Smyrna

Location

Smyrna (modern Izmir) is a great Aegean port city on the western coast of modern Turkey, about thirty miles south of Pergamos and forty miles north of Ephesus. It has been continuously inhabited for over three thousand years. In Paul's day it was famous for its beauty and its harbour; in John's day, for its Christian steadfastness under persecution.

Biblical importance

Smyrna is the second of the seven churches in the Revelation (Revelation 2:8-11), and one of only two (with Philadelphia) to receive no rebuke from Christ. To it he speaks as the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive, and promises the faithful the crown of life. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna and disciple of John the Beloved, was martyred here c. AD 155.

Important biblical events

• Revelation 2:8 (KJV) 'These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive.'
• Revelation 2:9 (KJV) 'I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich).'
• Revelation 2:10 (KJV) 'Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer… be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.'
• Revelation 2:11 (KJV) 'He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.'

Related People

• Christ Jesus — 'the first and the last.'
• Polycarp of Smyrna — the martyr bishop, disciple of the Apostle John, whose Martyrdom of Polycarp (c. AD 155) is one of the oldest extant accounts of a Christian martyrdom.
• John the Beloved — his teacher, and the recorder of the letter.

Connected Places

• Ephesus — the first of the seven churches, forty miles south.
• Pergamos — the third, thirty miles north.
• Patmos — the island of the vision.

Christian tradition

• Polycarp's martyrdom is remembered in the whole Church on 23 February.
• Smyrna has had a continuous Christian presence for over nineteen centuries.
• The Martyrdom of Polycarp is treasured by East and West as the pattern for how a faithful bishop dies for Christ.

Household reflection

Smyrna teaches the household to be faithful, not successful. Christ does not promise the church of Smyrna comfort or growth — only that the faithful will not be hurt of the second death. A household that measures itself by faithfulness rather than by numbers is a Smyrna household. Its crown is not visible; but it is a crown of life.

Room connections

Where this entry meets the household in the wider house of CrossAIHub.

• Read (Library) — Read Revelation 2:8-11. Read it very slowly.
• Pray (Chapel) — Pray for one Christian household under active persecution somewhere in the world today.
• Family (Kitchen Table) — At one meal, tell the story of Polycarp's martyrdom (age-appropriate) — 'Eighty and six years have I served him, and he never did me any injury.'
• Sing (Choir Room) — Sing 'A Mighty Fortress Is Our God' (Martin Luther, 1529).
• Learn (Workshop) — Read The Martyrdom of Polycarp — one of the oldest complete accounts of a Christian death.

Further reading

Revelation 2:8-11 in the KJV.

The Martyrdom of Polycarp (c. AD 155).

Revelation 2–3 — the seven letters.

Elsewhere in the Atlas

• Ephesus
• Pergamos
• Patmos
• Return to the atrium — the Atlas's main room.