I’d like to begin this morning by reading a portion of an article from the January 2008 issue of “Christianity Today” titled “A Victorious Family.”
[Read first part of article].
We’ll come back and finish this account of Necati and Semse a little later, but there are some amazing parallels between the difficulty of living for Jesus in present day Izmir and what the church there in Smyrna faced at the end of the first century AD. Let’s read Jesus’ message to that church, beginning in Revelation chapter 2, verse 8:
8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life. 9 “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’
Since this message follows the same general structure as the other six, we’ll use the outline that we developed last week to examine this passage.
1. Church - Smyrna
The name of the city – Smyrna – is the same Greek word that is translated myrrh elsewhere in the New Testament. Myrrh was an aromatic substance that was taken from a thorny bush and then crushed in order to make a perfume and it was also used in the preparation of a dead body for burial. This is a perfect picture of the church there, which, as we’ll see, yielded its sweet aroma as it was being crushed.
Smyrna, which was located about 35 miles north of Ephesus, was a commercial center on the shore of the Aegean Sea. It was a proud and beautiful city who stamped their coins with the phrase “First City of Asia in Size and Beauty”. The city had been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times, most recently in 290 BC and the people were proud of its “resurrection”.
Smyrna also had a long history of supporting the Roman government, becoming the first city to build a temple in honor of the goddess of Rome in 195 BC. Later, in 23 BC, they built a temple to Caesar Augustus and two years later won the right to build a temple to Tiberius, beating out seven other cities.
We know very little about how the church in Smyrna began. It is not mentioned anywhere in the book of Acts. More than likely, it was founded some time during Paul’s three year stay in Ephesus, but we can’t be sure. What little information we have about the church comes from the description here in Revelation. However, we do know that this is the only one of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 that still exists today. The city has been renamed Izmir and it is the third largest city in Turkey. And, as we saw in the article I read, there is still a faithful remnant of Christ followers there.
2. Christ
As He does in each of the seven messages, Jesus reveals Himself to the church in Smyrna using one of the aspects of His character from John’s vision in chapter 1. And, as is true with all seven messages, that specific aspect of His nature is intended to be directly applicable to the circumstances that the church is facing. In this case, Jesus identifies Himself as:
…the first and the last, who died and came to life…
Although we’ll able to develop the relevance of this description to the church in Smyrna in more detail as we progress through the message, we can already see how this picture of Jesus addresses the attitude of the people of Smyrna. Although they like to call themselves the “first city of Asia”, Jesus makes it clear that He is the one who is first. And the resurrection of Smyrna as a city can’t even begin to compare with the fact that Jesus became dead and is now alive forever.
But Jesus is also making another important point here. The prophet Isaiah repeatedly uses the phrase “the first and the last” as a description of God. Here is just one example:
Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel
and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
“I am the first and I am the last;
besides me there is no god.
Isaiah 44:6 (ESV)
So when Jesus applies that very same phase to Himself, he is clearly revealing Himself as God.
3. Commendation
As he does in each message, Jesus begins with the words “I know.” As Jesus walks among His churches, He is able to evaluate them thoroughly and accurately. He sees not just what others see on the outside, but He also peers into the hearts of the people in the church. And in the case of Smyrna, the words “I know” take on even more significance because Jesus knew of the three problems the church in Smyrna was experiencing because He had experienced them Himself in His life here on earth. Although there are three separate issues that Jesus speaks of here, we’ll see that all three are actually inextricably linked together.
• The church had remained faithful to Jesus in the face of:
o Tribulation
The term that Jesus uses here – tribulation – has a very specific meaning. Unfortunately some other translations have rendered this word “affliction”, “suffering”, or “pain” – words that fail to adequately express the seriousness of what the church was facing. If you’ve been here on Thursday nights or in some of our “Connections” classes, you know that this word pictures crushing, suffocating pressure. It has its origin in an ancient method of capital punishment in which the subject was tied down and a large stone was placed on his chest, eventually causing death by suffocation due to the crushing pressure on the chest.
