Rev 2:8-11 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Rev 2:8-11: 2:8-11 The letter to the church in Smyrna pictures suffering Christians under intense pressures who need a message of assurance. Smyrna typifies a small church that remains faithful to God despite difficult circumstances. 2:8 The seaport village of Smyrna had been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Like Christ, the city had been dead but was now alive . It is the only city of the seven that has survived to this day (Izmir, Turkey).

Summary for Rev 2:8-11: 2:8-11 ^a The letter to the church in Smyrna pictures suffering Christians under intense pressures who need a message of assurance. Smyrna typifies a small church that remains faithful to God despite difficult circumstances. 2:8 ^b The seaport village of Smyrna had been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Like Christ, the city had been dead but was now alive. It is the only city of the seven that has survived to this day (Izmir, Turkey).
2:9 ^c Jesus connected material poverty with the blessing of being rich in God’s Kingdom (Matt 5:3 ^d, 10-12 ^e; Luke 6:20 ^f).

• Jews who had no faith are condemned for aligning themselves with Satan in hostile opposition to the Christian faith (Rev 3:9 ^g; see John 8:44 ^h; Acts 14:2-5 ⁱ; 17:13 ^j; 18:6 ^k; 20:3 ^l; Gal 5:11 ^m; 1 Thes 2:14-16 ⁿ). At the Jewish council of Jamnia, the Jews excluded Christians as unholy heretics. John was not anti-Semitic; he was a Jew describing the actions of fellow Jews against Jewish and Gentile Christians.
2:10 ^o John saw the devil as the source of human hostility against Christians.

• The period of their suffering would be ten days, symbolizing a limited time of persecution (see 1 Pet 1:6 ^p). If they would remain faithful, their reward would be the crown of eternal life.

• when facing death: John’s pupil Polycarp was a martyr in Smyrna in the mid-100s AD.
2:11 ^q Faithfulness until death is described as being victorious; overcoming the second death means receiving eternal life (see 20:5-6 ^r, 14 ^s; 21:8 ^t).