In Revelation 2:9 Jesus says that he knows Smyrna’s works (G2041), tribulation (G2347), and poverty (G4432). In his letter to the church of Ephesus, Jesus said he knew the their works (G2041), their labor or toil (G2873) and their patience (G5281). The works (G2041) are the same, in both Smyrna and Ephesus, i.e. the spreading of the Gospel, but how is tribulation (G2347) in Smyrna different from toil (G2873) in Ephesus? Both churches were occupied with the same business (G2041), the Gospel. However, for Ephesus Jesus emphasized the trouble or pressure (G2873) believers had gone through in order to preach the Gospel, while for Smyrna Jesus showed he knew of the actual affliction or tribulation (G2347) they were under. In his letter to Ephesus, Jesus emphasized the inner pressure or distress believers endured, but his letter to Smyrna emphasized the cause of that inner oppression. In other words Jesus knew what others were doing to his people.
Additionally, in Ephesus their patience (G5281) answered to their toil or trouble (G2873); they endured it without complaint. In Smyrna, it was their poverty (G4432) that answered to their tribulation or affliction (G2347). That is, they were powerless to change their condition, unless they gave in to their persecutors. They couldn’t change their lot anymore than modern homeless people could change theirs without gainful employment, which must come from others. The others for Smyrna were their persecutors, so nothing would change in the lives of the believers, unless they gave in to the demands of their persecutors. This is not to say that believers weren’t stricken with physical poverty, because many were. Many lost their employment, while some lost their homes, businesses and lands. Poverty was a weapon the persecutors held over believers.
Nevertheless, Jesus claimed his people in Smyrna were rich (Revelation 2:9). I believe their wealth (G4145) needs to be understood in the light of their poverty (G4432). We have a kind of picture of what was forced upon the believers at Smyrna in what Jesus willingly took upon himself in 1Corinthians 8:9. There, it says Jesus was rich (G4145), but he willingly became poor (G4433), so that, through his poverty (G4432), we could become rich (G4147). Jesus became poor (G4433), which literally means a beggar, but was Jesus literally a beggar? Was he so destitute that he couldn’t support his family? Who in his right mind would ever follow a literal beggar (the homeless in modern America) hoping to find wisdom and life? Therefore, if poor (G4433) cannot point to Jesus’ economic condition, neither could the word poverty (G4432) in the same verse, which is the word used for believers in Smyrna. Jesus’ riches (G4145) points to his abundance in power or his almighty power. Therefore, his becoming a beggar (G4433) made him completely dependent upon his Father to do the works he did. The reason was, says the Scripture, that through Jesus’ poverty (G4432 – same word used in Revelation 2:9), i.e. through his weakness / humanity, we might become rich (G4147) or be powerful with God – having abundance in the fruits of his Spirit (cf. Ephesians 1:3).
Moreover, the Scriptures tell us that Jesus also knew “the blasphemy of them who say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.” There are two things we can say about this phrase. First, Jesus identifies Smyrna’s persecutors as Jews, because the Scripture says they called themselves Jews, but Jesus said they come from the synagogue (a Jewish meeting place) of Satan. Secondly, the word blasphemy (G988) might be better rendered evil speaking, as it is in Ephesians 4:32 or railing as it is in Jude 1:9 and 1Timothy 6:4. The reason I say this is: the evil speaking is done by folks who claim to be God’s children, but their words are used against believers in their community. Technically, it is not blasphemy, according to the Jewish interpretation of the Law,[1] to simply claim one is a child of God when he is not nor would their false accusations against believers be blasphemy. In both instances they would be lying, but they wouldn’t be committing blasphemy. Therefore, Jesus emphasizes that he knows what the evil these folks are saying against believers at Smyrna.
In other words, Jesus testifies to the church that the folks who are causing all this trouble for them claimed to be Jews, but they were lying, because the Scriptures tell us that a Jew is not a Jew by birth, but he is a Jew by works (Romans 2:28-29). When the Jewish authorities confronted Jesus concerning his claim to be their Messiah, they stood on the ground that they were the children of Abraham, but Jesus replied that Abraham’s children are known by their works, not their lineage (John 8:39), which means that, since Abraham was praised, because he believed God (Genesis 15:6; cf. Romans 4:3), his children cannot be his children, if they don’t believe God. Faith is required of those claiming to be God’s children through Abraham (cf. John 8:39, 41). In other words, one cannot be a real Jew, if he doesn’t believe God, orif he works against what God is doing, which is what the Jews by lineage were doing, when they persecuted believers who were trying to preach the Gospel.
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[1] See my study Jesus Before the Sanhedrin, which concerns his trial by the Jewish authorities the night before he was crucified.
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