Revelation 2:12-17 - Pergamum (Lesson)

“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: 'The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword. 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. 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. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. 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.”

The Commission

^12a"And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write,"

Pergamum's History

This letter is a sad testimony to the reality of compromise in the church. The believers in Pergamum withstood trials to the point of martyrdom and yet Satan was still able to find a gap in their defense and work his wily way into their doctrine. This church was located in the middle of a thriving, inland city. Tony Garland quotes Monty S. Mills as saying,

“Pergamum was a university city, famous for its library of 200,000 parchment scrolls, second only in size to the library of Alexandria in Egypt. Indeed, parchment was invented in Pergamum, for when its king decided to establish a library and enticed Alexandria’s librarian to head up his library, the Egyptian king banned the export of papyrus to Pergamum. This forced Pergamum’s scholars to find an alternate writing material, and they invented parchment. Parchment lasts much better than papyrus, so this invention played a big part in preserving the Bible for us.”

and Neil R. Lightfoot saying,

“It used to be common to credit Eumenes II, king of Pergamum shortly after 200 B.C., with the invention of parchment. Eumenes was building up his library to rival the great library of King Ptolemy in Alexandria. The king of Egypt moved to cut off the supply of papyrus to Pergamum, and in response Eumenes was forced to develop “parchment.” This story is true if taken in the sense that Eumenes was the first to make use of parchment or leather; for long before the second century, animal skins for writing were unquestionably in use. In Egypt, for example, mention is made of leather documents as far back as 2500 B.C. . . . So Eumenes was by no means the first to use animal skins for writing, although he may have developed and perfected a better process for treating the skins. Whatever the case, Pergamum and parchment are indisputably connected, the word “parchment” being derived from the Greek term pergamene."

Pergamum's Religion

Pergamum was also chock full of perverted religion. Here was the enormous temple to Zeus, but surpassing even this was the worship of Askelpios (Eskelpios, Exculapios, etc.), the snake god. Pergamum was a major city for ancient medicinal practitioners, and Askelpios was their chief god of medicine. In fact, the scalpel, a surgical instrument, derived its name from the name Askelpios. In addition, if you look at the modern medical symbol, you will notice a snake entwined around a pole in the middle of it: this probably originated from a combination of the Israelite bronze snake in the wilderness and the worship of Askelpios.

The Commencement

^12b"The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword."

This sword has two sides and two uses, to heal and protect or to kill and destroy. This sword symbolizes the Word of God; it can strengthen believers while at the same time defeat unbelievers who will inevitably attack. This sword is also able to separate believers from the world and sin from the believer's life. Throughout our spiritual lives as believers, we grow in holiness by putting off more and more sin and putting on the newly transformed man; this is accomplished with this sword and the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Commendation

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."

Antipas, the Faithful Witness

The letter to the church of Pergamum is a disappointment because the church was holding so tightly to Christ's name, and yet Satan was still active in their midst. We do not have any idea who Antipas is because he is pretty much absent in church religion and there are no biblical accounts describing him. The only thing we have is that he may have been executed by being burned alive inside of a giant brass or bronze bowl, but that is not completely reliable. We can speculate as to the cause for his death because, in that time period, the only religious action that brought death was refusal to worship the emperor. In light of that, Antipas may have refused and been executed as a result. The Greek word for witness is martus, which sounds like our word martyr. The reason for this similarity is the fact that the word martus took a new meaning as one who give up their life as a witness because so many Christians sacrificed their lives for the sake of the gospel. From the mention of Antipas, we can learn that God watches all of his children, no matter how unknown to the world, yet God still knows and cares for him.

Askelpios

The evils and persecutions of Pergamum climaxed in the worship of the serpent god Askelpios. Followers of this god would go to the temple and lay down while hundreds of "little gods" would slither all over and across them supposedly bringing healing to their bodies. This worship actually began with the Magians in Babylon, but when they were kicked out, they traveled to Pergamum and set up shop again. The name of their leader meant "Chief Bridge Builder" and those bridges found their end with Satan and his demons through demonic spiritual communications. It is interesting to note that the title of their high priest is also the title that the Roman Catholic has adopted for the Pope and that Julius Caesar claimed as emperor. From this text, we see that Satan does not live in hell -- that is the place of his eternal destruction -- rather, he lives among us on this earth. He is constantly walking to and fro in the earth as a roaring lion seeking those to devour (literally it means "to gulp down or gobble up").

The Condemnation

^14-15"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. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans."

