OZTheology

FAITHFULNESS IN THE FACE OF SUFFERING - REVELATION 2:8-11 The next church addressed by Jesus is the church in Smyrna, meaning “bitter”, which fitted well the experience of its members in suffering for their faith.  It is one of two churches that is not rebuked and only commended, the other being Philadelphia.  Smyrna was a significant city in Roman times located on the coast with a temple erected in honor of Emperor Tiberius.  During Domitian’s reign, offering to the emperor was compulsory with a certificate of proof issued.  Not to possess this certificate was punishable by death, which faithful Christians would face.  It had a large Jewish community with considerable influence on governmental affairs, which informed against Christians.  Polycarp was martyred as the bishop of Smyrna in AD 166 at the instigation of Jewish leaders accompanied by Gentiles.  He was a disciple of John, the writer of the book of Revelation, and possibly made a bishop by h...

RECOVERING OUR FIRST LOVE - REVELATION 2:1-7 Having experienced his encounter with the glorified Christ recorded in Revelation chapter one, John receives messages for seven churches located in Asia Minor.   These churches are geographically ordered so that a messenger could visit each one with a circular itinerary, delivering Christ’s revelation to each one in sequence.   Each message includes an aspect of the previous description of Christ, a summary of the church’s behavior in various degrees of commendation and rebuke, a call to repentance for most and a promise accompanying a response of obedience.   It is addressed to “the angel of the church”, which probably refers to the church leadership, who will receive the message.   The term, “angel”, literally means messenger and can be supernatural referring to angelic beings (such as in Daniel 10:13, 20) or natural referring to human beings (Luke 9:52). The first church is in Ephesus, to which previously Paul ministe...