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Introduction
In the last lesson, we discussed the church of Ephesus and the importance of retaining our first love for Christ. In today’s lesson, we will explore the importance of retaining our faith in Christ Jesus even in the face of tribulation and death.
Suffering Tribulation for the Faith
The church of Smyrna is the second church on the list in Revelation 2.
“And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;” Revelation 2:8
Jesus starts out by declaring Himself “the first and the last.” This simply means that He is the beginning of everything and the end of everything, which signifies His sovereignty over time. Jesus moves on to mention the church’s situation.
“I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.”
Revelation 2:9
The church of Smyrna was a poor church that was suffering tribulation. Despite popular belief, we as Christians are not promised a comfortable life here on earth according to scripture. On the contrary, we are promised tribulations in this world. This is according to what Jesus said in John 16.
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Jesus was not just speaking to the disciples; he was speaking to us also. He told us plainly that we will have tribulation in this world. If this were not true, He would not have said it. Tribulation comes in many forms, from illness to war to persecution to imprisonment. Tribulation can even be something like extreme financial difficulties, homelessness, a terrible accident of any kind, and the like. No matter if you are a believer in Ethiopia facing violent harassment from hate groups or a believer suffering from a debilitating illness in America, all Christians have gone through or are going through tribulation.
But why do we as Christians suffer? Because we live in a fallen world, and while bad things happen to all people, Christians most often suffer many tribulations for their faith. The most common form of tribulation a Christian will suffer is persecution. Paul wrote in his letter to Timothy that all who live for Christ will suffer persecution.
“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12
All those who serve God and live godly for Jesus Christ will be persecuted by the world. Every single disciple of Jesus was persecuted and suffered tribulation (going to jail, being falsely accused by the scribes and Pharisees, being beaten, etc.). It shouldn’t be a surprise to us that we suffer tribulation in this world. Jesus Himself also suffered persecution from the scribes and Pharisees who followed Him around and falsely accused Him of heresies and blasphemies.
“Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.” John 15:20
Because we are servants of Jesus, we will be hated by the world.
“And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.” Luke 21:17
The world will hate us because it hates God. But why does the world hate God? Because it is ruled by Satan, who is called the god of this world:
“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
2 Corinthians 4:4
Satan is the archenemy of God, and anyone who is a follower of God will automatically feel his wrath. Satan uses the perils and troubles of this world to make our lives on earth as miserable and inconvenient as possible in hopes that we will turn on God. And unfortunately, this tactic has worked on a lot of Christians who have fallen away from the faith. But we must not ever lose faith in Jesus, because He said in John 16:33 that He has overcome the world. Because we believe in Him, we also being in Him have overcome the world, and by His power are we able to endure the tribulations that the devil and the world throw at us.
Poor Yet Rich
The believers at the church of Smyrna, though they were suffering tribulation, kept their faith. Jesus acknowledged their good works and told the messenger that, though they were impoverished, they were in fact rich. He was denoting their spiritual richness; they were rich in faith and good fruits.
There are many in the world who are rich in money and physical goods but don’t have Christ in their hearts. They are devoid of the joy of the Lord, and they are seeking to fill that void with material things. But the believers in Smyrna understood that it is more profitable to be rich spiritually than rich physically. To be spiritually rich is to have all the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (self-control; see Galatians 5:22-23). Being spiritually rich also means having revelation knowledge and wisdom which is something that can only be given by the Lord. Having a fundamental understanding of the scriptures, and knowing what they really mean, is a priceless gift, and that is what makes one rich.
The Synagogue of Satan
At the end of Revelation 2:9, Jesus also informed the messenger of the church of Smyrna that He knew of the blasphemies of those who called themselves Jews but were not. He specifically called this group of people the synagogue of Satan. These people were of other nationalities who adopted the title “Jew” as a means of acceptance into the nation of Israel and even the early Church to preach damnable heresies and speak blasphemies against God. While they may have practiced some “Jewish” traditions, they were a very religious, legalistic organization that did not have the love of Christ in them at all. They portrayed themselves as the same as the true Jews, but Jesus knew they were imposters, servants of Satan whose bloodline disproves their claim.
According to the Bible, the term “Jew” was also used to address someone who was from the tribe of Judah. It was never used as a religious title. Jews are people who descend from the fourth son of Jacob (renamed Israel), Judah (see Genesis 29:32-35).
Enduring for the Faith
After pointing out the false Jews in verse 9, Jesus goes on to encourage the Smyrna church pastor not to be afraid of the persecutions that he and some in his church would suffer. Jesus told him that Satan would cast some of them into prison to be tried for their faith and that they would have tribulation for ten days. Some Bible commentators suggest that the ten days in verse 10 are symbolic of ten years of tribulation. They get this idea from Ezekiel 4:4-6 and Numbers 14:34 in which both passages of scripture show God telling both Israel and Ezekiel separately that, prophetically speaking, a day represents a literal year; in other words, each day equals a year in prophecy. However, based on the context, it would appear that Jesus was speaking of ten literal days and not ten years.
So as though he hadn’t suffered enough, the pastor was being told that he would suffer more bitter trials. However, Jesus encouraged the pastor to remain faithful even unto death. He promised to give him a crown of life, a symbol of the eternal life given to him and those in his congregation suffering trials.
This is a promise to all Christians who suffer persecution and other tribulations. There are many Christians right now suffering intense persecution in countries that ban Christianity. These countries include Russia, China, North Korea, and India, along with others. The Russian government often hunts down Christians to either imprison them or kill them; India violently harasses churches and people who openly preach the gospel; China and North Korea ban Bibles and grievously punish anyone caught with one. In certain African countries, terrorist groups target Christians by bombing their churches and killing many saints.
Because such things are not seen here in America, many Christians here have grown complacent in their faith. They do not believe that they will go through such trials here because, “this is America, the greatest country in the world” and as far as they are concerned, that will never happen. However, America is not a holy land nor is it godly. With all the wickedness that goes on in this country, how can one say that this is a godly country and God is pleased with this? We American Christians are not exempted from persecution or tribulations. Soon enough, the entire world, including America, will do exactly what China, North Korea, Russia, and India are doing to believers right now. Therefore, we must have a strong faith in Jesus if we are able to withstand the persecution that is coming for all of us.
The church of Smyrna is an example of how we as Christians should faithfully endure the trials that are set before us. Satan will do everything he can to make us fall away from our faith, but Jesus has already overcome the world and through Him we can and will overcome the world too. It is only a matter of having undying faith in Him and realizing that, while the world may be able to kill us, Jesus ultimately has power over life and death. He will raise us to life again at His return, therefore rewarding us with the crown of life.