Revelation 2:8-11 (Letter to Smyrna - Overcoming Persecution)

Overcoming Persecution in the Church at Smyrna

Once again, let's open up to the book of Revelation chapter 2. This week we're going to look at the letter to the persecuted church, the church in Smyrna. Now this was a good church and partially it's because they were persecuted.

Persecution tends to have a purifying effect on a church. The adversity has a way of weeding out the fake Christians, keeping away the troublemakers. Because worldliness and compromise, that's how people avoid persecution.

So because they were persecuted, that kept the worldliness and compromise to a minimum. The key verse when thinking about persecution in godly living, I think of 2 Timothy 3 .12 which says, Yea, in all that desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

So all of that to say this, the church in Smyrna was good. Jesus has nothing but good to say about them, but they're going to face this time of testing and Jesus wants to give them words of encouragement before they face what he says are 10 days of persecution.

And we're going to look at whether or not that's literal or symbolic and this really will be hopefully a good lesson to kind of show you how to interpret the book of Revelation. Literal or symbolic? That's the big question and we'll get into that.

The City of Smyrna and Its Hostile Environment

But before we read the text verses 8 through 11, let's just give this context. One commentator says about the city of Smyrna, it was called the crown of Asia. This ancient city located in modern day Turkey was the most beautiful in all of Asia minor and it was both a center of medicine and science.

Always on the winner's side in Roman wars, Smyrna's intense loyalty to Rome resulted in a strong emperor worship cult. Fifty years after John's death, Polycarp was the pastor of the church and he was burned alive at the age of 86 because he refused to worship the Roman emperor.

A large Jewish community in the city also proved hostile to the early church. And that last statement about the Jewish community that helps, I think, to explain the statements by Jesus in verse nine, where he talks about those who are part of the synagogue of Satan.

And that's kind of the statement that jumps out at you in this passage, the synagogue of Satan. What is that? What did Jesus mean by that? Well, let's, because they're, they're facing persecution from all sides, not just the Romans.

I mean, you typically think most people think of the persecution coming from the Romans. That's not actually the case, but let's read the verses revelation two, eight through 11. Jesus says, and to the angel of the church in Smyrna, right?

These things says the first and the last who is dead and came to life. I know your works, tribulation and poverty. But you are rich. And I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, but are not, but they are of the synagogue of Satan, or they are a synagogue of Satan.

Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested and you will have tribulation for 10 days. Be faithful until death.

And I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. So let's start there at the end. What does it mean to overcome?

An overcomer is someone who has an enduring faith. And if you're being persecuted, you need a faith that perseveres, that endures. So first John five, four says, whoever is born of God overcomes the world.

And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. So anyone who has a true saving faith, they will endure even great times of hardship, maybe even persecution. If it comes your way, you will endure.

The person with that type of overcoming faith, they shall not experience the second death, which is a reference to spiritual death. This is Revelation 20, where unbelievers are thrown into the lake of fire, the second death.

So I think it's implied here that to overcome, you have to endure to the end. And that really is the mark of a true convert versus a false convert. The true convert perseveres.

Okay.

Faithfulness Under Threat and the Call Not to Compromise

So in Smyrna, obviously not everyone is going to be thrown into prison. Not everyone is going to be killed. Probably it was only a small minority. Think of the book of Acts. It's mainly the apostles who are being persecuted, you know, the leadership.

So the average church member in Smyrna probably wasn't going to face that, but it was this threat looming against the church, and Jesus is giving them these words of encouragement. So Christ faced adversity during his ministry.

He faced tribulation and persecution, and because a servant is not greater than his master, you know, we as believers, we will face tribulation in this life. What happened to Jesus? They crucified him, right?

They hated him. So that is what the church members in Smyrna were facing. The Jewish community there, maybe not everybody in it, but certainly some, and then later the Romans and just the worldly people around, they hated the church members and they wanted to make their lives miserable.

They wanted to throw them in prison and just do away with this church. Now how do you avoid that type of thing? How do you avoid persecution? Well, the way people avoid persecution back then and still today, you try to make yourself a friend to the world, and the only way a Christian can do that to make the world like you is to compromise what the word of God says.

I think of that lawmaker from Iowa who was in the news recently. He gave, there's a Satan statue put up in the Iowa state house and he made a bunch of excuses as to why, you know, we have to allow it.

