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REVELATION • Victory in Jesus • LESSON 7 (May 27) Rev 2:8-17: To the Churches in Smyrna and Pergamum 1. What does Jesus mean by saying, “I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich)” (2:9)? How can the same person be poor and rich at the same time? 2. What could possibly be meant by the affirmation, “I know…the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan” (2:9)? 3. Of all the “do not” commands in the Bible, “do not fear” is surely one of the most challenging. How does a disciple of Jesus go about heeding and living in the light of this command? 4. “Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested…” (2:10). What do we learn from this statement? 5. “The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death” (2:11). What does this mean? 6. Why would Jesus describe Pergamum as “where Satan’s throne is” (2:13)? 7. Practically speaking, what would it mean to “deny my faith” (2:13) in days of difficulty? 8. We read the Old Testament account of Balak and Balaam in Numbers 22-24. Notice specifically Numbers 25:1-9 and 31:16. What then does Jesus mean by the reference in Revelation 2:14?9. What should we make of the ominous warning in Revelation 2:16?10. “To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it” (2:17). If you were a part of the original audience of this letter, what would this promise mean to you?