Revelation 2:8

Revelation 2:8

In Revelation 2:8-10 Jesus said, "And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; 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. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried; and you shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."

From the things that Jesus said to the church in Smyrna, it is obvious that they were suffering some great persecution. That is why Jesus reminded them that He was the first and the last. No matter how bad it would get for them, in the end it will all work out because Jesus will be there at the end and He will right all wrongs. "The meek shall inherit the earth." "The first shall be last and the last shall be first." Jesus also reminded them that He was dead and yet is alive. The Christians in Smyrna were suffering some great persecution, and if the persecution became as bad as it could possibly get, many of them would be put to death. But they put Jesus to death, and He is still alive. You need not fear those who can only destroy the body, if you have learned to reverence Him who can destroy both body and soul.

Where did the persecution come from that the believers in Smyrna were suffering? There was a human source of the persecutions, and there was a spiritual source. The dark spiritual source was Satan. The word "satan" means adversary. He is the adversary of God, and he is the adversary of God’s people. The human source of the persecution was false religion. More persecution of the true believers has come from false religion than from any other source.

Notice that the false religion is described by Jesus as those "who say they are Jews and are not." What is a Jew? Jesus was a Jew. To be a Jew is a good thing. What is bad is to say that you are a Jew, when you are not. A Jew is someone who is in the lineage of Abraham. The main characteristic of Abraham was his faith. The real Jews are those who have acquired the same faith as Abraham. It was Abraham’s faith that gave him his relationship with God. Those who have only a physical lineage to Abraham are not Jews, if they do not have the same faith in the revealed truth from God. In our day and age the revealed truth from God centers around His Son. Those who reject the Son are not true Jews, because they are not at all like faithful Abraham. It is not surprising that those who are not rightly related to God would become persecutors of those who are. It started with Cain against Able, and it will be a pattern that will repeat itself until the Judge appears.

The message of Jesus is to remind us to not fear the dark spiritual forces, because they are really under His control and their doom is sealed. But we can understand a little better what happens to us in this world by understanding the nature of the dark spiritual forces that also exist in this world. The evil one is called "satan" because he is our adversary. He is also called "devil" because the word devil means slanderer. He accuses and he speaks against the believers, and he uses unbelieving people to do some of his slanderous work. Jesus said that one of the things that would be suffered by the believers in Smyrna was that "the devil shall cast some of you into prison." The judicial system is what is used in any society to cast people into prison, and when the judicial system is at its worst, cases are won or lost based upon who does the best job at slandering the opposition. This is dirty work. This is the work of the slanderer, the devil; and he will use the system from time to time against the children of God because they are the children of God.

Jesus told the believers in Smyrna that they "shall have tribulation ten days." The important thing to note is that there was a finite limit to how long the tribulation would last. For every trial or tribulation there is always an end, just like there is always a light at the end of a tunnel. Some people make the mistake when things go wrong of thinking that things will always be that way. The goal is to be able to endure to the end of that tribulation, and one of the best ways to do so is to remember that there will be an end to whatever you must endure.

The worst-case scenario is that the end will be death. It has happened for some of the believers in Jesus that the end of their sorrows and tribulation came with their death. The servant is not greater than his Lord. What the people of the world did to Jesus, they will sometimes do to His believers. But Jesus gives a special promise to those who are called to suffer such things for His name’s sake. He told those in Smyrna that if they were faithful unto death, He would give them the crown of life. A crown is a symbol of authority and power. Some of the rewards that will be given to believers in the next life will be opportunities to do things for God that will greatly enhance their eternal existence. "Eye has not seen and ear has not heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for them that love Him."

Because of the materialism of our society, it is important to note that Jesus said to them that He knew their poverty, but that they were rich. Their poverty was probably due to the persecution. One way in which the powerful people of this world attempt to persecute believers is financially. But there are things that are more important than money and more valuable than money. That is why Jesus said that the believers in Smyrna were rich. They possessed treasure in heaven, and they possessed spiritual riches that money cannot buy. Some people labor greatly for the riches that perish, but a wise person will lay up treasure in heaven, where moth and rust do not corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

Jesus also told the believers in Smyrna that "he that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death." The first death is the physical death that we shall all experience. The second death is spiritual death. Whoever experiences the second death does not have eternal life, and will not enter the Kingdom of God. Instead of fearing the first death, people would be much better off if they feared the second death so that they would look to Jesus Christ and receive from Him eternal life.

