We’re continuing in our study of Revelation called The KING is Coming. We took a break for our He Who Promised is Faithful readings during Holy Week but are glad to be back at it. Today, we will be diving into Jesus’s letter to the church at Pergamum. Once again, I am thankful for Jamie Harrison and the opportunity to do this study together. This week’s passage is Revelation 2:12-17:
12 “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.’”[1]
Keith Harris:
Greetings, Sojourners,
Today’s letter to the church at Pergamum is tough, Jamie. And, so speaking, I turn it over to you because this is a lot.
Jamie Harrison:
It is a lot, so y’all buckle up and stay buckled up – especially if you are driving and listening to this Bible study. No reading while driving.
Keith:
Click it or ticket.
Jamie:
Yeah, I’ve heard that somewhere.
Just a quick reminder of the similarities between each letter. Each letter is going to start with that same salutation. Write to the angel of the church, this week in Pergamum. Then we’re going to look at what Jesus says about Himself, His attributes. Then we’re going to get maybe something about their works, some praise and then admonition – something they need to work on (in all but two of the churches). Then, that same universal admonition to let anyone who has ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Finally, we’ll get a promise.
Before we start, in the first letter, we really talked a lot about listening to what the Spirit is saying, not just to the church at Ephesus or Smyrna, now Pergamum, but what He is saying to the Church today as a whole and to our local church body. What is He saying? And as a part of your local church body, what is He saying to you?
Keep those things in mind as we dive into this letter because I think this letter hits on a lot of stuff that’s probably affecting us today. So, here we go.
Jesus starts off by saying something about Himself does not have the best positive connotation to it.
Keith:
Yes, it is not the portrait of Jesus people would like to paint. But, nevertheless, it’s the one He gives us here.
Jamie:
In the letter to Smyrna, we get that He is the first and the last. In the letter to Ephesus, He’s the One who holds the seven stars and who walks among the golden lamp stands. In Pergamum, all He says about Himself is, “Thus says the One who has the sharp, double-edged sword” (v. 12)[2], which again, does go back to ch. 1:16 where He had seven stars in His right hand and a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth. I think it’s interesting that the sword comes from His mouth because I want to – I’m kind of jumping ahead of myself real quick. Turn to Revelation 19:19, and I’m going to read a couple of verse, actually starting in verse 11 of Revelation 19 (and go through v. 13):
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself. 13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.
If any of this sounds familiar, it’s because, again, in Revelation 1, that’s how He is described. He is called the Word of God. We know that the sword is the Word of God.
Keith:
Yeah, Hebrews 4:12, Ephesians 6….
Jamie:
Right. Ephesians 6, right. Continuing in Revelation 19 in verse 14-16:
14 The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. 15 A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. 16 And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
And then we get this horrible supper of God where all these people are wiped out who were gathered together. And then in verse 21, it says,
The rest were killed with the sword that came from the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds ate their fill of their flesh.
So, this sharp double-edged sword that comes from His mouth is what eventually will end everything. That’s the sword He chooses – that’s, excuse me, the attribute He chooses to describe Himself with here (in the letter to the church at Pergamum). So, if you’re listening to this, and you’re in Pergamum, this is not good news. It’s terrifying.
Keith:
I mean, there is the admonition opportunity for repentance, but their current standing without repentance is not good at all. That sword Jesus speaks of is pointed at Pergamum.
Jamie:
It is pointed at Pergamum.
He goes from there to the works and the praise that He’s going to give. He tells them (in v. 13), “I know where you live – where Satan’s throne is. Yet you are holding on to my name and did not deny your faith in me.” Please don’t mistake that when He says, “where Satan’s throne is,” to think He means hell. Satan wasn’t (isn’t) cast into hell yet. That has not happened. He was cast down to earth.
Keith:
And hell doesn’t have a throne. Satan is going to be inmate number one there.
Jamie:
That’s correct, and we’ll see that actually in Revelation 19 and 20 when we get there, that he’ll be one of the first couple beings cast into hell. But what it’s talking about when it says that the satanic throne – Satan’s throne…. Literally, during this time, Pergamum was considered the headquarters of Satanic opposition. That would have been a literal thing. It was a gentile base for false religion. They had a throne there that was a throne-shaped altar that looked like Zeus at the acropolis, the city’s highest peak, a throne-shaped altar to Zeus.
Then a lot of people from all over the [Roman] empire at that time would come to a palace that was built for Asclepius – the god of healing. His symbol was a rod in his hand and a snake wrapped around the rod, kind of like what we see on the back of ambulances and things like that today. That was what he held, that was his symbol, the snake-wrapped rod. People would come from all over the empire to sleep in his temple to get touched by one of the numerous non-venomous snakes that would be slithering around on the floor. Just to repeat, they would intentionally and willingly sleep on a floor that was covered in snakes in hopes that a snake would slither on them. Just because they are non-venomous doesn’t mean they don’t bite. They thought this would heal them.
So, that’s where Satan’s throne comes in. Because literally, that’s what it was considered to be during that time – not a good place to be. I would imagine if you were a Christian there at the time, and Jesus says “yet you are holding on to my name” and “did not deny [their] faith in [Him], even in the days of Antipas…who was put to death” among them. That’s a big deal. It’s really cool, like, hey, these awful things are going on around you…. We understand how easy it is now to get drawn away or moved away from Christ – we have to say this is ok because it’s what everybody says, and I don’t want to offend anybody…. These guys didn’t do that. They stuck with Jesus. They didn’t deny their faith even though all these things were going on around them. Even though it might seem easy that a snakebite might heal you, they trusted in Him.
