The Message to Pergamum
Pergamum is an inland city about 65 miles north of Smyrna. It had a
famous 200,000 volume library. After Ptolemy Epiphanes of Egypt
(205-182 BC) cut off the export of papyrus, the researchers of Pergamum
developed a paper from animal skins called parchment. This allowed
Pergamum to become second only to Alexandria, Egypt in its vast
library.
There were many temples in Pergamum. In fact, the great altar to Sater
Zeus was considered one of the seven wonders of the world. The people
of Pergamum had two main religions:
Dionysys - the god of the
royal family
symbolized by the bull.
Asclepius - the savior god of healing
represented by
the snake.
(Note: snake's involvement in healing in the Old
Testament,
Numbers
21:6-9).
2:12
"To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:
To the ANGEL of the church in Pergamum write:
the ONE who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:
The Lord will use His sword
to fight the BALAAMites (Revelation
2:14) and the NICOLAITANS (Revelation
2:15).
This verse may allude to the fact that
Pergamum under Roman control
was given the rare power of capital punishment (ius gladii). This power
is symbolized by the sword.
2:13
`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.
I know where you dwell where Satan's throne is;
The city of Pergamus was
the center of idol and emperor worship. This
put
the Christian at great risk. The forces of idolatry, learning and
celebrity
were very strong. So strong that this city was considered to be where
Satan's
throne was.
Satan, as a created being,
does not have the qualities
of God.
He is
NOT
* omniscient - Satan is not all knowing. He does have an
active organization of fallen angels and demons.
They continually capture people who leave them-
selves open to their entrance. Sometimes they
even hinder men of God from receiving answers or
help to their prayers - Daniel 10:10-14, 20-21.
* omnipotent - Satan is not all powerful. He does have a
number of thrones, dominions, principalities,
powers, rulers and wicked spirits in high
places. (Ephesians 6:12, Colossians 1:16, and
Colossians 2:15)
* omnipresent - Satan is limited to being at only one place at
one time. Pergamus, apparently, was the location
of one of his thrones. Job indicates that Satan
roams about the earth - Job 1:6-7. As a
spirit entity, Satan has power in the air too -
Ephesians 2:2. Satan is called the "ruler of
this world" in John 12:27-32. However, he can
only be at one place at a time...he moves fast
though and has many helpers in the form of evil
spirits and demons within humans.
and you
(1) hold fast My name, and
(2) did not deny My faith,
PRAISE THE LORD! Even in
all this Satanistic realm, Christ complements
the members of the church at Pergamum for raising His name and not
denying
the faith. It is the same complement given to those who do not take the
MARK of the beast -
Revelation
14:12.
even in the days of Antipas My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
The term "faithful
witness" is used with Jesus Christ right at the
beginning
of Revelation in
Revelation 1:5.
Later in
Revelation, there are two witnesses of the Messiah in
Revelation
11:3 so that all the Jews may know.
The spirit told the Smyrna church that the "faithful until death"
would
be given the crown of life -
Revelation
2:10.
2:14
`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.
BUT I have a few things against you, because you have some who hold the teaching of BALAAM, who kept teaching BALAK to put a stumbling block before the SONS of ISRAEL,
(1) to eat things sacrificed to idols, and
Why should this be so bad?
If one could eat things sacrificed to idols
this may indicate that one tolerates (or even worships) these idols.
God
is a very jealous God. He will not have ANY god before Him -
Exodus
20:3.
The teachings of Balaam was
that it was alright to
intermarry
with
heathen
and compromise over idolatrous worship. One can see this in Numbers
chapters
22 through 25.
(2) to commit acts of immorality.
At the time of
Revelation's writing, men indulged in sexual intercourse
with temple priestesses in cult prostitution. Even if this phrase
didn't
refer to temple prostitution but rather to spiritual unfaithfulness,
this,
too, is not right in God's sight. See
Ezekiel
23:36-39.
It is so easy to follow the advise of "friends" or because "they are
doing it..." makes the immorality OK. Not so. John tells us earlier in
his life,
1
John 5:18-21, that we
are to guard ourselves from idols.
