Revelation Episode 3: Letters to the Churches: Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira - Part 1

The glorified Jesus Christ gives specific letters to three churches: Smyrna, Pergamum, and Thyatira. In this episode, the letter is directed to the persecuted church of Smyrna.

- PODCAST TRANSCRIPT - 

Wes

Welcome to the Two Journeys Bible Study podcast. This podcast is just one of the many resources available to you for free from Two Journeys Ministry. If you're interested in learning more, just head over to twojourneys.org. Now on to today's episode.

This is Part 1 of Episode 3 in our Revelation Bible Study podcast entitled Letters to the Churches: Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, where we'll discuss the letter to the church at Smyrna in Revelation 2:8-11. I'm Wes Treadway, and I'm here with Pastor Andy Davis. Andy, what are we going to see in these verses that we're looking at today?

Andy

So, we're looking at the message that Christ gave to the church at Smyrna, and I think we can give labels to each of these churches. But this one is the persecuted church, the suffering church. So, we know around the world that there are some churches in some very severely persecuting areas. We can imagine communist states like North Korea or China. We can imagine ardently, passionately religious areas like places with Islamic governments or Hindu governments that are very nationalistic, patriotic, things like that. So, for them, it's very dangerous to be Christians. So, the church at Smyrna represents that persecuted church, and Jesus is going to say some very encouraging things to them as they're suffering.

Wes

Let me go ahead and read verses 8 through 11 in Revelation 2:

"And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: 'The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life. 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. 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. 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.'"

How does Christ describe himself in his letter to the church at Smyrna?

Andy

All right, so again, every one of the descriptions in these seven letters, they're from Jesus, and He writes to the angel of the specific church. So, we talked about that last time, and it may be the lead pastor, or it may be any elder or teacher in it, or it could be just the overriding spirit or mystical heart of the church, that kind of thing, etc. Then he describes himself this way: "These are the words of him who is the first and the last who died and came to life again." So, the first and the last, he's going to say, and there's three different versions of that. It's also ascribed to Almighty God but at the end it says Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. So, all of that's a sense of the linear nature or the unfolding nature of history. History had a beginning, a middle, and an end, and he is the first and last. He is in charge of history.

So, I like to take each of the things that are said and line them up with their specific circumstances. They are being persecuted. They are obviously being threatened with incarceration, at least, torture, beatings and torture, and ultimately, death. So, they have to be willing to see their suffering in light of eternity and in light of God's overall purpose in history. God has a purpose, and he's sovereign over history. So, it is good for us to realize that. So, the idea that Jesus holds in his hand the entire history of the world, he is the first and the last and every moment in between. He's the Alpha and the Omega and every letter in between. That's what we know about Jesus.

He says, "I am the first and the last." He also says, "Who died and came to life again." Obviously, it's the center of the Christian faith. Why does he specifically mention that? Well, again, it's a picture of Jesus in Revelation 1 who is resurrected. He's in his resurrected, glorified state, and he openly makes a statement to John, "I was dead and behold, I am alive forever, and I hold the keys of Death and Hades" (Revelation 1:18). Now, he’s going to mention that in another epistle, but specifically, the idea is, his death and resurrection are the most important facts of all of human history, and they are the most important facts for the Christians at Smyrna. So, keep that in mind. It also helps them to not be afraid. If Christ has risen, they also don't need to be afraid of persecution and death.

"[Jesus] death and resurrection are the most important facts of all of human history, and they are the most important facts for the Christians at Smyrna. … It also helps them to not be afraid. If Christ has risen, they also don't need to be afraid of persecution and death."

Wes

Now, what does Christ know about this church, and how does he describe the suffering that they're enduring?

