Three Weights Series

Three Weights- Smyrna

7 Church’s of Revelation Series

CCCAG 8-11-24

-Scripture- Rev 2:8-11

Introduction- Brief overview of 7 Churches

Location/ trade routes

Smryna- One of the best sea ports in the ancient world, particularly in the Mediterranean sea. It had direct access to Athens, Greece, and was a highly used to get various products into Europe so you wouldn’t have to take the much more treacherous overland route.

It’s chief export was myrrh- the fragrant incense used for embalming the dead, and it’s chief trading partner for that was Egypt who used a lot of this in their mummification process.

However, you remember that myrrh was one of the gifts the Magi brought Jesus as a child, foreshadowing his death.

The myrrh that the women who were going to the grave to finish preparing the body of Jesus for a proper burial probably came from Smyrna.,

Why was myrrh a big deal and why was it used in Jewish burials?

In the Jewish Culture they have a tradition called “Sitting Shiva”.

It involves 7 days of intense mourning for the person who died, often at the graveside.

Obviously, you don’t want an unprepared body if you are spending 7 days there with it just on the other side of a large rock, particularly in middle eastern heat.

Because of Smyrna’s location and value as a seaport, various nations targeted it during military campaigns to cut off supplies to that area.

Smyrna had been conquered, burned, raised again. The people who called Smyrna home were very proud- they kept getting knocked down, but then rising again even more powerful than before.

This was the culture of this city- and the attitude of it’s residents.

Conformity to this was absolutely necessary and expected of all of it’s citizen. With that, Emperor worship was absolutely mandatory, and Smyrna, like the other 6 churches we will be studying, had a wide array of other temples to other gods that were used by it’s citizens.

That’s the culture this group of believers was living in. A culture heavily focused on death and resurrection, and that forms the structure of how Jesus will speak to them.

Let’s read what Jesus had to say to this church-

Changing it up and reading from the ESV this morning-

Rev 2:8-11 ESV “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.’

Prayer

The church of Smyrna has been identified throughout church history as the persecuted church- one that has gone through many tribulations in its history.

This morning we are going to talk about this church, and what lessons it can teach us for our lives today.

We are going to start with looking at the bible word for Tribulation.

We hear that word and think about a time of trouble, or the 7 years before Christ’s physical return to this earth to set up the millennial kingdom.

However, the word tribulation comes from the Greek word thlip'-sis. This word refers to an ancient torture or execution method in which a person would be tied face up on a table, a series of heavy flat stones would be placed on his chest, making it increasingly difficult to breathe until they eventually suffocated to death.

A very bad way to die.

But Thlip-sis doesn’t have to be a physical weight.

Most often for us today it’s a spiritual weight or oppression. The enemy has a tool box of effective ways of putting these weights on us.

In these last days, it’s his primary tactic.

You should know that the bible predicted this.

Daniel which is the OT version of the Book of Revelation, that says that in the last days the antichrist spirit will try to “wear out the saints of God”. This demonic spirit will do this by adding weights into our lives to try and get them to give up and give in to the worlds system

And in doing so- fall away from Christ and follow the evil one.

This is what Jesus is referring to when He talks about the thlip-sis that the church of Smryna will experience.