I mentioned in my earlier post that I went to a bible study last Wednesday. The topic was regarding the churches in Revelations, particularly the church in Smyrna. There are several different thoughts about these churches and what they mean and why they were singled out.
1. These were literal churches that John had particular messages to at the time. These churches may have been churches that John had a relationship with. Historically, it is thought that John had a strong connect to the church in Ephesus, which is mentioned first here.
2. These churches represent 7 church ages in the history of the church. Often when you hear this view the speaker will say that we are in the Laodicean period, which is the lukewarm church that Jesus had nothing good to say to.
3. These churches are symbolic of many of the problems the church would face. The number 7 is thought to be a significant number and a divine and perfect number, signifying completion.
I would say that there is a good likelihood that all the above is true. We can adopt and take note of the blessings as well as the warnings to these churches. For example, the church in Ephesus, though it was a very productive, strong church is said to have lost their first love. Revelations 2:4. Can the church today, learn a lesson from that? I would think there may not be a more important lesson that we can learn. That God wants more than just activity, but a strong relationship with us. It was so important, in fact, that Jesus threatened to remove "your lampstand" or "your church" from its place if they did not return to their first love. That is pretty serious. Keep in mind they weren't guilt of flagrant sin, but leaving their first love.
Like a lot of relationships, we have ups and downs in our spiritual life. The important thing is that we realize we have a responsibility to cultivate our love relationship with God. It is not just the pastors job or the music minister's job or someone's elses job to write a lesson or preach a sermon or something like that. It is a matter of day and night, consistently, pursuing God and a renewed, vibrant relationship with Him.
"I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples." Psalm 77:11-14
