Max's Weekly Musings
Vol. 9, No. 28, for the week of August 6 - 12
Revelation 2- Smyrna
The war between Israel and Hezbollah is now well into its fifth week. Israeli military officials are beginning to understand that they did not prosecute the war aggressively enough in its initial stages. Furthermore, they had underestimated the strength and the resolve of the Hezbollah fighters. This is a different enemy than they faced in 1982 when they invaded Lebanon for the first time. Hezbollah is not the PLO. They have more sophisticated weapons and are better trained than were the PLO fighters under Yasir Arafat. Certainly Israel cannot hope for much help from the Lebanese army which has gone on record as saying it would fight shoulder to shoulder with Hezbollah if Israel crossed the borders. For the past 6 years, the United Nations has patrolled the southern Lebanese border. I know that for a fact because I have seen one of their outposts along the border. The UNIFIL forces have been totally ineffective in stopping Hezbollah. They have only mirrored the weakness of any United Nations peace-keeping force. Now, today Israel has said that it would postpone any deeper advancement into Lebanon until the weekend, in order to see if a cease-fire can be created. This will allow Hezbollah more time to rearm itself, to strengthen its positions, and eventually end in more bloodshed on both sides. There simply cannot be peace as long as one of the combatants is committed to the destruction of the other. And never forget that is the avowed aim of both Hezbollah and Hamas.
I was asked this week why Israel has not been as successful as it had been in both the Six-Day War in 1967 and in the Yom Kippur War of 1973. The answer is fairly simple. In both those conflicts, Israel was facing a traditional military foe - one that fought with a battle strategy, using front lines, and conventional rules of warfare. Israel, being the strongest military presence in the Middle East, will always win that kind of a war. But Israel was to learn, as we have been learning in Iraq - and what the British learned today with the uncovering of a plot that could have been of massacre proportions - the enemy no longer fights using the rules of war. For them, any person is a potential target - and the more civilians killed, the better. You hear no apologies from Hezbollah when their rockets takes lives of innocent civilians in Kiryat Shimona or Haifa. No, they applaud such victories. Even the world is silently quiet. But, just let Israeli bombs strike an apartment building, or American soldiers in Iraq kill a few civilians having mistaken them for the enemy, and the world is aghast. Why this double-standard?
I believe the answer is based upon those traditions and principles upon which Israel, our nation, and most European nations - especially Great Britain - were founded. That of a Judeo-Christian tradition. Certainly Islam does not value life - at least the radical element within Islam. This has been obvious from the massive number of suicide bombings in Iraq and the shellings in Israel. Even the thwarted attempt to destroy several airplanes in flight today illustrate this truth. Yet, the Judeo-Christian tradition teaches that all life bears the imprint of a Sovereign God. Life does have value.
So, keep on praying for Israel. They certainly need all the prayer partners they can get.
Before I go on with the Church at Smyrna, I want to say that I will be sharing on this topic of the Middle East Conflict in the community room of the retirement residence in Boone where my Mother now lives. It will begin at 7:00 p.m. on Friday evening, September 8. For those of you living in the Central Iowa area who would like to come, please send me an e-mail expressing your desire. I will then communicate that with my Mother.
Revelation 2- Smyrna
Now, let us return to Revelation chapter 2 - the Church at Smyrna. This is the second of the seven churches. It was a church that knew the agony, as well as the blessings that came from persecution. The closer we get to the final days of our age, the lessons to be learned from this church increase.
I. Smyrna: A Description of the City
1. The city was located 35 miles north of Ephesus
2. The city had been founded by Alexander the Great, and was described as "first of Asia in beauty"
3. It was a sophisticated city, having a library, a stadium, and the largest public theater in the province of Asia
4. Claimed to be the birthplace of the Greek poet, Homer
1. A temple was built in honor of the Emperor Tiberias; emperor worship was very important
2. Many pagan shrines and temples dotted the hill called Mount Pagas
C. Its name - meant "bitter" and was the same root as "myrrh", the substance that, in the Old Testament, had to be ground before it could be offered on the altar.
II. Strengths of the Church
If we were to have visited that small congregation at Smyrna we would have noticed two things right away:
1. The word implies an abject poverty; possessing absolutely nothing. Frank Clark once said, "There is one advantage to having nothing - it never needs repair."
