Sermon Tone Analysis

Revelation 2:8-11 New King James Version

Revelation 2:8

1. “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write,

a. Smyrna lay about thirty-five miles north of Ephesus on the east shore of the Aegean Sea.[1]

b.

It claimed to be the birthplace of the great epic poet Homer.[2]

c.

In NT times the population may have been about 200,000.

Coins describe the city as “First of Asia in beauty and size.”[3]

d.

Smyrna - It survives today as Izmir, the third largest city in Turkey.[4]

2. ‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life:

a. Revelation 1:17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.

But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.

b.

Revelation 1:18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.

Amen.

And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

c. Isaiah 44:6 “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.

d.

Isaiah 48:12 “Listen to Me, O Jacob, And Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last.

Revelation 2:9

1. “I know your

a. works, (missing in some manuscripts; scribal gloss to match other letters)

i.

Five of the seven messages have a reference to “works” at this point, and this appears as a textual variant here in 2:9 (supported by א, one of the best three ancient copies for Rev, and the bulk of later Byzantine minuscules) and is reflected in the KJV.

But the reference is omitted in the other two most valuable manuscripts (A, C, as well as P and later copies), and it is much more likely that “works” was added here due to parallels with the other messages.

See similar issue at 2:13.[5]

b. tribulation, and

i. Tribulation - trouble involving direct suffering—‘trouble and suffering, suffering, persecution.’[6]

1. Revelation 1:9 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

c. poverty

i. poverty n.— the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions; often understood as the status of someone who must beg to survive.

ii.

To be a Christian could mean exclusion from opportunities to earn a living (and thus “poverty,” πτωχεία) as well as seizure or loss of property due to religious hatred (Heb 10:34).[7]

1. Hebrews 10:34 for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.

d. (but you are rich);

i. Revelation 3:17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—

ii.

Luke 12:21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

2. and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not,

a. Blasphemy - to speak against someone in such a way as to harm or injure his or her reputation[8]

b. those who say they are Jews and are not

i.

Romans 2:28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh;

ii.

Romans 2:29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

3. but are a synagogue of Satan.

a. John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.

He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.

When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

b.

Many commentators thus recognize the likelihood that at least some members of the local Jewish community were collaborating with local officials to repress the Christian minority.[9]

c.

Smyrna was an important center of the imperial cult in Asia, the second city to receive from an emperor this “privilege.”2

As noted earlier, only Jews were exempt from worshiping the emperor, for Rome knew that Jews were monotheistic and were an ancient, ethnic religion that merited tolerance.

The recognition that Christians were a part of Judaism (they claimed that Jesus fulfilled biblical promises to ancient Israel) thus protected Christians (at least initially) from unnecessary persecution.

Unfortunately, many synagogue leaders seem to have felt it necessary to distinguish themselves sharply from Christians or even to make the Jewish Christians unwelcome in the synagogues.[10]

d.

Smyrna sustained a special relationship to Rome and the imperial cult.

During the period when Rome was engaged in a struggle for supremacy against the Carthaginian empire (roughly 265–146 b.c.) Smyrna had placed itself squarely on the side of the Romans, and in 195 b.c. it became the first city in the ancient world to build a temple in honor of Dea Roma.

Later, in 23 b.c., Smyrna won permission (over ten other Asian cities) to build a temple to the emperor Tiberius.1

This strong allegiance to Rome plus a large Jewish population that was actively hostile to the Christians made it exceptionally difficult to live as a Christian in Smyrna.[11]

e.

In the early second century some Jewish accusers participated in betraying to the Romans Polycarp, a disciple of the apostle John and bishop of Smyrna, leading to his execution.[12]

f.

The most famous martyrdom of the early church fathers was that of the elderly Polycarp, the “twelfth martyr in Smyrna,” who, upon his refusal to acknowledge Caesar as Lord, was placed upon a pyre to be burned.[13]

g. the Jews gathered fuel on the Sabbath for the burning of Polycarp (Mart.

Polyc.

13, 21)[14]

Revelation 2:10

1. Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer.

2. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison,

a.

The synagogue of “Satan” also suggests involvement with “the devil,” who would cast believers into prison (2:9–10).[15]

b.

Such action would also be serious, since imprisonment in the ancient world was not imposed as a term of punishment for minor offenses.

It was temporary custody to force compliance with an official demand, to hold the accused for trial, or to hold someone for execution.[16]

3. that you may be tested,

4. and you will have tribulation ten days.

a.

The reference to “ten days” is probably not literal but is perhaps an allusion to Daniel 1:12, 14–15, where the Hebrew young men were tested (LXX πειράζω) for a limited period and in that case achieved a favorable outcome.[17]

i.

Daniel 1:12 “Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.

ii.

Daniel 1:14 So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days.

iii.

Daniel 1:15 And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies.

5. Be faithful until death,

6. and I will give you the crown of life.

a.

A famous thoroughfare called the Street of Gold curved around Mt. Pagus (which rose over 500 feet from the harbor) like a necklace on the statue of a goddess.

At either end was a temple, one to a local variety of Cybele, known as Sipylene Mother (a patron divinity), and the other to Zeus.

The acropolis on Mt.

Pagus was called the crown or garland of Smyrna.

[18]

b.

Crowns (wreaths of olive, laurel, pine, or celery) were appropriate to victory in battle and more often in athletic competition; [19]

c. James 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Revelation 2:11

1. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

2.

He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”