“I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.” Revelation 2:9-10
This message to the Smyrna Church was for them to remain faithful during their suffering because God is in control and his promises are reliable. Jesus never says that by being faithful to Him we will avoid troubles, suffering and persecution. Rather we must be faithful to Him during our sufferings. Only then will our faith prove to be genuine. We remain faithful by keeping our eyes on Christ and what He promises us now and in the future.
God does not cause the persecution; He allows it to strengthen each of us as a testimony to our genuine faith in Him. Even though we go through trials and struggles, God has His hand over us; ready to stop Satan from reaching his ultimate goal of destroying us and our faith. God allowed Satan to test this church in Smyrna. Satan’s goal was to turn them from God or kill them. Jesus makes it clear that this church is faithful to prevent the death that Satan wanted them to have. That death is complete separation from God. Amazingly the church grew during this time. It appears the more it was persecuted, the more it grew.
He chastised the Jews who had joined forces with the pagan worshipers. These Jews were helping to persecute the Christians by making false statements about them. They were slandering the followers of Christ. There was another group of people who followed the Jewish traditions, but they did not want to wear long hair or be circumcised as the Jews required. They did not like the new religion interfering with the way things were. They participated in all things Jewish, except the things they didn’t like. This helped to create a pseudo-Jewish religion; one that did not honor the God of Abraham or the Lord Jesus Christ. The term ‘synagogue of Satan’ is a term describing the Jewish house of worship: the synagogue. It was no longer a house of worship to the God of the Torah, to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The pseudo-Jews and the Jewish population had joined forces with the pagans against the Christians. This is how they turned the house of worship into a synagogue of Satan. It meant that these Jews were serving Satan’s purposes not God’s when they followed the evil plans of the pagans even as they gathered to worship.