Bishop's Epistle: Revelation 2:8-9; Commentary: To the Angel of the Church of Smyrna

2:8-9 “And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; 9 I 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.”

“And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write;” ～ The name of the city may have been a contributing cause for its selection in this group of seven. The name Smyrna (same spelling in Grk) means “bitter.” Not that they were bitter in spirit, for the opposite seems to have been the case; because the Lord has no condemnation to speak in their behalf, but counter-wise, speaks of their riches. The bitterness indicated by the word “Smyrna” was a characteristic of their daily existence.

“These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;” ～ See the commentary on 1:17. Same as “Alpha and Omega.” There can be but One such individual. This is the self description of Christ.

“I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) ...” ～ The Saints were producing good works in the face of “tribulation, and poverty.” We may be certain that it would have been difficult to tell a Christian in Smyrna (during the last half of the first century) that they were not participants in the “great tribulation” spoken of by Christ during His Olivet Discourse (Matt 24:21). We are not told anything about the origin of this church, but we may assume that it was a mission from the church at Ephesus. We do know, however, that by the time Ignatius (first decade of second century) wrote his two letters to Smyrna, the church was well established with the bishop Polycarp, its elders, and deacons. While on his way to be martyred at Rome, Ignatius, bishop of Antioch in Syria, stopped in Smyrna for a period of time. While there, the church leaders came to him offering encouragement, and, also, to hear words from him. From Smyrna, Ignatius wrote five epistles to various churches, including one to Rome. From Smyrna Ignatius traveled to Troas; and from that city he wrote two epistles back to Smyrna, one to the church and the other to the bishop—Polycarp. About 40 years later Bishop Polycarp would be martyred in his city of “bitterness.”

The Lord spoke of the obvious—their poverty, and another characteristic, not so obvious—their wealth. The Saints were economically challenged, but were rich in faith. The world judges one’s success by the magnitude of material gain. God judges success by one’s magnanimity—in this the Christians at Smyrna were not surpassed.

“... blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not.” ～ Making the “bitterness” of life sharper was the “blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not.” These Jews (so-called) were false, not because they lacked racially, but because their lack of faith disqualify them from the name—“Jew.” The apostle Paul addresses this point when he writes to the church at Rome and says,

“For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” (Rom 2:28-29)

and

“... For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” (Rom 9:6-8)

What the Lord was intimating was simply this, a true son of Abraham would have, and indeed had, received his Messiah. While many rejected their Messiah, many accepted Him. These, the Apostle calls the “remnant according to the election of grace” (Ro 11:5). We have heard, and read, of the rejection of Christ by the “priests” of the Jewish religion; but more should be heard and written concerning that “great company of the priests” (who) “were obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:7). The “true” Jews walked in faith. The Jewish ruler, Nicodemus, sought Christ out, and was told that both he and his nation were to be born again (John ch 3). To this end, Paul explained in the 11th chapter of Romans that the true Israel, represented by the Olive tree, was indeed reborn, and the false Jews were cut out of the tree. Therefore, those in Smyrna who profess to be Jews were impostors. True Judaism had been born again; the rosebud of the Sinaitic covenant had bloomed into the New Covenant of Calvary (see Jer 31:31ff).

Smyrna and Philadelphia are sister churches in more ways than one. There is that point of neither drawing disapproval from Christ, then another point in common is the false Jews, who “are the synagogue of Satan” (see 3:9).

“…but are the synagogue of Satan.” ～ The Jewish house of worship was called the “synagogue of Satan” by Jesus for at least two reasons:

First, they had chosen the side of Satan against God, in killing the Savior and persecuting His church. When Paul was commending the Thessalonians for their steadfastness in the face of persecution, he drew a parallel between them and the churches of Judea that had suffered at the hands of the Jews,

“Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: 16 Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.” (1 Thess 2:15-16)

Secondly, the Jews’ house of worship was called the “synagogue of Satan” because the name “Satan” (Grk: Satanas, Strong’s #G4567) means “accuser.” Notice that he is so portrayed,

“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” (12:9-10)

It is as though the Jews, who rejected Christ and were “broken off” from the Olive tree (Rom ch 11), were taken over by the spirit of the accuser (Satanas) for they, in truth, became the primary “accusers” of the Christians; thus, “the synagogue of the accuser (Satan).”

In Smyrna, the situation became “bitter” when the Christians lost the protection of the Jewish synagogue. Smyrna’s great claim to fame was her loyalty to Rome. Because of that affinity, the city was keen on emperor worship. This required every citizen to make sacrifice to the Emperor. (As we have already seen, a temple to Emperor Tiberius was built as early as 23 A.D.). However, by Roman law the Jews were exempt from this requirement. As long as the Christians were seen as a Jewish sect this privilege was extended to them as well. But early in the life of the Church the synagogue rejected the Nazarenes, and shoved them before the eyes of the authorities as “Christians” (see Acts 11:26), and therefore liable to offer sacrifice to Caesar.

Since making, or not making, the sacrifice was seen as a test of one’s loyalty to the government, it had a great impact upon one’s economical standing in the community. No doubt, the Christians’ refusal to become involved in the cult of Roma, or Emperor Worship, was the main cause of their poverty.

It was the Jews of Smyrna who filled the seats of the arena on the Sabbath to witness the burning of Bishop Polycarp (156 A.D.). Now, it is important to notice that the day of the week for Polycarp’s martyrdom was the Sabbath (Saturday), as we have already said, but the arena was filled with Jews. What must have they been thinking!? When the bishop refused to sacrifice or offer obeisance to the divinity of Caesar, the sentence of death by burning was given. The false Jews, who were of the “synagogue of Satan,” were so enraged against their enemy, that, although the law of Moses forbid any to light a fire on the Sabbath, these impostors broke up the very seats, upon which they sat, to fuel the fire of Polycarp’s martyrdom. The bishop was at least 86 years of age, and was the 12th martyr in Smyrna (This account must only include those officially sentenced and killed by the government.).

The Burning of Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna

A member of the Smyrna church wrote an eyewitness account of the martyrdom of Polycarp, and sent it to the church at Philomelium. This written account was the first detailed record of a Christian martyrdom, since Luke had written of the stoning of Steven (see Acts 7:54-8:3).

Apostolically Speaking,

☩ Jerry L Hayes

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