Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Revelation 2:8 - 2:11

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Revelation 2:8 - 2:11


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

The letter to the congregation at Smyrna:

v. 8. And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These things says the First and the Last, which was dead and is alive:

v. 9. 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.

v. 10. 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.

v. 11. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches: He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death.

In the case of Ephesus it was internal decay that caused the pastoral letter to be written, in the case of Smyrna it was enmity and persecution from without. There is a solemn introduction also in this case: And to the angel of the congregation in Smyrna write: This says the First and the Last, who was dead and became alive. The entire message was to be transmitted to the congregation by its pastor, who is here addressed as the responsible officer. The Lord again calls Himself the First, having been before the beginning of the world, from eternity, and the Last, since He is the everlasting God. He was dead, not only in appearance, but in fact; He laid down His life for His friends and the whole world: we are reconciled to God through the death of His Son, Rom_5:10. But He did not remain in death; He became alive, by His own almighty power He restored His soul to His body. Thus He is the Source of life in those that believe in Him; by faith in Him they can scoff at death, which has lost its sting through Christ's atoning work.

The Lord addresses words of encouragement to the Smyrnean Christians: I know thy tribulation and thy poverty (but thou art rich), and the blasphemy on the part of those that claim to be Jews and are not, rather the synagogue of Satan. That was the cross which the congregation at Smyrna had to bear, the enmity of the Jews. This opposition on the part of the Jews did not stop with little acts of meanness and with evil speaking and slandering: it was also due to their machinations that the Christians lost their earthly goods, money and property. On various trumped-up charges the believers were robbed of all they possessed in this world; they endured the confiscation of all that their earthly labor had brought them And yet, as the Lord tells them, they were rich, for they still had the grace of their Lord Jesus Christ, they still clung to the love of their heavenly Father; they had the riches of the divine mercy in the Gospel, 2Co_6:10. So far as the enemies of the Christians are concerned, the judgment of the Lord designates them as the synagogue of Satan, for Satan is the liar from the beginning, and in his school the blasphemers are trained.

Still more encouragement is contained in the next words: Fear nothing what thou art destined to suffer. The Lord does not promise them relief or surcease from suffering. His words rather imply that further persecutions are imminent, and history shows that the next decades brought trials of various kinds to the Christians in this part of Asia Minor. And yet the Lord tells them to fear nothing, not to have the slightest apprehension as to their safety. Without His will or permission not a hair of their head could be harmed. They should be filled with the power of faith, which rests secure in the hands of the Father, no matter what the vicissitudes of life may be, Psa_46:2-3. And this in spite of the fact that they are told: Behold, the devil will succeed in throwing some of you into prison that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. That was one form of persecution, which came from the government, but, as the Lord says, at the instigation of the devil, who hates the Word of the Gospel and makes use of the same methods to this day in order to hinder the spread of the Church. The very statement that this tribulation and test would be for only a definite time shows that the Lord will not permit them that are His to be tried beyond that they are able to endure, 1Co_10:13.

Therefore He calls out to them the golden words: Be thou faithful to death, and I shall give thee the crown of life. The very persecutions that were designed to make the Christians give up their faith served to strengthen them. The dross is burned away in the furnace of-the assayer, but the gold remains. Thus the faith of the Christian is proved in the school of persecutions; for it is at such times that he has an opportunity to prove his faithfulness to his Lord. Nor will the Lord permit this faithfulness to go unrewarded. The crown of life, eternal life itself, is the reward of grace assigned to the triumph of faith, to the loyalty of the believer. Like kings and priests we shall be given wreaths, in an everlasting festival we shall live before and with our Lord in the heavenly mansions, Jam_1:12. This thought is repeated in a second promise: He that has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the congregations: He that conquers will not suffer injury from the second death. The Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Truth, says this to all congregations, to all believers. Every one that does overcome, that does prove himself a conqueror in the power of God, may feel the pangs of temporal death in his body, the weakness of his old sinful nature may cause him to wince and complain in sickness and to shrink back at the specter of death. But he that confesses Christ to the end, clinging to Him in true faith, will not see the second death, will not come into judgment and condemnation, but will pass through death into life. Temporal death will be to him an entrance into the everlasting homes of joy.