Search
In this message we shall consider the stages of the church signified by the church in Smyrna (Rev. 2:8-11) and the church in Pergamos (2:12-17).
In Greek “Smyrna” means myrrh, a sweet spice which, in figure, signifies suffering. In typology, myrrh signifies the sweet suffering of Christ. Thus, the church in Smyrna was a suffering church, prefiguring the church under the persecution of the Roman Empire from the latter part of the first century to the early part of the fourth century. This persecuted church suffered in the sweetness and fragrance of Christ. In other words, this church was in the tribulation of Jesus and in the fellowship of His sufferings. The church in Smyrna suffered as Christ Himself did and thereby became a continuation of His suffering.
In Colossians 1:24 Paul tells us that he filled up “that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His Body, which is the church.” The afflictions of Christ are of two categories: those for accomplishing redemption, which have been completed by Christ Himself, and those for producing and building the church, which need to be filled up by the apostles and the believers. Although no one can continue Christ’s redemption, His sufferings must be completed by all His followers both individually and collectively. In the church in Smyrna we see the collective continuation of the sufferings of Jesus. Because this church was a continuation of Jesus’ suffering, it was truly the testimony of Jesus.
In Revelation 2:9 the Lord Jesus said that He knew “the slander of those who call themselves Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” This indicates that persecution came from religion, from the unbelieving Jews of the synagogue of Satan. The slander of the Judaizers toward the suffering church was their evil criticism of her. The Judaizers were Jews in the flesh but not in spirit (Rom. 2:28-29). Merely being the seed of Abraham in the flesh did not constitute them true Jews. “Those who are the children of the flesh are not the children of God” (Rom. 9:8). Therefore, the Lord said that they “call themselves Jews and are not.” These Judaizers stubbornly insisted upon keeping their Judaistic system, consisting of the Levitical priesthood, the sacrificial rituals, and the material temple, which were all types now fulfilled and replaced by Christ. Because the church under the new covenant in God’s economy had no part in their religious practice, the Judaizers slanderously criticized her.
The Lord said that those who called themselves Jews and are not are “a synagogue of Satan,” a terrible term. A synagogue was a place where the Jews worshipped God mainly by studying their Scriptures, the Old Testament. However, due to their stubbornness in clinging to their traditional, religious concepts, they became one with Satan in opposing God’s way of life to fulfill His purpose (Matt. 12:9-14; Luke 4:28-29; John 9:22; Acts 6:9, 11-14; 13:43, 45-46, 50; 14:1-2, 19; 17:1, 5-6; Rev. 3:9). Therefore, the Lord called them a synagogue of Satan.
In Revelation 2:10a the Lord says, “Do not fear what
you are about to suffer. Behold, the Devil is about to cast some of you into prison that you may be tried, and you will have tribulation ten days.” Verse 9 speaks of Satan and verse 10, of the Devil. In Greek Satan means adversary. He is not only the enemy of God from without but also His adversary from within. The Greek word diabolos, translated Devil, means accuser, slanderer (Rev. 12:9-10). The Devil, who is Satan, the adversary of God, accuses us before God and slanders us before men. The persecution suffered by the church began from the religious synagogue of the Jews instigated by Satan, the adversary, and it was consummated by the Roman Empire used by the Devil, the slanderer. The persecution of the suffering church was a cooperation of devilish politics and satanic religion.
In 2:10 the Lord speaks of the church in Smyrna having tribulation “ten days.” Ten is a number for fullness, such as the Ten Commandments, which express God’s demand in full. Ten days in the Bible signify a period of time which is full yet short (Gen. 24:55; Jer. 42:7; Dan. 1:12-14). Hence, it signifies that the tribulation of the suffering church was full yet short. As a sign, these ten days indicate prophetically the ten periods of persecution which the church suffered under the Roman Emperors, beginning with Caesar Nero in the second half of the first century and ending with Constantine the Great in the first part of the fourth century.
In Revelation 2:10b and 11 we have the Lord’s promise to the overcomers of this stage. To overcome in this epistle means to overcome persecution by being faithful unto death.
“Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (2:10b). Here, as elsewhere in the New Testament, the crown denotes a prize in addition to salvation. The crown of life as a prize to those who are faithful unto death in overcoming persecution denotes the overcoming strength, which is the power of the resurrection life (Phil. 3:10); it also signifies that these overcomers have attained to “the out-resurrection from among the dead,” that is, the outstanding resurrection (Phil. 3:11).
To the church in Ephesus Christ promises to give the overcomers to eat of Himself as the tree of life. To the church in Smyrna He promises to give the overcomers the crown of life. The eating of the tree of life is for inward supply, and the crown of life is for outward glory. Both promises are wrapped up with the divine life. This life must first be our food, and then it will be our expression and our glorification as the crown of life.
The promise to the overcomers in this stage of the church has both a positive side and a negative side. The positive side is receiving the crown of life, and the negative side is not being hurt of the second death. “He who overcomes shall by no means be hurt of the second death” (Rev. 2:11b). The second death is God’s dealing with man after man’s death and resurrection. It is, therefore, the final settlement (Rev. 20:11-15). Because the overcomers have overcome death through their faithfulness unto death under persecution and have left nothing requiring further dealing by God, after their resurrection they will not be “hurt,” touched, by the second death, the death after resurrection. This indicates that those who do not overcome persecution will be hurt by the second death. This is for a believer to suffer some dealing from the Lord after he has been resurrected. Those who do not overcome will not receive the crown of life but will instead be hurt by the second death. However, those who overcome persecution and tribulation by the resurrection life within them will receive the crown of life positively and will not be hurt by the second death negatively. This is the Lord’s clear promise in His clear word.
In Greek “Pergamos” means “marriage,” implying union, and “fortified tower.” As a sign, the church in Pergamos prefigures the church which entered into a marriage union with the world and became a high fortified tower, the equivalent of the great tree prophesied by the Lord in the parable of the mustard seed (Matt. 13:31-32). When Satan failed to destroy the church through the persecution of the Roman Empire in the first three centuries, he changed his strategy. He sought instead to corrupt her through Constantine’s welcoming her as the state religion in the first part of the fourth century. Through Constantine’s encouragement and political influence, multitudes of unbelieving ones were baptized into the “church,” and the “church” became monstrously great. Because the church, as a chaste bride, is the spouse to Christ, her union with the world is considered spiritual fornication in the eyes of God.
According to the facts of history, during the first three centuries, the church suffered a great deal as the Roman Empire tried its best to damage her. Eventually, Satan realized that persecution did not work very well. Therefore, being the subtle one, he changed his strategy from persecuting the church to welcoming her. In the early part of the fourth century, Constantine the Great accepted Christianity and made it a state religion. From that time onward, Christianity became a kind of Roman state church. This welcoming of the church by the Roman Empire ruined her because it caused the church to become worldly. The church has been called out of the world and has been separated from the world to God for the fulfillment of His purpose. However, by being welcomed by the Roman Empire, the church went back to the world and, in the eyes of God, even married the world.
Due to this marriage, the church lost her purity and became worldly. Because the church had entered into union with the world, many worldly things came into the church. Worldly things are related to idol worship, for worldliness is always associated with idolatry. First, the church in Pergamos became worldly and then idolatrous. Satan saturated her with the world and with idols. As a result, the church became absolutely different from what God intended her to be. God desires a church which is outside the world, having nothing to do with the world. The church must be a golden lampstand, the pure expression of the processed Triune God, and have no connections with the world. But after the Roman Empire had made the church a worldly religion, she became impure, worldly, and idolatrous.
Revelation 2:12-17 corresponds to Matthew 13:31-32. The church should be like an herb to produce food, but it became a “tree,” a lodge for birds, having its nature and function changed. This happened when Constantine the Great mixed the church with the world, bringing in thousands of false believers. At that time, the mustard herb became a great tree — Christendom, the worldly church, the church married to the world.
In Revelation 2:13 the Lord Jesus said to the church in Pergamos, “I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is.” Satan’s dwelling place is the world. Because the church entered into union with the world and became worldly herself, she began to dwell where Satan dwells — in the world. The church in Pergamos also dwelt where Satan’s throne is. This again refers to the world, which is not only Satan’s dwelling place but also the sphere wherein he rules.
