Messages to the Seven Assembles: Smyrna

Messages to the Seven Assembles: Smyrna

A Study Developed in S.A.M. Sukkoth Community Study &

Written by Barbara L. Klika, MSW, Undershepherd

October, 2012

Having had a wonderful taste from our initial exploration into the message to Ephesus, we took the next day to examine what we could see in the message to Smyrna. Smyrna was a harbor city of thriving commerce about 40 miles north of Ephesus. “Smyrna” has a meaning connected with “myrrh,” which is a burial spice, so it is connected with death. Certainly then, right there in the description of Who is giving the message and in the concluding statement, we find reference to life and death. As was done in the initial introduction, He also again affirms that He is the Alef and the Tav, The First and the Last, lest there should be confusion as to His credentials. They are unchanging through all time.

Again, reviewing the “seven’s” for the second aspect of each of them, we find the following:

Day Two: Beit Pictographic meaning of house; witness and division

Spirit: Understanding/Bineh Working in concert with Wisdom to rightly discern and categorize and build

Creation Event: Separation of Upper and Lower Waters—Shemayim and Mayim The one day NOT declared to be good

Feast/Moedim: Feast of Unleavened Bread

Abomination/things YHWH Hates: Lying Tongue

In this second message we see reference to witness and division as to which “House” one chooses.

Two walking together going in the same direction, to the same House, are a witness; just as heaven and earth are two witnesses. We are told several times in Scripture that 2 or 3 witnesses establish a matter. Two can hold each other up and a three strand cord is not easily broken. Two points establish a line and a third confirms it. Our choices and lifestyle will determine our “line” of walking and our destination. We will be found of either the House of YHWH or of the evil one. If we consider this second message in a consecutive manner, with one message building on another, we would comment that if you have forgotten your first love, perhaps the pressures/tribulation are given in order to encourage you to get back on track, back toward the right house or else you will choose the wrong house to walk to.

The Spirit of Understanding has to do with building on the foundation of His Wisdom and His instruction so that we will know how to recognize what is good, tov, and righteous, and separate or discern between that and what is unholy and unrighteous. This was especially important to note for those within the assembly of Smyrna because there was a “synagogue of satan” there. Smyrna was another body having to deal with discerning those who are of the right spirit and those who are deceivers, those who said they were of the House of Judah though they were not. He knows those who speak with a lying tongue, in blasphemous manner, and knows what the righteous ones in Smyrna have suffered at the hands of these pretenders…and what they will suffer.

This issue has continued right on down through the ages as we always have to deal with those who are pretenders in one way or another. Perhaps in modern day terminology, they may be “wannabe’s” although the statement that they are of the “synagogue (or assembly) of satan” would seem to indicate that it is a little more virulent than immature believers! These pretenders are deceivers who try to appear as being of the set apart Household though they are not genuine family. He who is a “true Jew” is one inwardly, not necessarily by birth, Sha’ul wrote to the Romans. It is the circumcision of the heart that is and always was the final consideration, though of course the physical sign of circumcision is also real. Need I comment again that circumcision of the heart is Bride language, too?

Messiah did not list the things that the Assembly in Smyrna had accomplished other than to say that He is aware of them. He knows what they have done so they may be confident of that. He has knowledge and understanding of both what they have been able to do in a positive sense as well as being fully aware of the tribulation and poverty they have suffered. It would seem that this is poverty in the physical/material sense though He affirms that they are in truth spiritually rich!

In the second day of Creation, our Abba divided the waters above and below, separating them with a dome which can be understood as something that has been beaten or stretched between. This day was not declared good, tov, as the others were. It remains somewhat of a challenge to fully comprehend though there are many implications. Perhaps there is something unfinished about this particular separation that remains to be seen as a witness, or a matter of division? Unlike those in Ephesus who were commended for rightly identifying and exposing those who were pretenders, this Smyrna group is simply told that He is aware that there are false ones still among them. This brings to mind the reality that a mixed multitude was brought out of Egypt/Mitzaim/tribulation only to find them showing their true colors not too far into the wilderness. YHWH has said that He will again woo His people out to the wilderness and judge us face to face as He did before; and not all who are brought into the wilderness will be permitted to enter His rest/Land. We will pass under His rod as He carries out the separation of judgment; goats to judgment and sheep to eternal life.

Just as we see the waters of the earth as a life giving force we know that waters can also bring destruction. The first judgment on the whole earth was water but the second one will be by fire. The heavenly waters, fire water, are of the purging cleansing fire of YHWH. At the same time, they bring cleansing and restoration to those who are truly of the House of Yah they are also bringing judgment to the unholy, rightly dividing the hearts of men. YHWH is not fooled by outward appearances and will sift out those that are false through His wisdom and understanding.

The second moedim, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, is all about the separation of the holy and the unholy, in the physical picture of the presence of yeast, which is compared to sin. Sha’ul has emphasized for us the importance of correctly separating out yeast because a little yeast leavens the whole lump. We are to keep the Feasts with the unleavened bread of sincerity and Truth. The people of the Smyrna assembly seem to have struggled with this, having the presence of those not truly set apart, yet apparently not able or willing to put them out? Perhaps this is a picture of the sifting and refinement that all true faith brings all the while enduring being in the world but not of it.

