LETTERS TO THE SEVEN
CHURCHES, PART II
SMYRNA
The
Lord's second message was unto the church of
Smyrna. Since this letter followed
the one to Ephesus,
it portrays, by
symbolic representation, the period in the history
of the church following the Apostolic age. It was the period of the great
persecutions under the Roman
emperors.
That is why the Lord's
salutation at the beginning has to do
with life forevermore; for many saints were martyred during this period of history.
So it is written: "These
things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and
is alive" (Rev. 2:8).
It
was the Lord's
assurance that as He was the
first to die by the hands of the persecutors, so would He be with all
who had
to lay
down their lives for His
Name's sake, even unto the last one. And even as He was
made alive after
death, so would He
quicken to life all who
laid down their lives in death: first in the eternal
realms of the soul,
and finally in the resurrection
of the
physical body.
During
the time of these intense persecutions by the Roman
beast, it was a common practice to confiscate the property
and belongings of the Christians who would not deny their
faith. Therefore did the Lord speak unto them:
"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."
Revelation
2:9
Many found themselves in great poverty as far as
material things were
concerned, but they were rich in faith and in spiritual verities.
Although the
persecutions were carried out by the Roman powers, in many instances,
behind
the scenes, the instigators were the Jews scattered throughout the Roman
Empire. These Jews, though
claiming to be descendants of Abraham according
to the flesh, were not 'true Jews', or Israelites indeed,
according to the spirit of
faith (Rom. 2:28-29). Having rejected the Messiah, and
having sinned against great light, they became blinded captives of the
enemy,
even Satan,
and thus the very
manifest enemies of all Christians. Their
'blasphemy' consisted of their laying claim to the Name of
the Almighty
as His chosen, but not in truth and righteousness. Yet they have been
preserved according to the flesh,
for a
purpose yet to be fulfilled at the close of the age.
So great was the
persecution of these
saints that untold thousands
were
imprisoned. Therefore the Lord spoke,
"Fear
none of those things which thou
shalt suffer: behold,
the
devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may
be tried; and ye shall
have tribulation
ten days; be thou faithful
unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." Revelation 2:10
For
many, the
imprisonment was unto death; oft times by means
of savage torture at the hands of men
or by the mouths of
lions. The ten days mentioned is symbolic of the ten great
persecutions which rose and receded during a period of over two
centuries. The
ten also portrays the completion of a soul cycle,
whereby that life which had been
received into the souls of
those persecuted was tested and proven through the
'fires' of
opposition,
engendering completion unto 'life crowned'. This
'crown of life' promised to those
who would be faithful unto death is life on a higher
plane of being. It
will be received
when the Lord returns to
gather His full overcoming saints unto Himself. This life will be
manifested in
a glorified
physical body, like unto
the Lord's own glorious body (Phil.
3:21). It
goes beyond eternal life in the soul realm, or resurrected physical
life on the
earth plane. It is the ultimate of
that which the Lord has planned for those who love Him and keep His commandments.
A
promise of
assurance is given in this letter unto those who overcome,
even in a measure. The Lord states
that, "He that
overcometh shall not be hurt of the
second death" (Rev. 2:11).There
are degrees of overcoming, as seen in the fact that in all there are seven special
promises to the
overcomers in the seven letters. The assurance given here
is for those
who go beyond the
initial believing in the
Lord's vicarious atonement for their
sins. The escaping of the second death is possible only through being 'born
anew' of the incorruptible
seed (Jn. 3:3-5, I Pet. 1:23). When His very own LIFE is
imparted to
the soul, it is forever free from death, and the
eventual restoration
of the physical
body is also assured, if that body has
been laid aside in death. The second death has to do with a future judgment day,
and those who have "passed
from death to life" (Jn.
5:24) need
have no fear, for they
remain secure,
and when the “lake of
fire:” is activated, netting the second
death for both body and soul (Matt.
10:28), they shall have no
part therein (see Rev. 20:9-15).
"He that has an ear, lei him hear what the Spirit is saying unto the
churches."