Today we’ll be looking at the 3rd of the seven churches examined in the second division of the book of Revelation. I’m thankful that God had me slow down a bit in the study of this book, it’s been very nice to have the extra time to study up on each church. Normally in the 5MC I cover a chapter a day and that’s cool for shorter books but with Revelation there’s way too much (especially in chapters 4-22) so we’ll be taking it a bit slower in order to really enjoy the ride.
We’ve already looked at the church at Ephesus (chapter 2, part 1) which Jesus called the apostate church and then yesterday we looked at the church at Smyrna (chapter 2, part 2), which is called the martyr church or the suffering church. I’ve also written an introduction to Revelation as well as a study of chapter 1. If you’ve missed any studies, you can easily find the past studies at The5MC.com. By the way, you can also find the entire 66 books of the Bible by book and chapter at The5MC.com. I created, built, funded and operate the site just for you guys, so please use it freely and please share it with all your friends and family that you believe could benefit from a deeper study of God's Word.
The church at Pergamum is due north of Smyrna and in it’s day the city of Pergamum would have been quite the spectacle to see. If Ephesus was the business center of the region then Pergamum would have been the religious center. And religion did they have. Religion for anybody and everybody. As you walked through the rough cobble stone streets you would find temples and altars to Zeus, Athena, Caesar Augustus, Caesar Hadrian, Asklepois and Dionysius just to name a few. You see in Pergamum they had a religion for everybody. Whatever suited your taste, you could find a religion to make you happy. Boy, can you already see some parallels to our society today? What, your religion is a little too stifling and limiting? What, you can’t do what you want with anybody at anytime? Come over here, our religion has freedom. It understands you. We give you the freedom to do what you feel like. These whispers of deceit led so many souls to their destruction in the city of Pergamum and they continue to do the same today. In fact, we’ll see mention of exactly where these whispers come from as Jesus calls Pergamum the “throne of satan.” Speaking of satan, isn’t it ironic how he can tell us exactly what we want to hear? It’s how he convinced Eve and Adam to eat of the tree of knowledge. It’s how he convinced Judas to betray the Lord for $450 in silver. And it's how the devil continues to whisper into all of our ears. Tickling them with what we want to hear. But just remember that as satan whispered to Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus used what we can all use to combat these whispers...the holy and mighty Word of God.
Let’s jump right back into Revelation chapter 2 and look at what Jesus has to say about the church at Pergamum.
“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.
13 “I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. 15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. 17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’
We will continue using the 5 study points that I outlined in our study of Ephesus. I will not discuss it for each church but is very important to not miss how Jesus signs off every message. “He who has ears let him hear.” We need to constantly make God’s Word personal and relevant to our lives today. Do you have ears? Yes you do, two of them. Then of course these words are for you today, not just the people of these churches 1900 years ago.
Jesus’ description of Himself. “‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.” This is directly from John’s description of Jesus back in v. 1:16 and references Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The Word of God has amazing intuitive power in our lives. As we study the Word of God and draw near to God through it, it not only transforms us in an amazing way, but it searches us. It delves deep into our souls and it “discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” My friends, if you want to hear from God, find a quiet place, and meet with Him in His Word every morning. He will speak into your life in ways that will amaze you.
I mentioned yesterday that Jesus’ description of Himself is custom tailored to the church and the need that they have. The church at Pergamum is known as the worldly church and Jesus uses this description of Himself for a reason. You see, when the world creeps into our life and the devil starts to whisper his lies into our ears, there is but one way to effectively combat him, God’s Word. This is not merely a descriptive introduction but one that already carries a harsh tone. A two edged sword is not something to be trifled with. It can not only cut, but can cut in any direction. Razor sharp, it is designed to cut, penetrate and if intended by the user, bring death. The Word of God has this power. It can penetrate deep into our sinful flesh and reveal what is beneath. Its sharp edge can even separate the soul and the spirit. Did you know that only the Word of God can make this division? There is great power indeed in the Holy Word of God. Simply by His introduction, Jesus is telling the church at Pergamum that He will be wielding His Holy Word in judgement and analysis of their worldly works within His church.
