Revelation 2:8-11, Conquering in Hope
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Is Jesus Your Hope?
Is Jesus Your Hope?
“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.
Jesus is the one who has been in control of the past and He will be in control of the future. He is the Eternal One. In fact, this descriptive title, “the first and the last” comes from Yahweh, whose name means “Eternal One” (or “I Am” or “I Will Be”) through Isaiah,
Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
“I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.
In the rest of this passage, Yahweh the Eternal One says He is the only one who can declare the future. He doesn’t predict it. He determines it. He has already written the end of the story.
And at the end of the story for all humans, Jesus is ruling over all things in heaven and on earth. He wears the crown. It is a crown of life.
“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.
He died and He came to life. When we get to the end of our story, we will see that everything has been leading to the glorified Jesus, the Messiah, ruling over heaven and earth as the crucified and risen Savior and Lord, providing eternal life to all who trust in Him.
All kings who have ever reigned have needed a succession plan. As humans, they would die. Sometimes, the people in the succession plan sped up the process. But Jesus needs no succession plan. He has the power of an indestructible life.
the power of an indestructible life.
He shall reign forever and ever. The Christ who took your sin on the cross and put it to death now lives to give you life eternal, abundant, and complete.
Is Jesus all your hope? Does His death on the cross as an innocent sacrifice for the sins of humankind and His resurrection from the dead give you a solid, deeply abiding, unshakable hope for your future?
Between now and that eternal future, how does Jesus Christ use that hope in our lives?
Hope in Christ Anchors Us in Reality
Hope in Christ Anchors Us in Reality
“‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
What is your perspective as you read that sentence? Grant Osborne says tribulation, poverty, and being slandered “would not be considered commendable strengths today, because the modern church [in the West] has forgotten the centrality of the fellowship of His sufferings (Philippians 3:10) that strengthened the early church by a deeper union with Christ. Suffering for Christ was a privilege…”
that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
For Paul, the hope of knowing Christ in the power of His resurrection was directly linked to sharing in Christ’s sufferings and becoming like him in his death.
For the Christians in Smyrna, their reality was tribulation. It began with the slander of the Jews. Judaism was a recognized religion the Roman empire. Christians began as a Jewish sect, but they were much more radical than the Jews. The Christians would not go along with the Roman program. The Jews began denouncing the Christians as not true Jews to distance themselves from the Christians in the eyes of Roman authorities.
That slander had consequences. Poverty was common due to lack of acceptance. Some of us might experience that sometimes. But more severe suffering, even death, is the expectation. In fact, the most famous death came sixty years after this letter was read in Smyrna. Polycarp, John’s disciple and the bishop of Smyrna, was burned at the stake by the Romans because he would not swear the Roman oath of allegiance, “Caesar is Lord”.
When the whole world is against you, it’s easy to think you’re the crazy one, the one who’s wrong. Maybe you missed something. Jesus is telling them, it’s not you. The world cannot see reality clearly.
Jesus also says, the people calling themselves Jews are in reality a synagogue of Satan. When Jesus walked the earth, He warned the Jews that rejected Him as the Son of God.
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Here is reality from Jesus’ perspective,
“‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
So, here is the reality for the Christians in Smyrna - in this world you may seem poor, but you are truly rich because you know Me. Those who slander them are blinded by Satan, so their word is worthless. In other words, if you are experiencing trouble and slander because you are professing Jesus Christ as Lord, you are probably doing life right, even though your perception might tell you otherwise.
For us, can we confess that maybe the affluence and cultural influence we are allowed as American Christians shades our perspective on this reality?
Hope Strengthens Us in Tribulation
Hope Strengthens Us in Tribulation
Jesus never promised that being a Christian would remove all trouble from your life. Far from it. Jesus always taught that denying yourself a comfortable life, being loved by all in this world, was the only path to true riches in His kingdom.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?
For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
His apostles learned and taught the same.
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
Which is the same promise Jesus gives in the letter to the Christians in Smyrna.
