Revelation 2:8 ¶ And unto the
angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last,
which was dead, and is alive; 9 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. 10 Fear none of those things
which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison,
that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful
unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. 11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the
second death.
Smyrna was another wealthy city in
the Roman province of Asia, now the country of Turkey. The church, at this
time, was poor in the context of the great wealth around it. Persecution
against Christians was rampant. The reference to them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of
Satan has been used to refer to the strong Jewish population that fought
the growth of Christianity there. Polycarp, student of John, and bishop of
Smyrna was burnt to death there and supposedly the Jews’ fury was so great they
violated the Sabbath to gather wood to burn him.[1]
However, there is another
explanation that concerns we Christians directly. All throughout Christian
history there have been major church organizations that have declared that all
of the promises to the Jews have been transferred to them and that God is done
with the Jews. This has been called by some Replacement Theology although
others say that Replacement Theology just means the Law was fulfilled in Christ
and that it has nothing to do with God being done with the Jews but Replacement
Theology as God discarding the Jews has the Christian church populated with false
Apostles, Nicolaitan priests, and churchmen declaring that the church is indeed
the Israel of God of Galatians 6:16,
but not in the affirmation of a label that confirms what makes us God’s people,
as in Galatians, but in an institutional transfer that strips the Jews of any
future redemption and grants the church organization with physical properties
that go against other statements in the Bible. For instance, in order to
transfer the status of God’s nation of Israel in the Old Testament to the New
Testament church they must deny that the weapons of our warfare are not
physical or carnal (2Corinthians 10:4) and they must deny that the Kingdom of
God is invisible and within us (Luke 17:20,21) and insist that there can be a
Christian commonwealth or nation or kingdom on earth possessing the authority
and blessings that God wanted to bestow on Israel. This would include countries
like England, Russia, Germany, and America in the past claiming they were now
God’s Israel. This Replacement Theology has led to many persecutions against
the Jews, Non-Comforming Christians, and others and much murder throughout
history where a state-church regards itself as the physical Israel. This was
even prominent in early American preaching where America was referred to as The
Promised Land, a New Israel.
The reference to tribulation ten days could be a
reference to the ten great persecutions of Christians or the references in
history to ten great persecutions might be reading back into this verse ten of
the persecutions against Christians. There were at least ten great persecutions
and many more, localized ones before the church and state were united under the
Emperor Constantine, at which point the institutional church became a
persecutor itself, which is always the case with state-churches.
If they did not renounce their
faith, they would receive a crown of life, which goes to the persecuted who die
in their faith, never rejecting Christ, as many Christians in the Middle East,
Asia, and Africa are faced with even today.
The second death is defined as;
Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy
is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath
no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with
him a thousand years.
Revelation 20:14 And death and
hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Revelation 21:8 But the fearful,
and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and
sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
When we are born again we can only
die one time, in our flesh. When we reject Christ we will die a second time
when we are cast into the lake of fire into which death and hell are thrown.
Christ commends these churches’
works, labor, patience, poverty, and rejection of evil.
[1] Merrill F. Unger, Archaeology and the New Testament, (Grand
Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing, 1962), 281-2.
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