Author : Keith Sharp
Text : Revelation 2:12-17
The City of Pergamos
Pergamos was fifty-five miles by road Northeast of Ephesus on a hill in the Caicus River valley, three miles from the river, and fifteen miles from the sea. Its location meant it would not be a great trading center. However, in 133 B.C. it voluntarily became part of the Roman Empire, and Rome rewarded Pergamos by making it the capital of the province of Asia. It’s acropolis was adorned with beautiful government buildings. From 29 B.C. on it had a temple to Roma, the goddess of Rome, and to Augustus as a deity. It was the home of three temples to Roman emperors, where emperors were worshiped as gods, and was three times “named temple-warden of the state religion” (Hailey. 129). “Pergamos was a city where Caesar worship was at its most intense, a city dedicated to glorying in the worship of Caesar” (Barclay. 45). “Since this city was a legal center for the district, the test of political loyalty based upon emperor worship was easily activated by all provincial officials disposed to do so” (Harkrider. 35). It was also the medical center of Asia, where Aesculepios, the Greek god of healing, whose symbol was a serpent, had a combination temple and medical center. Pergamos possessed the second largest library in the empire, and was the place where parchment, on which the ancient manuscripts of the New Testament were written, originated. In fact the word “parchment” (Greek “pergamena”) is derived from the name “Pergamos.” It also was a center of worship for Greek deities and had a famous and highly visible shrine to Zeus, the king of the Greek pantheon of gods.
Address
The letter is addressed “to the angel of the church in Pergamos” (verse 12).
Self-Identification of Christ
Christ identifies Himself as “He who has the sharp two-edged sword” (ibid.,cf. 1:16). This is literally the Thracian long sword, in contrast to the short sword used by Roman soldiers, and is the symbol of the Word of Christ which He employs to judge and wage spiritual warfare (2:12,16; 19:15,21; cf. Ephesians 6:17; 2 Corinthians 10:3-6).
Commendation
Pergamos was “where Satan’s throne” was and “where Satan” dwelt (verse 13). This could be a reference to the three temples to emperor worship, to the worship of Aesculepios, whose symbol was the serpent, which to Christians symbolized Satan (Revelation 12:9; 20:2), to the shrine which resembled a throne dedicated to Zeus in its acropolis, or to a combination of all of these.
Significantly, although Satan’s throne was in Pergamos, and he dwelt there, Christ did not command the Christians there to move elsewhere. You can be a faithful Christian wherever you live, whether in New York City or Iraq or on a farm.
Despite the enormous pressure to conform to paganism that came from each of these sources, the saints at Pergamos held fast to the name of Christ (verse 13). They were abiding “by all that His name implies” (Vine. 2:224), and were neither ashamed nor afraid to be called by His name and to be identified with Him (Ibid. 3:100).
They did this even during that dreadful time when Antipas the “faithful martyr” of Christ was put to death among them. The term “martyr,” from the same Greek term translated “witness,” denotes one who has proven the strength and genuineness of his faith in Christ by enduring a violent death for the Lord (Acts 22:20; Revelation 17:6).
It is easy to tell people we are Christians (Acts 11:26), members of the church of Christ (Romans 16:16). If we are ashamed to readily confess this fact in our society, what would we do if we were citizens in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, or Pakistan?
For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. (Mark 8:38)
“But if you suffer for being a Christian, do not feel ashamed, but glorify God with that name” (1 Peter 4:16, ISV).
But it would do no good to claim to be a Christian yet fail to keep the word of Christ (John 12:48). The Christians in Pergamos did not deny His faith (verse 13). The fact the “faith” here mentioned belong to Christ demonstrates the reference is to His word, the word of faith (Romans 10:8,17; Jude verse 3). We cannot hold fast to Christ unless we adhere steadfastly to His word. This means we will obey all He directs us to do (Matthew 28:18-20), avoid all those things He forbids (e.g. Galatians 5:19-21), and do only what He authorizes in His word (Colossians 3:17; 2 John verse 9).
Condemnation
Nevertheless the Lord had a serious grievance against the brethren in Pergamos.
