The Second Letter to Smyrna, the Second Trumpet & the Second Vial
by Will Schumacher
This is the second in the series showing the connection through the book of Revelation. Each letter, trumpet and vial is connected to the 7 messengers.
The second letter to the church at Smyrna:
Revelation 2:8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;
9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
The second trumpet:
Revelation 8:8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; 9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
The second vial:
Revelation 16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.
The reoccurring theme of the second letter, the second trumpet, and the second vial is “life and death”. In the trumpet judgement the 1/3 part of the creatures in the sea which had life died. In the vial judgement “every living soul which had life died”. In the letter to Smyrna Jesus describes Himself as “was dead and is alive”. The church is commanded to be faithful unto death and they will get a crown of life. He that overcometh won’t be hurt by the second death.
It’s all about life and death. What is the “great mountain burning with fire”. It is a reference to Mt Sinai.
Exodus 19:18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
Hebrews 12:18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
God gave Israel His laws at Sinai. They are a guide of how to live this life for Him. They are an expression of God Himself. Love thy God and love thy neighbor just as God loves us.
God’s laws are “life and death”.
Deuteronomy 30:15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; 16 In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. 17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; 18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. 19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: 20 That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
We obey God’s laws not to receive salvation but as evidence of it.
James says Faith without works is dead:
James 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
James says these tribulations increase our faith.
James 1:2-3 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
James also talks of the crown of life to those who endure tribulation of this age.
James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
How do we show God that we love Him? By following his commands/laws.
John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Why are 1/3 part of the ships destroyed? In the Bible there are two major stories about ships. The first is Noah’s ark. It is a means of salvation. The second is found in Acts 27. There were 276 souls saved as long as they remained on the ship. Again it is a means of salvation.
Acts 27:31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.
Ships are for safe passage over the seas. The seas symbolize peoples and nations. Ships symbolize methods of safe passage or salvation.
Isaiah 17:12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
Revelation 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Matthew 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
John 19:39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.
