Two weeks ago, we began our study of the seven churches of Revelation. Today we will examine what Jesus has to say to the third of these, the Church at Pergamum. Listen for God’s word to you from Revelation 2:12-17…
To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.
Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.
Context
As many of you know, I was born in Tarrytown, New York. On a clear day, when crossing the Tappan Zee Bridge, if we looked southward down the Hudson River, we could spy the skyscrapers of New York City some twenty-five miles away. I have always found it stunning to see those skyscrapers from a distance when approaching the city, sometimes with the tops of the buildings in the clouds.
The ancient town of Pergamum had a similar effect on people approaching the city, though certainly on a different scale from that of New York City. Pergamum could be seen from quite a distance because the acropolis sits atop a very tall cone-shaped hill. Today you can take a cable-car to the acropolis from the modern city below. You don’t even have to bother to bring a bag lunch, for when you get to the top there is the Zeus Café!
In fact, Pergamum was similar, in a way, to another place where I lived—La Jolla, California. If you have ever been to La Jolla, then you know that a good part of it is built on a hill called Mount Soledad. At one time my family lived right near the top of Mount Soledad, right beneath a large stone cross that is still there. When I was in junior high and high school, both schools were at the bottom of the hill. Sometimes I would take the bus to school. Later I had a moped and would ride my moped to and from school. Even later I had a car to drive to school. But when I was in seventh and eighth grade, I often had to walk home from school. And it was an 800-foot ascent in the space of two miles, from my school, which was at sea level, to my house atop Mount Soledad.
Well, it was a similar climb up the mountain, an 800-foot ascent, to the acropolis of Pergamum. And I would imagine most people in ancient times made that climb by walking. There was no cable car then.
In ancient times the acropolis of Pergamum included a majestic set of temples that could be seen from far away and from the acropolis one could even see the Mediterranean Sea fifteen miles away. Many local inhabitants in the first century must have been proud of their beautiful city. But, for the little Christian community, that acropolis in Pergamum represented a threat. It was a threat with which not all of those early Christians were coping well.
Chief Characteristic of Christ Applied
“These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.”
Why was this characteristic of Christ particularly applied to the Church at Pergamum? Well, Pergamum was the seat of Roman power in that part of Asia Minor. The Roman governor would have lived in Pergamum. Now, there were two classes of Roman governors. Only one class had what was called “the power of the sword”. And the governor who had the power of the sword could execute anyone in Pergamum who failed to worship Caesar.
Jesus was reminding the Christians in Pergamum, “Yes, the Roman governor might have the power of the sword to take away physical life, but I have a double-edged sword that contains the power of spiritual life.” Jesus has the last word. The power of Rome might be great, but the power of Jesus is greater still.
Commendation
Why does Jesus say that Satan has his throne in Pergamum?
There may be a few reasons for this statement. One is that the acropolis in Pergamum contained a temple to Zeus that looked very much like a throne, perched on the edge of the cliff. But one has to wonder if any Christians in the first century felt compelled to attack the ancient gods of Greece that were already fading in significance.
There is a second possible reason why Jesus says Satan has his throne in Pergamum. The city also had a shrine to the healing-god Asclepius, whose symbol was a serpent. Satan is referred to as a serpent in Revelation 20:2. So, Jesus may have been referring to the worship of this false god Asclepius in Pergamum. People came from all over the Roman Empire, hoping to find healing in Pergamum. But in a world without hospitals, where the temples of Asclepius functioned as the closest thing to a hospital, one has to wonder whether Christians would have condemned the people looking for a healing. Rather, I think, the early Christians would have looked with pity on this activity.
There is a third possibility. Pergamum was a major center for the imperial cult of Rome and worship of the emperor. In fact, the first temple of the imperial cult was built there in honor of Augustus in 29 BC. John does not identify Rome with Satan. But, as we shall see as we study the book of Revelation further, John does believe that the devil has been using Rome for his own purpose, not least, to attack the church. Pergamum was the seat of the Roman governor for that region. And, as I have already pointed out, that governor could punish any Christian refusing to worship Caesar. Christians definitely would have viewed the worship of Caesar as Satanic.
