The Synagogue of Satan

[dpr]

Who do you think this "synagogue of Satan" is that Jesus points to in Revelation?

Rev 2:8-9
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.
KJV

Rev 3:9
9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
KJV

Notice above Jesus said those of that synagogue of Satan "say they are Jews, and are not".


Jesus said that to only two Churches He had no rebuke for, the Church of Smyrna and the Church of Philadelphia. He did not mention about that 'synagogue of Satan' to the other five Churches. So what's going on with this??

Many will just say, "Oh that synagogue of Satan is about the unbelieving Jews that reject Lord Jesus". NOPE, to think that would mean 'true Jews' of the seed of Israel. Remember Jesus said these SAY THEY ARE JEWS, BUT ARE NOT.

Do you think Lord Jesus was pointing to the foreigners like the Canaanites and the unawares crept in of Jude 4? YES! EXACTLY! Not of the seed of Israel at all.


Jude 4
4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
KJV

men "who were before of old ORDAINED to this condemnation"

Yeah... before "of old" how far back when? At back to the Old Testament times.

Did the Apostles know about this matter of these hidden 'tares' that were 'ordained' to the condemnation of working against Christ? YES! This is actually the subject about John's "many antichrists" already at work idea, and Paul's "mystery of iniquity" that was already at work. It is about false ones not of the 'seed' of Israel that crept in among the children of Israel early in their history (see Judges 2 & 3; Joshua 9; 1 Kings 9:19-22; Ezra 2:58-62; Ezra 9; research the name Nethinim, which were temple servants unto the Levites, but in reality were foreigners of the Canaanites that crept in, like Joshua 9). This is why the last verse of Zechariah 14, which is for the future time of Christ's reign, there will no more be the Canaanite in the house of God.

2 Peter 2:3
3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
KJV

Peter and Jude also called them "brute beasts"...

2 Peter 2:12-14
12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed , speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

13 And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;

14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
KJV


Jude 10-13
10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
KJV

The above is not in the sense that many of those 'brute beasts' will be saved. Is Christ's Salvation open to them? Yes, to them also who believe; but the idea of God having made them 'naturally' brute beasts reveals they are given a natural propensity to do evil, like Apostle Paul said in Romans 9 about God having made some vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.

I know, I know, we hear in preaching in the Church that Christ's Salvation is open to all born in the flesh, and it is not for us to judge another to condemnation to the future lake of fire. And we don't yet know if these will be destroyed on the day of Jesus' future return, or if some of them might be saved during Christ's future "thousand years" reign over the unsaved. Let's hope at least some of them will believe and be saved.

But for this present world, these 'tares' sowed by the devil were ordained to that condemnation by God, and that probably was before the foundation of this world. The main purpose of the Church is to preach The Gospel for those who have not yet heard, so we should not expect this to be explained there, as it would probably upset too many little old ladies. Yet because our Lord Jesus covered this matter some to His disciples (and thus those of us in Christ too), we should listen to Him and learn, because such things are part of the 'strong meat' of His Word, so as to make us strong in the Faith and in understanding about the working of His enemies so as to not be deceived.

So can you see these 'tares' working back in the Old Testament Books? You should.