In this next installment comes the letter to Pergamum. Let us learn who the author is, who are the recipients, the commendation, the correction, and the promise given to the church of Pergamum.
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Pergamum: The Church That Tolerated False Teachers
Revelation 2:12-17
12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:
13 ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. 15 So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. 17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’
The Christian church has faced the problem of false teachers for the last 2,000 years.
Paul wrote in 2 Tim. 4:3 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”
Jesus taught in Mt. 7:15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
Jude says in verse 4 of his brief epistle, “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Now, false teachers come in two basic varieties: those who teach a false theology, and those who teach a false morality. There church has seen multitudes of both kinds.
The great problem taking place in Pergamum was the latter. The church was tolerating people who advocated or at least allowed for idolatry and sexual immorality.
In my lifetime I have seen this over and over and over. More and more denominations have capitulated to popular culture and followed the world in its lightning speed sexual revolution. One of the latest of these denominations is the United Methodist Church, which on May 1 of this year voted at its legislative assembly to overturn the prohibition of ordaining those who identify as LGBTQ to the clergy. Until recently there were about 11 million members worldwide. Now there are closer to 7 million. Several million people have left the denomination over the last few years because of this controversy.
The devil is constantly trying to squeeze the church into the world’s mold. He seeks to tempt us to believe what the world believes, and live the way the world lives.
It was no different in church of Pergamum in the first century.
1. The Author
The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this. Jesus is referring back to John’s description of Him in 1:16, “In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.”
We could easily miss how this would have hit the original readers who read it in Greek. Literally, it reads, “The One who has the sword, the two-edged one, the sharp one, says this.
Of course this two-edged sharp sword refers to the Word of God. We will have occasion to see why Jesus describes Himself in this particular way as we move through this letter.
2. The Recipients
The church in Pergamum. Ephesus was the location of the first letter of Christ. If a postal carrier was carrying these seven letters, he would travel due north from Ephesus about 40 miles to deliver the second letter to the church in Smyrna, and then travel another 45 miles to Pergamum which was inland about 15 miles from the Aegean Sea.
What do we know about Pergamum? It was the provincial capital of Asia. The last king of Pergamum willed the city to Rome in 133 B.C. Rome appointed it the seat of governmental power and authority in all of Asia Minor. Apart from Rome itself, Pergamum was the strongest base of imperial authority in all of the Roman Empire!
In 29 BC, it became the first city to build a temple in honor of Rome and Caesar Augustus.
I know where you dwell. Where was that? Last phrase of verse 13 says “where Satan dwells.” They lived where Satan lived. More than that Jesus says they live where Satan’s throne is!
Pergamum was situated on a huge rocky hill. At the summit of that hill stood an immense altar to the God Zeus. The altar sat on a huge platform, surrounded by dozens of colonnades, and the whole structure was designed to look like a huge throne. Every day, all day long, animals were sacrificed to Zeus by a constantly changing team of priests. The smell of burning animal flesh permeated the air for miles. All day and night a column of smoke could be seen rising from the temple for miles.
Pergamum was also the center for the worship of Asclepius, the god of healing. This god was in the form of a serpent. Of course the early Christians could not help but make the connection with Satan, who is the great serpent of old.
But the greatest reason Pergamum was identified as the place where Satan’s throne was, is because it was the center of the imperial cult with its worship of the Roman empire and Emperor. This state religion had become the greatest anger to the Christian church.
In almost every other letter, Jesus says “I know your deeds.” This is different. Jesus doesn’t say “I know your deeds.” Rather He says, “I know where you dwell.” Undoubtedly, Pergamum was the place which was most difficult to maintain a faithful witness for Jesus Christ.
Interestingly, Jesus does not tell them they should pack up their things and move to a safer place. That would probably be our first thought. “Let’s get out of the inner city where there is so much crime, and let’s move to a place with good schools that is safe for our children.” I often hear people talk about their goal of saving up their money and moving out of sinful California to Montana or Idaho or Texas where they can have land and where things are safer. However, a place like Sacramento is exactly where a church is needed! Does God want His people to flee to safety or bear a faithful witness in the midst of Satan’s throne?
