I thought I’d quickly get another Revelation Study up. I’ll hopefully get back to some of the discussion raised previously soon.
Revelation Recap #3: Letters to Smyrna and Pergamum
Since they’re fairly short, and since I’m rather erratic in my Revelation recap, I’m covering both Smyrna and Pergamum. They both underwent persecution, but one needed encouragement and the other rebuking. Here we go…
Revelation 2:8-11 – Letter to the Church in Smyrna
The thing that strikes me particularly in this passage is that we need not fear death. The introduction reminds us that Jesus has come to life again (v8), so we can trust what he has to. His promises are “the crown of life” and to “not be hurt at all by the second death”. So even if our faith in him results in our death (v10), then we know that we have new life in heaven with Jesus, and are safe from the second death which is hell. Praise the Lord!
One of the books I have also has some interesting points about the added significance these words would have to the Smyrnans. Apparently, Smyrna prided itself on its loyalty to Rome, so the command to “be faithful” is an indicator that Jesus is more important than Rome. This wasn’t just academic – those who refused to participate in Emperor worship could be executed. Also, Smyrna’s goddess Cybele was commonly pictured as wearing a crown, so the “crown of life” that Jesus promises shows his supremacy over the old false gods. Jesus also doesn’t mince his words regarding Jews who reject the Gospel – they are a “synagogue of Satan”! I’m sure that could spark some, um, lively debate with Jews!
So, what are the important points of application, hmmm? “Do not be afraid!” and “Be faithful”. I think certainly for me, the battle is not so much against fear of physical persecution, which is mercifully not much of a problem at this time in our country, but rather against the fear of injury to my own pride and ego, and have the humility to help without worrying what people will think. One of my mose crippling fears is the fear that people will think that I’m doing good just to make myself look good, coupled with the fear that that is indeed my motivation!
Revelation 2:12-17 – Letter to the Church in Pergamum
“The city where Satan lives” – Pergamum was an ancient seat of emperor worship, and although the church here is faithful, it’s gone off track due wrong influences within the church.
The reminder here is that Jesus has “the sharp, double-edged sword” – i.e. his Word is powerful and true. They certainly need to pay attention to it with the dodgy teaching flying around, like that of Balaam (of talking donkey fame), back in Numbers, though I’m not exactly sure what it was that he taught, and I’m not going off on a lengthly tangent right now to investigate it.
It’s interesting that the church was considered faithful even though their teaching and beliefs were wrong. You’d think that the two wouldn’t go together, but the church was obviously still dedicated to Jesus even though they were doing lots of wrong things.
The promises – “hidden manna”. Another OT reference, and I think this means providence from God to keep them going through the hard time. I’m rather more puzzled about the “white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it”. White – purity. Going by some of the other promises, refers to the new pure life, perhaps? Ah, well – it’s bound to be something wonderful! So the main command to “repent”, so we need to turn from our wrong teaching, and we need the word of God, the Bible, to overcome false teaching.
So, that’s all folks! Feel free to join in, argue, debate etc. by using the comments facility.