Scripture Reading: Rev. 2:8-17
Ⅰ
The church in Smyrna was a church under the suffering of perse-cution—Rev. 2:8-11:
A
In Greek Smyrna means "myrrh," a sweet spice that, in figure, signifies suffering; the church in Smyrna was a suffering church—v. 10.
B
In speaking to the church in Smyrna, the Lord said that He is "the First and the Last, who became dead and lived again"—v. 8:
１
The fact that Christ is the First and the Last means that He never changes; in suffering, the church must know that the Lord is the First and the Last, the ever-existing, unchanging One.
２
The Lord's declaration in verse 8 implies the creation—the First— and the completion—the Last—and it also implies Christ's incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection:
ａ
This is a declaration to strengthen the suffering church in Smyrna, which was experiencing and suffering martyrdom.
ｂ
The only thing that can support the saints in their martyrdom is seeing the One who created and will complete the entire uni-verse and who was incarnated, lived on earth, was crucified, and resurrected; such a vision sustains the martyrs to stand in their sufferings—v. 10.
３
As the One who became dead and lived again, Christ is the living One—v. 8; 1:18:
ａ
The Lord Jesus suffered death and lived again; He entered into death, but death could not hold Him, because He is the resurrec-tion—Acts 2:24; John 11:25.
ｂ
"I became dead, and behold, I am living forever and ever"—Rev. 1:18:
⑴
Resurrection is a life that passes through death and still remains living.
⑵
Christ's resurrection is the lengthening of His days; He will exist forever and ever in His resurrection.
ｃ
The resurrected Christ, the living One, is living in us and among us; therefore, all the churches should be living as He is, full of life and overcoming death—1 Tim. 3:15.
C
As the One who became dead and lived again, Christ has the keys of death and of Hades—Rev. 1:18:
１
The Lord Jesus overcame death and destroyed the devil, the keys of death and of Hades are now in His hand, and He is victorious over the grave—Heb. 2:14; Rev. 1:18.
２
In His resurrection the Lord Jesus took away the authority of death and of Hades; death is subject to Him, and Hades is under His con-trol—v. 18.
D
"Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life"—2:10:
１
The Lord insists that the life of all those who serve Him belongs to Him; this is why we must be faithful even unto death.
２
The crown of life, as a prize to those who are faithful unto death in overcoming persecution, denotes the overcoming strength that is the power of the resurrection life (Phil. 3:10); it also denotes that these overcomers have attained to the out-resurrection from the dead (v. 11), the outstanding resurrection.
Ⅱ
In Greek Pergamos means "marriage," implying union, and "forti-fied tower"; as a sign, the church in Pergamos prefigures the church that entered into a marriage union with the world and became a high fortified tower—Rev. 2:12-17:
A
Satan's throne is in the world, the place where he dwells and the sphere of his reign; since the worldly church entered into union with the world, she dwells where Satan dwells—v. 13.
B
"To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and to him I will give a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no one knows except him who receives it"—v. 17:
１
We need to eat the hidden manna in order to be incorporated into the New Jerusalem as the tabernacle of God—John 14:20; Rev. 21:3.
２
The Lord promises the overcomer to eat of the hidden manna and to give him a white stone; this indicates that if we eat the hidden manna, we will be transformed into white stones for God's building—2:17.
３
Every transformed believer as a white stone bears a new name, which no one knows except him who receives it:
ａ
Such a new name is the interpretation of the experience of the one being transformed; hence, only he himself knows the meaning of that name.
ｂ
Revelation 2:17 is a word spoken by the Lord to us; we should not take it objectively but as our biography.