I mean, I don't like it, but we have to allow it. And he gave a bunch of excuses and this lawmaker is actually supposedly he's a Christian, even a pastor. And what did he do?

He compromised.

I mean, there's no excuse to be made that should not be there. He should have torn it down, advocated that it be torn down. He shouldn't have tolerated it. Certainly the last thing he should have done is made excuses.

But what is that?

It's compromise.

And he's trying to be a friend to everybody, be a friend to the world. Well, John was not that way. The apostle John was exiled to the island of Patmos because he wouldn't compromise. The church members in Smyrna were not going to compromise.

That's why Jesus is praising up the church. One of the few churches in revelation two and three that Christ has nothing negative to say about them because they're not going to compromise. The type of people that would compromise again, the persecution has a way of weeding those people out.

James four verse four says, anyone who makes themselves a friend of this world, they are at enmity with God. They make themselves the enemy of God by compromising. So this is a choice people have to make.

People in America have to make this choice today. People in Smyrna, they made that choice and they said, we're not doing it. So in Smyrna, you know, today you might lose your job in Smyrna. They might lose their lives, but some of them, Jesus says, they're going to be thrown into prison, but don't worry, it's only going to last 10 days, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

So the more point being, the more vocal you are about your beliefs, the more steadfast, the less you compromise, um, the more you can expect tribulation. Okay, let's go through this letter verse by verse.

It starts out this way and to the angel of the church in Smyrna, right? In Elliott's commentary for Christian readers, it says that the angel is a reference to the chief pastor or bishop. We have this today where we, you know, we call them lead pastors or senior pastors.

I mean, this church only has one pastor, but if we had a really large church with multiple pastors, one would probably be identified as, you know, the pastor as opposed to an associate pastor or lead pastor.

But it's really all the same thing. So this is, as we've said before, this is a letter written and given to the pastor first, and then he would read it, deliver the message from Christ to the congregation.

So to the angel of the church in Smyrna, right? To the pastor, these things says the first and the last who is dead and came to life. I know your works, tribulation and poverty, but you are rich. And I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

Verse 10, do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw you into prison that you may be tested and you will have tribulation 10 days. Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life.

Okay. Okay.

Christ’s Authority, the Church’s Riches, and the Meaning of “Synagogue of Satan”

So verse eight is once again, a reminder of who this letter is from. We talked about the red letter Bibles last week that indicate these are the words of Christ and that's helpful to remind us this isn't really John's message.

It's Christ, it's his message. So John is sort of acting as a secretary to Christ in a sense, like Paul had a secretary. So that's, that's how it's working out. But these things says the first and the last who is dead and came to life.

Obviously this is a reference to Jesus. Jesus is the author and he has authority over all things. Really he has authority because he was alive, he died and he continues to live. He has conquered death because he has conquered death.

He has been made Lord, he has been given all authority. He has the right to judge in revelation chapters four and five, Jesus has given that authority to open the seals from the scroll. So Christ is judge.

He has seen walking through the midst of the candlesticks, the seven churches. We have it on the screen here, the menorah, which originally the menorah only had seven lights in the temple and the seven lights represent the seven churches.

Jesus is evaluating, or you could say he's judging his churches and Smyrna is they're passing the test. So that's what that verse is talking about. Verse nine, he has great things to say their works. They're doing good works.

They're enduring tribulation just like Jesus did during his ministry. He was doing good. He endured persecution, adversity. And the only thing we might say is negative in this passage is that Christ mentions their poverty because poverty isn't what you want.

But notice, even though they are poor, they don't have much immediately. Jesus says, but you're rich, you know, you're poor, but no, you're rich, rich, how well they're rich in faith. They're rich in hope.

They're rich in spiritual blessings. So persecuted church, obviously the people aren't going to have a lot of money. They're not going to be able to build anything up. They owned land. I mean, they would be persecuted.

The stuff would be stolen, taken away, destroyed. There's nothing they could do. So they're poor, but they're rich in spiritual blessings. Clearly they're laying up their treasures in heaven instead of on earth.

Now they didn't really have a choice, but again, I think this is, is why Christ is praising them because spiritually they're doing everything right. Tough times, but they're doing the right thing. I like the comparison, the contrast with the church at Laodicea.

Just look at revelation three 17, kind of compare Smyrna to Laodicea. Smyrna was poor, but they were rich spiritually. Laodicea was the opposite. Jesus says to them, you, you're rich, you know, you have all this stuff, but you don't even realize you're wretched, you're miserable and poor.

