Revelation 2:9
"I know your tribulation and poverty
(but you are rich) and the slander
from those who call themselves Jews
and are not, but are a synagogue of
Satan."
1. "I Know"
(a) The Lord knows all of our
sufferings! Therefore, our hearts
should be content.
(b) Since the Lord knows our
sufferings yet still does not remove
them, such sufferings must be
profitable to us.
(c) Since the Lord knows our
sufferings, He must also know how to
reward us in the future.
2. Their Sufferings
The sufferings of the church in
Smyrna at that time were of three
kinds: (1) tribulation, (2) poverty, and
(3) slanderings.
a. Tribulation
What is tribulation? Tribulation is an
outward persecution from the
environment, such as opposition,
attack, exile, oppression, beating,
robbing, and so forth.
b. Poverty
If the monetary supply during
tribulation is sufficient, you do not
feel the suffering that much because,
relatively speaking, being rich makes it
easier for you to get by. But if you are
in poverty in the midst of tribulation,
the situation becomes even more
hopeless. Although this was the
situation, the Lord added a most
precious word: "But you are rich." At
that time the faith of the church in
Smyrna was rich (James 2:5) and her
love was full (1 Thes. 1:3). Otherwise,
who would not fall when placed
under such circumstances?
The church in Smyrna and the church
in Laodicea stand in stark contrast to
each other (Rev. 3:17); it is impossible
for a person to be in Smyrna, before
the Lord, yet at the same time be in
Laodicea, before the world.
c. Slanderings
Slander damages our reputation.
Some can endure physical sufferings
under tribulation and poverty, yet few
can tolerate damage to their
reputation.
"The slander from those who call
themselves Jews." Slandering began
with the Jews. When our Lord was on
the earth, He was slandered by them;
much more, should not we also be
slandered?
What was their actual word of
slander? It was slander against the
truth of salvation (Acts 13:45; 18:6;
19:9; 28:22; Rom. 3:, yet the Lord
said that we are blessed if we are
reviled (Matt. 5:11).
There is one more point to be noted
—that is, concerning "those who call
themselves Jews and are not, but are
a synagogue of Satan." Who actually
were these people? Before we talk
about this group of people, we
should first find out who the real Jews
are. From Romans 2:28-29, John
8:39-47, and Romans 4:11-12, we
understand that whoever sincerely
believes in the Lord Jesus is a real
Jew. Since these ones were not Jews
but called themselves such, they must
surely refer to a group of Jews in the
flesh and a group of Judaistic
followers.
These people had an organization,
and one might say that they were the
Judaistic church. Their teachings were
also Judaistic, being half of the law
and half of grace, half of faith and half
of works. Their system followed the
law; they had a priestly order. There
were a great number of these people,
even at Paul's time. However, by the
time of this writing, they had become
more developed and more organized.
They "are a synagogue of Satan."
These people were used by Satan to
preach a seemingly true, but actually
false, gospel.........

Nice