Hello Doves
Revelation 2:10
Smyrna means Myrrh, "The idea of death is upon it." The previous church was Ephesus; it had right doctrine and would not tolerate false teachers, false prophets, but they lost their first love. Most churches today that are any good have right doctrine and they will not tolerate false doctrine, false prophets or false teaching, but the struggle for people like me and you is to keep our first love.
After Ephesus came Smyrna; Jesus had no complaints with Smyrna. He knew their works and tribulation and poverty, (but they were rich) and he knew the blasphemy of them who say they are Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan. So the Lord said to Smyrna; Do not fear those things which you (shall) suffer: The Devil shall cast some of you in prison to be tried; and you shall have tribulation "TEN DAYS:" so be faithful unto death and he will give them a crown of life, and he that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death.
THE TEN'  Satan will put in prison.
Lets look at Daniel 1:14 "A testing of Daniel- Melzar- Azariah in Babylon"
The kings meat or the pulse and water of the 3 Israelites. "Ten Day Trial."
In the Hebrew calendar the autumn feast of Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement. These days are known to Israel as literally " The Terrible Days." Translated they are called "The Days of Awe." These are the days of awe, or terrible days where Satan through the person of antichrist will attempt to eradicate Israel and the Jews to prevent the return of Christ after the faithful church has been raptured.
When we go through a trial, and Satan initiates the trial; in biblical typology it is associated with the #10. It may not be a literal ten days, ten months, etc but it is Ten. Ten is the # when Satan brings the trial.
Quoting Pastor Mike Hoggard:
If we are saved and we know it, say Amen. We must understand what a threat we are to Satan. We represent a threat to Satan's kingdom. Satan as our enemy fears us; in like manner as God put the fear of man in the animals of the field. The Devil and his kingdom knows it's because we have the God of all things that dwells in us. God is greater! The fact that we can cry out to God to help us and protect us, shows "them" that we are a threat to him. So therefore they will seek to put us in bongage by means of persecution, trials, tribulations.
I'm talking about principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places. And it is these for which we wrestle with daily through Government, magistrates Judges, and political adgendas. End Quote
I believe a true revival will come because of persecution. Jesus never said to go out and bring revival, he said Preach the gospel of the kingdom. When we the church become too comfortable and complacent there is never revival. Revival is brought to the true believer when things become difficult. We cry out to God for help; Don't we? It isn't who we are as a person, but rather it is who dwells within us that is a threat to Satan and his minions.
We understand that God allows Satan to try us and in some cases to put us to death, as was the prophets of old; and in the case of the early church. But, know also that God loves to turn the tables against Satan.
THE FORTIES
Jesus had the 40 days and 40 nights in the desert with Satan. Moses the 40 days and 40 nights to come down from Mount Sinai. It rained 40 days and 40 nights in the saga of the flood with Noah. One will come from God for his purpose and then Satan will capitalize on it for his diabolical purposes. When it is " The Ten" it is better translated as " The Affliction." The perfect picture of affliction is Job. Job didn't know why it was happening to him. In the book of Job, it doesn't tell "him" why it is happening to him, it tells us' that is was Satan. When one goes through affliction we will not know why it's happening to us or why God is allowing it. In (most) cases we will not understand it ourselves, unless the Lord reveal it to us in a dream or vision, such was the situation for which I can testify in my own case. The Lord showed me as a young child things at the time I didn't understand until, through the events in my life I reflected back on what God showed me as a child. Then did I understand, and still today I understand because God has shown me things prior to the events' happening. I learned to pay attention when the Lord reveals something to me in a vision or dream, or by means of Quantum Tunneling or Quantum Entanglement in which case I am the observer of the experience of going from A to B, yet I remain in my bed, and remember the event. Again I don't understand why I am allowed to see these things. I just trust the Lord that it will be revealed in his time for whatever purpose he has for showing me. But let me continue on.
When we go through an affliction there will always be those like Job's friends who think they are so much more spiritual than you are, and they will come along to straiten you out, by presuming that you are more carnal or less spiritual and they are in some way more spiritual than you. There will be no shortage of people that if you are under affliction, there will be those who condemn you for not rebuking the Devil through their "word faith teachers" telling them that they have no faith. If' they are persecuted or afflicted. These teachers will tell their followers; they are spiritually inferior. These' are like the church of Smyrna, they are spiritually superior.
When someone faces "The Ten" it is someone who loves Jesus very much, and it is someone who Jesus loves very much. We understand that not every believer faces The Ten.' When you do, it is affliction, and the Devil will have a go at you, and God allows it. God uses it for his purposes, but make no mistake, it comes from the Devil. That is "The Ten."
When ever the Lord gives Satan the green light to have a go at us, it is always for a fixed amount of time, with a fixed limit. This' long and no further.' It will not last one day or one hour longer than God allows. God sets a limit on how long Satan can have a go at his people.
