You’ve Got Mail: Letters to the Seven Churches in Asia (Part 3 of 7)
The third letter to the churches in Asia, found in Revelation 2-3, is to the church in Pergamum. Pergamum, also referred to as Pergamon, Pergamos, and Pergamus, was a city where the church was a significant minority. The city, in addition to having several temples and sanctuaries to both pagan gods and Roman leaders, being the first to have a temple built in honor of Caesar, enforced emperor worship. The church in Pergamum was often referred to as “The tempted church” and for good reason.
Additionally, the church is often described as “The church where Satan had his throne.” That title comes from Jesus’s description of the church in verse 13. Their church was established in a place where Satan reigned politically and religiously, as well as morally and culturally. Despite that, as Jesus says afterwards, the church held fast to His name and did not deny Him, keeping faith even in the days of Antipas, who had been only recently martyred. The faith of the Pergamene church can be seen significantly in this description, as in the face of trials, they did not turn from God. They kept the hope that they were given, as they had peace from their faith in God (comparable to Paul’s writings in Rom. 5:1-5).
Though the church was faithful, they failed in one extreme example. They compromised. Rev. 2:14-15 says that men of the church followed the teachings of Balaam and of the Nicolaitans. We know little about the Nicolaitans. They were an early Gnostic group who believed that they had knowledge unavailable to others. They’re name is believed to have come from Nicolas, mentioned in Acts 6:3. We also know that Jesus hates their works (Rev. 2:6), but that’s about all we know about the Nicolaitans. We know much more about Balaam. Balaam is most known for the popular Sunday school lesson of his talking donkey, but Balaam’s story did not end there. Balak, leader of the Moabites, tells Balaam to ask God to curse the Israelite people. Of course, God would not do so, because they were blessed (Num. 22:12). Balaam tells Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God to do less or more” (Rom. 22:18). However, we see later that the Moabites infiltrate the Israelite camp (Num. 25:1-2) and that Balaam was behind this scheme (Num. 31:25-26). Why did Balaam do this? Because he “loved gain from wrongdoing” (2 Pet. 2:15). It seems as though Balaam wanted that gold and silver and personal gain after all.
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What does this have to do with the church in Pergamum? Just as Balaam compromised his faithfulness to God, some members of the Pergamene church compromised their faith. They lived in a society of idolatry and opposition, and some fell to the desires of personal gain. Jesus says, “Repent! If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth” (Rev. 2:16). The sword, which he refers to earlier in verse 12 as well as Rev. 1:16. Jesus was prepared to use that sword to cut the people off from God because they had compromised their moral integrity, and moral integrity, then and now, is crucial to the health and strength of the church.
The lesson is this: The church does not need those who compromise for sake of personal gain; beating around the bush to save face. What the church does need are those who will stand up for what is right. Notice Jesus didn’t just tell the sect of those who followed Balaam or those who followed the Nicolaitans to repent. He says to the whole church to repent. Why? Because the ones who were not following these false works were also not doing anything about those who were. They turned the other cheek, sweeping these compromising works under the rug. The church, both in Pergamum and today, needs those who love others to set them back on the right path (much like Paul confronts Peter in Gal. 3:11-15). God needs those who will “stand in the gap” for those who are astray (Eze. 22:30). In return, God offers the hidden manna and a white stone with a new name written on it (Rev. 2:17). The hidden manna refers to the manna that was placed in the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place. It was symbolic of God providing for His people. The white stone refers to the casting of a vote, as the Greek word is mentioned only here and in Acts 26:10. That vote, which shows approval, contains a new name: the name of Christ. The promise to the church in Pergamum, and the church today, for those who are faithful is two-fold: God will provide for you and God will approve of you. Remain faithful to Him!
~ Jared McLeod