Now, which would you rather be? Would you rather be rich and be, you know, miserable and, or would you rather be poor, but rich in faith and happy and joyful? Well, hopefully you'd rather be poor and have the blessing of God.

Matthew Henry writes this, many who are rich as to this world are poor as to the next and some who are poor outwardly are inwardly rich, rich in faith, rich in good works, rich in privileges, rich in gifts, rich in hope, where there is spiritual plenty, outward poverty may be well-born and when God's people are made poor as to this life for their, for the sake of Christ and a good conscience, he'll makes, he makes all up to them in spiritual.

Riches.

So that's a great statement by Matthew Henry. Then he makes this comment. Or Jesus makes this comment that we'll spend a few minutes.

On.

I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, but they are not, they are a synagogue of Satan.

Okay.

So that term, synagogue of Satan, this is a, what we might call a politically incorrect term, but you know, who cares about that? Because Jesus said it's in the Bible. So we want to figure out why did Jesus say this in fairness?

I'm sure that throughout history, maybe even today, there are some who would use this term synagogue of Satan and they would use it in such a way to denigrate all Jewish people. And that's clearly not what's happening here.

Jesus is Jewish or he was Jewish is Jewish. John was Jewish. All the apostles, the people in the early church were at first almost all Jewish. So it's not an anti-Jewish thing, obviously. Some people say, okay, well, no, it's not a anti-Jewish, but the synagogue of Satan that just refers to Jews who don't believe in Jesus.

Well, I don't think that's right either because Jesus, when he went about during his earthly ministry, he encountered many Jews who did not believe in him and he, he wasn't like, well, you're of the devil and you're of the, Jesus didn't do that.

Jesus loved the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He only reserved that language, you know, you are of your father, the devil. The apostles only use that language when they faced hostility or people that were hostile and might actually, you know, commit some sort of physical violence.

So the scribes and Pharisees wanted Jesus dead. He says, you're of your father, the devil. John or the apostle Paul, I think of in Acts, he faced that false prophet or other people that were persecuting the church.

He said, you're, you're a child of the devil. And now John here is writing, it's the words of Jesus, but they're a synagogue of Satan.

Why?

Because they're blaspheming the name of Christ. They're persecuting the church. They are committing acts of violence and hostility again. That's why they get called a synagogue of Satan. So it's not just, you know, if someone's an unbeliever, Hey, let's, you know, throw these, you know, harsh terms that that's not what the apostles did.

So the church in Smyrna, they were persecuted mainly, it seems by the Jewish community. That's the way it was in the early church. Later on towards the end of the first century and certainly into the second or third and even into the fourth century, there was persecution by the Romans, but this seems to be from the.

Jews.

So what makes them a synagogue of Satan? Number one, they blaspheme. Number two, they are persecuting God's people. Blasphemy is when someone speaks against God in defiance or even an irreverent type of.

Speech.

I remember that comedian, I think it was last year. There was a woman and you know how comedians are these days, you know, to get a laugh, they have to be crude and perverse and all the rest. There's a woman, she was mocking Jesus Christ on stage, this comedian who saw that.

Yeah.

As soon as she said this mocking thing about Jesus, I mean, she just, this look came over her face and she just like dropped, it looked like she dropped dead. No, she, she did survive, but you know, even some non-Christians were like, this is scary.

This is, this is like God judging her. This is clear and you know, stuff like that has happened. But yeah, you don't want to mess with God's people. If you persecute the church, you remember what Jesus said to Paul on the road to Damascus, you know, why do you persecute me?

If you persecute Christians, you are what you're doing to them. You're doing to God. You're doing, it's against Christ. It's against God. So the Jewish community in Smyrna, they were blaspheming the name of Christ.

Who knows what they were saying. We wouldn't want to repeat it. They were persecuting the people. Some would be thrown into prison. Now what about this statement? You know, they say they are Jews, but they're not.

All right, let's turn to the book of Romans for a moment. Romans chapter nine. As you're turning there, let me read what Paul wrote in Romans 2, 28 and 29.

Yeah.

What about this state?

Okay.

They're a synagogue of Satan because they're blaspheming and persecuting. But what about this? They say they're Jews, but they're not. Well, were they Jewish? Like their, their heritage, their bloodline.