We read in Daniel and in Revelation that Jesus had 31?2 years public ministry, so the Devil will demand to have equal time with the antichrist. He will be given a Time and Times and a 1/2 time and no longer. God set a time limit when it is a Ten', just like in the case of Job. This is an affliction and may involve demonic oppression. God ultimately works it for the good, but it comes from the Devil, yet he is restricted. Those who would come to straiten you out, couldn't handle "The Ten."
But; there is The Forty' and it is different in character. When the Lord brings a "Trial," there is nothing we can do to make it go any faster. The Exodus is an example. But; there is a lot we can do to slow it down and nothing we can do to make it any better, but there is a lot we can do to make it worse.
"The Forty" is not fixed. How long it takes and how far things go depends on us and our response to it. Yes; 40 is longer than 10.
When we have a Trial' we need to understand: IS IT A 40 OR IS IT A 10?
Yes; there is a wilderness and a valley. When the children of Israel were on top of a mount, they could see mount Zion afar off, but the valley is before Mount Zion. When you are in the valley you can't see mount Zion until you are back up on the next mount. It is up and down, up and down. I most cases God was not well pleased with them. They were laid low in the wilderness. These things happened as examples for us that we should not desire evil things as they did, and become Idolaters etc.
The history of the Old Testament, Israel' generally in the exodus especially, was written in order that we would not make the same mistakes when we experience our Forty." Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort "of the scriptures" might have hope.
We are to learn what happened to Israel and the Jews. The scripture is past events, present events, and future events. Ecclesiastes 1:9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
The Passover is looking back and looking forward. The sojourning of Israel in the wilderness is a picture of our sojourning in this world.
The Ten' is only for certain believers at certain times. The Ten' does not happen to everyone all the time. It usually happens to individuals, and can happen to churches as in Smyrna. The Ten' is not necessarily for everybody, The Forty' is. There is none of us that will not experience our proverbial Forty.
New believers will have their time in the wilderness, and if we have been born again for 10 to 20 years, we most likely already experienced our Forty.'
One thing for sure; The Ten' may or may not happen in normal circumstances;
but the Forty is guarantied. The Forty comes with the program and is part of the package of salvation. As the "first" generation dies in the wilderness, it's a way God deals with the Old Nature, yet the New One will blossom.
Deuteronomy 8) The Thing" The word of God is The Thing' Jesus is The thing, The Word. We interpret the Old Testament in light of the New. They cast a shadow of Christ himself and his gospel.
The whole argument between Jesus and the Devil was based on Deuteronomy. Satan would quote a verse out of context and Jesus would say; it is written' and quote IN context. The un-mistaken signature of Satan: a Text out of context and isolated from cotext is always a pretext.
While we understand according to 2 Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. Satan will quote it out of context through those who sit among the congregation in the sides of the north, and teach their synthetic doctrines. Deceivers do it deliberately as we know according to 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
These willfully distort the scriptures on purpose and there are others who do it out of ignorance. Either way, our struggle is not against flesh and blood.
The name it- claim it- blab it and grab it group; Just claim the victory by faith. That is what they like to tell us. Except for the Grace of God, I (almost) was part of that group. They hustle people for money and sell a soap that doesn't clean up anything or anybody. God wants us to keep his word for our sake.
And thou shalt "remember" all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these Fory Years in the wilderness, to "humble" thee, and "to prove" thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
Salvation is a FREE gift, but it doesn't come cheap. Our clothing will not wear out, and our feet will not swell. When we walk with Jesus, we walk in the Spirit. It has a physical meaning, and it has a literal meaning, Israel.' Just like the manna; it's speaking on a spiritual level. When we are facing our Forty; our garments will not wear out. We just keep walking with Jesus and our feet will not swell up. The Lord will chasten us as his word tells us; like a man his own son, because we are not bastards.
God is bringing us to the New Jerusalem, and the government will be on his shoulders. Thank God! No more politicians.
Persecution has become a necessary evil. The Forty' at some point, sooner or later, everyone of us gets The Forty.'  The Forty is a given. Due to the unfaithfulness of the church through it's compromise with the world, even it's compromise with Idolatry and false religion. The Ten" becomes required. Jesus said we would be hated by all nations for his name sake. That includes America, Briton, and Australia, etc. people who have taken their freedom and affluence for granted for too long. "We are Rich" and as societies and nations we have forgotten our Lord and our God.
The Forty'.....you may have had your Forty' and if you haven't you will. That's the Forty'.  The way things are going, unless, there is a radical repentance, The Ten' is coming.
Jesus said: Fear not, Satan is going to do this, but I' will give you a grown of life.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things "work together for good" to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.
Jesus always turns the tables and at the end he always wins. Every time! And he is going to win this time.
That's The Ten' and The Forty'

God Bless You
KML