Andy

"I know your afflictions and your poverty," he says, and so, their afflictions are persecution. They are... you could imagine, like the author of Hebrews talks about, you are willing to suffer side by side with those who are being persecuted and to have your property confiscated. So, think about having your property confiscated, or your home confiscated, or your livestock confiscated, or your money. You have to pay a fine, money confiscated. So, property taken from you. Then the next level of that is incarceration, being imprisoned, being thrown in prison. He's going to mention that, the Lord, he mentions in verse 10, "The devil will put some of you in prison." So, there's a lack of freedom. There's also with affliction, there's torture. Paul and Silas were beaten publicly. So, the idea of being beaten is there. The idea of physical affliction. So, Jesus says, "I know that. I know all that you're going through. I know your afflictions." And then he mentions your poverty. So that's simply being financially poor. They are greatly impoverished.

Now, it's unclear whether their poverty is directly tied to their Christianity or not. We think in John 9, where the text tells us that the Jews had already decided that anyone who said that Jesus was the Messiah be put out of the synagogue. What does that mean? Blackballed from Jewish life. That means we won't buy your products, or your harvest, or your wool, and we won't sell to you either. You're out. That is a shortcut to poverty at that point. Now, this is Gentile area, but it might've been that kind of thing. But it doesn't say, I know that you've poverty because you're Christians. But the implication seems to be that way because he goes immediately from saying, "I know that you're poor but you're actually rich" (Revelation 2:9, paraphrase). And it's great because later, he says that the church of Laodicea, he says, "You think you're rich, but you're actually poor" (Revelation 3:17, paraphrase) So these people are the opposite. They are seen to be poor in the world, but they're actually rich. Meaning they're rich in rewards. They're going to be lavished on them for all eternity. So, you are rich.

Wes

Now, who was slandering the church at Smyrna, and what does it mean that the Jews were a synagogue of Satan?

Andy

Slander is false statements made against you. I think of the difference between slander and gossip is the bad thing being said about you is either true or not. If it's gossip, it's true, but it shouldn't be said. We don't spread around bad stories about what some bad thing that somebody did and all that. That's gossip. We just don't do that. Slander is it's not true. So, Paul talks about this in Romans, "Why not say as we were being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say" (Romans 3:8 paraphrase)? That's a good intro to what slander is. "Let us do evil that good may result," we don't teach that. Well, anything you study in the Roman era of persecution concerning Christians, and you start to look at the almost laughable, ridiculous things being said about Christianity. We would talk about our love feasts, and we know that that is a pure Christian love, but they would see them as orgies, and why? Because that's what they did. So, they imagine Christians did that.

They accused them of cannibalism because they were eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus at the Lord's Supper. And accused of all kinds of other really wicked and twisted, corrupted practices. He said, "That's slander." And so, the Jews here are slandering them. We see in the Book of Acts consistently it was the Jews, unbelieving Jews, that led the way in persecution of the Christians, and they would get Gentile forces, governors, or important people, leaders in that region, to join with them in persecuting the church. Whereas ordinarily, the Gentile leaders wouldn't have cared. It's just a religion. As long as they behave themselves, they're fine. But the Jews would stir up trouble. We see this again and again in the Book of Acts. Here in Revelation 2, it's like, "I know the slander of those who say they are Jews, but they are not" (Revelation 2:9).

Now, this is a very important statement. Paul says in Romans 2:28, "A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is a circumcision merely outward and physical." Or again, in Romans 9:6b, he says, "Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel." They're not really Jews. So that's what he's getting at here. These people are genetically descended from Abraham. They're genetically Jews. They're racially Jews, but they're not circumcised in their hearts. They're not truly Jews. This picks up on what Jesus himself said in John 8:44, where he said to them, "You are of your father the devil." He openly said that "Because you want to kill me. Your father, the devil, was a liar from the beginning and a murderer. That's why you want to kill me and you're telling lies about me." Now, Jesus is saying, "Look, if they persecuted Me, they're going to persecute you also." He's talking to the church at Smyrna, "They're spreading lies about you like they did about me, and they want to kill you. They want to persecute you."

