Jan 23 - Revelation 2:8-9

 

These are the words

of the first and the last,

who was dead and

came to life: I know your

affliction and your poverty ...

Revelation 2:8-9

There's a problem with this verse. 

 

When writing these devotions, I have several sources for "the verse of the day." Writing on a Monday, this verse popped up ... just like this.

Just like this, this is both a social justice verse (God cares deeply about those in "poverty" and "affliction") and a comforting verse (much like Jesus said in Luke 12:24, "Look at the birds. They don’t plant, harvest, or save food in houses or barns, but God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds!"). 

Those are both powerful truths. But there are five more words to this verse. Important words. 

The context? At the beginning of Revelation, Jesus narrates seven letters to seven churches. Some he confronts. Some he comforts. And without those five missing words, this sounds like a comforting passage. But here are those five words: 

 

These are the words of the first and the last, who was dead and came to life: I know your affliction and your poverty even though you are rich. 

 

Again, it is tempting to jump to conclusions without taking the context into account. This now sounds like a passage that is warning people about being financially rich but spiritually poor. And too many people fit that description. But really, this passage is about those who suffering "affliction" (persecution) even in the midst of a "rich" (comfortable) environment. There's a "poverty" in this. We're externally comfortable, but we're impoverished ... of peace. 

 

"Beware, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison," says Jesus in verse 10. But "do not fear"; rather "be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life."

 

This is not social justice. And it is not comforting - at least in the earthly sense. It is a call to be strong, courageous, steadfast, and faithful in the midst of persecution, and God will reward you (rescue you from your persecuted "poverty" and "affliction") in the end ("crown of life"). 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who is rich

and experiences

affliction, a guy

who is poor and

wears a crown