What does the name Smyrna mean and what does myrrh have to do with it?
Smyrna means myrrh. Myrrh does not give off its fragrance until it is crushed. The church at Smyrna illustrated this: the more persecution crushed those believers, the more they exuded their testimony, so persecution caused the church to thrive rather than be silenced.
Les teaches that the name Smyrna meant just like myrrh. He explains that myrrh does not exude its fragrance until it is crushed. This pictured the church at Smyrna: the more persecution crushed those believers, the more they exuded their testimony. Satan eventually had to give up persecuting the early church because he could not get ahead of it; the more he persecuted, the more it thrived. He then took the office attack—join them—and Christianity began to slide. In Revelation chapter 2, the letter to Smyrna in verse 9 says, “I know thy works,” and the next word is tribulation.