Revelation 2:8-11 – 8 “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown. 11 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.
“To the angel of the church in Smyrna.” Smyrna comes from the word myrrh. The sweet fragrance of Myrrh is only released after it is crushed. The church in Smyrna had been enduring great persecution. Jesus tells them that they would be enduring more. Yet He holds out to this church, to whom no criticism was given, that after the squeezing of them, the sweet smell of victory would be theirs.
“These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.” In calling Himself the first and the last He is again revealing His divinity. This is the same title God said of Himself in Isaiah 44:6 “This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.” Jesus is saying that He is equal, is one with the Father. He is a member of the one God who is triune. His proclamation also brings us back to Isaiah 48:12-13 ““Listen to me, Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am He; I am the first and I am the last. 13 My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they all stand up together.” Here Jesus equates Himself with God, indeed He says that He is the One God, and He states that He is the God who created all.
Jesus also says that He is the one who died and came to life again. We know that He died for our sins and that through His resurrection He led the way to eternal life with God. He is the promised God our Savior of the Old Testament and the New Testament. Praise the Lord! We must remember that those who challenge the death and resurrection of Jesus challenge our entire faith. This is no mild disagreement. They are no friends of Jesus and no friends of the Faith. If they are allowed to sweep away the death and resurrection of Jesus, then they make Jesus a charlatan who has perniciously misled us concerning eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:14). No, Jesus lives and so will we live (Revelation 1:8). Praise God!
“I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich!” Jesus knows their afflictions. He knows that they have been endured beatings, torture, and even some have been killed. What a comfort to know that Jesus is watching. That He knows. He tells them, that He knows they have suffered much in His name. But He has a most wonderful promise for them. The promise is much greater than their suffering.
Because they are Christians, many would not do business with them. They were ostracized. Christians, because of their faith, were not hired. The poverty spoken of here was not being a little “broke.” No it was abject poverty. Many were lacking the basic necessities, and surely they were lacking many of the comforts and “wants” that we desire to have. The people of Smyrna were persecuted and horribly poor. They were abused and suffered physically, emotionally, and financially.
Jesus then reminds them that though that is their earthly condition, in the spiritual economy, which does not fade, get rusted, or stolen, they are rich (Matthew 6:19-21)! Imagine that church where its member are often beaten and imprisoned. Imagine what they look like. Imagine sitting down in a church and many around you are bruised, beaten and dressed in tattered clothes. Would we remain sitting next to them? Would we remain in that church? Sadly, too many believers would not want to fellowship with these. The very ones that all believers should run to help are the ones we run away from fellowshipping and worshipping with. We may proclaim that they stink. But to God, they have a sweet aroma. Their bruises and their poverty come because the refuse to give an inch in believing in, and proclaiming the Word of God. They lift Jesus up, while they are crushed. Jesus tells these that they are rich. Praise God for believers who endure and thereby set the example to fellow believers and become a curiosity to the World. They live in our world today. Do we love and bless them?
“I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” The believers who are Jewish, are slandered and mocked by people who say they are Jews, but are not. The ones who claim to be Jews but are not are those who think they are Jews because of their ancestry, or because they are faithful in their attendance to the synagogue. Jesus has said they are not Jews. They think themselves children of God, but have rejected their Messiah. They remain dead in their sins. They are not children of God. Jesus goes so far as to call them a “synagogue of Satan.” If anyone is not a child of God. If anyone is not a devoted lover and follower of Jesus, then they remain in sin and belong to the devil. Jesus is not “pulling any punches.” We should not think that some who sit next to us in nice clothes and smell nice are all children of God. No-one should think they Christians because the come from a Christian family or because they regularly attend church, Those of the synagogue of Satan come to sit with us at church. We, following Jesus closely, know that because of Him and His work, we are of surely and eternally children of God. We know it is solely the work of God.
