3rd Church: Pergamos

To the Angel of the Church of Pergamos

Revelation 2:12-17

PERGAMOS (313-590) THE STATE CHURCH

PARTICULARLY:

Historical Setting: All three of the cities named so far in Revelation were cities of great prominence and even rivalry as premiere cities of Asia. Pergamos (modern-day city is Bergama) was the capital of the Roman province of Asia. Within the city was an altar to Zeus and nearby were a temple to Athena and a shrine to Asklepios. 

It was also the first location for a temple for a Roman Emperor, Augustus. A hub for idolatry, Pergamos was identified as the throne (Gr: thronos qronoz) of Satan and where Satan dwelled. It once housed the largest library in the world, with 200,000 scrolls (parchment was first used in this city for writing). That fact significant since Jesus identifies Himself as “He who has the sharp two-edged sword” and will fight with “the sword of my mouth."

The Word of God, both written and Incarnate, is superior to all of the world’s books combined!

There is no record of who Antipas was, but his name means “IN PLACE OF ALL.” The word martyr is the same word for witness.

Pergamos was filled with idolatry, thus eating things sacrificed to idols was a greater stumbling block here than in other places. As a result, Jesus condemned its practice. While Paul could eat those things with a clear conscience, he condemned its practice even for himself if it made others stumble. (Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. 1 Cor. 8:13).

Name Defined:  Per= “about” + gamos=“marriage” (e.g. monogamy, polygamy). The city is sometimes mistranslated as “high tower”, based on a similar Greek word, “purgos,” which is spelled with an upsilon (“u”) rather than an epsilon (“e”). The church began to be married to the world, to government, and to pagan practices.  Meanwhile, church leadership forbade marriage to the clergy, a practice Biblically condemned (1 Tim. 4:3, Heb. 13:4).

Balaam is mentioned nearly 60 times in the Bible in eight different books. Christ condemns Pergamos for holding to false doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitans. Balaam’s doctrine was idolatry and fornication (Numbers 31:16 says Balaam’s counsel was to get pagans to intermarry with the Israelites--see Numbers 25).

    I.      Christ’s Description - He Who Has The Sharp Two-Edged Sword (2:12, see also 1:16)

   II.      Commendation (2:13)

1. Held to Christ’s name, despite living at Satan’s throne and dwelling

2. Had not denied faith in Christ

3. Experienced the martyrdom of Antipas (Gr.: “in place of all”)

  III.      Condemnation (2:14-15)

1. Held the doctrine of Balaam

             i.    Teaching caused stumbling blocks

            ii.    Teaching caused others to eat things sacrificed to idols

           iii.    Teaching led to fornication

2. Held the doctrine of Nicolaitans, which God hated

            i.    Could have been teaching of clergy “ruling” (nico) over “laity” (laitans)

           ii.    Early church leaders describe Nicolaitans as being of Nicolas (Acts 6)

A.    Ignatius: “Lovers of pleasure” (107 AD)

B.    Irenaeus: “They lead lives of unrestrained indulgence" (170 AD)

 IV.      Command (2:16)

1. Repent

   V.      Consequences (2:16-17)

1. Christ will come quickly and will fight with the sword of His mouth

2. Overcomers will receive hidden manna, a white stone with a new name inscribed

PROPHETICALLY:

Church History Parallel: “The Pagan Church” (313-606 A.D.)-When Constantine made Christianity the official religion of Rome, the church instantly went from being the persecuted church to the preferred church. As a result, many pagan doctrines were “married” with the church. 

During this time the canon of the Scripture was finalized, but the church leadership gave the people less access to it, and even began holding services in Latin, rather than the people’s native language. Tim LaHaye cites some of the pagan doctrines introduced into the church as prayers for the dead, making the sign of the cross, worship of and praying to saints, angels, and Mary, extreme unction, doctrine of purgatory, and celibacy of priests (Revelation Unveiled, pg. 59). 

