"Letter to Pergamum" - Revelation 2:12-17
7.26.15
I have had the privilege to live in cities which contain colleges and universities. Their resources in the form of libraries and academic leaders can be very valuable to a community. With the introduction of the Internet and almost unlimited access to a fathomless depth of information, those centers of learning are still important but do not hold the market on knowledge as they once did. Now imagine a time when the only way to learn or gain knowledge was to go to the source itself. Imagine no copy machines, podcast, or even typed printed documents. Imagine then how valuable and revered those who had the knowledge would be held to a high place of honor within a culture which had the second largest library in the world and boasted some of the greatest minds of the day. Now imagine being a follower of a newly formed religious community called Christian and living in that culture. These first century believers were challenged in every way intellectually. This is the backdrop for the letter to the Church at Pergamum. These men and women knew that the birth, death, and resurrection of their savior, Jesus, was the greatest truth in the history of mankind, but they faced persecution for these beliefs. After all, the "smart" people of the day had their own truths about creation, life, death, and things beyond their explanation.
Identity of Jesus:
(v.12) He is the one who has the sharp, double edged sword.
This picture of Jesus with a sword is counter intuitive to the Jesus who told Peter to lay down the sword when being arrested. After all "if you live by the sword, you will die by the sword". So what is this image that Jesus is giving us? Hebrews 4:12 and Revelation 19;15 both describe the Word of God being wielded as a sword. It cuts through the issues in life and separates truth from falsehood like a metal sword separates bone and issue. Ephesians 6:17 calls the Word of God the "Sword of the Spirit". This truth we know as God's Word can help us to discern right from wrong even when the world tries to make darkness light and good as evil and evil as good. The people of Pergamum and we today need a Jesus who speaks truth.
Commendation:
(v.13) Jesus knows that they live where Satan has his throne, and that they remain faithful to Jesus even in the days of Antipas.
It is one thing to be told you are wrong for following Jesus, and it is another thing to be publicly humiliated, tortured, and killed for it. During the first century, Antipas was an outspoken Christian leader who challenged the status quo thinking of the city's educational establishment. His boldness resulted in his public trial and execution. He was placed in a bronze statue of a bull and roasted alive. The statue had trumpets built inside so that the moans and screams of the victim could be heard by the public as a warning. Fellow believers of Christ would have been witness to this torment, yet Jesus commends them for still being faithful to his name.
During the expansion of the Roman Empire in the 2nd Century B.C., Antiochus Epiphanes conquered Jerusalem and defiled the temple by slaughtering a pig on the alter and placing a statue of Zeus in the Holy of Holies. This effort to place Satan on God's throne in the temple failed and the Israelites rebelled. Shortly after this, a new temple was built for Zeus, in Pergamum. This Alter or Temple of Zeus held a place of high prominence in the city. It was the jewel of the city and thousands came to worship there. This throne of Satan was lost to history until it was recovered by a German archaeologist in the late 19th Century. The temple's pieces were recovered and shipped to Germany, where they eventually were reassembled and a museum erected around it to allow viewers to visit this throne again. One trade mark of Satan is to try and stop God's Chosen People: the Jews. The same year this new museum was dedicated to this old throne of Satan, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party won major victories in the German elections; placing them in a position to very quickly take complete control of this free country and eventually implement one the greatest slaughters of Jews the world has ever known.
Complaint:
(vs.14,15) The church was allowing people to follow the teaching of Balaam and the teachings of the Nicolaitans.
Balaam's story is an interesting one. While the nation of Israel is marching its way to the Promise Land, the kings of the land want to defeat them by use of a curse from Balaam. Balaam was not a Jew, but he was a prophet for the Lord God of Israel. He would speak on behalf of God. He would not curse the Jews, because God told him not to, but he did talk the kings into a plan to distract the Jews from their purpose by tempting the Jewish men with the women of the land and by offering them food to eat. Now the Jewish men were known to have a wondering eye. And as was evidenced by their complaint to Moses for meat and better food, they loved to have a good meal. So Balaam teaches the pagan kings to offer food and women, which works and distracts the nation of Israel for a while (see Numbers 24 and 31).
Apparently within the church of Pergamum, there were those who were teaching it was okay to blend the practices and culture of various religions and lifestyles of the Pergamum Roman/Greek culture and the Christian faith. This blending of "truths" was a way to muddy the waters within the Christian community as to which practices were acceptable and which were not. Today, the church faces a similar conflict: "truths" of a heathen culture are infiltrating the church and causing conflict within the body of Christ as to which "truth" to follow - the world's or the Bible.
