LETTER TO THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

Revelation 2:8-11

As you travel north from Ephesus, the first city to which you come is the modern city of Izmir. The pronunciation of that name was somewhat different in the first century. They called the city Smyrna. The meaning of the name continues to be debated even today, for its roots go back as far as the old Hittite language and perhaps even earlier. It may be related to the Greek word for "myrrh," the expensive ointment that was used in the burial of the wealthy. If so, then it is a fitting designation for the recipients of this short epistle.

The city of Smyrna was situated on the western coast of Asia Minor where the Hermus River flowed into the Aegean Sea. It had an inner harbor with a relatively narrow entrance that could be blocked off with a great chain. Rising over the city stood Mount Pagus, the traditional acropolis that was the spiritual center for every Greek city. The main street of the city was known as the "Street of Gold."

Like many of the cities in the area, this was a cosmopolitan smelting pot of different cultures. The city had roots in the ancient Hittite civilization of the past and legend had it that it was the birthplace of Homer. More recently, it had been rebuilt in the days of Alexander the Great and so had a heavy Greek influence. Rome had since laid claim to the city and exerted a certain amount of influence so that, alongside the idols to Aphrodite and Zeus and Apollo, there were also idols to Roma and to Tiberius.

Smyrna had a long history of loyalty to Rome. The city had sided with Rome in the wars against the Seleucids and later against Mithradates. The citizens of the city had received permission in 26 A.D. to build a temple to the worship of Tiberius, the Roman emperor. The city would eventually become a center for the Caesar-cult. This would ultimately lead to a series of intense persecutions.

These persecutions would come from the Greeks and the Romans, but they would also come from another source. They would also come from the Jewish synagogue that was present in the city.

The Bible teaches that the Christian life will be one of general tribulation. Jesus told His disciples this on several occasions.

Neither was this message exclusive to Jesus. Paul and Barnabas related the same message to the early church.

The apostle John describes himself as a "fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus" (Revelation 1:9).

That is not to say that you are not a Christian if you are not being persecuted or that you should go out and look for ways to be persecuted. These sorts of persecution come at various times and there are persecutions against Christianity going on even today.

Jesus writes a letter to those who are in the midst of persecution. And to make matters worse, He is going to tell them that these persecutions are going to increase. They are going to get worse before they get better.

This message will be given in the form of a chiasm -- an inverse parallel. This sort of parallelism was especially common among the Jews. They treated it as a sort of poetry. In this case, it is a parallelism of suffering. Notice the repeating refrain:

Notice who is the author of this short epistle. It is not John. To be sure, John is writing the message, but he is only acting as the part of a secretary. He is writing what Jesus tells him to write. These seven messages to the seven churches are seven letters from Jesus to His churches.

Each one of these seven letters begins with a vivid picture. It is a picture of Jesus. It describes Him in such a way as to relate to the problems and the needs of that particular church. This picture is especially significant. He is described as the first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life.

• Myrrh was an expensive ointment that was used in the burial rituals of the wealthy.
• Myrrh was offered to Jesus as a narcotic while he was on the cross (Mark 15:23).
• After Jesus had died, His lifeless body was wrapped in myrrh and other spices as it was buried (John 19:39).

That is not all. These believers are being persecuted for their faith. They are losing their jobs because they refuse to participate in the pagan rituals that are associated with their trades. They are being arrested and they are under the threat of death. Polycarp, one of the elders of the church and a disciple of the Apostle John, will be burnt at the stake for being a Christian. They need to know that their Lord is the One who was dead and who is now alive and who has conquered death.

Are you going through hard times? Does it feel as though you have been forgotten? Do you wonder if your prayers are getting lost in the shuffle? Jesus has not forgotten you. He knows of your troubles.

This book of Revelation is going to present some great times of trouble and tribulation. Some of these tribulations took place in the past, but I believe there are similar trials going on even today. What you need to know is that Jesus wins. He is in control of the final outcome. He never makes a tunnel without a light at the end of it.

When Jesus addresses himself to the church at Laodecia, He is going to point out that they think they are rich, but that they are really wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked (3:17). The church at Smyrna had just the opposite situation. They were a church that, to the outward eye, appeared to be very poor, but in reality they had heavenly riches.

Who do you think of as the "power brokers" in the church and in Christianity today? I think that when the final judgment takes place, we might be very surprised to find who the Lord considers to be spiritually rich. It will likely be someone of whom we have never even heard.

Like many cities in that part of the world, the city of Smyrna had a sizeable Jewish population. These Jews took great pride in their Jewish heritage. They held to the Law and they got angry at anyone who took another view. They had rejected the teaching that Jesus was the Messiah and they instituted heavy persecutions against all those who preached the gospel. It is for this reason Jesus calls their meeting place "the synagogue of Satan." They were doing the work of Satan from the confines of their synagogue.

These Jews had come to terms with the idolatry that went on within their city. We do not read of them persecuting the Gentile pagans who indulged in idol worship and other pagan practices. They had, instead, a special hatred for those who had come to Christ.

