Pergamum, the city where Satan lives…
Pergamum, an affluent Greek city which used to lie in northwestern Anotolia, now modern day Turkey, was known of having a body of believers that were steadfast in their allegiance to Jesus, yet had compromised the set apart standards God has established for his people. There are two elements that seem to have challenged humans full faith in God, both sex and money. Although Jesus doesn’t bring up money to this church, he did bring up sex.
“To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. (Revelation 2:12)
13I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. (Ephesians 6:12). Jesus here recognizes the spiritual battle that still ensues to distract and misguide the children of God. Yet you remain true to my name. The theme of covenant faithfulness is threaded through the lens of the Bible and is once again reiterated by Jesus and echoes James 1:12 and Revelation 2:10 tying it all the way back to Deuteronomy 6:4-5. Love the Lord with every bit of who we are through faithfulness to our relationship with him and adherence to his decrees (my summary)
You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives. This is the first and only time we see Antipas mentioned, however there is an illusion to Peter who had denied Christ at his crucifixion, yet Jesus praises his people who still remained faithful to following Jesus even upon the news of Antipas’s death.
The Apocalypse repeatedly couples “witness” (martys) with faithfulness and death (Revelation 6:9, 11:3–7; 17:6). Antipas stands as the first named exemplar of this theme, foreshadowing the “souls of those who had been slain for the testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 6:9) His testimony affirms that martyrdom is not an interruption of Christ’s reign but a means through which the Lamb conquers (Revelation 5:5-10)
14Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality.
Balaam didn’t succeed by cursing Israel (God prevented that by sending a messenger, at first only seen by Balaam’s donkey) so he advised an indirect strategy: use sexual temptation and idolatry to make Israel sin and turn against God.
Balaam counseled Balak to use Moabite (and Midianite) women to seduce Israel’s men (Numbers 31:16; see also the narrative of Israel’s fall in Numbers 25:1–9). The women led Israel to participate in feasts to foreign gods and commit sexual immorality, which brought God’s anger and plague on the people (Numbers 25; cf. the charge in Revelation 2:14 that some were being led to “eat food sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality,” attributed to “the teaching of Balaam”).
Dispute his warning from God, Balaam, after being stopped from cursing the Israelites, advised spiritual and sexual enticement—idolatrous feasting and immorality—to lead Israel into judgment.
God warned Balaam to keep harm from the Israelites, yet in Balaam’s inner tension between honoring God and honoring kings and money, he distracted the Israelites through their own fleshly desires. Balaam’s counsel led to the death of over 24,000 Israelites. (Numbers 25:9 and Numbers 31:16). Jesus is warning the church in Pergamum of allowing the same waywardness leading to spiritual death.
15Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. There doesn’t appear to be much Biblical texts regarding the Nicolations, however according to the early church fathers, there was still the intermingling of worship practices to pagan deities. (See footnotes)
16Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Verse 16 helps us threads a story line all the way back to Eden. Repent, turning completely away from the former ways of thinking and living, being covenantally faithful to God.
17Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.
Jesus finishes this statement to the church in Pergamum by reminding them, and us today, that our hearts must be willing to allow Jesus, not false prophets, not kings, not worldly systems, to be our only teacher. Those of us who remain faithful will find the true bread of life both now and eternally.
Footnotes:
Early Church Fathers/Nicolatians
1. Irenaeus, Against Heresies (Adversus Haereses) 1.26.3–4.
2. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata (Miscellanies) 1.21; cf. Paedagogus and Exhortation to the Heathen for related remarks.
3. Tertullian, Against Marcion (Adversus Marcionem) 4.40; cf. Scorpiace (On Idolatry) for related condemnations.
4. Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies (Philosophumena), Book 10 (see surviving excerpts and later summaries).
5. Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion (Adversus Haereses) 30 (de Nicolaitis).
6. Victorinus of Pettau, Commentary on the Apocalypse (commentary on Revelation 2:6,15).
7. Theodoret of Cyrus, various ecclesiastical/polemical writings summarizing earlier patristic traditions (see his ecclesiastical histories and commentaries).
Title page picture Copyright: Nejdet Duzen/ Shutterstock 2023