How then should a Christian live in such a setting? Jesus tells the Christians in Pergamum that they were doing right by remaining true to his name. Because of this statement, I have called the Church at Pergamum, the True Church. But literally, the Greek word in this verse means that the Christians in Pergamum held fast to the name of Jesus. They did not renounce their faith in him, even when one of their own, Antipas, was martyred.
I am reminded of the story of Thomas Cranmer, author of the Book of Common Prayer. Cranmer also lived at a dangerous time in the history of the Church, when Roman Catholicism and Protestantism were vying for control of the Church of England. At one point in time, Cranmer signed a recantation of his Protestant beliefs in order to save his life. But later, he changed his mind. And when he was led away to be burnt at the stake, he thrust the hand that had signed the recantation into the fire first. In Oxford there is a cross in the middle of the road marking the spot where Cranmer was executed for his faith in Christ.
We do not know who Antipas was, but it is very interesting that Jesus calls him a faithful witness. The word in Greek is “martus” from which we get our English word “martyr”. To be a witness for Christ and to be a martyr were sometimes one and the same thing in the early church. In Revelation 1:5 and 3:14 Jesus is called “the faithful witness”. Now Jesus gives that same name to Antipas. What an honor! It reminds me of the meaning of the name “Christian”. The word means “a little copy of Christ” and that is what we are all called to be.
The Christians in Pergamum were living in a very dangerous place where their faith in Christ might cost them their lives at any moment, but many of them remained true to their Savior and refused to worship Caesar. For this they were commended by Christ.
When Jesus says, “I know where you live,” he uses a very interesting word. It is a word that means “permanent residence”. Often the word used for Christians living in this world is “sojourners”. We are just passing through this world. But Jesus recognizes that humanly speaking, the permanent residence of these Christians is in Pergamum. Rather than encouraging them to flee the city, Jesus actually encourages them to stay and have a positive influence there.
Jesus says the same to us. “Don’t run away. But rather bloom where you are planted. Be a bright light for Me in the dark corner of the world where you live right now.”
Critique
Well, those were Jesus’ words of commendation to the Christians in Pergamum. But all was not well with this church. Jesus’ critique of the Christians at Pergamum refers to Balak and Balaam from the Old Testament. It is a fascinating story told in the book of Numbers and even has a talking donkey in it. Balak was a Moabite king who offered to pay the prophet Balaam handsomely if he would curse the Israelites for him. Balaam, in the end, did not perform the required cursing for Balak, but later he, apparently, suggested another way that Balak could defeat the Israelites. It seems that Balaam encouraged King Balak to send Moabite women among the Israelite men to seduce them. The seduction worked, and in the course of establishing sexual relationships with the Moabite women, the Israelite men ended up worshipping the Moabite gods. (Numbers 25:1-3)
So, what was the sin of the Christians at Pergamum? The sins that Balaam led the Israelites to commit were two in number: “they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality.” The word for sexual immorality is πορνεῦσαι. The root word is πόρνος which means “a prostitute”. This word is often used metaphorically throughout the Bible to refer to prostituting oneself to a false god. So, it could be that the sin of some of the Christians at Pergamum was really one thing—they had started worshipping one of the many gods on offer in their city.
Alternatively, it could be that there were some Christians at Pergamum who taught that it would not be a bad thing if the Christians there had sexual relations with non-Christians and even married them. They might have asked with seeming innocence, “What could be the harm?” The harm may have been that some of the Christians at Pergamum allowed the seduction of sex to lead them to worship of false gods. We don’t really know who the Nicolaitans were, but apparently, they were a group in the church at Pergamum who were encouraging some sort of cultural compromise. The sin of Pergamum was the opposite of the sin of Ephesus. The Ephesian Christians had held on to truth but had lost their first love. The Pergamene Christians were compromising on the truth and tolerating belief systems in their midst that were incompatible with Christ.
What can we learn from this? The bottom line is that sometimes we have to say “no” to the culture around us when that culture draws us away from Jesus.
Counsel
Jesus urges the Christians in Pergamum who have compromised with the surrounding culture to change their minds and change their direction in life. That is what repentance is: a change of mind that results in a change in direction.
