In the next letter we see that the Lord, whose love never changes, permitted something to take place to arouse His people from their lethargy. “And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty (but thou art rich), and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.” Smyrna means myrrh. It is frequently mentioned in Scripture in