Jesus said in Revelation 2:12-13, "And to the angel of the church of Pergamus write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; I know thy works, and where you dwell, even where Satan’s seat is: and you hold fast my name, and have not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells." The difference between Smyrna and Pergamus was that Smyrna was in the midst of a great persecution, but Pergamus had already gone through their time of persecution. The believers in Pergamus had endured their persecution without denying the name of Christ, and the believers in Pergamus had a great martyr to always remember as a hero of the faith. The world is not worthy of the noble and gracious people who have died for the name of Christ. The day will come when we will all know Antipas and others like him, and we will honor them for the brave and true hearts that they had.

Now that the believers in Pergamus were no longer in a period of great persecution, they found themselves in other circumstances that presented another kind of danger to their faith and to their service to God. They were still in the same city and still among the same authorities and the same people who had once persecuted them. Without the persecution, the danger would be that they would become too much a part of the society around them. "The friendship of the world is enmity with God." The kingdoms of this world for the most part are ruled by Satan. That is why Satan had the power to offer the kingdoms of this world to Christ during the time of Christ’s temptation in Matthew Chapter 4.

With a lack of outward persecution, the believers would live in closer contact with the world around them. This close contact ended up influencing the believers in negative ways that are described in Revelation 2:14 that says, "But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication." When there is a great outward persecution, the only ones who are interested in becoming involved in the meetings of believers are real believers. Who else wants to come and be a part of things when poverty or death may be the result?

But when the persecutions have died down, and the church begins to acquire land and to build buildings, other people become interested in the organization for selfish or human reasons, but not for spiritual reasons. Of course, these other people will have a different agenda and a different outlook on life than the believers. They will be like "Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel." A little leaven leavens the whole lump. Those who are of the world have come into the midst of the people of God and have had a corrupting influence. One of the important principles of the Christian life is to remain separate from the world. It is easier to remain separate when through persecution the world separates from you, but when those of the world are in your midst, it will require no small effort to keep from compromising because of their influence.

Evidently, the believers in Pergamus had not made the extra effort, and they had compromised with the world. The compromise was evident from the fact that they had eaten "things sacrificed unto idols." The false religions of the Greek and Roman empires often worshipped idols and sacrificed animals in offerings made to those idols. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he told them that there were situations in which they should not eat meat sacrificed to idols because that would send the wrong message to unbelievers. The most important message that believers must give to the world is the message that Jesus Christ is the Savior and the answer to the sin problem. No one else in the world has this message. Only believers can deliver this most important good news about Jesus. None of the false religions of the world have this message. In the last 2,000 years many Christian groups have made the same mistake that was made by those in Pergamus: they had too close of a contact with false religion and their message was weakened.

There was compromise in religion, and there was compromise in the area of morality and ethics. Jesus said that these believers had also been influenced "to commit fornication." One of the clear teachings of the Bible is that God designed marriage between the man and the woman. Sex was also designed by God, but only within the marriage bond. Any sex outside of marriage is a perversion of the marriage contract, and is a great pestilence upon society. Many other sins, many diseases, and many crimes can be traced to sexual perversion and the breakup of the family unit and the violation of the principle of marriage. Think of how much more wonderful the world would be if we kept all the other problems of life with this one exception: everyone who decided to marry stayed faithfully married and happily married for the rest of their lives! A common characteristic of many heathen cultures is involvement in sexual immorality. It happened in Sodom and Gomorrah. It happened in the Roman Empire, and it is happening before our very eyes in our society. Do not think that it cannot happen to you, because it did happen to some of the believers in Pergamus. If anyone think that they stand, they should take heed lest they fall.

Jesus mentioned one last failure of the believers in Pergamus in Revelation 2:15 when he said, "So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate." What was called the "deeds of the Nicolaitanes" in Revelation 2:6 has progressed to the point that it is now called by Jesus the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes. We remember that the word Nicolaitanes means those that rule over the people or control the people. It is a reference to individuals who come in among the people of God with an agenda. These are selfish, self-willed people who want to control and dominate a group of believers. There should be a great equality among a group of believers. A pastor should lead, but not dominate. A deacon should serve, but not control. Because of a lack of persecution. the believers in Pergamus had organized themselves to the point that human tradition had entered into their body of beliefs. What was once an unscriptural deed had now become a doctrine. A group of believers were beginning to make the same mistake that the Pharisees had made: by their traditions they set aside the will of God.

The solution to the problems in Pergamus is the same solution that a believer must always avail himself of: to repent. Jesus said to the church in Revelation 2:16, "Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth." If you have compromised, if you have gotten too close to the world, or if the world has influenced you in some negative way by the things that they desire; this is the solution that Jesus has given you: repent. Change your mind about things. Recognize where you have failed, and ask the Lord to forgive you. It is a wonderful thing to be a Christian. You can have a new start. You can be renewed to a closer walk with the Savior. That is how great is the mercy of God that is in Christ. First John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

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