If the address to Ephesus brings before us the condition of the church in the last days of the apostolic era, the address to Smyrna vividly portrays the condition of the church during the years of persecution that continued for two centuries after the apostles had passed away. In the freshness of first love the church was entirely separate from the world, and the world had no power over it. In Ephesus we see an outwardly united church in separation from the world, but one that had declined from first love to Christ, and therefore in His sight it was a fallen church. Leaving first love, whether in the case of an individual or of the church as a whole, opens the door for the world to enter and assert its power.
It is well then to remember that in the Smyrna period the church is already a fallen church. In tender love we see the Lord dealing with this condition in a way that, for a time, arrests this downward path. As the result of the Lord’s dealing, Smyrna was persecuted by the world, but faithful before the Lord.
The First and Last
The Lord presents Himself to this church in the glory of His Person as the First and the Last and in the glory of His work as the One who became dead but was now alive. What could be more suited to sustain and encourage those who are called to face a martyr’s death than the knowledge that they are in the hands of the One who still exists, having passed through every opposing power, and will remain when the last enemy has been put under His feet? Death could not prevail against Him; therefore death will not prevail against those that are His.
The Lord lets these suffering saints know that all is under His eye; “I know,” He says. Nor is it otherwise today. Our trials, our circumstances, the opposition we may have to meet, whether within the Christian circle or without, are all known to the One who, being the First and the Last, can see the end from the beginning. If, however, He has all power in His hands, why are His people permitted to pass through trial? Is it not because He has not only all power in His hands, but all love in His heart? If in His unchanging love He has to pass us through trial, it is for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness. In His dealings He not only corrects for past failure, but would also form us according to His own holiness in the present, and prepare us for what He sees we may yet have to meet in the future.
It may be pointed out that the word “works” of Revelation 2:99I 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) is not in the original. These saints were not characteristically distinguished by works, but by suffering. The saints of the Ephesian period were great workers; the saints of the Smyrna period were great sufferers. Let us remember that there is the service of suffering as well as the service of doing.
Threefold Trials
The trials that were allowed to come upon the church at this period were threefold: suffering from the world, poverty of circumstances, and opposition from the devil.
A church that has left first love is in danger of drifting into the world and will be in danger of adopting the world’s methods, of attempting to advance the Lord’s interests by means of earthly riches and the acquisition of worldly power and influence. Foreseeing the danger of the world, the Lord stripped the church of Smyrna, so that they were poor in those things that the world counts gain, such as wealth, power and influence, in order to leave them rich in His sight. Thus the Lord can say of this church, “I know thy tribulation, and thy poverty, but thou art rich” (Rev. 2:99I 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) JND). It is far better to be poor in the eyes of the world and rich in the sight of the Lord, than to be rich and increased with goods, like the church in its last stage, and yet “wretched and miserable and poor” in the eyes of the Lord.
Jewish Principles
There was, however, another way in which the enemy sought to draw the church into the world. In the Smyrna period the church had to meet the opposition of those who insisted on Jewish principles and thus sought to draw the church into a worldly religion. Probably the word “Jews” is used in a figurative sense, signifying those who sought to make Christianity attractive to the flesh by the use of such things as magnificent buildings, gorgeous vestments, ritualistic ceremonies and instrumental music. Thus the effort was made to turn Christianity into a system which, while highly pleasing to the flesh, keeps the soul at a distance from God. If we consent to recognize the flesh and adopt methods that appeal to the flesh, the world would have no objection to being religious and, instead of persecuting, would begin to patronize a Christianity corrupted according to its tastes.
Double Form of Persecution
The devil’s attack on the church in the Smyrna period of its history took a double form. First the devil sought to undermine the foundations of the church by corrupting it with Judaism. This failing, the devil opposed the church by persecution. It is ever thus that he works. At the birth of the Lord, the malignity of Satan first took the form of corruption, when Herod sought to find the young child under the pretense of desiring to pay Him homage. When this failed, the devil tried by violence to destroy Him by slaying all the young children in Bethlehem. So, too, when the gospel was first preached in Philippi, the devil sought to stop the work by the devil-possessed woman, who corruptly appeared to be helping on the work. When this was exposed, he resorted to violence, inciting the people to beat the apostles and thrust them into prison. Here in Smyrna, he sought first to seduce the church from her heavenly calling through the corrupting influences of Judaism. The effort apparently failed, for the Lord says, “I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews” (Rev. 2:99I 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 Lord knew them and the church resisted them.
The attack by corruption having failed, the devil was permitted to resort to violence, but it was safer for them than the wiles of the devil. If, however, the Lord sees a “need be” for the trial, He will also put a limit to it: “Ye shall have tribulation ten days.” Peter too says these manifold trials are but “for a season.” The devil may be allowed to cast some into prison, but he cannot go a day beyond the Lord’s ten days.
The Cross and the Crown
The Lord does not hide from these saints the path that lies before them. Suffering, imprisonment and possible martyrdom will be their portion. The Lord sets before them the cross here and the crown hereafter. Beyond death neither men nor devils have any power. They cannot touch the tree of life in the paradise of God, nor the crown of life that awaits the faithful martyr.
The “ten days” of fiery persecution may be passed, but what was said to Smyrna in the days of fiery persecution has a voice for us in these days of easy profession. It tells us the true character of the world under the power of Satan and reminds us of the two ways in which the world can divert the church from its allegiance to Christ. We find ourselves in the last days of Christendom when the wile of corruption has so thoroughly leavened the vast mass of the Christian profession that it is hardly necessary for the devil to persecute. Nevertheless, neither the devil nor the world have altered in hostility to Christ.
In the day of persecution, how suited is the promise to the overcomer. He shall not be hurt of the second death. The body may die a martyr’s death, but the believer cannot be hurt of the second death. The martyr’s death may separate soul from body, but the second death will never separate the believer from God. The overcomer is to enjoy the comfort of this promise while passing through sufferings.
H. Smith, adapted