Bible Gem 2198 – To The Angel of the Church in Smyrna

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive: “I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.

Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.”

Revelation 2:8-11

We now move on to the second of the seven churches of Revelation – Smyrna. As you know from the last Gem we will come back to the matter of the Nicolaitans in a following Gem. I have not finished yet, despite the fact that the Nicolaitans were most likely a small localised sect. Smyrna was another important city on a major transport hub which competed with both Ephesus and Pergamum. It boasted a secure, deep water harbour which made the city wealthy from being a distribution centre to the hinterland. But it was a city of more than just trade and commerce. It was the birthplace of Homer, a famous academic, poet and author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. The city had a significant public library and a major stadium where public games were held. A monument was erected to Homer and still stands in Izmir (modern day Smyrna) today.

Smyrna was a melting pot of religions. The first temple to Roma, the goddess of Rome in the Province of Asia was built in Smyrna . The city had been in existence since 1,000 BC, it had significance and prominence. But it had been sacked in the 6th Century BC and rebuilt around 300 BC. The local inhabitants were proud that their city had risen from the ashes and had been reborn. A temple to Emperor Tiberius was built in Smyrna in 20 AD. There was a significant Jewish minority in the city, and there was a Christian church there no doubt as a result of Paul’s travel through the area. Smyrna was located (see the map in Gem 2194) between Ephesus and Pergamum, the two centres where the Nicolaitans were mentioned. Although this sect was not mentioned in the context of Smyrna, it is highly likely their teaching was known by those in Smyrna as well. Like the other two cities, emperor worship and a temple to Roma were part of the religious world of Smyrna as well.

There are two lines in this introduction to the church of Smyrna which we need to explore. Firstly, we need to investigate the way Jesus referred to himself to these believers in Smyrna. “This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive.” That is significant as this reference to Jesus in these terms would have been relevant to those in Smyrna. The people felt their city had come back from the dead, thus they would have identified with the fact that Christ too had also come back from the dead. Hence this description Jesus used made him directly relevant to the city of Smyrna. I note the fact that not only does Jesus know the believers in the church of Smyrna but he also knew the hearts of all the people in Smyrna, not just the members of the church there. That is not surprising is it? Christ was also aware of what they were facing, their suffering and their poverty along with the way in which they were being slandered and the pending persecution they were about to face.

The Christian citizens of this second city on the circular loop around Asia Minor were caught between emperor worship and the gods and goddesses of Rome. The Christians in Smyrna also had two statues in the city to remind them of the influences of the religious shrines around them. As Christians they were forced to honour the Roman emperor as a god and bow down, as well as pay tribute and offer prayers to the local deities if they were to do business, even to the point of buying goods in the market place. As persecution grew it reached a stage when as Christians they were excluded from trading, either selling or buying in the market place. Hence the reference to their suffering and their poverty. If the Christians had been in the city for a long while they would have been aware of the pain of the city as such but had their own personal pain to endure as well.

Now we come to the second line we need to explore. That being the reference: “I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan.” There are two perspectives found in the commentaries concerning this line and what it means. There are those who suggest the background is the fact that the Jewish community had the privilege of not having to bow to Caesar. As the Christians were refusing to bow to Caesar as well, it put them in the same category as the Jews in Roman thinking. Thus tension arose between the two and the Jews slandered the Christians, dobbing them in if they saw them refusing to bow, highlighting the perceived difference between the religio licita and the religio illicita. Also the persecution Paul experienced at the hands of the Jewish attempts to silence his testimony to Christ likely spilled over on the Christians of Asia Minor.

Polycarp was the Bishop of Smyrna and was martyred for his faith in AD 155 in Smyrna. Both Irenaeus and Tertullian refer to Polycarp as being a disciple of John. The account of Polycarp’s martyrdom in Smyrna is confusing as there are different stories told. He was burned at the stake for not bowing to Caesar. The Roman Proconsul of Smyrna is reported to have said ‘Deny Christ and you can go free. I beg you as an old man consider your grey hairs.”