The Teaching of Balaam

Unfortunately, even for this church which endured so much persecution, there is a condemnation. Balaam's story contains several perversions that he promoted. Bible.org points out that this teaching of Balaam, eating sacrificed food and practicing sexual immorality,

"is in contrast to “the way of Balaam,” that is, selling his prophetic gift for money (2 Peter 2:15) religious work for personal gain, and “the error of Balaam,” his assumption that God would curse Israel (Jude 11)”

Balaam's teaching of sexual immorality finds its roots in the Old Testament account of his deeds. Balak, king of the Israelit-opposing Moabites, knew the power and protection of God and that Balaam's prophetic services could be hired and so he tried to hire Balaam. In a nutshell, Balaam tried to sway God into cursing Israel so that he could make money off of the whole thing. God finally allowed him to go, but did not allow him to curse the Isralites. In retaliation, Balaam decided that he would pervert the Israelites so that God's favor would be removed from them since he was not able to lay God's curse upon them. His plan was to tempt the Israelite men with Moabite women who would then lead them astray spiritually. The scheme was carried out exactly as planned, and God judged 24,000 Israelites with death because of the whole affair.

Intermarriage In Pergamum

Just as the Moabite women tempted the Israelite men, so also the pagans in Pergamum were evidently tempting the Pergamum church. They may not have had a human leader so bent on perverting God's people, but, nonetheless, intermarriage was a real problem. In Pergamum, everything was related in one way or another predominantly pagan religion. If the believers were to marry with the non-believers -- which would also cause them to be unequally yoked -- it would tip  off a string of events which would slowly but surely try to drag them away from their faith. If they were to agree to marriage, then marriage feasts would naturally accompany the festivities. At these feasts would be food that had been offered to idols and immoral temptations. These in turn could very easily lead to idolatry. With perversion around every corner, this was not the place for a sanctified, holy believer to be working out his salvation with fear and trembling.

Protection of Believers

In order for Satan to bring us to our knees, there must be a part of us for him to latch onto and pull with. The believer is responsible for the purity of his or her spiritual life. Peter tells us that Christ provided all things necessary for life and godliness. Everything we need in order to walk out a healthy spiritual life has been given to us. The Word of God instructs us; the Holy Spirit enlightens and empowers us to carry out the lessons of the Scriptures. Christ has freed us from our bondage to sin; the Father has accepted us into his eternal family. It is all there with nothing lacking. Problems arise not when the shield of faith is too small to cover us, but when we do not position it in front of us. We cannot blame the sin by saying that it is too strong, but we must be willing to admit that we are too weak. If we allow sinful thoughts to linger, they will come back more often and remain longer, eventually culminating in sinful actions. The believers at Pergamum had evidently become too familiar with sin. Tony Garland points out that:

"The real problem for the church at Pergamum was not that Nicolaitans existed in the city, but that they were within the church."

Christ not only allows but also instructs believers to live in contact with the world. We are to be lights to those perishing on the reefs of sin. Problems arise when we begin to live as though we were of the world rather than in the world.

The Command

¹⁶"Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth."

The One with the sharp two-edged sword also issues a command to the church of Pergamum; it is brief and to the point, "Therefore repent." If you are allowing the world to creep into your life, then there is no alternative but to immediately remove yourself from those influences and begin again to follow your Savior. There are consequences if you do not, "If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth." Christ will not tolerate the compromising believer; a believer must resolve to be free from the world. If the elect are influenced by the world, then Christ will fight against them. They must hold up the light of the Word to illuminate their own lives and the sins of the world around them. Just as the church at Ephesus was told that their lampstand would be removed for continuation in their sin, the church at Pergamum is being told that Christ will attack them if they do not repent. A person is either for the Lord or against him; if the "believer" chooses compromise over sanctification, then he is against the Lord and the Lord is against him. The church at Pergamum had the choice of furthering God's kingdom or tearing it down with false doctrine. If they chose to tear it down, then it would be more profitable for Christ to destroy them than to judge all who fall under their influence.

The Challenge

¹⁷He 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.

This spiritual manna stands in direct contrast to the pagan worship society. Verse 17 is probably the most disputed verse in all of these letters to the churches. The white stone is especially veiled in seeming obscurity. Nonetheless, I am going to attempt to explain first the hidden manna, and then the new name on the white stone. For my explanation of the hidden manna, I am going to base what I say largely off Tony Garland's commentary in which he provides an excellent train of thought for explaining the text.

Correlation to Jesus' Miracle

In John 6:1-14, we have the account of Jesus' fourth miracle: the feeding of the five thousand men. Christ had a reason for feeding this multitude of people; he was purposely comparing His power and ability to provide with the power of Moses in the Old Testament era. Despite Christ's repeated callings to repentance and faith, this multitude still missed the point that Christ was here to lead us into spiritual rather than physical freedom. At the end of the feeding of the five thousand, the people said, "This is indeed the Prophet who is come into the world." That Prophet was prophesied about in Deuteronomy 18:15 where a deliverer is foretold. The people looked for a deliverer from the Romans and assumed that was why Christ had come. Christ did not come to create political uproar; He came with a radical gospel of repentance from sin and saving belief in God the Father through His death and resurrection.

Although the crowd was stubborn minded and it is never recorded that they saw the Light in the miracle, Christ did take the time to explain it to His disciples afterward.