Commendation. “I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.” Jesus knew very well the city of Pergamum, He knew where they dwelled. Jesus also knows very well where we live today. As our personal Savior He knows every bit of minutia about our lives. What ever you are being tempted with today, Jesus knows. Jesus goes as far as saying not only does He know where they dwell, but He is aware that it is “satan’s throne.” We mentioned earlier about Pergamum being the religious center of the entire region. That if you “needed religion” you could come here to find whatever suited your taste. You could be healed by the snake God Asklepios if that was your cup of tea. You could worship at the altar of Zeus that was a whopping 110’ x 115’ long. You could worship at the temple to Dionysius which is also known as Bachus, the God of wine. You can only imagine the drunken debauchery that went on there. It’s a great side note to mention the appearance of Dionysius. He was half man and half goat. He had horns. He had cloven feet and a tail. Sounding familiar? Yep, sounds like our modern picture of the devil doesn’t it? You see we did not get this image of the devil from God’s Word but right here from the appearance of Dionysius. As you’re strolling the streets you could also chose to “worship” at the Roman bathhouses where unimaginable types of sexual immorality took place. You see there was also a pagan “religion” that taught that you should embrace all that you want to do. It sounds amazing but folks, there is an entire nation surrounding us that practices this today. Do whatever you want, with whoever you want, as long as it makes you happy.
In the midst of this religious debauchery though, the Pergamum church held strong. In the midst of all of these religious options, you could walk into the church of God at Pergamum and hear about the saving Grace of Jesus Christ and the precious blood that He shed on the cross. Jesus commends the church for this. “Yet you hold fast my name and you did not deny my Faith.” This is a tremendous commendation for the church in Pergamum. Jesus next mentions a martyr named Antipas. Nothing is mentioned in scripture about Antipas, but he must have been a loyal man of God that was struck down for his faith. Jesus ends up His commendation with again mentioning that satan dwells in this city. What an incredibly tough place this must have been to live and stand for Jesus.
Concern or condemnation. “But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. 15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.” I led a class through a study of Balaam and we specially discussed the ‘teaching of Balaam.’ Did you know that Balaam gets more time in scripture than Mary the mother of Jesus and every single apostle? His story is told in Numbers chapters 22, 23 and 24, but did you also know that Balaam is mentioned not once but three times in the New Testament? In 2 Peter 2:15 it mentions the “way of Balaam.” In Jude 11 it mentions the “error of Balaam” and here in Revelation 2:14 it mentions the “teaching of Balaam.” So what is his teaching? Well in the story of Balaam the king of the Midianites, Balak, hires Balaam for money to curse the Israelites so that he can more easily defeat them in battle before they overtake his kingdom. God tells Balaam that he cannot curse that which God has already blessed, but that doesn’t stop Balaam. He goes anyway and tries to curse God’s people not once, but three times. In failure (and in an effort to still get the bonus money he was promised) he comes up with a devious, evil plan. He tells Balak to pick young, attractive Midianite women and send them down into the Israelite camp to tempt the young Jewish men into promiscuos acts. But he also told Balak that as they go, be sure and have them take all of their pagan idols with them. And as the Israelite men started these forbidden promiscuos relationships, they also began to worship the Midianite idols of their newly found loves. God of course, was not happy. He brought a plague upon His defiant people and 24,000 died before they repented. This is the teaching of Balaam, to go after the world and the satisfaction it promises our flesh and to go after the idols our rebellious sin-nature desires. And we’re told here that ‘some’ of the church still practiced the ‘teaching of Balaam.’ This would mean that people within the church were marrying or sleeping with unbelievers and also worshipping idols instead of or in addition to God. Not good.