2. These people had lost their jobs because they would not acknowledge Caesar as their god. This had been a requirement for obtaining work. This had been a requirement to purchase certain materials and supplies. (This is very similar to what it will be like during the time of the Tribulation where a person will need the mark of the beast in order to buy or sell - no identification will mean certain poverty)
3. Here was a Church that put little stock in things and more value into service for Christ. Mark Royden said, "When you have nothing left but God, then you become aware that God is enough."
1. This was a persecuted congregation. On one hill near Smyrna, 1500 were burned at the stake at one time, and alter another 800 died there. Its most famous martyr was Polycarp who was burned at the stake.
2. Here was a group of people willing to lay their lives down for the cause of Christ; they were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. This caused me to ask myself two questions:
a. Am I willing to pay the cost of being a persecuted believer?
b. Am I ashamed to take a stand for Christ in the public market place?
3. Testimony of Bishop Polycarp:
Polycarp had been a disciple of the Apostle John and had become one of the leading Christians in the Church in Smyrna. In the year 155, this Church was visited with fierce persecutions. Polycarp was betrayed by an unfaithful servant and fell into the hands of the Romans. He was taken before the Roman consul, where he was required to say, on oath, that he venerated Caesar as Lord. But Polycarp was firm in his refusal. "I have wild beasts," said the consul, "If you refuse I will throw you to them." "Send for them," was Polycarp's reply.
"If you despise the wild beasts I will send you to the fire," said the consul. "Swear and I will release you: curse the Christ."
"Eighty and six years have I served Christ," replied Polycarp, "and he has done me no wrong; how then can I blaspheme my King who has saved me? You threaten the fire that burns for an hour and then is quenched; but you know not of the fire of the judgment to come, and the fire of the eternal punishment. Bring what you will."
When the torch was applied to the wood, and smoke and flames encircled him, again he prayed, "Lord God, Father of our blessed Savior, I think thee that I have been deemed worthy to receive the crown of martyrdom, and that I may die for thee and for they cause." (adapted from Foxes Book of Martyrs)
4. These people were willing to lose everything they had for the claims of Christ. Someone has written: "If the Church does not encounter persecution, it is either that is has CHRISTIANIZED THE WORLD or that the world has PAGANIZED THE CHURCH.
A. "Don't fear - I am in control"
God said they would be tested for ten days. Praise God! He knows exactly our limitations. He knows our breaking points. (refer to 1 Corinthians 10:13 and 1 Peter 1:6-7)
B. Be faithful - stand true to God no matter the cost.
I am not sure the Church at Smyrna would have made the list of the ten greatest churches of all time. This was not a Church people eagerly sought after for membership. It cost to be a member of this Church: your job, your advancement, your status, even your life.. The Smyrnan spirit is total sacrifice to Christ. Jim Elliot portrayed a Smyrnan spirit when he wrote: "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
Thoughts to Ponder: The Church at Smyrna was a suffering church. They lacked many of the material resources which most would feel were needed for ministry. Yet, this congregation maintained a vitality because they knew how to suffer well. Throughout its long history, those moments when the Church has grown in its outreach ministries have been those times when it suffered intensely. I believe it is because persecution has a way of separating the pretenders to the faith from the possessors of the faith. God had no indictments against this Church. Persecution has a way of brining everything into proper focus. I am not saying that we should pray for it, but I do not believe we should fear it if that would be God's plan.
I would like to close by stating that I have been reading a book, written by Janet Folger, director of the Faith 2 Action program. The book is titled, The Criminalization of Christianity. Friends, this is a scarey book. The persecution has already begun. Christians are the target of all the venom of the world. Nothing less than the total destruction of Christianity is the goal. Will we wilt or will the Church unite and become stronger in the face of persecution. You can use God's name in vain in profanity, but you cannot mention His name in a graduation address. Did you know that in some areas, you can lose your job and even go to jail if you have a Bible on your work desk. Friends, the clarion teaching of the Smyrna Church is that following Christ was never intended to be the popular option. But, as did they, so do we have the promise of God's presence and His victory.This is one of those sections we had better sit down and chew on for a while. It might do us some good.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: Suffering is a misfortune, as viewed from the one side, and a discipline as viewed from the other. (Samuel Smiles)
Return to Max's Musings on Revelation
