We continue with the messages to the churches in Revelation 2. Next is the message to the church in Smyrna. This is modern day Ismir, a rich seaport city in Turkey that lies on the Aegean Sea about 50 miles north of Ephesus. The Aegean Sea is the body of water connected to the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Turkey.
Again, read the passage for yourself (2:8-11). In the KJV verse 9 mentions works, tribulation and poverty. However, the best original texts have only tribulation and poverty. It’s worth noting that the original basically says, “I know your affliction and poverty, but you are rich”. The point is that what the world has to offer in riches is nothing compared to what God has to offer those who follow Him (Luke 12:16-34; James 2:5). As in all the early churches, affliction, tribulation and persecution was part of the experience of those who accepted Christ and went against the prevailing religious norms and idolatrous cultures.
The church there existed from early apostolic times, and was thought to be mainly Jewish. So, you also see in verse 9, “(I know) the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, but are not – they are of the synagogue of Satan.” As in most other instances during this time, as soon as a fellowship of believers developed, the Judaizers would come in and try to subvert it by insisting that Jewish rituals and customs be observed. This is by definition (the synagogue of Satan) a satanic plot to perpetuate a dead religion, and destroy the reality of a New Covenant in Christ.
When you follow the history of these early churches, they resisted this corruption in the beginning, but eventually succumbed to it. There is a lesson to be learned in this. When not consistently guarded against, the flesh over time finds ease and comfort in following the support and acceptance of the religious crowd, instead of the resistance and isolation of following Christ. Remember in Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus made it clear that we should choose the way that is full of pressure and stress when He contrasted the narrow gate that leads to life with the broad road that leads to destruction.
This brings us to verse 10. First He tells these believers not to fear the things they will suffer. God often warns people when they are going to face suffering. There are several good references in the Old Testament and in the New (look at Matthew 10:16-31 for an example). Then He says the devil will have them thrown in prison to test them. There are several things here. First is the fact that God has always allowed Satan to test believers (remember Job?). In Matthew 4, Jesus was tested by Satan to illustrate His purity and the fact that this world had nothing to offer that appealed to Him. Jesus tells Peter in Luke 22:31 that Satan had obtained permission (exaiteo, to obtain by asking) “to sift you like wheat”.
The second thing is that God also tests believers. We’ve talked about this before, and it bears repeating. Why does God test us? Is it because He doesn’t know how we’re going to respond? He’s the One who knows the beginning and the end. Testing is never for His benefit; it’s always for ours. When you look at the Scriptures you find trials (testing) and suffering mentioned together. In Hebrews 5:8 Paul tells us Jesus “learned obedience through the things He suffered”. If we’re paying attention, like Jesus, we can learn what the Father wants us to do when we go through times of testing. You can read my article “More on Suffering” to get a detailed explanation.
Then testing can expose our weaknesses. What happens when we fail a test? Do we feel remorse or regret? Do we wish we had responded differently? Do we have a sense that we did not do what God wanted us to do or what He gave us opportunity to do? Never fear. When we fail a test, we usually get to face it again at some point.
The main point of testing is found in I Peter 5:8. This is my paraphrase used in the article: "And the God Who is generous in giving His favor and blessing, the One Who has called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, will make you everything that He wants you to be, then you’ll never change, you’ll never suffer again and that’s the way it will be forever." God uses testing to mold and shape us into what He wants us to be, the image of His Son. Every time we respond correctly to testing we become more like Christ! Then He promises the time will come when the testing will end forever. I like that part.
Now, there’s a couple of other things we need to look at here. First is the reference to ten days in verse 10. There is an explanation in some commentaries that explain this as ten persecutions endured by this church from 64 to 310 AD. This is a span of 246 years. This message was written to believers in John’s day (though the message is appropriate for all believers in this age). They didn’t live that long. It’s best to take this as a literal ten days, as specific references to time in Revelation tend to be literal. And, the next phrase in the verse says, “be faithful even to death”. It is assumed then that those who would suffer this persecution would be killed. This is then confirmed by the next statement, “and I will give you a crown of life”.
That there were martyrs during this time is a fact of history. And there will be many more in the future, as we have seen in our study of the tribulation in Revelation. There are, of course, those who take a dim view of a God who would sit idly by while His followers suffer death. They say, “How could a loving God allow such a thing to happen?” Believers have to know what He knows – that is, what is on the other side of death for those who love Him. Psalm 116:15 says it best, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.”
The message to the church in Smyrna ends with another promise: those who overcome will not be hurt by the second death (eternal separation from God).