15. When it was over the
New York Times
headline wrote
“Smyrna Wiped Out.”
16. One eye-witness, a Christian
Greek Stylianos Ayanoglou,
reported the screams and smell
of burning flesh as hundreds
were shoved into a building
that was set on fire.
18. When it was over, thousands
were dead, churches burned,
hospitals destroyed and
Smyrna was no more – the
name was changed to Izmir,
Turkey.
19. Polish-Jewish Lawyer Raphel
Lemkin coined the word
“genocide,” meaning acts of
extermination directed against the
ethnic, religious, or social
collectiveness whatever the
motive.
20. You cannot read this passage of
Scripture and miss the “lifedeath” motif. The words, “…do
not fear what you are about to
suffer…”
21. First, we can take comfort in
that fact that Jesus knew in
advance what the church
would endure.
22. Secondly, take notice that the
Sovereign God possesses
control over the extent of
suffering of these believers.