Were they Jewish? Well, yes. But in the eyes of the Lord, they're not actually Jewish. Paul wrote in Romans 2, 28 and 29, for he is not a Jew who is one outwardly nor a circumcision, that which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter whose praise is not from men, but from God.

So being a true Israelite in the eyes of the Lord is about not circumcision of the flesh. It's about circumcision of the heart. Do you believe in the Lord? Do you love the Lord? Do you obey God? Do you keep his commandments?

That's what it was about. Look at Romans nine verse one and clearly again, this is not some, some people would make it out to be some sort of anti Jewish sentiment. I've heard people say this about the new Testament.

The new Testament is an antisemitic book. Jews say that some of them, but that's not the case. Look at what Paul says in Romans nine, one, I tell the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy spirit that I have a great sorrow and continual grief in my heart for I wish that I myself were a curse from Christ for my brethren.

He's talking about his Jewish brethren, my countrymen, he says, according to the flesh who are Israelites. But then Paul does make the statement in verse six, he says, but it is not that the word of God has taken no effect for they are not all Israel who are of Israel.

Long story short, just because you're descended from Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that isn't what makes you a true Israelite. It's about what's inside. It's about, you know, again, do you love the Lord?

Do you obey the Lord? And if you reject the Lord and blaspheme the name of Jesus Christ and persecute his people, you're clearly, even though you're a descendant of Abraham, you're clearly not a true Israelite in God's eyes.

Okay.

Simple enough. Let's go back to revelation chapter two. So the Christians in Smyrna, right? The persecuted church, the threat level seems to be rising. Things are going to get more serious. The good thing is you typically see it coming.

Persecution doesn't happen like out of nowhere. Typically you see it coming. Jesus is going to warn them. Also look at revelation two 10. Christ says, do not fear, do not fear. How many times did Jesus say that in the new Testament?

Fear not. Let not your heart be troubled. He says it again. Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed. It's true. The devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested and you will have tribulation.

How many days? 10 days. Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life. So the comfort here seems to be twofold.

Yes.

Intense persecution is coming, but number one, even those who do die, they will be rewarded. They'll receive everlasting life. And it seems the crown, maybe even this separate, a separate.

Reward.

So the martyr's crown, it's also been called. Maybe it's an exalted position within the millennium, who knows? So that's the first comfort. The second comfort seems to be that this persecution, those severe, it's only going to last a short time.

And Jesus specifically says 10 days. Now we run into the, it's not really a problem, but some people, uh, say it's a problem. You know, how do you interpret the book of revel, revelation is just so hard to interpret.

There's all this symbolism and 10 days. How do we know what that means? Uh, 10 days. What is, what does that stand for? Is it symbolic for this? And I read all sorts of commentaries and I was amazed at what I saw.

Here's a general principle. Always take the Bible literally, and this is true for revelation. Always take it literally unless there's a clear reason why you shouldn't take it literally. I think of revelation 13, the beast rising up out of the sea with seven heads and 10.

Horns.

Clearly that's not literal. John may have seen a literal beast, but that beast doesn't exist in the real world. That's it's symbolic for something. But 10 days, I don't see anything in the text that would tell me it's, it's symbolic.

And yet here's what I read in a few common commentaries. This really gets me. One commentary said this, that the 10 days represents 10 years of persecution under the emperor Diocletian. By the way, Diocletian reigned in the end of the third century, early fourth century.

Others say the 10 days represent 10 periods of persecution starting with the emperor Nero, which would have been in the sixties in the first century and ending with Diocletian, which again is the early fourth century.

But is that really what Jesus is saying? Hey guys, I know the persecution is going to be really, really bad. But don't worry. It's only going to last 300 years or something like that's not much of a comfort.

Is that really what Jesus is saying? I don't think so. I, here's the thing. I interpret the 10 days. This might shock you. I interpret the 10 days to mean 10 days, Jesus said you're going to have persecution 10 days.

That's exactly what it means again. How do you interpret the Bible? How do you interpret revelation? You interpret revelation the same way you interpret everything else. You take it at face value. So you take it literally unless there's a reason not to, and I don't see any reason.

Not to.

And this is what has caused so much confusion about the book of revelation. You have all these commentaries saying, well, this represents that and that represents this.

And this.

And it's all these theories and it makes people confused. And then some will throw their hands in the air and say, I guess we can never really know.

The truth.

