seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Revelation 2:8 “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.
11 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.
11 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.
I am always amazed at what I find in the commentaries.
- Apparently the Christians and some of the Jews in Smyrna had a real problem with each other.
- There must have been a lot of Sadducees [who believed when you die there's nothing more] in Smyrna.
- Everyone had to burn incense on an alter to get a certificate to be a good citizen so they could buy what they needed.
- There were people who told some serious lies about Christians
The easy english commentary says these things.
There were six lies about the Christians.
1. The words of the Lord’s Supper. These are, ‘this is my body and this is my blood’. They said that Christians ate people.
2. The Christians called the Lord’s Supper the love feast. So their enemies accused them of wrong sexual behaviour.
3. Sometimes, some members of a family would become Christians. Other people in the family would not. Their enemies said that they were dividing families. They were spoiling family relationships.
4. The heathens accused the Christians of atheism. Atheism is a belief that God does not exist. They could not understand that Christians did not worship idols. The pagans worshipped images of their gods. The Christians would not do this.
5. They said that the Christians were not loyal to Caesar. They would not say, ‘Caesar is Lord’.
6. Christians said that the world would end in flames. So they accused them of using fire to cause damage.
Smyrna is almost due north from Ephesus. It is about 35 miles away, on the coast. It was the next city on a postman’s journey. Smyrna was a beautiful city. They called it the crown of Asia. They called it the flower of Asia. There were beautiful streets and beautiful houses there. There were many beautiful temple buildings on Mount Pagus. They had a street of gold. This was the most famous street. At one end was the temple of Zeus. At the other end was the temple of Cybele. Smyrna competed with Ephesus to be the best city. It had a good road to the rest of Asia. It had a good natural harbour. Therefore, there was much trade in this city. It was one of the richest cities in Asia. Its name now is Izmir. An earthquake had destroyed the city in 600 BC. The city had been a ruin for 300 years.
The people in Smyrna were clever at politics. They always chose to be on the right side in wars. In 195 BC the rulers of Smyrna made a goddess (female god) called Roma. She represented Rome city as a god. They built a temple to her. Smyrna was the first city in the world to do this. There was a competition in AD 25. It was between the cities in Asia. It was for the honour to build a temple to Emperor Tiberius. Smyrna won the competition. The judges held their courts in Smyrna. It became a free city. It competed with Ephesus for first place in everything.
A famous bishop belonged to the church in Smyrna. His name was Polycarp. He was one of the best known Christians. He became Smyrna’s bishop. He died about AD 160. The Christians in Smyrna suffered greatly. This was because they refused to worship the Roman emperor. It was dangerous to be a Christian in Smyrna. The Jews and the local people accused Polycarp of being a Christian. The rulers arrested him. They brought him to the courts. The judge ordered him to curse Christ. He ordered him to say, ‘Caesar is Lord’. But for Polycarp only Jesus was Lord. He told the judge that he had served his Lord for 86 years. During that time he had received only good things from his Lord. This was his reply to the judge. ‘How can I curse my King who saved me?’ They all then made a large fire. They burnt him to death.
Once a year the Roman citizen had to burn a piece of incense. He did this on an altar. Caesar had announced that he was a god. So the citizen made this sacrifice to the god named Caesar. An official would witness this sacrifice. He would then give the citizen a certificate. This certificate approved of the citizen. He had performed his religious duty. This certificate did not prove that his religion was correct. That was not its purpose. It was a political test. He had passed the test. That meant that he was a good citizen. It proved that he was Caesar’s friend. He was loyal to the state.
It was a benefit to have this certificate. The Roman government was good to each of its citizens. The citizen could worship any god that he chose. But he must not refuse to burn the incense. That was dangerous. People would say that he was not a loyal citizen. The Roman government would consider him an enemy. He might cause trouble. He might oppose their government. He would be a danger to the state.