But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate (verses 14-15)
The church in Ephesus hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans, but the Christians in Pergamos tolerated them. The Nicolaitans taught doctrines similar to the ancient, greedy prophet Balaam. In fact, the names are similar enough, “Nicolaitans” may be a figurative term to identify this sinful faction with Balaam. The Hebrew name “Balaam” means “lord of the people” (Young. 68), whereas the Greek appellation “Nicolas” denotes “conqueror of the people” (Ibid. 694)
Regardless, the Nicolaitans taught a doctrine identified with Balaam of old. Balaam was a Gentile prophet of God whom King Balak of Moab hired to curse Israel. But, because Balaam was a prophet of the Lord and could only speak the words God put in his mouth, to Balak’s chagrin, Balaam repeatedly blessed Israel rather than cursing them (Numbers chapters 22-24). Immediately after this incident, the Israelite men committed fornication with Moabite and Midianite women, and Israel worshiped the gods of Moab. As the result, 24,000 men of Israel died (Numbers 25:1-9). Later, when Israel conquered Midian, they killed Balaam (Numbers 31:8). The text then reveals that Balaam was the one behind the fornication and idolatry that Israel committed (Numbers 31:16). He did this for money, “the wages of unrighteousness” (2 Peter 2:15). Because of Israel’s righteousness, he couldn’t curse them, but he advised Balak how to bring a curse upon them – entice them to false worship and immorality.
The paganism of the Roman world was characterized by idolatry and immorality. Even the trade guilds, parallel to modern unions, had their patron gods or goddesses. The Nicolaitans taught that participating in the false worship and immorality of paganism was acceptable. Theirs was a doctrine of compromise with the world. The church in Pergamos tolerated them, but Christ hated this doctrine.
We must not compromise with the false religion and immorality of the world around us (1 Corinthians 5; Ephesians 5:11). “…the doctrine of compromise is one of Satan’s most lethal weapons.” (Hailey. 131). When Christians compromise with the world, Satan wins.
Exhortation (Call to Repent)
Thus, the Lord exhorted them, “Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth” (Revelation 2:16). Christ threatens warfare against the false teachers and their followers with His word (cf. Ephesians 6:17). He doesn’t reveal how He will wield His sword. His word is the weapon by which we fight the host of Satan (2 Corinthians 10:3-6), it directs us to withdraw our fellowship from brethren who practice immorality and teach damnable error (1 Corinthians 5; 2 John verses 9-11), by His word He rules and smites nations (Revelation 19:15), and by it He kills those who oppose Him (Revelation 19:21). The only way to escape the threat of Christ to engage in war against us is to repent, i.e., to make “a radical, moral turn of the whole person from sin and to God” (Mounce. 580; cf. Matthew 12:41; Jonah 3:10).
Invitation
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (verse 17a).
Promise
“To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white sstone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it” (verse 17b).
The Lord God nourished Israel with manna for forty years in the wilderness (Exodus chapter 16). “And it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey” (Exodus 16:31). A golden pot of this manna was hidden from view in the Holy of Holies (Exodus 16:32-34), the figure of heaven (Hebrews 9:7-11,24). It was called “bread from heaven” (Exodus 16:4; Nehemiah 9:15), “the bread of heaven” (Psalm 78:24; 105:40), and “angels’ food” (Psalm 78:25). He fed them thus to teach them through their obvious dependence on God “that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 8:3; cf. Matthrew 4:4). Those who overcome Satan will be nourished through the wilderness of this world into the promised land, heaven itself, by the “true bread from heaven” (John 6:32), the word of Christ (John 6:57-58,63), the “true spiritual food; the food that nourishes the soul” (Barnes. 78).
The word “stone,” meaning “pebble” (Arndt and Gingrich. 901), occurs in the Greek New Testament only here and in Acts 26:10, where it is translated “vote” (NKJV, NASB, ESV). This is because pebbles were used to cast votes by juries, “a black one for conviction, a white one for acquittal” (Ibid). They were also worn as amulets (Ibid), small pieces of jewelry worn as protection against evil (Oxford), with the name of a god or goddess inscribed on them, in the way a superstitious person might wear a crucifix or keep a “Saint Christopher medal” in his car. Those who have the name of Christ inscribed on their hearts through the obedience of faith (Revelation 22:4) will be declared righteous in judgment. Their names are written “in the Book of Life of the Lamb” (Revelation 13:8; 20:12,15; 21:27).
Is the name of Christ in your heart? Is your name written in the Book of Life of the Lamb?
Works Cited
Arndt, W.F. and F.W. Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.
Barclay, William, Letters to the Seven Churches.
Barnes, Albert, Notes on the New Testament (Revelation
Bible
English Standard Version
International Standard Version
New American Standard Bible
New King James Version
Dictionary of WordPerfect 12 computer software, Oxford University Press.
Hailey, Homer, Revelation An Introduction and Commentary.
Harkrider, Robert, Revelation.
Mounce, William, Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words.
Vine, W.E., An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words.
Young, Robert, Analytical Concordance to the Bible.
