We look today at the second letter to churches in Asia Minor in the ancient Roman Empire. This letter is in Revelation 2:8-11 and is addressed to the angel (the messenger, the pastor and other leaders), Revelation 2:8, of the church at Smyrna, a city about 40 miles north of Ephesus. It was an ancient Ionian city that had been destroyed and then was later rebuilt by Alexander the Great in 320 BC. It was a commercial center with a strong emperor cult (worship of the Roman emperor) and also had a...
We look today at the second letter to churches in Asia Minor in the ancient Roman Empire. This letter is in Revelation 2:8-11 and is addressed to the angel (the messenger, the pastor and other leaders), Revelation 2:8, of the church at Smyrna, a city about 40 miles north of Ephesus. It was an ancient Ionian city that had been destroyed and then was later rebuilt by Alexander the Great in 320 BC. It was a commercial center with a strong emperor cult (worship of the Roman emperor) and also had a sizeable Jewish population.
As with the other letters in Revelation 2-3, this letter includes a quotation from Revelation 1 and the vision John saw of the risen, ascended Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 2:8). This quotation is from Revelation 1:17-18, where the eternal nature of Jesus is indicated and His oneness with God the Father, the Alpha and the Omega (who reflects the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet). Jesus is also the One who became man and lived and died for us and was raised to life in His Easter victory. Revelation 2:8 again also affirms that this letter is a message from Jesus Himself, though written down by the Apostle John.
Jesus indicates that He knows of the tribulation (the persecution and other troubles of this church, with many poor and in poverty); yet Jesus says that they are “rich” at the same time - rich in faith and in trust in the Lord (Revelation 2:9). They had already been experiencing “slander” and other attacks from the Jews of this city. These Jews claimed to be God’s people and yet were opposing Jesus and those who followed Him as the promised Savior and were therefore “a synagogue of Satan,” and not of God. (See how Jesus faced the same opposition in His ministry in passages like John 8:39-59, especially v. 43-47 and 58-59.)
As the followers of Jesus went out to share His Gospel, much of the opposition, at first, was from Jews, even though most of the first believers were Jews themselves, who had been brought to see that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the Savior. (See Acts 13:42-50 and 14:1-7, 19 and 17:1-9, 13 and 18:5-17 and 21:27-36, etc.) This opposition from the Jews continued even to the end of the first century AD, when Jesus sent this letter to the Christians at Smyrna, We know from history of the Christian church that such persecution continued. Jews took a leading part in having Polycarp, the Christian leader at Smyrna, put to death in 155 AD.
In Revelation 2:10, Jesus warns that these Christians would suffer even more, with imprisonment and other troubles, probably referring to persecution coming from the Romans, also. We have already heard that the Emperor Domitian had begun to require everyone to worship him as Lord and God - something that Christians could not do. Such required worship was coming soon to Smyrna, a center of the “emperor cult,” with increasing pressure on Christians to conform to what Domitian wanted. This could mean testing of their faith and even being thrown in prison by Roman “devils,” too.
The hopeful news is that this will be a tribulation for 10 days. This is likely another symbolic number, meaning that this persecution would only be for a limited time. (See passages such as Genesis 24:55 and Daniel 1:12,14, where 10 days refers to a limited time of testing, controlled by the Lord.) From what we know from Roman history, Emperor Domitian was assassinated in September, 96 AD. The persecution of Christians in Smyrna would be difficult, but it would not be long-lasting, with Domitian soon to die.
Jesus gave a great promise, though, to the Christians at Smyrna. Some of them might even face death, but if they were faithful to Christ even unto death, they would receive the crown of life. Jesus died on the cross, but He rose again. The same is true of all believers who live and die in faith in Jesus. They will receive the “crown” of eternal life won for them by Christ. (See also Romans 14:7-9 and Paul’s description of Christians in 2 Corinthians 6:8-10. See also 1 Corinthians 9:25.)
This passage is often given to young people at their confirmation in the Lutheran church, still today. Lifelong faithfulness to Jesus is important, even if we do not face the exactly the same dangers the early Christians faced. Times of testing of our faith come to all of us. That is why Revelation 2:11 reminds us to have ears to hear what the Holy Spirit says also to us. We conquer through Christ and trust in His victorious work for us; and “the second death” cannot hurt us, as we continue in Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, through His Word. “The second death” refers to eternal torment (hell) in “the lake of fire.” See Revelation 20:10, 14-15 and 21:8, and the words of Jesus in Matthew 10:28. Jesus also reminds that the lake of fire was prepared for the devil and his evil angels, but that those who reject Christ and follow the ways of Satan can end up there, too (Matthew 25:41).
Remember above all, though, the promises of God given to the Christians at Smyrna and to us, too, in Christ. See also these promises of the crown of life, prepared for us in heaven: 2 Timothy 4:8, James 1:12, and 1 Peter 5:4. There is our eternal hope, in life and in the time of our own death, whether in a peaceful way or in a time of trouble or persecution. Christ is with us always.
