Pergamum; The Church at Satan's Seat

Rev 2:12 "To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13 I know where you live--where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city--where Satan lives.
14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. 15 Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight 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 him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.

This capital city is where Satan has his throne, the serpent, the symbol of healing of the pagan god Asclepius was everywhere in the city. It was also a centre of Caesar worship, it had a temple dedicated to Rome and it also had many heathen temples.

v12 - "To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. - The double-edged sword is a reference to the Word of God, Heb 4:16 see also Rev 1:16, 19:15. He will use this sword to fight against the Balaamites and Nicolaitans in v16.

v13 - I know where you live--where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city--where Satan lives. - In the case of the other church (except Smyrna) Jesus says 'I know your deed' here he says 'I know where you live--where Satan has his throne', he knows that they are living where Satan seemingly reigns, this must bring comfort to the church. Pergamum was a centre of both pagan religion and Caesar worship, Asclepius the serpent God of healing was worshipped there and so the city can truly be described as one where Satan reigns, i.e. has his throne. However this is precisely the place where Christians are to witness, c.f. 'Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified' (11:8). The Greek word used here for witness is martys, thus by the witness of his life and death Antipas bore witness to Jesus, becoming an example for much of the book later. Jesus knows our circumstances, he knows that the church at Pergamum is where Satan has his throne, he knows about the martyrdom of Antipas this should bring comfort to the saints. Jesus is the faithful witness (1:5), Antipas is one who followed the example of Jesus and remained faithful unto death (2:10, 14:12), just as Christ remained faithful until death, and is called here my faithful witness; being faithful under persecution is one of the key messages of revelation. But after death Christ rose again, just as the two witnesses came to life again (11:11). In Revelation we find those who died for the sake of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, but they are alive in heaven and will live for eternity as they drink from the waters of life. Just as Christ's death brings many sons to glory so the death of the martyrs is a necessary part of God's plan for the world. The martyrs are the seed bed of the church and the death of the martyrs acts as a testimony to men and will result in some people coming to repentance. The testimony of God's people through their life and death is a part of God's plan, just as the life and death of Jesus was.

v14 - Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. - While the church coped with the external threat of persecution it did not deal with the threat from within the church. They had been infiltrated by Satan's servants who introduce destructive heresies. The book of Revelation is largely about the external enemies of the church yet we must not forget the false prophets within the church. The word of God warns us about false prophets, Mat 7:15, 24:24, 2 Pet 2:1, 1 John 4:1. In the letters to the seven churches Jesus is purifying his church so that it will cope with the coming persecution. For Balaam the false prophet see Numbers 22-25:3, 31:16, 2 Pet 2:15. He enticed God's people to commit sexual immorality and bow down and eat food offered to idols, Num 31:16. These sins all involve spiritual and physical compromise with the world, the church of God is to be blameless and holy (11:2, 14:4-5, 20:6, 21:2). Idols are mentioned because God wants to purify his church of anything that resembles idolatry (2 Cor 6:12-7:1 cf. Rev 18:4) which is the fundamental sin of those who worship the beast and his image (cf. 13:14-15, 14:7, 9-12).

v14 - eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality - These are the same things mentioned in the letter to Thyatira, there they tolerated the woman Jezebel, who called herself a prophetess, but who by her teaching misleads God's servants into sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols, Rev 2:20. Paul covers these topics in 1 Cor they are also mentioned in Acts 15:28, these are clearly matters that troubled the Christians of the time, see Acts 15:28-29, 1 Cor 6:18, 8:1. They involve compromise with the world; the church is to be holy and separate from the world, in the world but not of it. John was clearly concerned by idolatry (1 John 5:21).

v15 - Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. - For the relationship between the Nicolations and Balaam see Rev 2:6 in the letter to the Ephesians. They permitted compromise with the world. This heresy is one that all God's people are tempted with throughout church history, it is nothing new. Another OT figure, Jezebel, is used while describing the same sins in Rev 2:20 again she compromises with the world. The saints are to be pure for they are the bride of Christ, Rev 14:4. False teaching is one of Satan's main weapons against the church, see his river of lies (12:15). If he cannot destroy the church from without he will try to destroy it from within, in 2 Cor 11:13-15 Paul talks about Satan's servants masquerading as apostles of Christ.

v16 - Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. - Christ first commands them to repent, that is the whole church for allowing this sin within and in particular those actually committing the sin, but if they do not then He will fight against them, that is those who hold to the teachings of the Nicolations, not against the church as a whole. He will fight against them with the word of God, compare with the description of Christ at his second coming in Rev 19:15 in which he will strike down the nations with the sword that comes out of his mouth. This could therefore be a reference to the second coming which is also mentioned in the letter to the church in Sardis (3:3), or it could refer to some other judgment.

v17 - He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it. - Note the formula: 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches', we need to heed what is being said here. Manna was the daily food for the Israelites in the desert (Exo 16:31, Psa 78:24), it alludes to the proper heavenly food that is Christ (John 6:57-58) in contrast to the food offered to idols. There could also be a connection to the fruit of the tree of life, 'If anyone eats of this bread (i.e. Christ), he will live forever' (John 6:51). In the ancient law courts white and black stones were used for registering the verdicts of Juries, black for condemnation and white for acquittal. This would mean that the Christian is acquitted in God's sight because of the work of Jesus Christ. In the ancient world there was a common custom to carry a charm or amulet. It could be just a pebble on which there was a sacred name.

To know a God's name was to have a certain power over him and to summon him in times of difficulty. It was thought to be doubly effective if no one else knew the name inscribed on it. Lang remarks that Pergamum was tempted to eat defiled food, but he who defeated this temptation should eat of the sacred food of heaven, Christ, now hidden from men. Each who held fast the profession of His name, when it meant death to do this, shall receive His right to use His new name in the kingdom. Isaiah said that God would give his people a new name (Isa 62:2). As well as a new name in Revelation there are references to the New Jerusalem (3:12, 21:2), a new song (5:9, 14:3), a new heaven and new earth (21:1) and in 21:5 God says 'I am making everything new'. The new name would be appropriate to a new life and status in God's new creation and society. The old order of things has passed away, the saints will live in a new body and the new name signifies the demise of the old life lived in a decaying body amidst a corrupt world and the start of a new incorruptible life. The new song could only be learned by those redeemed from the earth and the new name is part of ones reward for remaining faithful to Jesus while on the old earth. It is interesting to note that Sarai, Abram and Israel all were given a new name by God to denote a change from their old life to a life after some new revelation of God (Gen 17:5, 15, 32:28).

Sandford says the following about the white stone; "Alchemists were fond of speaking of the 'lapis lazuli,' or white stone (actually a rich azure or sky-blue)... ...Alchemists sought by science and discipline to build themselves into perfected stones - actually to become the white stone by which they could possess total knowledge and wisdom... ... On the island of Patmos, whether or not John was aware of alchemy, the Holy Spirit certainly was, and the Lord promised, [quotes Rev. 2:17]. In Hebrew culture, a white stone was given to a man who had been forgiven great sins. Wearing the stone was a sign that he had been forgiven. But the Holy Spirit may also be saying something like this: 'To him who overcomes will I give a perfected soul; no one has to study alchemy to achieve it.' Every Christian is in the process of being transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ, which will finally be accomplished in 'the twinkling of an eye' (1 Cor. 15:52) - as a gift and not by alchemic science or its modern counterpart, New Age humanism."