Revelation Class Notes

May 7, 2026

Revelation: Given to Christ by God the Father to Show His Servants the Things that Must Take Place

The Smyrna Assembly – Ten Seasons of Persecution

1. The Smyrna Assembly (Revelation 2:8–11).

   1. Christ is the one who first and last; having died, he now lives (Revelation 2:8).

   2. They are financially poor, but wealthy in doctrine (Revelation 2:9).

   3. The synagogue of Satan (Revelation 2:9).

      1. Satan is mimicking Christianity (2 Corinthians 11:15).

      2. The synagogue of Satan are those who claim to take the place of the Jews.

   4. This assembly faces ten periods of severe persecution (Revelation 2:10).

      1. Nero AD 64–68.

         1. Persecution on the Church was triggered by a great fire in Rome.

         2. It is recorded that he used Christians to light is garden.

         3. Peter and Paul were killed during Nero’s reign.

         4. The Roman historian Tacitus provides the political context and the clear motive (scapegoating).

         5. The historian Suetonius provides corroboration of the state’s hostile policy.

         6. Clement of Rome’s writing in AD 95–96 provides the internal, eyewitness-adjacent verification of the suffering endured by the Christian community in Rome.

      2. Domitian AD 81–96.

         1. The Church was persecuted because of their rejection of Domitian’s claim of deity.

         2. Domitian’s enforcement was centralized and aimed at consolidating absolute autocratic control.

      3. Trajan AD 112–117.

         1. Trajan provided a legal framework for the treatment of Christians, moving localized violence towards a formalized administrative stance.

         2. The persecution of Christian became a legal matter. Thus, explicit charges had to be stated, rejecting the commonly used anonymous accusations previously accepted.

         3. To demonstrate their rejection of Christianity, the accused had to make a sacrifice to the Roman gods.

         4. It was the refusal of Christians to submit to the traditional way of the ancestors in public ritual of state worship that constituted a crime worthy of death in the eyes of the Roman law.

         5. Trajan institutionalized the reality that being a Christian in the Roman Empire was an act of civil disobedience.

         6. Trajan began legal warfare against the Church.

      4. Marcus Aurelius AD 161—180.

         1. During Marcus’ reign, the Roman empire faced many catastrophes, which the local magistrates used to increase persecution on the Christians in an attempt to please their gods.

         2. The most noted instance of state-sanctioned bloodshed during the reign of Marcus occurred in Gaul.

            1. Local authorities explicitly encouraged popular violence, torturing and executing the Christian community.

            2. The Emperor’s response to the governor of Gaul seeking guidance was effectively a death warrant for Christians.

            3. He ordered that those who confessed to being Christians should be executed, while those who recanted should be released.

            4. This legalized the mob type of action against Christians and ensured that the “confession” itself was a capital offense.

         3. Marcus Aurelius’s actions did not necessarily stem from an obsessive personal crusade against a specific theological sect, but rather from a cold, pragmatic commitment to the integrity of the Roman state.

            1. Marcus Aurelius viewed Christianity as a destabilizing force that threatened the fragile cohesion of an empire already on the brink of collapse.

            2. Marcus Aurelius set a dangerous precedent concerning when the state feels its existence is threatened.

      5. Septimius Severus AD 202–210.

         1. Septimius Severus persecuted the Church out of hatred.

         2. Septimius Severus issued a decree that specifically forbade conversion to either Judaism or Christianity.

         3. Since the Christian faith refused to intermingle with the Roman polytheistic system, the state aimed to isolate the Church to stop its growth.

         4. Under Septimius Severus, the state moved from simply executing “obstinate” individuals to implementing proactive policies designed to stop the organizational expansion of the Church.

         5. The state’s attempt to criminalize instruction and conversion only served to strengthen the internal resolve and theology of the Church.

         6. Under Septimius Severus the states persecution of the Church turned from legal to military.

      6. Maximinus the Thracian AD 235–238.

         1. His actions against the Church were designed to consolidate power.

         2. Maximinus Thrax was a soldier-emperor who rose through the ranks of the military.

            1. His reign was characterized by brutal purges of the Roman elite and a desperate need to secure the loyalty of the traditional Roman priesthoods.

            2. His policy against the Church was not a codified, empire-wide law like the later edicts of Decius or Valerian, but rather a direct order to persecute the leaders of the Christian movement.

         3. Maximinus Thrax primarily focused on the clergy, systematically attempting to execute or exile the heads of the major Christian centers, aiming to cause a collapse of leadership and, consequently, the disintegration of the local congregations..

      7. Decius AD 250–251.

         1. Decius instituted the first empire-wide systematic attempt to eradicate the Church through forced apostasy.

         2. In early 250 AD, Decius issued an edict mandating that all Roman citizens perform a public sacrifice to the gods in the presence of a commission of local officials to receive a certificate (libellus) as proof of loyalty.

         3. Decius aimed to break the Church’s internal cohesion and coerce them back into the Roman religious fold by forcing Christians to perform public acts of idolatry.

         4. The libellus turned every citizen into a potential agent of state enforcement.

            1. The Covid era of 2021 mimicked this type of citizen enforcement.

            2. Adherence to the government was forced by certification of immunization that was in contrast to religious beliefs and government laws.