John 6:31-35 - "Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' 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. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.' They said to him, 'Sir, give us this bread always.' 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."

Everlasting Life

The manna which Moses gave to the Israelites was indeed manna from heaven, but it was not manna which would lead to everlasting spiritual satisfaction, it only brought temporary physical respite. Christ comes as the new manna which will fill and strengthen us without fail or replenishment. The Israelites eventually died even though they had manna to eat -- it wasn't magical in that sense -- but those who partake of Christ will inherit an everlasting life.

John 6:48-51 - "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

In Revelation 2, we have seen that the one who conquers is promised the hidden manna, the tree of life and protection from the second death.

John 6:57-58 - "As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever."

Hidden Manna

Tony Garland says that,

"There can be, I think, no doubt that allusion is here to the manna which at God's express command Moses caused to be laid up before the Lord in the Sanctuary (Ex. 16:32-34; cf. Heb. 9:4). This manna, as being thus laid up in the Holy Place, obtained the name of hidden."

Because Christ is symbolic of the new manna, He brings the new covenant of provisional life. And because he has ascended back into heaven, we can safely say that He has now become the hidden manna. He is no longer here with us in bodily form, but we are still partakers in His sacrifice for us.

Garland quotes Trench, in his Commentary on the Epistles to the Seven Churches in Asia, as saying,

"Life eternal commences on this side of the grave, and not first on the other; and here in the wilderness Christ is the bread from heaven, the bread of God, the true manna, of which those that eat shall never die (John 6:31-33, 48-51). Nay, more than this; since his Ascension he is in some sort a 'hidden manna' for them now."

Tony Garland closes by saying,

"The fact that the manna is described as 'hidden,' points to the mystery of eternal life, a mystery that is only perceived through faith. The hidden (or secret) manna seems to be the bread of life which is a secret from all who have not experienced the saving grace of Jesus Christ."

From the Pergamum perspective, the hidden manna was a reminder of God's provision in spite of deprivation. They may lose many physical elements of life, homes, employment, loved ones, or worldly possessions, but this manna could never and can never be taken away. God is still sufficient to provide for those who are His own; we feast on a manna which is hidden from the world's thinking and power.

The White Stone

^17b"I will give him a white stone,"

Almost every commentator has a different idea about the meaning and history of the white stone. Some say that it originated in the Roman court system. A judge would shake a pot with a black and a white stone in it and then either grab one of them without looking or knock one out. If the stone was black, then the individual was guilty; white symbolized innocence.

Another position is that the stone was a good omen. One way the Roman culture of yester-year determined the happiness of an individual's life was by counting stones. Every day the person would put a white or black stone in a pot for a good or bad day. After they passed, people would tally up the number of each color of stones. The more white stones there were, the better the person's quality of life.

This stone might also be said to represent the privileges of a victorious gladiator. After surviving the arena, a gladiator would receive a white stone which meant that he had accomplished his task. Never again would he need to re-enter the arena to prove himself. He had fought the good fight.

You could also say that the white stone has a similar meaning to the High Priest's headdress. On the High Priest's headdress, there was a precious stone engraved with a name for God. If this view is correct, then it is reinforcing the concept of believers as God's new order of priests.

Yet another perspective is that this white stone is like the Urim and the Thummim, the magic ball of the Old Testament days. If the High Priest needed to have a decision made by God, he would shake a bag with these two stones in it and then pull one out. These stones were engraved with words that only the High Priest knew. The two stones each meant a different decision. One problem is that the Urim and Thummim were diamonds, not white. The prescribed patch for this discrepancy is that the sparkle of an illuminated diamond is white like the stone.

Lastly, this white stone might be referring to the two stones of the Ten Commandments. That would place the reference of the stone in the same time as the hidden manna. In addition, God was the One who inscribed both the Ten Commandments and this white stone. It would also remain in keeping with the rewards promised at the end of each church letter -- eating of the tree of life, receiving the crown of life, etc. So far, all of the rewards have to do with the specific problem in the church. If that held true here, then just as God gave the Ten Commandments to symbolize the purity required of the Israelites, the white stone represents the separated sanctification the believers in Pergamum needed in order to maintain their Christian witness.

From this conglomeration of hypothesis, I would first eliminate the views that rest on extra-biblical facts. In keeping with the tendency of the rewards in the letters to the churches to refer to Old Testament items or rituals, I lean towards seeing this white stone as the Ten Commandments resurrected. It has the most correlations and evidence. Both the headdress and Urim/Thummim views can be arrived at without too much difficulty, but I do not see them as definite as the Ten Commandments view.

The New Name

^17c"with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it."

This name is, most likely, one of two things: 1) a characteristic of God given to the believer based upon the earthly life of the believer, or 2) a new, unique name for the believer. I believe that the latter is probably more correct, because relating a characteristic to a name is not quite as conclusive as relating a name to a name.

As to what this name is, well, it says no one knows it but the recipient!