“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.” Jesus tells these disciples of His, who have received no criticism, to not be afraid of the suffering they all will go through. Now Jesus had no criticism for their church. So be very aware that their suffering was not because of sin or a lack of faith. In fact, their suffering was because their faith was strong. Jesus said that we would all face troubles (John 16:33). His promise is that He will be with us through them all. He is our strength and our hope! He is the strong High Tower in whom we take safe refuge (Proverbs 18:10).
Jesus says that some of them will be in prison. Note that He says that it is the devil who puts them in prison. Not the Jews, not the Romans, not any person, but the devil. We don’t battle against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12)!
Jesus tells them the duration of their suffering. Isn’t suffering always easier if you know it will end. If we are in excruciating pain but have no clue as to what is causing the pain and if it will ever stop, then it is much harder to bear. However, if we know that it is only for a time, then we have a goal, we know to endure and the pain will go away. The pain is real, but we are focused on enduring for a time. The Lord letting them know that their persecution will end was a great and welcome kindness. This was not a trite comfort offered to them. Their relief shall surely come because Jesus said so.
Jesus tells them to be faithful, even to the point of death. Family, God does not say words to hear Himself speaking. God says words with purpose and eternal meaning. He tells them to be faithful and, if they are, He will give them the crown of life (NKJV), or victor’s crown. Why would He tell them to be faithful if it is impossible to be unfaithful to Him? Also, what if they are not faithful? It is obvious that if they are not faithful they will not receive the prize. He told them to be faithful and then they will receive the crown of life. The flipside of this verse is that these believers, if they did not remain faithful, would not receive the crown of life. The God given free will of man is on display in this verse.
“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.” Again, here, as when He was speaking to Ephesus, He uses this expression to note that He is speaking to everyone. Jesus has said that to everyone who is victorious they will not be hurt by the second death. What is the second death? The second death is spiritual separation from God. Those who are hurt by the second death, who receive the second death, will not live eternally with God. They are separated from God. Their eternal address will be hell. Not so for the one who is victorious. As in the preceding, God does not say something for no reason. If one were to tell you that if you were to meet them at a bank near your house in one hour, they will give you five million dollars, then that would be great news. There is a condition to this offer, the flip side to this great news is that in order to receive the money, you must go to the bank. You have a part in it. If you don’t go to the bank, you don’t get the money. Jesus says that the one who is victorious will not suffer the second death, they will receive the crown of life. Now whom is the one who determines if someone is not victorious? Hasn’t Jesus done the complete sacrifice, the whole work, for our salvation, for our victory? Then how is it that a believer, whom He is talking to, might not be victorious. We know that He would never push away so that we would lose salvation (John 6;37). We know that no-one can separate us from His love (Romans 8:37-39). Then who can separate us from His love? Who can cause us to not be victorious? Only one. It is the one who looks back at us from the mirror. Family, I know the popular teaching, but read what Jesus is plainly, what He is clearly, saying to these churches. What He is saying to us. We have ears, let us hear, let us understand, let us be wise and heed.
Having considered the above are we to be afraid? No! Not, not ever! The Lord loves us. Stay in love with Him. Don’t treat the grace and love of God as a common thing (Hebrews 10:29). Don’t put the grace of God by which we are saved into a storage facility and hardly remember what God has done on our behalf. Live for Him. Love Him. Keep the fire burning! Daily, hourly, by the minute, have Jesus in the forefront in our minds and burning in our hearts. That being so, we are victorious. By our works? Come on now, we all know better than that. It is only the work of God that saves us. Yet, God has, in His salvation plan, been mindful of the free will He gave us. The scriptures are clear. We accept the fact. We cannot explain the fact, we just know it is so. This is as it is with much about the wonder, majesty and mystery of God. Do we love God? Then we have no worry. We know His love for us is sure. No worries. Walk in peace. He will keep us. Yes, yes, yes, it is He and only He that keeps us. What a wonderful, mysterious truth that we know to be true! Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.