Synagogue of Satan

As we continue our look at the seven churches of Asia, we focus on ancient Smyrna, where persecution came in the form of the requirement that everyone must sacrifice to the deity of the Roman emperor. All one needed do was burn a piece of paper before the emperor's bust, declaring Caesar is Lord.

Smyrna was the home of the Christian martyr Polycarp, who knew the Apostle John and who, being offered an easy way of escape from being burned alive, famously responded: "Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?"

Ancient Smyrna is modern Izmir, where EPC missionary, Andrew Brunson, served the Izmir Resurrection Church before he was arrested under the authority of the Islamicist Turkish leader, Erdoğan.

This persecution in Asia minor near the end of the first century also involved an intensification of the conflict among the Jewish people, with those who rejected Jesus as Messiah stirring up persecution against believers (Acts 13:50; 14:2, 5, 19; 17:5; 1 Thessalonians 2:14–16).

As we look at places such as Romans 2:28-29, we understand what it is to be a true Jew. Galatians 4:25 underscores the basic truth that those who do not trust in Jesus Christ are "Ishmaels" rather than "Isaacs."

The current conflict in Israel is between two groups of "Ishmaels" fighting over a shadow of the true Jerusalem in heaven that will soon come to earth (Revelation 21:9-10). She is the mother of all believers (Galatians 4:26).

In Jesus Christ, as with the poor believers at Smyrna, we must confess, "I am rich" (Revelation 2:9), because we belong to him and are heirs of all God's promises (Galatians 3:26-29).