Seven - The Church in Pergamum

Read Revelation 2:12 - 17

Pergamum – The City
If Ephesus was the “New York City” of Asia, Pergamos (Pergamum) was its “Washington, D.C.”[1]  According to the Roman writer Pliny, Pergamum was “the most distinguished city in Asia.” [2]  It was a city that sat high on a hill about 1,000 feet above sea level.  The name Pergamon means “fortified” and is taken from the word pyrgos (“burgh”) which means a tower, castle tower or citadel.  In the third century B.C. it became the capital of the Attalid territory.[3]

Pergamum was noted for many things primarily having the second largest library (next to the library of Alexandria) in the Greek world with over 200,000 volumes.  Marc Antony, as a wedding present to Cleopatra gave her the 200,000 volumes and eventually had them moved to Alexandria.  Legend has it that parchment was invented there as a result Egypt cutting off its supply of papyrus. 

It was also the location for four major cults of the day with temples and altars built to Zeus, Athene, Dionysus and Asklepios.  The latter was considered the god of healing and was represented by a serpent.  People would travel from all over in hopes of receiving healing.  It is noted that Galen, one of the most famous physicians in the ancient world, was a native of Pergamum. 

The city was also the primary location dedicated to the Imperial Cult of Roman worship.  There was a temple dedicated to “the divine Augustus and goddess Roma” but that was destroyed. 

Pergamum – The Letter
This is the third letter of the Apocalypse written by the Apostle John and spoken by Jesus.  Pergamum has both a commendation and rebuke from Jesus. 

Verse 12:  It is believed that the reason Jesus is represented as “He who has the sharp two edged sword” was a response to the power of the proconsul.  Pergamum was the only city where the proconsul was given the “right of the sword” – which meant he had the power to execute anyone at anytime for any reason.  The Proconsul seemingly had the power of life and death by sword.  Jesus reminds the church that it is actually who truly wields power over life and death not the proconsul or even Rome.  It is he who is the one who should be feared because man cannot kill the soul. 

Verse 13:  “I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is.”  This is believed to be a reference to the city of Pergamum and not so much the church.  Pergamum was an extremely pagan city and as I have already noted it was fiercely loyal to Rome.  The city was extremely welcoming to many forms of pagan worship; in particular Roman Emperor worship.  This, like the city of Smyrna, would make it very difficult to be a true Christian and live in the city without facing persecution.  The “Throne of Satan” is probably a reference to the Imperial Cult of Roman Emperor worship OR some believe it was a reference to the large altar dedicated to Zeus which stood atop the citadel and overlooked the city of Pergamum.  Others have even noted that the throne may refer to the cult of Asklepios (the god of healing and who is often called the savior.
Jesus commends the Church for their faithfulness in staying faithful to Him.  Even in the midst of great persecution (the martyr of Antipas) the Church remained faithful.  We know little to nothing about Antipas except what is written in this letter and a couple of other references His name is mentioned in an inscription of Pergamum and Tertullian mentions him as well.  There is a legend that he was slowly roasted to death in a brazen bull during the reign of Domitian.[4] 
 
Verse 14:  “But this I have against you…”  Even though they were faithful in persecution they did allow compromise to creep into the church.  Jesus has a couple of things against the church of Pergamum; they hold to the teachings of Balaam and they hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.  The two are probably closely related if not the same.

• The teachings of Balaam: For an overview Read Numbers 22 – 24.
  1. Balaam was a prophet for hire.
  2. Balak the King of Moab consulted Balaam to curse the people of Israel because they were too mighty.
  3. Every time Balaam tried to curse the Israelites he would end up blessing them (this happens three times) and it infuriated Balak.
  4. Balaam can’t curse Israel but he does advise the Midianite women to engage in sexual acts with Israelite men to cause them to turn their hearts from God and bowing to the false gods of Baal.  (Numbers 31:14 -16).