These doctrines led the clergy to have a manipulative hierarchy over the laity, hence the prophecy of the Nicolaitans, or clergy "ruling" over lay people.

    

2:12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, “These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword.”

 Jesus calls the Pergamos church to remember His sharp two-edged sword, which immediately conjures up the imagery of the word of God.

For the WORD OF GOD is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.   

Heb. 4:12

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  

Eph. 6:17 

However, when compared to the other usages of the word sword in Rev. 19:15, and 21, it compares more with the imagery of judgment on the nations, seen also in Psalm 149. 

⁶ Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand, ⁷ To execute vengeance on the nations, And punishments on the peoples; ⁸ To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron; ⁹ To execute on them the written judgment-- This honor have all His saints. Praise the Lord!¹³ I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.¹⁴ 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 (fornication-KJV). ¹⁵ Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

Prophetically, the pagan church would “hold fast” to Christ’s name and not deny the faith, but it began to be intermarried with pagan practices and doctrines. Antipas’ name means “in place of all,” signified that even though many had been martyred in the persecuted church days, the faith was not denied.

Spiritual prostitution or unfaithfulness is a recurring theme in the Old Testament (Isa. 1:2; Jer. 2:20, 3:8-9; Ezek. 16; Hosea 1:2, 2:1-5).

The teaching of Nicolaitans may have been an early form of Gnosticism which separated spiritual purity from PHYSICAL SINFULNESS, coming from the apostate Nicolas, who was an early Greek layperson in the church (Acts 6:5).

Some have deduced that the very name “Nicolaitans” reveals that it is the doctrine of the clergy ruling over the laity which Christ hated. That practice was introduced when Rome took over the church. Both may be correct.

Jesus’ own brother, in one of the earliest epistles, called those who were friends with the world were enemies of God and “adulterers and adulteresses. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?” (James 4:4).

JESUS will also have a name unknown (Rev. 19:12). All three names will be written or given to the overcomers (Rev. 3:12). A name is many things, but most importantly, it is identification. 

Isaiah reveals Jerusalem’s new identity: “Never again will you be called the Godforsaken City or the Desolate Land. Your new name will be the City of God's Delight and the Bride of God, for the LORD delights in you and will claim you as his own” (Isa. 62:4, NLT). Our new name will be unique to each one of us.

PERSONALLY:

FORNICATION comes from the Greek word porneia which is close to porne which is translated as harlot, whore or prostitute (NKJV). The condemnation may be more spiritual than sexual and fornication is a more accurate term. Today's society has become overly sexualized without necessarily going to prostitution. Furthermore, we are increasingly seeing people identifying their identities with a sexual connotation.

 PERVASIVELY:

Jesus concludes His seven letters saying that the Spirit is speaking to the churches pervasively, in John's day, in history, and in our day today. 

¹⁶ Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.

In five of the seven churches, Jesus commands the churches to repent. This time, Christ promises to come to “you” quickly and fight against “them.” Like the illustration of the wheat and the tares, Jesus will come with a sword or sickle of judgment and separate the “marriage” of the carnal and the spiritual. The worker of the Lord rightly divides the Word of Truth (2 Tim. 2:15), and the Scriptures also are profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16).

¹⁷ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.

Hidden manna invokes an imagery of JESUS, who is the TRUE MANNA from heaven (John 6:48-63). Rather than eat food of idolatry, Jesus promises secret, hidden food that gives life. We do not need to fall down to the world in idolatry but live quiet lives, spiritually eating and obeying His words. 

A white stone was used in delivering JURY VERDICTS, with white meaning ACQUITTAL and black meaning CONVICTION. Paul used this word in saying “I gave my voice (my vote) against them” in referring to his voting to persecute the church before he was saved.

A new name. Just as a man bestows a new name on His bride, God will give JERUSALEM a new name (Isa. 62:2) and Jesus will give overcoming believers a new name.