Revelation 2:8-11

To the Church in Smyrna

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. 9I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10Do 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 the crown of life. 11He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.

2:8 - There were two characteristics of the town of Smyrna that meant trouble for the church there. First, the people of Smyrna were deeply devoted to the Emperor cult. Second, Smyrna had a large Jewish population that was extremely hostile to the Christian faith. Here we have another term for Jesus, the First and the Last. This is a name for God from Isaiah 44:6 and 48:12. It is clear, despite some current claims to the contrary, that the early church's beliefs were deeply rooted in the doctrine that Jesus Christ was divine. It was important to the early Christians to understand that Jesus had defeated death by coming back to life. The Apostle Paul was very careful in explaining that His resurrection guarantees our resurrection one day.

2:9-10 - The picture John paints of life for a Christian in Smyrna was clearly not a bed of roses. They had suffered through poverty and persecution and had remained strong. It is likely that they had persevered through confiscation of property (Heb. 10:34), vandalism, and even economic boycott on account of their refusal to align with either the pagan emperor worshippers or the apostate Jews (Rev.. 13:16-17). In Christ's eyes the church in Smyrna is rich because they have endured much tribulation for His sake. Christ knew all about their suffering because in our sufferings, He suffers (Is. 63:9). He also knew about the slander of their persecutors. This is the group also identified as Nicolaitans, and the followers of Balaam and Jezebel. They claimed to be Jews, the children of Abraham, but in reality were children of the Devil. There is no such thing as a true Jew that does not believe in Christ. If Jews believed in the Old Testament, they would believe in Christ. If a man rejects Christ, he rejects Moses (John 5:46). The point John was making that would have been clear to his original readers is who the true Jews are. According to the Bible, it has nothing to do with ethnic heritage. The one who has been clothed with Christ is the heir of the promises to Abraham and the possessor of the blessings of the Covenant (Rom. 11:11-24; Gal. 3:7-9, 26-29). Those who were still clinging to the Old Covenant of works and were rejecting Christ were a synagogue of Satan.

Despite what they had already suffered, John cannot tell them that it is over, but he does encourage them to not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Some of them would be put into prison. Christ wants them to know, however, that their promised suffering is part of the great battle between Satan and Christ. The tribulation would be intense but would last only ten days. This is symbolic for a short period of time and brings up thoughts of the ten days for which Daniel and his friends were tempted. Symbolically the choice for Smyrna was ten days of persecution in exchange for one thousand years of victory (Revelation 20:4-6). Christ encourages them to be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. There is no other choice for the true Christian. "if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us" (2 Timothy 2:12).

2:11 - The faithful Christian who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. To understand this concept we must realize that in the mind of the New Testament writers there were two deaths and two resurrections. The first death is the physical death that all of mankind will experience. The second death will only be experienced by those who are sentenced to eternal judgment in the Lake of Fire known as Gehenna. Later John writes, "Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ" (Rev. 20:6). In other words, those who take part in the first resurrection will not be effected by the second death. The promise that those in Christ are priests has already been revealed as a present reality (1:6). Thus, the first resurrection cannot refer to the physical resurrection at the end of the world (1 Cor. 15:22-28). Every Christian has died, been resurrected, and raised to a new life in Christ at the waters of baptism (Romans 6:1-4); this is the first resurrection that points to the second and final resurrection.