So fundamentally, they are not truly Jews, but they are a synagogue of Satan. What an incredible thing to say. So, we would have to say that that would be extended today to every assembly of unbelieving Jewish people. If they're not following Christ, according to this, they're following Satan. There's no third option. It's not like, "Yeah, they're not following Jesus and they're not following Satan. They're following something else." It just isn't true. It's one or the other. So, if they're not believers, they're actually a synagogue of Satan.

"If they're not following Christ, according to this, they're following Satan. There's no third option."

Wes

Now, on what basis does Christ tell this church not to fear what they're about to suffer?

Andy

First of all, he says that they're going to suffer persecution for 10 days. So that, I think, seems to be a metaphor or symbolic language for a relatively short time. So, Paul calls our sufferings as Christians light and momentary. It's going to be brief. It's not going to go on very long. So, he says that "Look, the devil is going to put some of you in prison to test you, and you're going to suffer persecution for 10 days" (Revelation 2:10, paraphrase). So, incarceration, and again, we see this in Hebrews where the author at the end of Hebrews 10 says, "Remember your earlier days when you first received the light, how you stood your ground in a great test in the face of suffering, and you willingly accepted the confiscation of your property or you stood with those who are so treated"(Hebrews 10:32,33, paraphrase), and were incarcerated. You are willing to go visit people in prison though there would be a clear identification with them and a direct danger of guilt by association. It's like, "You're coming to feed them. You must be Christians, too. You'll be incarcerated."

The author of Hebrews said, "Look, you weren't afraid of that back then. So, you're willing, by faith, to stand firm." This is the same thing here. Not everyone in the church at Smyrna is going to be incarcerated, just some of them. But it's going to be a test for everyone else. Will they support their brothers and sisters who have been imprisoned? Will they bring them food because they didn't feed them? If you didn't have an external support system, you would die of starvation in prison. If you didn't have someone bringing you blankets, you would shiver to death in the winter.

So, the devil's going to put some of you in Smyrna, and he's going to thereby test all of you, but for 10 days. It's a limited amount. So, what encouragement do we get? God is the one that limits it. Satan would like to run it indefinitely. He's like, "No, I'm only going to let it go for a short amount of time, 10 days." So, it's encouraging to know that despite the persecutions coming, Jesus says, "Don't be afraid of it, and I'm in charge of it. But you are going to go through that persecution."

Wes

Now, it's interesting that the devil is mentioned directly here. What do we learn from verse 10 about the role of the devil in persecution?

Andy

The devil is the one inciting that. He took Jesus to a very high mountain in his temptation and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. He said, "All this has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to." Jesus doesn't disagree. John says in his epistle that Satan is the god of this world, the god of this age. He runs the world, the spirit of the age. Paul says the same thing. So, Satan runs planet Earth basically, but we know he doesn't ultimately because the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. So, God rules over Satan and puts hedges of protection, so to speak, like in the Book of Job. So, he's limited, but all the persecution done in the world is done, therefore ultimately by Satan. So, Satan is running the institutions, so that's governmental institutions and religious institutions that are hostile to God and are persecuting the people of God. It is Satan that is doing it. It is the devil that's doing that. So, we need to understand that.

Wes

What does Jesus mean when he says be faithful even to death?

Andy

He's going to say later in Revelation 12 that the persecuted believers who directly are attacked by Satan, who is cast down from heaven to earth in Revelation 12. He comes down to the earth, and he's called the accuser of the brethren, and he's the persecutor of the brethren. He's assaulting them. But it says in Revelation 12:11, "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. They did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death." And so, he's saying here, "Be faithful even to the point of death," means don't love your life so much that you're afraid to die. You shouldn't be afraid to die. If you die, it's just a very brief moment, like a pinprick. Even if you are beaten, it's just going to be for a short time. Then you'll receive a martyr's welcome into heaven, and you'll live forever.

It's better, by far, to depart and be with Christ. So don't be afraid of death. I am the one who died and came to life again. I hold the keys of death in Hades. So don't be afraid of that. Be faithful in your confession of Christ. Be faithful in your testimony to me, even to the point of death. "Are you a Christian?" 