All of that reminds me of a statement the missionary C. T. Studd once made, “Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell!”
3. The Commendation
You hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you…”
Jesus commends this church for holding fast the name of Christ, and not denying Him, even in spite of strong persecution. One of their own members, Antipas, was killed. Who was he? No one knows. Perhaps he was a leader, one of the pastors, or founders of the church. But what is significant is how Jesus describes him – “My witness, My faithful one.” This is precious, because it is the same description of Jesus Christ in 1:5, “from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness…” So, Jesus commends them for their refusal to buckle to persecution.
So, what does Satan do? Does he lay down and admit defeat? Never! Instead of knocking down the front door, he secretly enters the back door. If persecution won’t defeat the church, then seduction will! “Persecution has slain its thousands, but seduction its tens of thousands.” Ad that’s what brings Jesus to His word of correction for this church.
4. The Correction
But I have a few things against you. This church is not blameless. There are some important issues that Jesus must confront. What were they?
So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
What do we know about the Nicolaitans? Well, we know they had a teaching (2:15). We also know that Jesus hated their deeds (2:6). So, they were teaching something that led to a particular lifestyle. Their bad teaching was not mainly theological or doctrinal, but moral. They weren’t denying the Trinity, or the Deity of Christ, or justification by faith, or the inspiration of the Scriptures. Their false teaching had to do with tolerating a lifestyle that was inconsistent with the gospel.
We also know that the teaching of the Nicolaitans was connected to the teaching of Balaam (2:14). We know that because of the words of verse 15 – “so”, “also”, “in the same way.” That tells us that the teaching of the Nicolaitans was related to the teaching of Balaam.
Because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.
Recall the story of Balaam. The children of Israel were on the move traveling to the Promised Land, and they drew near to Moab. Balak, the king of Moab was afraid that the Israelites were going to wipe him out, so he went to a prophet, and offered to pay him if he would just curse Israel, because he has heard that whatever Balaam says always comes to pass. Initially Balaam turns Balak down, but eventually he gives in and starts off to meet with the King. On the way, he meets the angel of the Lord with a drawn sword in his hand. He commands Balaam to only speak what He tells him to speak.
So, when Balaam meets Balak, instead of cursing Israel, he blesses Israel, not once but several times. Of course, this made Balak angry. Balaam told him that he couldn’t say anything other than what God told him to say. But then Balaam told him how he could get what he wanted without even having to go into battle. He counseled him to use the Moabite women to entice the Israelite men into sexual relations. Soon, all the Israelite men were involved in the idolatrous feasts of the Moabites. This provoked God to anger so that He smote 24,000 Israelites!
So, the teaching of Balaam was a teaching that promoted sexual immorality and idolatry. How did this play out in the first century. Each trade had its own trade guild, and frequently the trade guilds that met would worship their deities. They would do this by offering sacrifices to those deities, and then participate in religious prostitution with the priestesses of those gods. Of course the Christians quickly gave all of that up.
However, they soon realized that to cut themselves off from all pagan feasts would severely affect their livelihood. They could be expelled from the trade guilt, their family would be ostracized, there would be no buying or selling, with the result of persecution. It was a very heavy price to pay. And then some teachers blow into town and start teaching them that they were being way to strict about all of this. After all, the apostle Paul taught than an idols is nothing. If they worshiped the true God that was all that mattered. It didn’t matter if they went through the motions at these idolatrous feasts, because an idol was no god at all. It was just a matter of economic expediency. You know, that’s the way life works.
How did Jesus feel about all of this? 2:16 “Therefore, repent”
What was the real issue here? Who was Jesus calling to repentance? He was calling all of them to repentance! He was calling these false teachers to repentance, but even more so, he was calling the rest of the church to repentance because they were tolerating this false teaching that condoned sin. The entire church had not embraced this false and destructive teaching. Notice the word “some” in verse 14 and 15. The false teachers were a minority. Jesus is calling the majority to repentance because they had let this false teaching go unchecked in their midst. They should have exercised church discipline and removed these teachers. But they had a spiritual nonchalance about the whole thing.