Eighty six years have I served Christ and he never did me an injury, how then can I blaspheme my King and Saviour? You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour and after a little while is extinguished but art ignorant of the fire of the coming judgement and the eternal punishment reserved for the ungodly.

Polycarp

Eusebius known for exaggeration for rhetorical effect has claimed that the Jews were responsible for Polycarp’s arrest and what’s more gathered the wood for the fire. But this is doubtful. The account which tells us that, claims Polycarp didn’t die because the wind blew the fire away from him and a soldier rushed in to strangle Polycarp as an act of mercy. Eusebius’ account comes from the 4th Century and is not regarded as reliable. Another account attributes the mercy killing of Polcarp to a soldier who stabbed him with a knife in order to end his suffering in the flames.

At heart here is the claim that the slandering [blasphemia] of the Christians of Smyrna came from the lips of the Jews. But that is not actually how the text in Revelation reads. Rather we have

I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan.

Revelation 2:9

Pinchas Shir from the Israel Bible Center explains this line as a mistaken translation of the use of the Greek word [συναγωγὴ] as ‘synagogue’ rather than the more general use of more appropriate words like assembly / gathering / congregation at the end of the 1st or beginning of the 2nd Century. Shir’s comment is that Eusebius’ viewpoint is more in accord with the 4th Century perspective and is thus used in the wrong time period (anachronistic).

Pinchas Shir in quoting Epictetus, a Greek Stoic philosopher, writing in the 1st Century AD to Stoics in Smyrna wrote:

Why then do you call yourself a Stoic? Why do you deceive the majority? Why do you act the part of a Jew when you are Greek? Do you not see how one is properly a Jew or a Syrian of an Egyptian? . . . When we see someone vacillating we are accustomed to say: He is not a Jew, but only acting the part. But when he takes up the experience of one who has decided and undergone immersion [as required by Jewish conversion] then he has become a Jew both in reality and in name. . . so too we are falsely immersed – [like those who are] Jews in word but something else in deed- [if we be] unsympathetic to reason, far from practicing what we preach, yet pride ourselves on knowing those things.

Epictetus, Discourses 2.9.19-21

Epictetus died in 135 AD in Hierapolis. You can see the close proximity of Hierapolis with the cities on the circular route on the map. I agree with Pinchas Shir as the timing and the location is in accord with the background needed to give us the right perspective of the comments in this introduction to the letter to those in Smyrna. I believe you can now understand each of the parts of this introduction to the Church in Smyrna and the other churches in the context in which they are set. Jesus was encouraging the Christians in Smyrna to hang on to their faith and trust that though in the eyes of the world they may seem poor, in eternal terms related to the Life of the Age to Come they are rich. Likewise in the spirit of the words of Polycarp, they ought to stand firm and trust Christ, even thought they may be imprisoned and even have to die for their faith.

Some of them may have experienced persecution before Polycarp, their bishop, before he was martyred. Others had Polycarp’s words quoted above to hold on to as they faced persecution and martydom if their death was after his. This was all very real history. As David Pawson wrote, there is a small but strong band of believers in Izmir today, despite the fact that the majority vastly outnumber them (99% ) in modern day Turkey. But that is often the case when persecuted Christians come to the reality of facing their imminent death. Like Polycarp, whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.”

I believe I have now covered all the difficult portions of the preamble to those in Smyrna. If you still have questions feel free to ask them but I will respond in the Comments section and not with a new Gem. Next Gem we will move on to Pergamum and sum up our findings on the Nicolaitans. Feel free to email me your insights on this sect and or list further snippets on the comments depending how soon you get your discoveries to me. I plan to release the next Gem at the end of the week to give you more time to dig. I am sure you realise we have some matters to harmonise with respect to all I have told you in recent Gems. I will share my conclusions at the appropriate time.

You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour and after a little while is extinguished but art ignorant of the fire of the coming judgement and the eternal punishment reserved for the ungodly.

Polycarp

I will one day make the boy who rides the plough in England to know more of the Scriptures than the Pope does.

William Tyndale 1525

Lord, open the eyes of the King of England.

William Tyndale October 1536

The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins.

Soren Kierkegaard

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

Luke 23:34