Synagogue of Satan?

Good morning everyone who wonders about the verse in Revelation.

Today I am writing about one of the most controversial scriptures….. this scripture has been used to fuel the fires of Christian anti-semitism, even racially divided groups such as the Black Hebrew Israelites.
It is one of my least favourite passages in the Bible.

” I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars….. I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.”
Revelation 3 verse 9

For some people this scripture seems to be calling all Jews ” the synagogue of Satan “
This is NOT the case.
Once again we need to study Bible History and Jewish history.

There are two viable explanations for what this passage is talking about.
First, by the time this verse was written, animosity between non-believing Jews and Jewish followers of Yeshua had reached a fever pitch.
Martyrdom of Believers had begun, and the Book of Revelation was written to encourage them to stay strong in the faith, to let them know that victory was coming.

In his classic book, letters to the seven churches, William Barclay wrote:

” Nero was the first persecutor of the Christians ( Messianic Jews )
His favourite actor, Alturus, and his Infamous harlot, Empress Poppaea, we’re both Jewish proselytes, and there is hardly any doubt that it was their slanderous and perverted information which turned Nero against the Christians. “

From this and other sources, it seems clear that some Jews were responsible for, or at least encouraged, the persecution of Believers that took place under Nero. This is a historical fact, and a historical fact is not slander. One cannot rewrite history to make a particular group look better than they were. Even though today it seems that’s what they are trying to do as we watch the world stage unfold, many groups are trying to rewrite history.

Revelation 3 verse 9, then, refers specifically to these Jews, and not to all Jews. Yochanan/ John was writing about a specific group of people living at a specific place and time.

There is a second possible explanation of this passage in Revelation, it involves a different approach to the text. By this time, not only had the persecution of Believers begun, but the process of separating Christianity from its roots had also started. And it hasn’t really stopped for 2,000 years when you really think about it. Anti-jewish theology had begun to appear and to attack the Jewish roots of the faith. This theology comprised the idea that a new group of people, the church, had replaced the Jewish people, who then came under Adonai’s Eternal judgment.
The assertion of this ” replacement theology ” was that Christians had become the new people of God and that all the blessings of Israel now belonged to them, while the curses were left to the Jews, Yochanan, himself a Jewish believer, possibly was attacking the group of Gentile leaders who claimed they had replaced Israel, and perhaps they were the people to whom Yochanan/ John referred as the ” synagogue of Satan ” .

Here’s the thing…..
Regardless of which explanation is correct, to indict all Jewish people as the “synagogue of Satan” cannot be possible in the light of all the scriptures in the New Testament that repeatedly reaffirm Elohim’s love and faithfulness to the children of Avraham, Yitz’chak, Ya’aqov. Not to mention the fact that all first Believers of Yeshua were themselves Jews and were responsible for taking the gospel throughout the known world.

Shavua Tov Shalom