SMYRNA
The Poor Rich Church
Revelation 2:8-11
The Ancient City of Smyra
Smyrna sat 35 miles north of Ephesus, built near the
ruins of an ancient Greek colony destroyed in the 7th century
BC. Lysimachus, one of Alexander the Great’s generals, rebuilt
Smyrna as a new Hellenistic city in the 3rd century BC. The city
was later established as a Roman commercial center with a
port on the Aegean Sea. Scholars believe the city grew to
about 100,000 by the time of the apostles Paul and John.
Agora Smyrian ancient market place – Largest in world at that time
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Smyrna means "myrrh” which is a bitter herb.
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City was located in Asia Minor about thirty five miles north of Ephesus.
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Ancient ruins reveal the city existed in ancient times 1500 years before
Christ. Today the modern city is called Izmir and is the second largest
city in Turkey with a population of 1.5 million people.
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The city has a large sea port harbor on the Aegean Sea and had a
population of around 10,000 in Paul’s day and was considered the
finest city in Asia being called "was called "the lovely-the crown of Ioniathe ornament of Asia.“
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Birth place of Homer. It was a prosperous and important Roman city
and favored by Rome.
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Jesus had nothing but encouragement for this persecuted church.
"For 86 years I have been His servant and He has
never done me wrong; how can I blaspheme my King
who saved me?"
Polycarp, a martyr, was at one time the pastor of the Smyrna church. From history
we have the record of Polycarp who was burned at the stake in 155 A.D. The
account of his martyrdom gives us a picture of probably what occurred early in
John’s day. Polycarp was brought before the Roman governor and charged with
atheism, which meant he was charged with not worshiping the Roman Emperor as
God.
CHRIST SPEAKS TO THOSE WHO ARE
DYING FOR HIM.
Revelation 2:8-11
This period in church history
corresponds to the time of Emperor Nero
to Emperor Constantine. (AD 64-316)
To profess Christ was
to become an
outlaw” wanted dead
or alive."