Things have not changed much. You can tell the average Jewish person that you are an atheist and he will not be offended. He might even agree with you. But if you tell him that you are a Christian and that you have trusted in Jesus as the promised Messiah, then you will probably see the kind of reaction that is described here.

Notice that Jesus says these people say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. This is not a denial of their race, but rather a denial of their spiritual heritage. They have rejected the Messiah of whom their prophets foretold and, in doing so, they have turned away from the God of Abraham to become a synagogue of Satan. They have lost the right to be known as Jews.

Who possesses the promises of God today? Who are the spiritual seed of Abraham today? Who are the chosen people of God today? Who is God’s holy nation today? Who is the royal priesthood of God today? The answer to all of these questions is the same -- it is the CHURCH.

God has set aside unfaithful Israel who rejected Him and has grafted in a new people made up of every nation and tribe and tongue.

Notice that there is a warning given here. The warning is that we should not become arrogant toward the Jewish people or take up a mantle of anti-Semitism. Rather, we ought to appreciate that cultural heritage that has brought the gospel to us. There is also a warning here that we do not become complacent in our attitude toward the truth.

Do you see the warning? It is that you who have received the promises of God and who have become the spiritual seed of Abraham and God’s chosen people and His holy nation and His royal priesthood can also be cut off and cast off if you do not approach God by faith. Being a member of a Christian church has no more power to save you that does being a physical descendant of Abraham.

This is important. We must teach our children that they do not become God’s people just because they have been born into a Christian family. Our relationship with God is founded upon the same thing as was Israel’s relationship with God -- FAITH.

The believers at Smyrna were going through some hard times. It was not over yet. In fact, it had just begun. There were several reasons for this persecution.

• They were persecuted because their faith was militant. They were adamant about sharing their faith with others. They had a heart for mission. There is a lesson here. It is that Satan doesn’t usually bother to persecute complacent Christians. They are already doing exactly what he wants them to do.

• They were persecuted because they were absolutely and exclusively loyal to Jesus Christ. They would not share that level of loyalty with Caesar. This was especially striking in the city of Smyrna which was a host to the emperor-cult. There was a temple to Roma and another temple to Caesar. The Christians refused to be involved in this sort of worship. Because of this, they were considered to be unfaithful to Rome.

• They were persecuted because of their "atheism." Because they did not worship a visible image, it was thought that they did not worship any god at all and so they were termed "atheists" which means "no God."

• They were persecuted because they were thought to be cannibals. It was rumored that they ate the body and drank the blood of someone at their secret meetings. This misunderstanding of the Lord’s supper led some to accuse them of cannibalism.

The bad news is that they would suffer persecution. The good news is that this persecution would only be temporary. It would be limited to "ten days" in duration.

This reference to "ten days" is an example of a symbol that is not explained in the context. Does it refer to a literal ten days? Although this is possible, I do not think that it is the case. For one thing, we know from history that the persecutions at Smyrna lasted longer than ten days.

One theory has been put forth that suggests these refer to ten different persecutions under ten of the Emperors of Rome.

I think that a more likely interpretation is that these "ten days" describe a relatively short period of time during which the church at Smyrna would undergo persecution.

Is this kind of interpretation consistent with the Bible? I believe that it is. For example, in Psalm 50:10 we read that the Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills. We cannot take this to mean that He does not own 1,001 cattle. Rather, we recognize this to be a figure of speech to describe a large number.

In the same way, this passage is letting the Christians of Smyrna know that, while tribulation is coming, it will not endure. This is a message of hope, telling them that they can weather the storm.

We have a letter that was written by believers at Smyrna in A.D. 156 that relates the account of the martyr of its elder and overseer, the aged Polycarp. The account tells of the arrest of the aged disciple and how he invited the arresting soldiers to sit and eat with him while he spent his last hour in prayer.

He was then taken into the stadium of Smyrna to stand before the proconsul. Although it was the Sabbath day, the Jewish community combined with the rest of the city, not only to view the spectacle, but even to do the work of dragging the wood into place so that he could be burned at the stake.

Polycarp refused to deny the faith and, when the proconsul offered to release him if he would only deny Christ, he replied...

When the crowd heard Polycarp’s repeated and unrelenting confession of Jesus as the Christ, they were moved to anger.

Polycarp was sentenced to be burned at the stake and was immediately led to a post around which heaps of wood and hay were quickly stacked. When the guards prepared to nail him to the stake, Polycarp replied:

The elder of the church was tied to the stake and burned alive, becoming one of the many martyrs who died for the Christian faith. He showed by example what it means to be faithful unto death.

I have an old friend named Bill Iverson who often tells people this simple riddle:

The riddle points to the fact that there are two deaths. There is the first death, that is, the one that is physical when your body is separated from your soul and spirit. But there is also a second death. This is the death that can really hurt you. This is the death that you need to fear.

The good news is that, if you have been born again through faith in Christ, then you will not be hurt by the second death. That is an enemy that has been defeated and you can experience the same conquest as you trust in Him.

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