I know your affliction and your poverty; nevertheless you are rich. I also know the blasphemy of those who call themselves Jews. They are not real Jews; they are the synagogue of Satan. Rev. 2:9.
It appears from today's text that the church's relationship with the Jews of Smyrna was at risk. The church faced a perilous situation. By the second century the Roman Empire expected everyone except the Jews to venerate the emperor. The authorities exempted Jews out of respect for the antiquity of their religion. Since the Romans usually identified early Christians as Jewish, they often escaped unnecessary persecution.
The Jews themselves, on the other hand, had reason to be cautious about any association with Christians. Twenty-five years earlier Jewish apocalyptic excitement had provoked the Romans to destroy Jerusalem and its Temple, leaving behind thousands of dead. It was loud and clear that Jewish status in the empire could get revoked at a moment's notice if Christian talk of the Messiah created Roman suspicion against the Jews.
At the time John wrote Revelation the Jewish community was finding itself in some difficulty with the local leaders of Smyrna. When Christian Jews talked about Jesus the Messiah and the end of the world, it only made things even more difficult. So we should understand the word "blasphemy" in our text in terms of "slander." Historical records suggest that the following scenario may have occurred a number of times in first-century Smyrna.
Let's say Jason was a Christian member of the synagogue. Theudas, a non-Christian Jewish neighbor, never liked him. His "crazy ideas" embarrassed the Jews among their pagan neighbors. One day Theudas discovers that Jason's goats have escaped their enclosure again and munched and trampled his prized rhododendrons. In a fit of anger he "informs' the local authorities that Jason was an enemy of the emperor and the state but stayed "under the radar" by masquerading as a Jew. Then he gives evidence of Jason's "un-Jewish" ideas.
Roman authorities at that time would rarely seek out Christians, but when faced with a specific charge, they would have to investigate. It would not do to have potential revolutionaries multiplying undetected. When they interviewed Jason's neighbor they soon discovered that he was a no-show at civic events. If the Jewish community did not like him and supported Theudas' contention that Jason was not a real Jew, execution was the likely fate.
After such incidents, it is understandable that Christians would begin to think that Jews such as Theudas were not real Jews, but tools of Satan.
Lord, reveal Your presence to all Christians who face slander and persecution in Today's world. Show me ways that I can encourage and support them.
It appears from today's text that the church's relationship with the Jews of Smyrna was at risk. The church faced a perilous situation. By the second century the Roman Empire expected everyone except the Jews to venerate the emperor. The authorities exempted Jews out of respect for the antiquity of their religion. Since the Romans usually identified early Christians as Jewish, they often escaped unnecessary persecution.
The Jews themselves, on the other hand, had reason to be cautious about any association with Christians. Twenty-five years earlier Jewish apocalyptic excitement had provoked the Romans to destroy Jerusalem and its Temple, leaving behind thousands of dead. It was loud and clear that Jewish status in the empire could get revoked at a moment's notice if Christian talk of the Messiah created Roman suspicion against the Jews.
At the time John wrote Revelation the Jewish community was finding itself in some difficulty with the local leaders of Smyrna. When Christian Jews talked about Jesus the Messiah and the end of the world, it only made things even more difficult. So we should understand the word "blasphemy" in our text in terms of "slander." Historical records suggest that the following scenario may have occurred a number of times in first-century Smyrna.
Let's say Jason was a Christian member of the synagogue. Theudas, a non-Christian Jewish neighbor, never liked him. His "crazy ideas" embarrassed the Jews among their pagan neighbors. One day Theudas discovers that Jason's goats have escaped their enclosure again and munched and trampled his prized rhododendrons. In a fit of anger he "informs' the local authorities that Jason was an enemy of the emperor and the state but stayed "under the radar" by masquerading as a Jew. Then he gives evidence of Jason's "un-Jewish" ideas.
Roman authorities at that time would rarely seek out Christians, but when faced with a specific charge, they would have to investigate. It would not do to have potential revolutionaries multiplying undetected. When they interviewed Jason's neighbor they soon discovered that he was a no-show at civic events. If the Jewish community did not like him and supported Theudas' contention that Jason was not a real Jew, execution was the likely fate.
After such incidents, it is understandable that Christians would begin to think that Jews such as Theudas were not real Jews, but tools of Satan.
Lord, reveal Your presence to all Christians who face slander and persecution in Today's world. Show me ways that I can encourage and support them.
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