“...and you will have tribulation for ten days...”
(Revelation 2:10b)
Because Jesus is the ultimate disposer of history, He is able to reveal that their coming tribulation will be brief. This serves as a further impetus for them to remain faithful, knowing that the time of testing is ultimately in His hands and soon will be over. The identification of the Christians at Smyrna with Israel is enhanced by associating their tribulation with that of Daniel and his three friends, who likewise refused to participate in acts of idolatry ordered by the king (Dan. 1:2; 5:3-4), and who were likewise tested for ten days (Dan. 1:12-15). The ten days persecution does not have to refer to a literal period of ten days because it is an allusion to the ten days when Daniel and his friends were "tested". Daniel was tempted to compromise with idolatry, which was likely the main reason he abstained from eating at the king's table, where the food was probably dedicated to idols. Likewise, whether or not the ten days is literal, the point is that the Christians at Smyrna were also, like Daniel of old, not to compromise with idolatry. The pagan rituals in Asia Minor also included meals dedicated to the local gods and to Cesar (understood as god), so the Smyrneans would have understood the significance of Christ's comparing them to Daniel and his friends. The Smyrneans will undergo this brief but severe period of trial.
In the period between the resurrection and the return of Christ, Christians can from time to time expect to undergo periods of tribulation, where tribulation refers to the beginning birth pangs of last-day events, which are a regular feature of church life- a fact verified throughout church history and today, when more Christians are dying for their faith than ever before.
(G.K. Beale)
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