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested,
and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
When we are faithful to hope only in Christ, dying for Him, we will receive the crown of life. Crown: we will share in the reign of Christ. Life: we share in the life of Christ. Jesus received His authority to reign in heaven and earth because He was obedient to the Father to die for sinners. In the same way, we will reign with Him if we die for Him. The early church began to talk about “the martyr’s crown”. Dying for Jesus was the ultimate victory over this world.
Was death a serious threat? Doesn’t it say they were about to be thrown into prison? The Romans did not use prison as a punishment like we do. They only imprisoned people they were going to “re-educate” to get with the program or people awaiting trial or execution. These Christians were going to be faced with this choice in prison, “renounce Jesus as Lord and confess Caesar is Lord”, or die. How would the Christians in Smyrna make it through this tribulation? It was their hope in Christ. Jesus would reward their faithfulness.
What’s the deal with the ten days? This is the part that helps us understand the gospel.
In apocalyptic symbolism, ten is a number of completion. Jesus could be saying, there is a limit to the suffering. I am the first and the last and I will not let it go beyond the days of completion I have determined.
But there is something else going on too. We are told that Daniel, exiled in Babylon, was faced with the same challenge, be faithful to God and obey His commandments or get with the program in Babylon, chose to be tested for ten days.
“Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.
At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food.
Where did Daniel get this idea from?
God established seven appointed times for the nation of Israel to meet with Him through the year. The first three are in the spring. Passover begins the feast of unleavened bread, and on the third day is the feast of firstfruits. Jesus fulfilled all of these in His first coming. He was the passover sacrifice that saves us from death in our sin, His body is the bread we eat to remember His sacrifice, and He is the firstfruits of the dead in His resurrection.
Pentecost, or Shavuot, comes seven weeks after Passover. This was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit wrote the law of God on the hearts of Jesus’ followers and they began proclaiming the gospel with power.
The fall feasts begin with the feast of trumpets, Yom Teruah, also called Rosh Hashanah, “New Year” of the civil calendar. The trumpets call Israel to return to God. This begins ten days, during which Jews reflect on what they have done with the year that has passed and their hopes for the new year. And ten days after they have been “tested”, they fast for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, as they ask God to forgive their sins. They clothe themselves in white to symbolize their restored purity. Now they are prepared for Sukkot, the feast of tabernacles five days later, celebrating God’s dwelling among them.
The Christians in Smyrna that had been taught the scriptures would understand their faithfulness to Jesus even unto death is the “ten day” testing that will prepare them to dwell with God. Jesus says, “Conquer this and you will not be hurt by the second death.”
This is the gospel. Remember Jesus said,
“‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
Jesus knows any tribulation you could experience. Imagine, Jesus had practiced the ten days of testing every year for thirty years. And He was the only one who passed the test every year, never one sin for which to atone. But rather than leveraging that for riches in this world, He embraced poverty. Rather than seeking applause for His perfect record, He chose the slander the Jews and crucifixion by the Romans. When the day of atonement came, He atoned for the sins of all of us. And those who believe in Him are cleansed so that God can dwell within us.
Whatever the tribulation, whatever level of poverty, slander, suffering of any kind, Jesus knows. Our hope is not that we escape these things. Our hope is that the One who knows promises,
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’
What can man do to me? He can torture and kill me for my allegiance to Christ as Lord. But there is a second death in hell, and I will never be hurt by that. Jesus is the One who died and came to life. He will bring me through.
Communion
Questions for Discussion
What are some blessings God is enriching you with right now? What are some ways you feel the trouble of this life?
What do we learn about Jesus in this passage?
How does this understanding of Jesus give us hope?
What do we learn about Jesus from verse 9?
What are some ways the world misrepresents reality when we experience tribulation or poverty or slander? How does our passage show us true reality?
What are the commands in verse 10? In what ways would knowing ahead of time that we were going to suffer affect our emotions in the suffering? What can we learn about that for seasons when we didn’t see the suffering coming?
What is the promise in verse 11? Can you give examples of how this promise has helped you in troubled times?
What do we learn about ourselves in this passage?
How will you respond to this passage this week?