And while it is true that most of us here may have faced difficulties, trials, affliction, suffering and pain to some degree for our faith in Jesus, I’m convinced that very few, if any, of us have ever actually experienced the kind of tribulation that Jesus is speaking of here.
o Poverty
There are two different Greek words which can be translated poverty. The first refers to someone who has the necessities of life, but nothing more. The other word, the one used here describes someone who has nothing at all – absolute destitute poverty. Again, I am convinced that none of us here have ever even come close to the kind of poverty that these Christ followers in Smyrna experienced. Even the very poorest among us are quite rich materially compared to them.
Although Smyrna was a prosperous city, the Christ followers were living in absolute poverty as a result of their faith in Jesus. We’ll be able to see why that was a little more clearly when we look at the third problem the church was facing in just a moment,
But even though the church was totally destitute materially, Jesus pointed out that they were actually quite rich. How could that be? James provides us with the answer to that question:
Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
James 2:5 (ESV)
This is certainly an accurate picture of the church in Smyrna. Even though they were poor in the eyes of the world, they were certainly rich in faith, remaining true to Jesus in spite of the tremendous pressure they were facing. When we get to the church of Laodicea in a few weeks, we’ll see that Jesus condemns them because the exhibit the opposite characteristics – they are rich materially, but poor in their faith.
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o Slander
The Christ followers in Smyrna were being slandered by a group of Jews there in the city. When Jesus says that they call themselves Jews, but are not, He seems to be making the same point that Paul made in Romans 2:
For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter…
Romans 2:28, 29 (ESV)
Although these people may have been Jews by heritage, their hearts weren’t right with God and, as a result, they were mistreating the Christ followers, most of who were also their fellow Jews.
Under Roman law, each year every citizen was required to obtain a certificate that was obtained by burning incense on Caesar’s altar and proclaiming Caesar as Lord. However, the Romans had given the Jews an exemption from this law. Obviously the Christ followers in Smyrna refused to participate in this Caesar worship. And one of the reasons that they were so poor is that without the necessary certificate, they were unable to engage in commerce.
But since some of the government officials viewed the Christ followers as a sect of the Jews, the Jews were worried that the Christians’ refusal to participate in the Caesar worship was going to endanger the privileges that the Jews enjoyed. So they would inform on those who failed to follow the emperor’s edict. Among the false accusations leveled against the Christ followers in Smyrna by the Jews were these:
1) They were called cannibals because of their participation in the Lord’s Supper.
2) Their “love feasts” were characterized as orgies
3) They were accused of splitting families and tampering with the family unit as a result of those who committed their lives to Jesus.
4) They were accused of political disloyalty because they refused to proclaim Caesar as lord.
5) They were called atheists because they failed to honor the emperor as deity.
As a result of their slander, Jesus uses some very harsh words when He describes these Jews as a “synagogue of Satan.” There is an interesting play on words here since the Hebrew word “Satan” means “accuser” or “adversary”. And the Greek word “diabolos”, which is translated Devil, means “slanderer”. These Jews are both accusers and slanderers, which makes them instruments of Satan. Jesus made a similar accusation against those who claimed to be Jews during His earthly ministry:
39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father - even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 8:39-44 (ESV)
Jesus commends the church because they have remained faithful to Him in the face of intense tribulation, which included complete poverty and slander by the Jews.
4. Condemnation – None!
Smyrna and Philadelphia are the only two churches among the seven for which Jesus has no word of condemnation. They are the only two churches which are not commanded to repent. And because of that I think there is a tendency on our part to question Jesus and to wonder why the church that is so faithful to Him is facing such tribulation.
Three questions we are tempted to ask:
1) Why is the church experiencing tribulation?
After all they are so faithful to Jesus. There is nothing for Jesus to condemn. It just doesn’t seem right that they are facing such horrible tribulation.
Answer: As a result of their faith
Sometimes in our life we face crushing pressure because of our own ungodly decisions and actions. But that is certainly not the case here. Just the opposite is true. Because these people have chosen to live godly lives and remain faithful to Jesus, they are now facing tribulation. We shouldn’t be surprised at that since the Bible, consistently makes it clear that faithful followers of Jesus should expect tribulation. Listen to the words of Jesus, Paul and John:
If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
John 15:18 (ESV)
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
2 Timothy 3:12 (ESV)
Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.
1 John 3:13 (ESV)
2) Will Jesus deliver His people from tribulation?
