The Lord’s third letter is
addressed to the church in Pergamos.
This city was located on top of a steep cliff about 70 miles north of
Smyrna. It boasted an altar to Zeus that
was 40 feet high and a library containing 200,000 scrolls, and it was here that
parchment was first made.
Revelation 2:12–17 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos
write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; I know
thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and
hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful
martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. But I have a few things
against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam,
who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat
things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them
that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent; or else
I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my
mouth. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and
will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man
knoweth saving he that receiveth it.”
As in every letter, the
Lord emphasizes that he is aware of what the believers in Pergamos are doing. He commends them for standing strong in their
faith in light of persecution that even resulted in the martyrdom of Antipas, evidently
a believer of prominence among them.
In his book, The Two
Babylons, Alexander Hislop states that, “Pergamos
had inherited the religious mantle of ancient Babylon…. The priests who
had kept the secrets of the ancient mystery religions centered at Babylon ever
since the days of Nimrod, were forced to migrate, transferring what amounted to
the headquarters of Satan’s religious system away from Babylon north and west
to Pergamos where it endured for several centuries in that great center of
evolutionary pantheistic paganism.” I
think the great altar to Zeus testifies to the truth of this observation. Zeus was recognized as the greatest of the
gods of Olympus; Homer called him “the father of gods and men” according to
Eerdman’s Dictionary.
Sadly,
they had not exercised great discernment and were embracing false teachers. Ephesus was noted for hating the deeds of the
Nicolaitans. In Pergamos they were some
in the church that were following the doctrine of the Nicolaitans—a doctrine
God hates. Again, I grieve over those in
the church today that also give public support to things that God hates, e.g., false doctrine, the murder of the unborn, sexual immorality, anti-Semitism, etc.
God
is loving but firm and insistent; He warns His people to repent or face the
consequences of their sin. The sword of
His mouth is a reference to the word of God.
Ephesians 6:17 “And
take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God….”
It
is in God’s word that we have many examples of how God has judged His people in
the past, and that establish a precedence for how God can and will use similar
judgments to bring those who claim Him as Lord and Savior to repentance. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that God’s
word is so effective that it reveals intents of the heart and can even separate
soul from spirit.
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
It continues to be
important to note that God’s message to this church is a message to every
church—“churches” plural. Those
identified as overcomers, true men and women of faith, will be fed hidden manna
and will receive a white stone engraved with a new name that is private between
he/she and God. Manna is representative
of supernatural nourishment from God and, I think, in this case represents
eternal spiritual nourishment. The white
stone represents both a verdict of acquittal and a ticket of admission—acquittal regarding their sin that is
covered by the blood of the Lamb and admission to the presence of God forever. Personally, I think the new name will be a
special term of endearment between the Father and His child that has no taint
of connection to his/her former sinful self.
(to be continued…)
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