Revelation 2:8-11
We have here a very special period of Church history. It may be called the persecution period. Taking the history of the Church as a whole, it covers about the first two centuries. During that time, under the Roman emperors, persecution constantly broke out, inflicted not by professed Christians, as happened later on, but by the heathen world.
The Lord reveals Himself here to His tried and persecuted people in a character that was specially calculated to sustain and strengthen their faith.
"These things says the first and the last, who became dead, and lived" (that is, after having died). J.N.D. Trans.
Deep and important truths which are constantly Satan's point of attack are wrapped up briefly in these words. In the first place, He who speaks is none other than God, for of God only can it be said that He is First and Last; God is unaffected by all time limits, and is beyond, as even He was before, all that pertains to time, whether it be prisons, persecution, or even death itself.
But more, He who here speaks, our adorable Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, was Man as truly as He was God-He "became dead." This was one of the reasons for which He took part of flesh and blood- He "was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. "Heb. 2:9. But He was risen from the dead-He "became dead, and lived." How large the circle of truth contained in this short passage! The deity of Christ, the humanity of Christ, the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ. Glorious, amazing truths which may well bow the soul in worship, and sustain in danger's hour.
"I know thy tribulation and thy poverty; but thou art rich." J.N.D. Trans.
In the first place, it is to be observed that in this address to Smyrna there is nothing to condemn, no leaving of first love drawing forth a call to repentance. Persecution may limit the number of outward disciples, but it likewise induces intense reality in those who are true. There is no playing at being Christians when the fires of martyrdom are being lighted. It must be one thing or the other, but no neutrality, no half-and-half confession.
On the other hand, days of persecution are not days of great activity in Christian work; hence, in these addresses, "works" are left out. At Ephesus there were many works, but first love was wanting. At Smyrna hearts beat true to Christ, but "works" were not in any prominence. They were a poor and afflicted people, despised by the world, no doubt, and poor in the eyes of men, but in God's sight how rich!
But not only was there persecution from without, there were dangers within. The Judaizer's were at work in the midst of the assembly. This had been a source of trouble even when the apostles were alive. The epistle to the Galatians furnishes an inspired antidote to their pernicious teaching. Very early came the effort to destroy the peace and liberty brought in through grace, and based upon the accomplished redemption at Calvary; but apostolic power was present to keep this in check (see Acts 15). No sooner, however, had the apostles been removed than these Judaizer's began to form themselves into a compact body.
"I know... the railing of those who say that they themselves are Jews, and are not, but a synagogue of Satan." J.N.D. Trans.
This that began so early has spread and spread to such an extent that it almost characterizes the whole Church. For we must remember that while each of the seven assemblies portrays successive stages, yet seeds of evil once implanted take permanent root.
In Smyrna we cannot say that those Judaizer's characterized the whole Church. There was the beginning of a system, small at first but rapidly to increase, which soon swamped the whole in legal bondage.
Are not masses of even true children of God today practically on Jewish ground? They are put under the law by their very religious exercises, and those who never were intended by God to be so are kept constantly groping in bondage and darkness. The sacerdotal and clerical system in vogue today is but a revival of Judaism. Here in Smyrna we see its commencement as a system- the formation of a party, a persecuting party, a veritable synagogue of Satan.
"Fear nothing of what thou art about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days." J.N.D. Trans.
Dark days are in store. There were gathering clouds of trial and persecution. And yet by all this God was accomplishing His purposes of grace toward His people, recovering them from that fatal torpor of waning first love.
"Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give to thee the crown of life." J.N.D. Trans.
Martyrdom in some cases would take place. How graciously the Lord prepares His people for the coming storm! Sufferings they would have, imprisonment, too, all the malice of Satan let loose upon them, even a martyr's death-but, if so, they would have the martyr's crown, the crown of life. This was a special reward for faithfulness amid special circumstances of tribulation, and this reward will be bestowed upon multitudes who in after years, whether in the Middle Ages or more recently, have laid down their lives for Christ.
The promise to the overcomer in this case was of a special kind, and most suited to the martyr period.
"He that overcomes shall in no wise be injured of the second death." J.N.D. Trans.
Here we get the assurance in the very strongest language that death in its final form as the judgment of God would never be theirs. The unbelieving sinner who dies must die twice, and the second death will be his final doom-not extinction, not annihilation, but the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14). But for the saint it will never be so. He may pass through tribulation, but the period is limited-"ten days"-it will not be the endless tribulation of the ungodly.
How comforting while passing through times of suffering for Christ's sake, to know that all is in God's hands, and even though persecuted, His people are never forsaken. How brightly the crown of life will shine on many a brow that now lies cold in death! How near a place will the crowd of martyrs have to Him who became dead but lives! What a special link will exist, and that forever, between Him who died in love to us, and those who have been actually and in their bodies conformed to His death! We shall not grudge them their special recompense.