Well, I think we can know the truth. Just take it literally. I think it is that simple. So the church members in Smyrna, they're going to see that some of their fellow brothers and sisters, they're going to start getting arrested.

Some might even die, but Jesus is saying, don't be afraid. It's going to happen just a short time. And even if you die, you're going to go straight to heaven anyways. But don't lose your faith because this is what people are inclined to do when they face adversity, persecution, trials, and tribulations.

This is when people often drop out. So Jesus is saying, you need to overcome, you need to persevere, persevere in the faith. Don't compromise, don't deny Christ to save your own skin because in doing so, you may end up forfeiting your soul.

So they have a prophetic word here ahead of time. What a blessing that is. That before things get really bad, they have a word from God that it's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. So anyways, the idea that 10 days represents 10 years or 310 years, I reject that interpretation.

Okay.

The Literal Ten Days, the Devil’s Work, and the Crown of Life

So moving on, a few things to think about before we close. God is able to work out all things for the good of his people. Can God do that even with persecution? He can. You know why it's glorifying to God when his people are persecuted?

I mean, it's not good that people are persecuted, but it brings glory to God.

Why?

Because it's an amazing testimony. It's like when you hear a war story, you know, a soldier goes and he risks his life. He gives his life to save somebody else. He's willing to show this bravery to fight for a cause.

It inspires people. And it's the same thing here. When Christians face this type of thing and they stand firm and they don't back down, they don't compromise. It's a great testimony. It encourages us.

And that's what is happening here. So it brings God glory and ultimately it works out for the good of God's people. Romans 8, 28, that wonderful verse, it says, and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose.

Even if you face persecution, I think back and during 2020, I mean, we faced a little bit of adversity. I think it worked out wonderfully. I mean, it brought the church closer together. I could point to several things that happened or it was all positive.

So even if you're facing some personal trials, just know that there's a silver lining in.

It all.

And even more than that. But we need to have faith. We need to trust in the God who is sovereign over the situation and the church of Smyrna, Jesus telling them how long it's going to last, what's going to happen ahead of time.

It proves that he's sovereign. It's a great comfort. You know, when we read this, when we face tribulation today, I think of the things we.

Face.

People talk bad about you. You might not get a promotion. You might lose your job. The things are minor and we don't use the word persecution sometimes because it's minor. But just know any, anything somebody does against you because of your faith, it is persecution.

So we should call it for what it is really. But when we think of the things that happened to us today and you compare it to like what Job went through, right? You compare it to what the saints in the early church went through, polycarp being burned alive, sort of puts things in perspective, whatever you're going through.

It's like, wow, what I'm facing, I don't like it, but it could be a lot worse. It could be like these, these men. One comment about this statement, the devil will throw you into prison. You know, we talked about the 10 days being literal.

I think, I think that that is literal. You say, well, is that literal too? The devil is going to throw them in. It's not the literal devil throwing them into prison. Well, no, the devil doesn't have to become incarnate and actually lay hold of the Christian and toss them into a jail cell.

That's not, it's not a wooden literalism like that. But how does the devil, I mean, the devil is a spiritual being just like God. Spiritual beings work in and through people and circumstances. You think of the book of Job, when Job lost his children, when Job lost his livestock, God was sovereign over that, but God gave the devil a certain amount of leeway to do these things.

And the devil took those things away from Job, but the devil worked through the Chaldeans to steal his livestock. The devil worked through that storm, the whirlwind, which collapsed the house that killed his.

Kids.

So the point is the devil works through his people, the synagogue of Satan. So the devil stirred his people up. They probably went to the Romans and had the Christians thrown in prison. So was it the devil who threw them into prison?

Well, it may have been Roman soldiers who physically did it, but yes, it was, it was.

The devil.

One last thing. Look at verse 11 with all the things they're facing, the intense persecution that's right around the corner. Jesus tells them, you know, even, even if you die, which most of them, that wasn't the.

Case.

Look at verse 11, a great comfort. He says, he who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. It's important that we remain faithful and uncompromising.

Now that way, if we are in the pattern of doing that now, while things are good, when we are challenged, when a test comes, we'll just have that natural instinct to do the.

Right thing.

Because if we don't, if we're driven and controlled by fear, the temptation will be to quit, to compromise. But if we are walking by faith, that should cause us to see beyond our problems, beyond the tribulation, to focus on the one who is sovereign over them.