We’re also told that ‘some’ hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. There’s not much mentioned in scripture about this sect specifically, but it would have been a gnostic cult developed by the man Nicolaus. It displeased God greatly and if you’ll recall in his judgment of the church at Ephesus, Jesus said He “hates” the Nicolaitans (v. 2:6.) In that same verse it says that the Ephesian church also hated it and for this Jesus commended them. So you had the same cult affecting 2 churches in 2 different ways. The church at Ephesus spurned them, but some at Pergamum embraced it.
It is important to see that in His condemnation here on both counts Jesus specifically says “some.” The whole church was not in a cult, only some. But recall the old saying, “a few bad apples spoil the barrel.” Jesus knew this only too well. If you allow a little sin or a little idol worship into the church, where does it start and where does it stop? You see a very distinct link here between the church at Ephesus and the church at Pergamum. The church at Pergamum was at some point like the church at Ephesus, strongly resisting external cults and sins. But something happened. A few infiltrated the church and they were tolerated. Then came a few more. It started slow and then grew. That is a picture of many of our modern churches today. We are constantly in threat of moving from an Ephesus to a Pergamum if we tolerate sin and the teaching of Balaam. What a valuable lesson here from Jesus about the progression of tolerating sin within the church.
Command. “Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.” Folks, this is amazing in its simplicity and speaks volumes to us today about our walk with Christ. Jesus responds with one of the few two word sentences in the entire Bible. "Therefore repent." When you find yourself in sin, you have once choice before you in order to make amends with God. Repent. Repent means to turn from your sin towards God. It means to drop your sin, make an about face, and start running towards God. You first admit your sin to God and then head in the opposite direction of it. What a simple powerful command from Jesus to the church. Admit your sin and then stop it. It reminds me of getting into trouble growing up. My mom would look at me with a glare and then just say 2 emphatic words, “Stop it!” When we find ourselves sinning against God, that is His command, “Stop it!” But…if Pergamum didn’t stop it, then what? If my mom told me to stop it and I didn’t, well, let’s just say that I might not be comfortable sitting down for a while. And that’s what God does too. If we don’t repent from our sin, He firmly corrects us in love. “because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son." (Heb 12:6) Jesus says if they don’t repent of this sinful behavior that He will "war against them with the sword of His Mouth.” This of course is indicative of how He introduced himself at the beginning of the message, as the holder of the two-edged sword, which is the Word of God. God in the absolute truth of His Word, who He is and what He is, will war against them. Ouch, not the side of God you want to be on.
Promise. “To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.” The hidden manna is Jesus Christ, the bread of life. “Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
Of course, manna was God’s provision of food for the Israelites as they wandered the desert before entering the promised land of Canaan. The hidden manna represents the fact that Jesus today is hidden. We cannot see Him, but He is with us. The white stone represents a custom that existed in Asia Minor at this time. Intimate friends would give each other a small white stone (tessera) that was either a cube or a rectangular block of white stone or ivory. On it was engraved a secret and very personal message that was only for the receiver. Jesus is basically saying here that out of the extremely personal relationship we have with Him, that each stone given will be personal to us. It would be insulting to give all of your closest friends a stone with the same message, you would of course write something very personal and very emotional about what each loved one means to you. Our white stone from Jesus will be just that, personal and full of His love.
Well, another great study in God’s Word. I’m so thankful to God that He blesses us with the miracle of His Word. Just think about that the next time you hold your Bible in your hands. It is a miracle. 66 books written by approximately 45 Holy Spirit inspired men over a span of 4500 years. It is the living, breathing Word of God and we today have the utter privilege of opening it, reading it, and studying it. Thank you Heavenly Father for the gift of Your Word. You empower us with Your limitless knowledge and wisdom that lies directly before us. We praise you for the gift of Your Holy and precious Words. Amen.
Bless someone today by sharing the gift of God’s Word with them, you might be the only one that does...
photo ~ "Maui gecko", Maui, Hawaii, USA
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