Balaam is often the symbol for false teachings and/or teachers.  Balaam showed that the flesh of the Israelites was weak and if he could convince the Midianite women to seduce the Israelites then they would ultimately drop their guards and fall prey the sins of the flesh and forget about God.  Forgetting about God and living by the lust of the flesh are always common in sexual immorality.  The teachings of Balaam were basically rooted in compromise and adapting the world’s philosophies over God’s Word.  Apparently some in the church of Pergamum thought it was better to compromise and go along with the world rather than face persecution.  Quite possibly the mindset of some in this church was, “Surely God does not want us to suffer so we must do what we must do to avoid conflict with the world.”  Like the Israelites of old there were some professing Christians who were willingly and knowingly eating foods that were sacrificed to idols and were involved with pagan sexual practices.  They thought they could mix the world with the sacred without any repercussion from God.  Unlike the Ephesians the church of Pergamum did tolerate sin and the practice of the Nicolaitans.  Could it be that they were afraid that their stance for truth would get them more persecution thus they allowed the sin to continue because they didn’t want to face it.  They adapted to the world instead of denying the influence of the world.  Sound familiar?  

Verse 16:  “Therefore repent” – Since this sin is being tolerated in the church it is time for the church and its leadership to go before God and repent of their sins.  There is no indication that the whole church is involved in the practices of Balaam and the Nicolaitans BUT Jesus declares the whole church guilty of the sin because they have not taken action against this sin.  They knew what has going on but they were turning a blind eye to sin and figuring they would be found guiltless because they weren’t actually involved in the sin but they were guilty by association.  Indifference to sin is a sin.
If they refuse to repent then Jesus will “come soon” and this should be read as a judgment.  Jesus will send judgment if things don’t change. 

Verse 17:  The promise of receiving “the hidden manna” and “a white stone with a new name written on it.”  “The Pergamos overcomers are promised that they will commune with Him at His feast in the kingdom, since they refuse to commune with demons at the idolatrous meals.”[5]  Some have suggested the white stone is an invitation or pass if you will to the Messianic feast.  It was a practice in ancient days when an individual on trial would be given by the jurors a stone, a black one indicating guilt, a white one acquittal. [6]  So the white stone with a new name could be symbolic of our acquittal from sin and declaration of innocence because of the blood of Jesus Christ.      

Church of Pergamum For Us Today

So what does all of this have to do with us today?  Here are three suggestions.

Stay faithful to God.  We, like the people of Pergamum, continue to live in a culture that is hostile towards Jesus and the Word of God.  Nominal Christians and even large denominations are willingly compromising their views on social and religious issues in order to be more “user friendly” and match with worldly views.  The world will continually tell us what we should and should not tolerate. Unfortunately many churches at large are more concerned with being politically correct or viewed in a positive and non-judgmental manner than they are about compromising the truth of God’s Word for the lie of a godless world.  The world has no measuring stick for truth and righteousness.  For believers, God’s word is our measuring stick and his Word is what helps us determine what is truth and what is not.  We are called to love one another and our enemies but we are also commanded to weed out sin when it is in the camp.

Keep the MAIN THING the main thing - We need to remember our calling as followers of Jesus is to worship God, point others to Jesus, and live our lives fully through the power of the Holy Spirit.  We cannot get caught up in majoring on the minors and minoring on the majors.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is our foundation and we must keep the Great News first and foremost. 

Indifference to sin is basically the same as sinning –  Many who claim to be followers of Jesus refuse to call sin sin because they do not want to come across as judgmental or narrow-minded, so they turn a blind eye to sin.  The Church cannot and should not tolerate open and blatant sin.  The Bible tells us that when we see someone involved in a sinful activity we are to gently rebuke them and lovingly lead them to repentance.  This can be a very fine line because there is always the chance of self righteousness kicking in and then the call to repentance can turn into condemnation.  As fellow brothers and sisters in Christ may we lovingly edify one another in Jesus but also lovingly point out sin when it is in the camp.  If we choose to do nothing then essentially we are sinning. 
 
May the promises of Jesus ring in our ears as overcomers; to feast on the everlasting manna of God and when God does call us home we will receive with joy the white stone with our new names written on it and declaring us innocent because of the blood of Jesus Christ. 

[1] Gregg, S. (1997). Revelation, four views: A parallel commentary (Re 2:12–17). Nashville, TN: T. Nelson Publishers.
[2] The New International Commentary on the New Testament: Revelation (1977) Mounce, Robert:  Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman’s Publishing.  P. 95
[3] Ibid
[4] Ibid p. 97
[5] Gregg, S. (1997). Revelation, four views: A parallel commentary (Re 2:12–17). Nashville, TN: T. Nelson Publishers.
[6] New Bible commentary: 21st century edition. 1994 (D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer & G. J. Wenham, Ed.) (4th ed.) (Re 2:12–17). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.