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” to refer 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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I am of the opinion that John is talking about Judea’s who were rich and thought themselves better than the poor Galileans.
As far as those of the Synagogue discussed here, it applies more accurately to those of us in the Hebrew Roots Movement. I cannot prove Jewish ancestry, but my brother is Jewish!
It’s used as a anti-semitic slur by ignorant newbies who have inherited hate.
THE SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN EXPOSED
In the New [by date given only] Covenant we find Yeshua contending with the
Pharisees of his day. However, a closer look at the text reveals that he was contending mostly with the Pharisees of the School of Shammai, and not so much with the Pharisees of the School of Hillel.
In the Encyclopedia Judaica CD-Rom Edition, in the article on the Pharisees and in the sub topic Relation to the New Testament, we read: “While the Pharisees, as a whole, set a high ethical standard for themselves, not all lived up to it. It is mistakenly held that New Testament references to them as “hypocrites” or “offspring of vipers ”(Matt. 3:7; Luke 18:9ff., etc) are applicable to the entire group. However, the leaders were well aware of the presence of the insincere among their numbers, described by the Pharisees themselves in the Talmud as “sore spots” or “plagues of the Pharaisic party” (Sot. 3:4 and 22b).”
These references from the Pharisees about themselves were directed toward the Pharisees of the School of Shammai. In the First Century C.E. the Sage Dosa ben Harkinas [A Tanna (teacher during the first – second century C.E.) called another Rabbi “the first-born of Satan” [Falk, Harvey, Jesus the Pharisee. Paulist Press, 1985. pg. 118]
It was a common practice to refer to those who followed the teachings of Shammai as “followers of Satan, vipers, Synagogue of Satan, etc.”
Yeshua refers to the “Synagogue of Satan” several times in the book of Revelation:
I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a Synagogue of Satan. Revelation 2:9
Indeed I will make those of the Synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie; indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Revelation 3:9
In the first and second centuries, this term would have been commonly understood to be a reference to those who followed the teachings of the House of Shammai. We can now see that Yeshua was making a reference to the House of Shammai and not to the Jewish people as a whole as it has commonly been assumed.
There are numerous examples of this type of misinterpretation of the Scriptures due to a reckless regard of understanding the world in which the writers of the New Covenant lived and to the people to whom they were writing.
Although the Scriptures are designed to be relevant for every age, they were, none-the-less, written to the people of that time and culture. To understand the concepts and culture of the people and time will greatly help in our understanding of the Scriptures today. To neglect this aspect of study, one is doomed to the recurring misinterpretations and fallacies as has been with the two verses above throughout history.
James Trimm,
This is like much haggled about. The DNA and self-proclaimed , and those in name only seem to be similar. It is not of boast, as in”endless
geneologies.” Our faithfulness perhaps the point as well.