Jesus mentions the Nicolaitans a second time. He mentioned them first in the letter to Ephesus. In both situations, it is clear that Jesus does not like these guys. What did they do that made Jesus so upset? History does not have a complete picture of this cult. What is known is that the central belief was the idea that there were a few who would be better than the masses and therefore had a right to impose their will on the people of the community. This could have been in the form of intellectual or financial superiority. Either way, Jesus holds it against the church who allows such a system to exist. He is the head and we are the body. No part is more or less than another (see 1 Corinthians 12).
Correction and Consequence:
(v.16) Repent! Or Jesus will come and fight them with the sword of his mouth!
Repent. Turn 180 degrees around and start a new direction. That simple. In other words: STOP! Don't do that stuff any more! Jesus is not asking for us to climb a mountain, cross an ocean, do 1,000,000 push-ups, or any other act of penance. He tells us to simply stop the wrong we are doing and start doing right. Or else...he will come and challenge us with the sword of his mouth - the Word of God. Who can stand up to God's Word? What excuse or defense do we have against absolute righteous truth? Nothing in our fleshly efforts can withstand it.
Promise:
(v.17) To the one who overcomes - hidden manna.
In Exodus 16 we read how God gave manna from heaven to the people of Israel while they traveled to the Promise Land. He ordered that Aaron, the high priest, place some of it in a jar and into the Ark of the Covenant inside the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle. This was "hidden manna" which was accessible only by the High Priest. The Israelites were not satisfied with the manna and wanted to go back to the food of Egypt. They wanted to give up on the provision of God who had freed them and return to slavery where they could at least eat fish. It seems impossible, but the bible records that the "rabble" of Israel complained in Numbers 11 and begged to go back so they could eat something besides manna. They sought satisfaction outside the provision of God!
In John chapter 6, Jesus explains to his disciples that he was the true bread of life. He was the perfect manna from heaven. The Jews ate manna in the desert and died, but those who eat of him will never die. Both Jesus and the manna in the desert were free gifts from God. Man had no part in their creation but only has to accept it in order to live!
(v.17) To the one who overcomes - a white stone.
There are a number of commentaries and ideas as to what this white stone may represent. The culture of the day in 1st Century Rome would issue a white stone to people who had been charged and acquitted so that if they were ever confronted with that crime again, they could produce the stone and demonstrate their innocence. That could fit, but I believe that the Bible is capable of giving testimony to itself and provide the answer. After all, this is the author of the Word of God speaking and he is presenting himself as the conveyor of truth (sword in the mouth), so I seek to give explanation with scripture rather than culture.
The priests of the Israel were given very specific instructions on how to dress and conduct themselves for their priestly duties. On their garments, they were to place twelve stones, with the names of the twelve tribes. In addition, the high priest was to place the Urim and Thummim stone near his heart. This stone, some believe to be a white diamond, was known to give answers to the high priest in matters which required divine discernment. In other words, it helped to know what was right or wrong to do in a situation.
The hidden manna and white stone of discernment were both items available only to the high priest. 1st Peter chapter 2 tells us that we are all priests who are believers in Christ. I believe that Jesus is telling the church at Pergamum and us to be faithful and overcome all temptations to corrupt the truth of Jesus and we will be privileged to experience what only the priests of the Old Testament could: communion with God.
(v.17) To the one who overcomes - a new name known only to the one who receives it.
When God encounters men and women individually and collectively, there is sometimes a change in their name. God wrestled with Jacob and renamed him Israel. Abram and Sarai became Abraham and Sara with the infusion of the promise for a seed yet to come. Simon became Peter and Saul became Paul. In addition to individual people, God tells his nation in Isaiah 62:2 that he would set them apart and will give them a new name. Jesus himself will receive a new name known only to him when he returns as a conquering king (Revelation 19:12). What will this new name be, and what will be its significance? We will have to wait to see. But I believe we can get an idea bu looking once again to the High Priest's instructions in the Old Testament: in Deuteronomy 28 the high priest is ordered to wear a gold plaque across their forehead which read "Holy Unto The Lord". God tells us in Revelation 22:4 that his people will be called by his name and have that name written on their foreheads. This new name, like the new names given to the individuals in the bible and to the nation of Israel, will be a name which lets us and the world know we belong to our heavenly father!
Takeaway from letter:
We can overcome the temptation to corrupt or mix the world's "truth" and the Bible's truth by remaining discerning of the one truth (God) and the falsehood (world's). We must stay faithful to His Word no matter what!
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