This body of Believers at Smyrna is left with a quite clear message that some of them will be imprisoned and some will likely die, despite His awareness of the good they have done and what they have endured. In the sense of being “unfinished” we wonder whether their failure to be fully set apart might indicate that though they are genuine in faith, they have not acted on what they knew. Their process of restoration has not been complete. Therefore, though they are in faith, they need the further refinement of going through additional tribulation to be fully mature and to accomplish the sifting. It will result in physical death for some of them though they are encouraged not to be afraid, perhaps because they are spiritually rich. They need not fear the first death because their spiritual life is assured; the second death will not harm them. This reminds me of our “short hand saying” which appears to have come from Martin Luther: “Born once—die twice. Born twice—die once!”

Yeshua died and overcame death so they(we) do not need to fear when they(we) follow Him. His death was not an accident or a failure but part of the plan from before the foundation of the world was set. If we stand firm, we too, will come to life. Their victory may come THROUGH their death as Yeshua’s greatest work was done through the appearance of the enemy having the victory.

We haven’t heard too many people who are praying to be like the body of Smyrna though we have often commented that we’d LIKE to be found comparable to those in Philadelphia, the only assembly that is promised to be guarded and kept through what is to come. Yet, as we examine the thematic aspects of this we see, too, that Smyrna and Philadelphia are “stem mates” when viewed as being the second and sixth candle on the menorah, so there will be similarities between them. Their spiritual/eternal security is secure in both situations despite the foretold difference in their experience during tribulation.

It could be a different situation as well. I have had people observe to me that they are interested in knowing their Hebrew heritage, but “not like you guys,” explaining that they didn’t really think they had to keep the moedim or be concerned about His Torah because Messiah really did do away with it and it is completely their personal choice as to whether or not they observe any part of it. Those with such a position don’t like the commitment to walk together in Torah that they do apparently see in us, which is cause for both celebration and sadness to us! So in a setting in which there are fraudulent people someone like this who might be within a “set apart” assembly all the while not being convicted to really BE set apart would mean that there has never been a willingness to be fully open and teachable in that setting. It likely also means that they don’t speak openly if they are concerned about something, preferring what I have called an “in the weeds” position. In such a case, it would be impossible to have a genuine “echad” with one another and in Messiah as a community as He prayed that we would have, being one as He is with the Father. I have seen that this kind of situation leaves a community far more vulnerable in many ways, but especially spiritually.

The tribulation they are to endure as a test is said to be 10 days.Tenis a number associated with law, testing and representation. It brings many things to mind, from the 10 commandments to the parable of the 10 virgins and perhaps relevant here as a tenth is a tithe. In the context of the Fall Feasts we’d be thinking of the 10 Days of Awe, which are related to the fifth and sixth days and assemblies though again we may have a connection with Philadelphia. How very grateful we are to know that there is a boundary set for this tribulation. It will not endure forever.

Having considered these thematic pictures we went on to examine whether or not there was a chiasmus and so there was:

A ('These things says the First and the Last,) who was dead, and came to life:

B "I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich);

C [I know] the blasphemyof those who say they are Jews and are not, but [are] a

synagogue of Satan.

D "Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer.

C the devil is about to throw [some] of you into prison, that you may be tested,

B you will have tribulation ten days.

A Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. …

He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death." '

The message to those of Smyrna is filled with references to life and death, in the identifiers and the conclusion of the words. Physical death is not to be feared, especially when one is indeed spiritually rich. How can we not think of Paul’s comfort that nothing can separate us from our Messiah’s Love? Our Husband’s Love! He is the One in Whom we live and move and have our being. As He is faithful to us, so He asks us to remain faithful to Him even to the point of our own deaths. Can we know whether our victory will come through escaping physical death until He returns or if our faithful witness even to death is what will bring victory? Perhaps there is some indication here in our awareness of how much we have allowed ourselves to act on what we know, to become set apart, to put out that which is unclean in our lives and in our assemblies. To the extent that we keep “short accounts” before the One With Whom we have to do in this life, the less dross there will be to burn away. He preceded us in the experience of death and was raised again so we can be confident that He will not lose hold of us. He knows exactly what has happened throughout our lives, where we have served Him and done the works of righteousness so we do not need to fear. He even knows all the details of the various trials and tribulations we have been squeezed through which would seem to include that material idea of poverty though great spiritual wealth and provided assurance here that there would be a limit to the final tribulation to come. We understand elsewhere that the limit is for the sake of the elect. Even in these days to come our testing will continue, initiated by the devil. We have been told that in such a group as Smyrna represents, both in the historical and prophetic sense, those “would be” ones are among those being tested. The unfinished work among them, separation of good and evil, must be completed. The true believers will become evident in the process. Per Vine’s there is not a noun for blasphemer, just a verb: action/speaking evil. Perhaps this lack of a noun form is related in that it would be while in a testing situation that one would show whether one would resort to cursing our Elohim or remain faithful?

Oh how many times we are told to fear not! Clearly our Abba knows how fearful life is and will be. Clearly He knows there will be trouble and has assured us that this world will bring trouble but that we are to be assured that in Him we can overcome the world. Does the silver complain to the silversmith about the heat of the fire? These things which this group of believers is about to suffer are not for punishment of those who fear our Elohim, but ultimately for their good. They may hurt but they will not harm us! Keeping our focus on our Husband, we can draw on His Strength and grace to help in time of need so that we can persevere, overcoming the trials that might bend or break us otherwise. In so doing, we will receive the crown of life, just as He has already gone before us to do.

We have asked ourselves if we have acted on all that we do understand, if we have allowed ourselves to become more “set apart” to Him. As much as we may struggle in the process, we do know that it is well worth anything it costs us now. Our eyes are not to be so much on what He has already done within us, individually and corporately, for that could too easily slide into a type of idolatry. Messiah Yeshua, Himself, must be our central focus and our central confidence.

Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer.