asia Minor in Revelation Rev. 2:1+-Rev. 3:1+, He always used the phrase, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches ” (Revelation Rev. 2:7+, Rev. 2:11+, Rev. 2:17+, Rev. 2:29+; Rev. 3:6+, Rev. 3:13+, Rev. 3:22+). . . . Conspicuously missing from this phrase [in Rev. Rev. 13:9+] are the words “what the Spirit says to the churches.” [emphasis added]¹

Those who have an ear, but choose not to hear do so because of pride. This is the major sin of the end and of our own day:

Hear and give ear: Do not be proud, for the LORD has spoken. Give glory to the LORD your God before He causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death And makes it dense darkness. (Jer. Jer. 13:15-16)

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Notes

¹ Andy Woods, “Revelation 13 and the First Beast,” in Tim LaHaye and Thomas Ice, eds., The End Times Controversy (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2003), 239.