"Yes, I am."

"If you continue to be a Christian, we will kill you."

"Then kill us because we are Christians." That's what He's saying. Be faithful even to the point of dying, and you'll receive the crown of life.

Wes

What is that crown of life which He'll give to the faithful?

Andy

The word crown, I think, generally refers to emblems of honor that are given by Christ to people who have earned them by works in this world. So, the 24 elders later in the Book of Revelation will cast down their crowns. Crowns generally represent authority, but it could also represent honor like a victor's wreath, like, "I fought the good fight, I finished the race, kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7), and you get crowned. You get rewarded. We have a medal put around someone's neck with a ribbon. Back then, they would have a crown of olive leaves, let's say, a wreath put on their head, a crown of honor. So, I think it's an emblem of honor. Specifically, it says the crown of life. I don't know why it says of life except just that they should know that if they die, they'll live. "I'm the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies"(John 11:25). So, it is life. It is eternal life. But I think maybe it's just, they're going to the world of the living eternal life, and they're going to be honored in that world for all eternity.

Wes

What final encouragement does Christ give to this suffering church, and why would this be especially encouraging to a church facing extreme persecution?

Andy

As in every case, it says, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." Plural. So, what that means is listen to all seven lessons. We've already looked at the first one at Ephesus. Now we're looking at the second one at Smyrna. We're going to accumulate wisdom with all seven of these churches. So, listen to them. Specifically, he says to the one who overcomes, "the one who is more than a conqueror, he will not be hurt at all by the second death" (Revelation 2:11b). Now, we'll learn very clearly at the end of the book of Revelation, the second death is hell. It's condemnation. You're not going to go to hell. So, if you overcome even to the point of death and even to the end of your life, it means you're a real Christian. If you're a real Christian, you're not going to be hurt by the second death.

I think there's a strong link here when it says, "He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death." With the beautiful words at the end of Romans 8, at the end of Romans 8, Paul says, very beautifully and triumphantly, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No. As it is written, 'For your sake, we are being killed all day long. We're considered a sheep to be slaughtered'" (Romans 8:35,36). That's directly facing the issue of martyrdom. "No, in all these things we are," what? "More than conquerors through the one who loves us. For I'm convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:37-39). So that statement is linked very strongly to, "He who overcomes persecution will spend eternity wearing the crown of life and not hurt at all by hell." That's what he's saying.

Wes

Andy, what final thoughts do you have on this letter to the church in Smyrna?

Andy

Yeah, I think for us, we are not in this situation. We're not generally persecuted. The most vicious and savage persecution we are likely to receive here is strong rebukes, difficulty in our family or in our job situation. Maybe if we're exceptionally bold and very direct and blunt in our evangelistic presentation, we might get punched in the face, maybe killed by a criminal. But state-sponsored incarceration, confiscation of property, and death is not likely in our lifetime. We hope it would never happen. But we know that brothers and sisters around the world, many of them are going through this kind of thing.

So, we can join them in prayer, and we can also learn from them. We can study martyrs across the ages and honor them for what they did. That will give us more courage to be bold in our setting. Because just because persecution isn't physical, just because it's not extreme, doesn't mean it's not effective and painful. Jesus said, "Blessed are you when people insult you, insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me" (Matthew 5:11). That's slander. Blessed are you when that happens. So, he doesn't minimize that. It's not like sticks and stones, etc. No, words hurt, insults hurt, slander hurts, so we don't minimize it. So, what we're to get out of this lesson to the church at Smyrna is, be bold, be courageous witnesses for Christ in our context, even though we're not being incarcerated, and let the Lord use us for his glory.

Wes

This has been episode 3 in our Revelation Public Study podcast. We want to invite you to join us next time for episode 4, entitled Christ's Letters to the Churches: Pergamum, where we'll discuss Revelation 2:12-17. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys podcast and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.