Sometimes we see the same thing today. When someone confronts a false teaching, whether in person, or book, or social media, they are criticized as being divisive and critical. However, notice what side Jesus is on here! He is calling those that did not discipline the false teachers to repentance, and in Revelation 2:2 he commends the church in Ephesus for putting to the test those who called themselves apostles, and were not, and they found them to be false. Allowing error to go unchecked is not loving. Remember 1 Cor. 13:6 “love rejoices with the truth.”
or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.”
Here we find the answer as to why Jesus described Himself as the One who has the sword, the two-edged one, the sharp one. It is because if His church will not repent, He is going to make war against them! How would this come to pass? We can’t say for sure. Perhaps it would be something like what the Lord did in the church of Corinth, where some were sick and others had died because they observed the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. Perhaps it would be similar to what the Lord did to Ananias and Saphira when they lied to the Holy Spirit and were struck dead. We just don’t know. But we also don’t want to find out!
5. The Promise
To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna. What is this talking about? Well, remember that God instructed that some manna should be gathered in a golden pot and put in the ark of the covenant. Jewish tradition says that before the Babylonians attacked and destroyed the Jewish temple, Jeremiah took the golden pot of manna when he fled to Egypt. According to Jewish tradition, when the Messianic age came about, Jeremiah would return bringing the ark and manna with him and would serve a feast to the people. Interestingly some people thought that perhaps Jesus was Jeremiah (Mt.16:14). Also, when Jesus multiplied the loaves, some of the people said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” I wonder if they thought Jesus might have been Jeremiah returned. Jesus told them that He was the true bread from heaven.
The fulfillment of this promise of eating the hidden manna, is in the age to come. All of these promises at the end of the letters speak to blessings we will experience in the eternal age. So, what is the fulfilment? It is participating in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, sitting down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God. It speaks of everlasting fellowship with God and the Lamb. This was their reward because they refused to commune with demons at idolatrous pagan feasts.
And I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.”
A second promise is that the overcomer will receive a white stone with a new name written on it. Now, this one is puzzling, and the exact identification of the white stone is not clear. We do know that white stones were used as tickets of admission to festivals and celebrations. That is likely the connection here. The overcomers will be given admission to the eternal fellowship of Christ and His people in the New Heavens and New Earth.
But what about this new name? This could be our new name that Jesus gives us that is on this white stone (similar to Abram, Sarai and Simon). However, it could also be a new name of Jesus that is written on this white stone. In fact, every other time in the book of Revelation where it speaks of a name given to the saints, it is not their name but the name of Christ.
Rev. 3:12 “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.”
Rev.14:1 “the 144,000 having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.”
Rev.22:4 “they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.”
So, perhaps this new name is a new name for Christ which we will be given. In other words, a new revelation of the Person and Work of Christ which we had not considered up to that point. If that is the case, that is exciting, because it tells us that we will still be learning more of Christ throughout eternity, and that heaven will not be boring.
Conclusion
What is the message of this letter for us?
Do not tolerate people to come into the church and bring a teaching that condones sin. Remember, that Jesus said he hated the teaching of the Nicolaitans. This is not a matter of indifference. If people begin to teach in a way that condones the sin of sexual immorality or idolatry, the need to be confronted and disciplined. Folks, if your pastors, Jerome and me, do that, you should come to us in love and bring us to account. No one is above the Word of God.
I named my Youtube channel, The Word Above All. No one is infallible. Only God and His Word are infallible. Therefore teachers and leaders in the church need to be humble, so that they can admit and repent if they get off track. And members of churches need to be bold and brave to speak up when things start to go off the rails.
If we won’t repent, and do this, then Jesus will take matters into His own hands, and He will judge the false teachers and the cowardly saints who have tolerated it.
May those with ears to hear, hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Amen.
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