If we’re honest, that’s what we want don’t we? We want Jesus to say to the church that He knows their tribulation and therefore he is going to come to the rescue and deliver them from that tribulation. But not only does Jesus not do that, He answers this question like this:
Answer: It’s going to get worse
That’s essentially what Jesus is saying in verse 10. As bad as it is right now, it’s going to get worse for some of His followers. They are going to be thrown into prison where they are going to face the testing of ten days of tribulation and where they might even face death. Jesus had given His followers a similar warning right before He went to the cross:
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.
Matthew 24:9 (ESV)
There are a lot of ideas about what the ten days in verse 10 represent, but frankly this is one of those places where the text just doesn’t give us enough information to be definitive. But we can know enough to get a further clarification of the answer to our question:
Answer: The tribulation is limited
The ten days, whatever it represents, makes it clear that the tribulation that they are undergoing and that which they will undergo in the future is firmly under the control of Jesus. And at some point it will come to an end. For some, that end won’t occur until their death, but it will end.
3) What is the purpose of tribulation?
Answer: To prove the genuineness of their faith.
The ten days of tribulation is for the purpose of testing Jesus’ followers. The word that Jesus uses for “tested” in verse 10 implies that those who go through the testing will pass the test and prove that their faith is genuine. This is completely consistent with what we saw throughout the Old Testament prophets where the purpose of tribulation was to identify to the world the righteous in Jesus.
5. Counsel
Jesus gives two commands to the church in Smyrna:
• Do not fear
Do not fear what you are about to suffer…
• Be faithful
Be faithful unto death…
These two related commands are very clear and easy to understand, but they are certainly not easy to put into practice. But here is where Jesus’ description of Himself at the beginning of the message really comes in to play. In effect, Jesus is saying to the church at Smyrna, “I know what you’re going through because I already experienced the same kind of tribulation Myself.”
The writer of Hebrews expressed that idea like this:
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
Hebrew 12:3 (ESV)
Because Jesus is the first and the last, He is firmly in control of everything that is going on, so the people do not need to fear what may happen to them. Once again, I’m reminded of these words of Jesus:
I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do.
Luke 12:4 (ESV)
Even if they suffer tribulation to the point of physical death, they won’t experience anything that Jesus hasn’t already gone through. They don’t need to fear, because Jesus controls their eternal destiny. That’s where the second part of Jesus’ description of Himself comes in. Because He became dead and is now alive forever, His followers can be confident that they will one day share in that resurrection as well.
I don’t know whether any of us here will ever suffer the kind of tribulation that the church in Smyrna experienced. But if we do, I am confident that we can be free from fear and we can be faithful even unto death if we keep our eyes on Jesus.
6. Challenge
Jesus makes two promises to those who remain faithful to Him, even in the face of tribulation:
Two promises to the faithful:
• The crown of life
…I will give you the crown of life.
James had earlier made this same point in his epistle:
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12 (ESV)
There are two different Greek words for crown. The one used here is the victor’s crown – a laurel wreath that was given to the winners of the ancient athletic contests.
The underlying Greek grammar both here in Revelation and in James indicates that the phrase “crown of life” means “the crown consisting of life.” So what Jesus is promising to those who are faithful in the face of tribulation is that even though they may die physically, he is going to make sure that they actually receive life. That is confirmed by His second promise:
• Will not be hurt by the second death
The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.
Jesus uses a double negative here, which in Greek, unlike in English, provides emphasis. In effect, He is saying something like, “The one who conquers will absolutely, positively never be hurt in any way by the second death.”
The “second death” was a well know rabbinical term for the death of the wicked in the world to come. It is a phrase that is used three times later in the Book of Revelation and we don’t have to speculate about what it is because it is clearly defined for us by John:
…This is the second death, the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:14 (ESV)
The second death is the lake of fire, which we will see is reserved for Satan, the false prophet and for those who do not commit their lives in faith to Jesus. It is a place of everlasting punishment and torment, separated from the presence of God.
Pastor E.V. Hill summed this challenge up very well with these words:
Those who are born once, die twice; those who are born twice, die once.
In closing, let me pick up where I left off earlier with the story of Necati and Semse.
[Read the rest of the article]