2:15
`Thus you also have some who in the same way hold the
teaching
of the Nicolaitans.
Thus you also have some who in the same way hold the teachings of the Nicolaitans.
The Ephesus church (
Revelation 2:6)
discovered the
deeds
of the Nicolaitans and didn't tolerate them.
The Pergamum church had them
in the congregation
expousing
their
cultic
teachings. It is not known who these Nicolaitans were but God certainly
hated them.
It is interesting to note
that Satan tried to put
pressure on
the
churches
of Smyrna and Pergamum from the outside through persecution and
martyrdom
respectively. He didn't succeed. BUT using internal deception via the
Balaamites
and Nicolaitans, he made considerable inroads..
How easy it is to criticize
"outside" faults of churches when, in
fact,
the devil may be inside already. Pastors (shepherds) have an awesome
responsibility
to keep the "wolves out of the sheep".
2:16
`Repent therefore; or else I am coming to
you quickly,
and I
will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.
`Repent therefore;
This is meant for the
whole church. It was meant for those who did not
follow Balaamite or Nicolaitan teachings. They need to repent because
they
permitted these influences in the church.
The Balaamite or Nicolaitan
practioners needed to repent
and
give up
their practices.
or else I am coming to you quickly,
(This is not the second
coming of Christ but an individual church
cleaning.)
and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.
This is the same sword
which will one day cut down the nations as told
in
Revelation 19:15.
Curiously, the Old Testament diviner, Balaam, also died by the
sword,
Numbers
31:8 and
Joshua
13:22. Recalling that the cultic practices involved sex, the
only
way
to eradicate this from the congregation is to use drastic measures -
Numbers
31:16-18
2:17
`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.'
`He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
This is a personal effort.
Only we as individuals have spiritual ears
to
hear. And according to
Romans
10:17, faith
comes by hearing and studying the Bible. Hopefully, that is why you are
using this study guide.
To him who overcomes, to him
There were three things
the Pergamus church had to overcome:
- idolatry (eating the food given to idols)
- immorality (temple prostitution) and
- infidelity (men instead of God)
But to those who overcame,
these
I will give some of the hidden manna,
In the Old Testament, some
manna was placed into the ark of the
covenant
-
Exodus
16:31-35. This ark became
the focal point of worship for the Jews even before
the
Ten Commandments were given to them. Thus this manna has been
"life"
to the Jews for a long time.
We, too, have manna. Even as
Paul explains in Hebrews
9:1-28 that Jesus Christ is now entering into the heavenly
"holy of
holies" (where the ark is) and is performing High Priestly functions on
our behalf. Jesus early on in His ministry said He is the bread of life
- John
6:48-58.
For the Pergamum overcomers,
it was much better to "eat"
of
Christ
and
have eternal life than to eat the food offered to idols. So, too, you
can have eternal life.
and I will give him a white stone, and
White suggests purity
instead of immorality, which is impurity. In the
Old Testament the High Priest wore a breastpiece of judgment which
contained
12 stones for each of the twelve tribes of Israel -
Exodus
28:15-21.
Now the overcomers will each
have their own white stone
of
purity.
This
may be a side reference to the pagan practice of needing an engraved
stone
to attend one of their banquets. If this is so, then this phrase would
be a striking contrast to the Pergamus member.
a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.'
This is God's special name
to you, the overcomer. While our earthly
name
was given to us by our parents, our spiritual name is given to us by
God.
This same kind of naming was promised to the Philadelphia members (
Revelation
3:12) and to the 144,000 witnesses standing on Mount Zion (
Revelation
14:1).
In the Old Testament, names,
such as Abraham, Israel,
etc.,
were
chosen
according to the character and calling of the person. Likewise, your
new
name should reflect your calling. You will be identified by your works
someday - 1
Corinthians 3:12-17.
Lastly, is your name
written in the book of remembrance? See
Malachi
3:16-18.
References to the Revelation of Jesus Christ
are in bold
italics.
All
other
references
are
in bold only
"Scripture taken
from the NEW
AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation,
1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 Used by
permission."