Synagogue of Satan
Revelation 2:9, 3:9
When we look at this verse we must make clear that synagogue means an assembly of men or congregation of people. At the present time synagogue is considered strictly Jewish but that was not the case at the time John wrote Revelation. When we look at this verse we must not consider it to be condemning all Jews in general but rather assemblies that called themselves Jews and actively worked against God and His Son as well as, by their actions, blasphemed God’s Word.
The problem more comes with the comments “and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” and “synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie” The question arises were these assemblies truly made up of ethnic Jews or other, non-ethnic Jews who just called themselves Jewish. That we do not and probably will not know. What is important is that these assemblies worked against Christ, against God’s Word and by their words and actions blasphemed God. We can see the same in our day. There are many groups today who call themselves Jews who are not in either an ethnic or spiritual sense (Mormons) or call themselves Christian and are not (Jehovah Witness) and work against Christ and His church.
A true Jew is one who believes in Christ and operates from the love that comes from Christ, not just being a Hebrew. (Matt 7:21; Romans 2:28-29; Romans 9:6; Titus 1:6).
As Christ has a church in the world, the spiritual Israel of God, so the devil has his assembly. Those assemblies which are set up in opposition to the truths of the gospel, and which promote and propagate damnable errors,—those which are set up in opposition to the purity and spirituality of gospel worship, and which promote and propagate the vain inventions of men and rites and ceremonies which never entered into the thoughts of God,—these are all assemblies of Satan: he presides over them, he works in them, his interests are served by them, and he receives a horrid homage and honor from them. (2.) For the assemblies of Satan to give themselves out to be the church or Israel of God is no less than blasphemy. God is greatly dishonored when His name is made use of to promote and patronize the interests of Satan; and He has a high resentment of this blasphemy and will take a just revenge on those who persist in it.
The assembly of Satan say they are Jews (the people of God), and they persecute those who believe in Jesus the Messiah (the true people of God). In reality, by rejecting the Jewish Messiah, they have renounced their status as “true” Jews, and that is why Jesus calls them “liars.” This distinction between ethnic Jews and faithful Jews is also seen in Romans 9:6 (“Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel”) and Romans 2:28–29 (“For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter”). By their persecution of the true people of God, these unbelieving Jews had become a synagogue of Satan—a gathering of people who were actually following the devil’s priorities. https://www.gotquestions.org/synagogue-of-Satan.html
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