            3. There was a strong attempt by the state to eradicate religious exemption and medical freedom.

            4. The Covid era is not similar in persecution, only in the method of control.

         5. The leadership of the Church was targeted in an attempt to disintegrate the assemblies.

         6. When the threat of death did not yield compliance, the state employed sophisticated, rhythmic torture meant to break the resolve of the individual without immediately killing them, hoping to secure a public renunciation of Christ.

         7. Decius further moved the state from a legal persecution of Christians for local civil disobedience to an issue of war for the foundational identify of the empire itself.

      8. Valerian AD 257–259.

         1. Valerian (reigned 253–260 AD) accelerated the transition of the Roman state from an engine of sporadic legal harassment into a systematic program of state-sponsored dismantling of the Church as an institution.

         2. Following the shock of the Decian persecution, Valerian initially appeared tolerant, but his policy shifted drastically in 257–258 AD due to mounting pressure from the Persian threat and internal economic crises.

         3. The Edict of 257 AD was intended to decapitate the Church’s organization by attacking the leadership.

            1. Bishops, priests, and deacons were forced to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods or face exile.

            2. Christian assemblies were forbidden, and the use of cemeteries for gatherings was prohibited.

         4. The Edict of 258 AD brought total war on the Church.

            1. Bishops, priests, and deacons were to be executed immediately upon refusing the sacrifice.

            2. Christians of high social rank were stripped of their honors and property, even facing execution if they persisted in their faith.

            3. High-ranking women were to be stripped of their property and sent into exile.

         5. Valerian’s policy was uniquely focused on the Church as a property-owning, organized entity.

            1. He understood that to kill the Church, one had to strike at its hierarchy and its holdings.

            2. By confiscating the property of the nobility and the burial grounds, the Roman state attempted to render Christianity homeless and impoverished.

      9. Aurelian AD 270–275.

         1. Aurelian’s primary religious objective was to establish the cult of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun) as the supreme state religion.

         2. Aurelian was not interested in reviving the traditional, fractured pagan pantheon, which he saw as insufficient for imperial unity.

         3. Aurelian sought to create a state-sponsored “solar” monotheism.

         4. Since the Church also presented a coherent, universal, and “monotheistic” structure, Aurelian’s state cult was effectively competing for the same ideological space that Christianity occupied.

         5. Initially, Aurelian was relatively indifferent to the Church, maintaining the status quo of the “Little Peace” that followed the collapse of Valerian’s persecutions.

         6. Aurelian’s attitude toward Christianity changed toward the end of his reign when he directly intervened in the politics of the Church.

            1. The pivotal moment for Aurelian’s involvement in church affairs was a resulted of Paul of Samosata, the Bishop of Antioch, who had been deposed by a synod of bishops for heresy.

            2. Paul refused to vacate the church building, appealing to Aurelian to decide between the two factions.

            3. Aurelian deferred the decision to the bishops in communion with the See of Rome, which socked the Roman Administration.

            4. By involving himself in the case of Paul of Samosata, he established a precedent where the Roman state could act as an enforcer of Church discipline.

         7. The persecution of the Church transitions from military might to administrative oversight and influence.

      10. Diocletian and Galerius AD 303–324.

          1. The persecution under Diocletian and his Caesar, Galerius, known as the “Great Persecution” (303–311 AD), was the final, largest, and most systemic attempt by the Roman Empire to eradicate Christianity.

          2. It was a concerted effort by the Tetrarchy (rule by four) to re-establish the absolute, divine authority of the Roman state by purging the “Christian infection” from its ranks, military, and institutions.

          3. In the First Edict, Churches were to be demolished, and all Christian scriptures and liturgical books were to be surrendered and burned.

          4. In the Second Edict, all Christian clergy were to be arrested and imprisoned.

          5. In the Third Edict a general amnesty was offered to clergy who were willing to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods, but those who refused faced brutal torture.

          6. The Fourth Edict was the most radical step.

             1. It mandated that every citizen in the empire, regardless of sex or social status, must publicly offer sacrifice to the Roman gods.

             2. Failure to perform a sacrifice resulted in execution, forced labor in mines, or mutilation.

   5. This was the predominate condition of the Church from AD 170 to 312.

      1. The majority of the Church was killed by persecution.

      2. Persecution also brought strength in doctrinal matters.

      3. Those who are believers will receive the crown of life (Revelation 2:10).

         1. Only the Church receive the victor’s wreaths

         2. The overcomer is the one who believes in Jesus (1 John 5:5).

         3. The victor’s wreaths of the grace believer

            1. Incorruptible Crown – for exercising self-control in all things (1 Corinthians 9:25).

            2. Crown of Life – for enduring a temptation (James 1:12).

            3. Crown of Righteousness – for those who love His appearing (2 Timothy 4:8).

            4. Crown of Boasting – for Preaching the Gospel (1 Thessalonians 2:19).

            5. Crown for the Evangelists (Philippians 4:1)

            6. Crown of Glory—for pastors who serve well (1 Peter 5:4).

      4. The second death will not hurt them (Revelation 2:11).

         1. The second death is for all the unsaved (Revelation 20:14).

         2. The second death has no power over those who are resurrected in the first resurrection (Revelation 20:6).

         3. The second death is total separation from God (Revelation 21:8).

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