Revelation 2:10

Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer: behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days,

The devil is about to cast some of you into prison ... As Hinds pointed out, "These words show that evil-workers are in the service of the devil,"[49] since it was actually men, human beings, who cast the saints into prison. Furthermore, this must not be understood as any form of mild punishment. Those seized by the government and awaiting trial and execution were held in prison, which in that ancient culture was only an anteroom to death. "The struggle anticipated here is desperate; martyrdom is no remote contingency."[50]

And ye shall have tribulation ten days ... This passage sheds light upon some of the problems of interpretation; but, of course, there is no agreement upon exactly what is meant. The most reasonable supposition that this writer has encountered is that of Foy E. Wallace and Gaebelein:

This cannot mean a literal ten days, but rather the ten persecutions, the number of which is historically factual.[51]

The number ten is of special interest, for history informs us that there were just ten persecutions of Christians by the Roman emperors.[52]

[49] John T. Hines, op. cit., p. 42.

[50] James Moffatt, op. cit., p. 354.

[51] Foy E. Wallace, Jr., The Book of Revelation (Nashville: Foy E. Wallace, Jr., Publications, 1966), p. 90.

[52] Arno C. Gaebelein, The Revelation (Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, 1961), p. 36.

Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.

Faithful unto death ... This does not mean merely "until you die," but faithfulness, "even if fidelity involves death."[53]

The crown of life ... This and all similar promises given to these seven churches simply mean eternal life with God in heaven. Eating of the tree of life, receiving the white stone, or the morning star, etc., all mean the same thing. Why were different expressions used? Perhaps the view is correct that sees "The imagery here has direct reference and application to geographical, historical, and social features familiar to the seven congregations to which these cryptic letters were sent."[54] Was it not appropriate that the citizens of Smyrna who were so proud of their crown (the tall buildings mentioned above), should have been reminded of the greater crown of life? Despite this, Beckwith, however, says that, "It is necessary to look for a local origin of the metaphor."[55] The crown of life was an expression, which, with variations, occurs repeatedly in the New Testament: "the incorruptible crown" (1 Corinthians 9:25), "the crown of life" (James 1:12), "a crown of glory" (1 Peter 5:4), and "a crown of righteousness" (2 Timothy 4:8). All of these expressions refer to the same reward.

[53] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 57.

[54] E. M. Blaiklock, op. cit., p. 98.

[55] Isbon T. Beckwith, The Apocalypse of John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1919), p. 455.