A Message to Persecuted Churches

Revelation 2:1-11

GOLDEN TEXT: “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.”—Revelation 2:10

WHILE the messages given to the seven churches specified in the Revelation were doubtless applicable to them, they properly have a still wider application to the entire Gospel church, the number seven representing completeness. The Book of Revelation is one of symbols, a message which our Lord signified (told in signs or symbols) by His angel unto His servant, John. (Rev. 1:1) Bible Students know that the book abounds in symbols, or signs; and we believe that these are the rule, and that the literal is the exception, being used only when unavoidable.

To be in harmony, then, with the rest of the book, “The seven churches which are in Asia,” must be symbolic. As the book is chiefly history written beforehand, they must symbolize seven successive stages in the history of the Christian church, covering the period between the first advent and the second coming of Christ. The fulfillment, we think, proves the correctness of this position.

In the first chapter we have a description of “one like unto a Son of Man,” as seen in vision by the Apostle John. Some one or more of the features of this description would seem to be peculiarly appropriate to each of the successive stages of the church; and in each case He who sends the message is thus described. The last part of each message is a promise to the “overcomers,” and these are also adapted to the different periods of the church’s history.

Let us notice the chronological position of the seven churches. It is suggested that Ephesus covers the period during the lives of the apostles; Smyrna, the time of Pagan persecution, ending about 325 A.D., when Constantine became emperor of Rome and declared in favor of Christianity. Pergamos embraces the transition period during which Papacy had its rise; Thyatira, the stage during which the true church was in the wilderness, and the apostate church sat as a queen and lived deliciously with the kings of the earth. Sardis includes the short period before the Reformation; Philadelphia the period from the Reformation until recent times; and Laodicea the nominal church of today.

The word Ephesus means first, desirable. During this period our Lord “held the seven stars in His right hand,” etc. (Chapter 1:20) The messengers of the churches—Paul, Peter, John, etc—were so powerfully led and kept in the grasp of our Lord Jesus during this epoch that we accept their teachings as His, believing that their words were really His words. This stage of the church is commended for its faithful, patient labor and for its discernment of truth and true teachers.—Acts 20:28-30; I Cor. 11:19

It was characteristic of this period that they “forsook all and followed Him.” They took joyfully the spoiling of their goods. They sold what they had and gave to those in want. Though often deprived of the bread of this present life, they not only had the Living Bread, but had the promise of “the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”

The second church mentioned is Smyrna. Smyrna means bitter. Myrrh and Marah are kindred words. This stage of the Christian church was the period of most bitter persecution, under the Roman emperors from Nero to Diocletian. In His message to the church of this epoch our Lord calls, Himself “the first and the last, which was dead and is alive.” In no other sense could He be the first and the last than as the only direct creation of the Father, by whom all else was created. Any other view would be in conflict with the Scriptures.—Rev. 3:14; Col. 1:15; I Cor. 8:6; John 1:1-3, Diaglott

“The devil shall cast some of you into prison that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days.” Thus the Lord informed Ms Faithful servants of this period that theirs would be a time of great persecution. Pagan Rome, here symbolized as the devil, has been one of the most devilish of all earthly governments, when viewed in the light of its bloody persecutions.

The ten symbolic days refer to the last and most severe persecution under the Roman emperors—that in the reign of Diocletian, A.D. 303-313. Those who have read the history of this period can understand the depth of the words, “that ye may be tried.” Some of the most sublime pictures of Christian endurance the world has ever seen were enacted during the Smyrna period of the church. The call was for faithfulness unto death; the promise was that the overcomers should “not be hurt of the second death,” but should receive the crown of life—immortality, the divine nature.

QUESTIONS:

Are the seven churches mentioned in the session literal ecclesias, or are they symbolic?

What is the chronological position of the seven symbolic churches?

Why does it seem reasonable that, Pagan Rome should be symbolized by the devil?

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