Read this letter’s full text in Revelation 2:8-11
History
Smyrna was situated 60 kilometers north of Ephesus at the present-day port of Izmer, which today is Turkey's second largest city with one of the most important harbors in the region.
Smyrna housed the shrine to the goddess Nemesis and was one of the last cities to fall to Islam.
Acts 19:10 suggests that the church in Smyrna may have been established by Paul on his third missionary journey.i
Historical Application
The letter to Smyrna contains no admonishment, and as the name implies, the sacrifice which Christians were called upon to make in this time period served to draw people to Christ (see 2 Corinthians 2:14-15).
To this church, many of whose members would actually suffer death by persecution, Jesus introduced Himself as "the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive" (Revelation 2:8). Then the words of the coming peril were given, "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" (Revelation 2:10).
Prophetic Application
These words were fulfilled, for during this period, the most vicious persecutions occurred against the Christians. In 107 AD, Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch in Syria and a friend of John the apostle, was thrown to the lions and eaten alive in the amphitheatre of Rome.ii
In 155 AD, Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna and a close friend of Ignatius, was killed by the sword, his body burned at the stake in Smyrna.iii
It was through the witness of Christian martyrs that Tertullian of Carthage, in Africa, was converted to Christianity at the age of 30, and thereafter became a defender of the Christian faith. Read Tertullian's work
This period of persecution came to its climax under Diocletian, who, in 303 AD, launched a vicious, empire-wide effort for the complete annihilation of Christianity. Although he died in 305 AD, the persecution continued until it was finally brought to an end in 313 AD by the decree of toleration issued by Emperor Constantine.
The Diocletian persecution lasted ten years. The ten-day tribulation predicted for this church (verse 10) coincides with this ten-year period when the day-year principle of Biblical prophecy is applied. Persecution cleansed the Church by forcing Christians to consider whether they were truly willing to follow Christ in all circumstances.
In the ancient city of Smyrna, the most expensive homes were on the mountainsides that rose above the bay. This gave it the name "Crown City." We can appreciate the appropriateness of the promise, "be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life...He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death" (Revelation 2:10-11).
Ahead to A Letter to the Church at Pergamos
i. "Smyrna," Bible Places Online.
iii. Paul Burns and Alban Butler, Butler's Lives of the Saints: February (Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1998): 228.
Read several authors' thoughts on papal Rome's history.
This article highlights quotes from historical and Catholic sources proving the Papacy's aggressive nature.
Persecution in the First Centuries
An Era of Spiritual Darkness The Waldenses
John Wycliffe Huss and Jerome
Luther's Separation From Rome
Luther Before the Diet The Swiss Reformer
Progress of Reform in Germany
Protest of the Princes The French Reformation
The Netherlands and Scandinavia
Later English Reformers
The Bible and the French Revolution
The Pilgrim Fathers Heralds of the Morning
An American Reformer Light Through Darkness
A Great Religious Awakening A Warning Rejected
Prophecies Fulfilled What is the Sanctuary?
In the Holy of Holies God's Law Immutable
A Work of Reform Modern Revivals
Facing Life's Record The Origin of Evil
Enmity Between Man and Satan
Agency of Evil Spirits Snares of Satan
The First Great Deception
Can Our Dead Speak to Us?
Liberty of Conscience Threatened
The Impending Conflict
The Scriptures a Safeguard The Final Warning
The Time of Trouble God's People Delivered
Desolation of the Earth The Controversy Ended
Is Revelation a Sealed Book?
Revelation 1 Commentary
Revelation 1: Jesus, The Heart of Revelation
Revelation 2 Commentary
Revelation 2-3: Letters to Seven Churches
Revelation 3 Commentary
The Lamb and the Sealed Book
Revelation 4 Commentary
Revelation 5 Commentary
Revelation 6 Commentary
Revelation 7 Commentary
Revelation 8 Commentary
Revelation 9 Commentary
Revelation 10 Commentary
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