In 2:14 the Lord said, “I have a few things against you, because you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat idol sacrifices and to commit fornication.” Balaam was a Gentile prophet who caused God’s people to stumble. For the sake of reward (2 Pet. 2:15; Jude 11), he brought fornication and idolatry to God’s people (Num. 25:1-3; 31:16). In the worldly church some began to teach the same things. When the worldly church disregarded the name, the person, of the Lord, she turned to idolatry, which issued in fornication. The teachings of Balaam always cause people to enter into union with the worldly things. This is to eat idol sacrifices and to commit spiritual fornication.
Fornication actually denotes confusion. According to God’s holy ordination, a woman should have only one husband. To have more than one husband is to commit fornication, and this brings in confusion. Spiritual fornication is fully related to idol worship. We should love God, our unique Husband. But if we worship idols, we make these idols husbands to us. Hence, in principle, worshipping idols is the same as fornication.
In Revelation 2:15 the Lord went on to say, “You also have those who hold in like manner the teaching of the Nicolaitans.” “Nicolaitans” is an equivalent of the Greek word nikolaitai, the root of which is nikolaos, composed of two words: niko, meaning “conquer” or “above others” and laos, meaning “common people,” “secular people,” or “laity.” Hence, nikolaos means “conquering the common people,” “climbing above the laity.” The Nicolaitans, then, must refer to a group of people who esteemed themselves higher than the common believers. In the church in Pergamos their works (Rev. 2:6) progressed into a teaching. They not only practiced the hierarchy but also taught it. This hierarchy destroys the function of the believers as members of the Body of Christ, thus annulling the Lord’s Body in expressing Him.
In 2:17 we have the Lord’s promise to the overcomers of this stage. To overcome here means specifically to overcome the church’s union with the world, the teaching of idolatry and fornication, and the teaching of the hierarchy.
In 2:17b the Lord says, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna.” Manna is a type of Christ as the heavenly food enabling God’s people to go His way. A portion of that manna was preserved in a golden pot concealed in the ark (Exo. 16:32-34; Heb. 9:4). The open manna was for the enjoyment of the Lord’s people in a public way; the hidden manna, signifying the hidden Christ, is a special portion reserved for His overcoming seekers who overcome the degradation of the worldly church. While the church goes the way of the world, these overcomers come forward to abide in the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, where they enjoy the hidden Christ as a special portion for their daily supply. This promise is fulfilled today in the proper church life and will be fulfilled in full in the coming kingdom.
The promise to the first church concerns the eating of the tree of life, and the promise to this church concerns the eating of the hidden manna. The worldlier the church becomes, the greater is the need for some to stand up and testify and to maintain intimate fellowship with the Lord. These will be privileged to enjoy the Lord as the hidden manna.
The placing of the hidden manna in a golden pot signifies that the hidden Christ is concealed in the divine nature (signified by gold). Whereas the open manna is for all the people of God, the hidden manna is for those who are intimate with the Lord, those who have forsaken the world and every separation between them and God. They come into the intimacy of God’s presence, and here in this divine intimacy they enjoy the hidden manna in God’s nature. This enjoyment is so inward that those who eat of the hidden manna are actually in the divine nature enjoying the hidden Christ.
The Lord also promised the overcomer in Revelation 2:17 that He “will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it.” A stone in the Bible signifies material for God’s building (Matt. 16:18; 1 Pet. 2:5; 1 Cor. 3:12). In our natural being we are not stones but clay. Because we have received the divine life with its divine nature through regeneration, we can be transformed into stones, even precious stones, by enjoying Christ as our life supply (2 Cor. 3:18). Those who do not follow the worldly church but enjoy the Lord in the proper church life will be transformed into stones for the building of God. As indicated by the color white, these stones will be justified and approved by the Lord. The overcomers will be justified by God and approved by the Lord. Therefore, they will be the materials for the building up of God’s temple according to God’s New Testament economy.