Jesus warns that if the Christians in Pergamum don’t repent, he will come and fight against them with the sword of his mouth. This can sound like a frightening image. But what we need to see is that sometimes Jesus fights with us for our good. Jesus’ word, his double-edged sword, is surgically adept, like a doctor’s scalpel, at cutting sin out of our lives.
Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Paul urges in Ephesians 6: 17, “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
The Gospel of John calls Jesus “the Word”. Jesus always has the last word. And it is his word that can do spiritual surgery on our hearts.
So, this image of Jesus with a double-edged sword should not be a fearful image to us, but a hopeful one. As William Barclay says, “The conquest of Christ is his power to win us to the love of God.”
Confirming Word to Conquerors
Jesus’ confirming word to conquerors in Pergamum is this…
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.
“Hidden manna” is obviously a reference to the manna that God provided for the Israelites to eat when they were wandering through the desert. Jesus is telling the Christians at Pergamum that they may be wandering through a spiritual desert, but he will provide them with spiritual sustenance, he will feed them.
William Barclay tells an interesting story…
When the children of Israel had no food in the desert God gave them manna to eat (Exodus 16:11-15). When the need of the manna passed, the memory did not. A pot of the manna was put into the ark and laid up before God in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle and in the Temple (Exodus 16:33; Hebrews 9:4). Early in the sixth century B.C. the Temple which Solomon had built was destroyed; and the rabbis had a legend that, when that happened, Jeremiah hid away the pot of manna in a cleft in Mount Sinai and that, when the Messiah came, he would return and the pot of manna would be discovered again. To a Jew “to eat of the hidden manna” meant to enjoy the blessings of the Messianic age.
Jesus, our Messiah, is the one who feeds us the hidden manna now…
When I left San Diego to attend seminary at Princeton, a friend gave me a picture of the California desert to hang in my dorm room. She wrote some words on the back of the frame indicating that I might be on the verge of walking through a spiritual desert. I didn’t like to think of going to seminary in that way, but she was right. What she could not have known was the wonderful way the Lord was going to spiritually feed me “hidden manna” in the desert of seminary.
I wonder, are you going through a spiritual desert just now? If so, trust Jesus to feed you his hidden manna. It’s hidden because you can’t see where it is going to come from right now, just as the Israelites couldn’t see where the manna came from out of the sky. They only saw it when it was on the ground each morning. Just so, Jesus will feed you right now, especially if you will take time to gather the manna every morning by listening to Jesus’ words in Scripture.
In addition, Jesus promises to the Christians who reject cultural compromise in Pergamum that he will give them a white stone with a new name written on it. This is certainly one of the most mystical statements in all of the book of Revelation. What might it mean?
Pergamum had a custom of guests at a feast being given a stone with their name on it as a ticket of admission. This custom may tie together the idea of “hidden manna” at a feast with that of the white stone, giving admission to the feast.
I believe Jesus is promising to each of his faithful disciples in Pergamum that he will give them a white stone that will allow them entrance to the greatest feast of all: the marriage supper of the Lamb. In Revelation 19:9 an angel says, “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”
What does the new name represent on the white stone? I believe it represents the fact that Jesus is inviting each of us to an intimate relationship with himself in which he, Jesus, will use the secret name that, as with lovers, remains private to those involved. As N. T. Wright says about this passage, it could be that the, “The challenge to avoid the false intimacy of sexual promiscuity is matched by the offer of a genuine intimacy of spiritual union with Jesus himself.”
One of the “Unspoken Sermons” of George Macdonald is entitled “The New Name”. In that sermon he says,
… the giving of the white stone with the new name is the communication of what God thinks about the man to the man… The true name is one which expresses the character, the nature, the being, the meaning of the person who bears it. It is the man’s own symbol—his soul’s picture, in a word—the sign which belongs to him and to no one else. Who can give a man this, his own name? God alone. For no one but God sees what the man is, or even, seeing what he is, could express in a name-word the sum and harmony of what he sees. To whom is this name given? To him that overcometh. When is it given? When he has overcome.
It makes me wonder, what will your new name be? Such is the intimacy of your relationship with Christ that only you and he will know it…
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