Who is the Synagogue of Satan?
Who is the Synagogue of Satan?
By
James Scott Trimm
What is the "Synagogue of Satan" mentioned in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9. Both passage identify this group as "those who say they are Jews but lie".
An interpretation of the above texts have surfaced which interprets these texts to refer to those Jews who do not accept Yeshua as the Messiah. But an honest look at the Scriptures will show that it is not possible to identify the "Synagogue of Satan" in this way.
To begin with it is important to recognize that the same "Yochanan" ("John") wrote both Revelation and the Gospel of Yochanan. Not only is this the traditional understanding, but there are a number of common elements that point to the common authorship of these two books. Both books identify the Messiah as the "lamb" (Jn. 1:29; Rev. 5:6, 8, 12; 14:1) and as the incarnate "word" (Jn. 1:1-3, 14; Rev. 19:13) and both refer to the "living waters" (Jn. 4:10; 7:38; Rev. 22:1).
Although it is true that the Gospel of John
uses different Greek words and phrases for "lamb" and "living waters"
than Revelation, the words are the same in the Aramaic, pointing to the
Aramaic origins of these books.
Now we must look at how Yochanan uses the word "Jew" in his own writings. Yochanan himself frequently invokes the term "Jews" to refer to Jewish people who rejected Yeshua as the Messiah. For example:
"therefore did the Jews persecute Yeshua" (Jn. 5:16)
"the Jews sought more to kill him" (Jn. 5:18)
"the Jews then murmured at him" (Jn. 6:41)
"the Jews sought to kill him" (Jn. 7:1)
etc. etc. etc.
CLEARLY Yochanan has absolutely no objection whatsoever to using the term "Jews" torefer either to Jews who accepted Messiah or those that rejected him. Therefore the statement in Rev. 2:9 and 3:9 cannot be criticizing this usage of the word "Jews". Otherwise Yochanan would here be criticizing his own inspired writing in the Gospel of John in which he does just that himself frequently!
So what does Yochanan refer to here? I believe he refers to the newly hatched apostate teaching of "replacement theology".
By
James Scott Trimm
What is the "Synagogue of Satan" mentioned in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9. Both passage identify this group as "those who say they are Jews but lie".
An interpretation of the above texts have surfaced which interprets these texts to refer to those Jews who do not accept Yeshua as the Messiah. But an honest look at the Scriptures will show that it is not possible to identify the "Synagogue of Satan" in this way.
To begin with it is important to recognize that the same "Yochanan" ("John") wrote both Revelation and the Gospel of Yochanan. Not only is this the traditional understanding, but there are a number of common elements that point to the common authorship of these two books. Both books identify the Messiah as the "lamb" (Jn. 1:29; Rev. 5:6, 8, 12; 14:1) and as the incarnate "word" (Jn. 1:1-3, 14; Rev. 19:13) and both refer to the "living waters" (Jn. 4:10; 7:38; Rev. 22:1).
Now we must look at how Yochanan uses the word "Jew" in his own writings. Yochanan himself frequently invokes the term "Jews" to refer to Jewish people who rejected Yeshua as the Messiah. For example:
"therefore did the Jews persecute Yeshua" (Jn. 5:16)
"the Jews sought more to kill him" (Jn. 5:18)
"the Jews then murmured at him" (Jn. 6:41)
"the Jews sought to kill him" (Jn. 7:1)
etc. etc. etc.
CLEARLY Yochanan has absolutely no objection whatsoever to using the term "Jews" torefer either to Jews who accepted Messiah or those that rejected him. Therefore the statement in Rev. 2:9 and 3:9 cannot be criticizing this usage of the word "Jews". Otherwise Yochanan would here be criticizing his own inspired writing in the Gospel of John in which he does just that himself frequently!
So what does Yochanan refer to here? I believe he refers to the newly hatched apostate teaching of "replacement theology".
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