So all that the Christian had to do was to burn this incense. He then said, ‘Caesar is Lord’. He received his certificate. He then worshipped as he wanted to. But a Christian could not do this. He could not give any man the name of Lord. That name was for Jesus Christ only. So Christians were always in danger. At any time, someone might go the authorities. They might tell them that a Christian did not possess this certificate. The authorities could then put him into prison. They could even kill him.
1. The words of the Lord’s Supper. These are, ‘this is my body and this is my blood’. They said that Christians ate people.
2. The Christians called the Lord’s Supper the love feast. So their enemies accused them of wrong sexual behaviour.
3. Sometimes, some members of a family would become Christians. Other people in the family would not. Their enemies said that they were dividing families. They were spoiling family relationships.
4. The heathens accused the Christians of atheism. Atheism is a belief that God does not exist. They could not understand that Christians did not worship idols. The pagans worshipped images of their gods. The Christians would not do this.
5. They said that the Christians were not loyal to Caesar. They would not say, ‘Caesar is Lord’.
6. Christians said that the world would end in flames. So they accused them of using fire to cause damage.
Smyrna is almost due north from Ephesus. It is about 35 miles away, on the coast. It was the next city on a postman’s journey. Smyrna was a beautiful city. They called it the crown of Asia. They called it the flower of Asia. There were beautiful streets and beautiful houses there. There were many beautiful temple buildings on Mount Pagus. They had a street of gold. This was the most famous street. At one end was the temple of Zeus. At the other end was the temple of Cybele. Smyrna competed with Ephesus to be the best city. It had a good road to the rest of Asia. It had a good natural harbour. Therefore, there was much trade in this city. It was one of the richest cities in Asia. Its name now is Izmir. An earthquake had destroyed the city in 600 BC. The city had been a ruin for 300 years.
The people in Smyrna were clever at politics. They always chose to be on the right side in wars. In 195 BC the rulers of Smyrna made a goddess (female god) called Roma. She represented Rome city as a god. They built a temple to her. Smyrna was the first city in the world to do this. There was a competition in AD 25. It was between the cities in Asia. It was for the honour to build a temple to Emperor Tiberius. Smyrna won the competition. The judges held their courts in Smyrna. It became a free city. It competed with Ephesus for first place in everything.
A famous bishop belonged to the church in Smyrna. His name was Polycarp. He was one of the best known Christians. He became Smyrna’s bishop. He died about AD 160. The Christians in Smyrna suffered greatly. This was because they refused to worship the Roman emperor. It was dangerous to be a Christian in Smyrna. The Jews and the local people accused Polycarp of being a Christian. The rulers arrested him. They brought him to the courts. The judge ordered him to curse Christ. He ordered him to say, ‘Caesar is Lord’. But for Polycarp only Jesus was Lord. He told the judge that he had served his Lord for 86 years. During that time he had received only good things from his Lord. This was his reply to the judge. ‘How can I curse my King who saved me?’ They all then made a large fire. They burnt him to death.
Once a year the Roman citizen had to burn a piece of incense. He did this on an altar. Caesar had announced that he was a god. So the citizen made this sacrifice to the god named Caesar. An official would witness this sacrifice. He would then give the citizen a certificate. This certificate approved of the citizen. He had performed his religious duty. This certificate did not prove that his religion was correct. That was not its purpose. It was a political test. He had passed the test. That meant that he was a good citizen. It proved that he was Caesar’s friend. He was loyal to the state.
It was a benefit to have this certificate. The Roman government was good to each of its citizens. The citizen could worship any god that he chose. But he must not refuse to burn the incense. That was dangerous. People would say that he was not a loyal citizen. The Roman government would consider him an enemy. He might cause trouble. He might oppose their government. He would be a danger to the state.
So all that the Christian had to do was to burn this incense. He then said, ‘Caesar is Lord’. He received his certificate. He then worshipped as he wanted to. But a Christian could not do this. He could not give any man the name of Lord. That name was for Jesus Christ only. So Christians were always in danger. At any time, someone might go the authorities. They might tell them that a Christian did not possess this certificate. The authorities could then put him into prison. They could even kill him.
