Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.11UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.07UNLIKELY
Fear
0.11UNLIKELY
Joy
0.56LIKELY
Sadness
0.57LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.54LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.11UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.94LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.52LIKELY
Extraversion
0.07UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.47UNLIKELY
Emotional Range
0.67LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Revelation 2:8-11
Σμυρναῖος
Outline:
I.
SALUTATION AND NAME OF CHURCH IDENTIFIED
II.
IDENTIFICATION OF CHRIST AS SENDER
III.
ASSERTION OF KNOWLEDGE
IV.
COMMENT AND CONCERN
V.
EXHORTATION
VI.
PROMISED BLESSING
VII.
ADMONITION TO HEED
∞≻≺∞
I.
SALUTATION AND NAME OF CHURCH IDENTIFIED.
Verse 8
A. “Unto the angel of the church in Smyrna” The persecuted Church
1. Angel is aggelos in the greek.
It means messenger.
It can refer to a human (in
this case the pastor of the church) or it can (and does most frequently in itʼs
usage throughout the Bible) refer to an angel.
Which ever it may be what we do
know is that this messenger is representative of the whole church and therefor
this letter is to the church in Smyrna.
2. Background of Smyrna
a) The word Smyrna (Smurnaios) actually means myrrh.
This word has a
hebrew root (Mur) which means death.
(1) Myrrh is an aromatic oil which was used for
(a) Perfume, Psalm 45:8
(b) Holy anointing oil for priests, Exodus 30:23
(c) The Purification of women, Esther 2:12
(2) Itʼs primary use was for embalming, John 19:39
1
(3) Myrrh is a bitter gum and costly perfume which exudes from a certain
tree or shrub in Arabia and Ethiopia.
(4) Myrrh gives off itʼs sent by being crushed!
(5) Myrrh was one of the three gifts given to our Lord at his birth.
(a) Gold = Royalty
(b) Frankincense = deity, priesthood
(c) Myrrh = suffering, death
b) The City
(1) To get to Smyrna from Ephesus one would have to travel 55 km to the
north.
(2) Smyrna was a great trade city because of where itʼs location.
It was
located at the end of the road which served the valley of the river
Hermus (Turkish: Gediz Nehri, the ancient Hermus, is the second largest
river, after the Menderes, flowing from the Anatolian hinterland into the
Aegean Sea) and all trade flowed from that valley towards smyrna and
then out from itʼs harbor.
It It had a double harbor then, one is silted in
today.
(3) It is one of the chief cities in South West Turkey today known as Izmir.
It
is a thriving city and is the 3rd largest city within Turkey.
(4) During the times of John the apostle smyrna was “a wealthy city, second
only to Ephesus in the entire area1 ”.
(5) Strabo, a historian and geographer who lived between 63 BC – AD 23,
described Smyrna as the most beautiful city in the world2.
(6) Others have said that “Anciently it was one of the finest cities in Asia,
and was called “the lovely-the crown of Ionia-the ornament of Asia3.”
(7) Smyrna was “a city deeply committed to idolatry and the worship of the
Roman Emperor.
On one famous street in Smyrna, called the “Golden
Street,” stood magnificent temples to Cybele, Apollo, Asklepios,
Aphrodite, and a great temple to Zeus.
But the worship of those pagan
gods was dying out.
The real focus was on the worship of the Roman
Emperor4 .”
(8) This city readily accepted Caesar worship.
In 196 B.C. the Smyrneans
erected a temple to Dea Roma, the goddess of Rome and and from
there it was a small step to worshiping the emperor.
And so later on they
1
John F. Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, Pg. 59
2
Chuck Missler, Commentary on Revelation
3
Merrill F. Unger, Ungerʼs Bible Dictionary, Pg. 1033
4
http://www.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/comm_view.cfm?AuthorID=2&contentID=8104&commInfo=31&topic=Revelation
2
built a temple to Tiberius Caesar in A.D 26.
This privilege was granted in
A.D. 23.
Over 11 other cities attempted to get the privilege to build the
first temple to worship the Emperor Tiberius Caesar but Smyrna won.
Consequently Smyrna became a leading city in the Roman cult of
Emperor worship.
(9) During Polycarpʼs time the worship of the Emperor was compulsory.
Each year every Roman citizen had to burn a pinch of incense on an
altar and acknowledge publicly that Caesar was the supreme lord.
Those that completed this act of veneration would receive a certificate
stating that they had done so.
(10) This mandated worship proved to be a very real test for Christians in this
city.
Many who refused to worship this Roman emperor would be burned
at the stake or be eaten of wild beasts in the arena.
3. The church within Smyrna
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9