Keith:
Well, it’s like how sometimes people want to take things into their own hands. In our churches today, there’s no Christian culture in the world. Everything is in the realm held by, how does Paul say it in Ephesians 2? The prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2)? I imagine this was a really terrible things because I know when we have conversations with people about what the Bible says about things, people find great offense.
This isn’t a pastor, this isn’t a Christian, this isn’t some church guy, preacher saying, hey, I think the worldliness you are involved in is satanic. This is Jesus. He says that this whole idea there, whether it’s Zeus or Asclepius, what you’re dealing with here is Satan. This is heavy. This is not, oh, well, I just believe something different. Jesus says He is the only way and everything else is opposed to me. He ain’t playing here.
Jamie:
Let me interject here. I was having a conversation with a young man who had been talking to one of his buddies who claimed to be a Christian who said at the same time said he doesn’t believe everything the Bible says. Well, it’s either all or none. There’s no in between. I think me and you – or it might’ve been me and Kevin one, I can’t remember…but if there’s anything in the Bible that you’re not going to believe it would be the resurrection of Christ because that’s the most far-fetched thing, right? Jesus rose again. That’s the basis of Christianity. If you believe that, everything else is believable. So, with the Bible, it’s either all or it’s nothing. We can’t add. We can’t take away from the Word of God. He wrote it. All Scripture is breathed out by God. All of it. So, I just wanted to interject that before we move forward.
Keith:
I mean, the sword coming from His mouth is what He said. I think this is a very good example that sometimes – and I don’t even want to use sometimes because it sounds like I’m trying to make it more palatable – Jesus doesn’t speak on a basis of what’s going to make us more comfortable or happy or what’s going to fit in, He’s God. He’s the Creator. He’s the Author of life. He speaks and it is – or it ain’t.
Jamie:
Yeah. So, there’s not your truth or my truth. Is that what you’re saying?
Keith:
We don’t have to say what I’m saying. The whole idea is what Jesus said. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, the life, and no one comes to the Father but by me.” So, when He is talking here to the church at Pergamum and telling them what they’ve experienced and that He knows their living in a terrible place – that this is where the throne-shaped alter is, again where Satan dwells. Jesus tells them they’ve done well despite all of that, but that there’ve been casualties as well, which is I think that’s where you are headed next.
Jamie:
Yes. So, the very next thing He says, is but I have a few things against you. With Ephesus, He had one thing: they had lost their first love. With Smyrna, they had nothing. Now we get to Pergamum, and it’s like, hey, here are a few things against y’all. So, let’s go through these.
He says that there are some who hold to the teachings of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites, to eat meat sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. What He’s talking about there is the story of Balaam. If you go back to Numbers 22-25, you’ll get the whole story. Balaam was this guy who was called a seer of the gods – kind of like a pagan divination expert.
Keith:
And just to clarify, I had heard Balaam – the story of Balaam and the donkey – preached many times in my childhood. I was a grown man before I read it fully for myself, which is on me, but Balaam was always treated like a hero in those sermons. Balaam was not of God’s people (Numbers 22:5–6). Balaam was not a prophet of the God (2 Peter 2:15; Jude 11; Revelation 2:14). He was a mess (Numbers 31:16).
Jamie:
Mmm Hmmm. I firmly believe that he would have absolutely cursed Israel had God allowed him to (Numbers 22:12, 20–22; Numbers 23:11). So, that’s what you get when you read the story. You get introduced to Balaam. He comes and is asked to curse Israel (Numbers 22:5–6). He gets on his donkey, and there’s an angel in the way who is about to kill him (Numbers 22:21–23). The donkey just quits (Numbers 22:24–27). He beats the donkey (Numbers 22:27–28). Then the donkey talks to him; that’s where you get that whole conversation from (Numbers 22:28–30). That all happened to remind Balaam that God is in control and that he should do what He said (Numbers 22:31–35).
Keith:
It doesn’t matter where the money is, where the fame is, where the fortune is…. When the God speaks, the lowercase g gods have to bow in subjection.
Jamie:
Right. So, in looking at the oracles that Balaam gives, he gives three different ones, and in all three he ends up blessing Israel because the Lord will not allow him to curse them (Numbers 23:5–12; 23:16–24; 24:2–9). The first one was at a place that was known as the high places of Baal—a cultic center for the worship of Baal (Numbers 22:41). The second oracle takes place atop Mt. Pisgah, and so that is where all the heavenly omens were made or astrological observations were made—things like that, everything that people would have looked at during that time to see signs and things of that nature (Numbers 23:13–14). If that sounds familiar.
Keith:
It unfortunately does.
Jamie:
The third place is on Peor, which is another cultic center of worship (Numbers 23:28). So, all three places he takes him, where Balaam tells him to meet him, are places of Baal—places that are against God (Numbers 22:41; 23:14; 23:28). What you end up happening is Balaam advises Balak to be friendly to Israel, share his women with them, things like that (Numbers 31:16; Revelation 2:14), and…
Keith:
And if you draw them in, you’ll destroy them from the inside out.
Jamie:
That’s right, and Israel ends up following along. By the way, you can check out Numbers 31:16 to see where Balaam tells him to be friendly with them and Numbers 25:1-9 you get this horrible story of Israel having sexual relations with these Moabites and eating meat sacrificed to idols. These Moabite women are encouraging them to do it. As we were just talking about before we got started, they make it all the way to the entrance to the tabernacle.
Keith:
One guy is planning on taking his Moabite cult prostitute right up inside the tabernacle to show Israel what’s up.
Jamie:
That’s right, and at that point, a plague had started because of what was going on. That is until Phineas drives a spear through the man and the woman and ends the plague. 24,000 Israelites are killed in this plague.
So, when Jesus tells the church there that they are holding to the teaching of Balaam (Revelation 2:14), Balaam taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites (Numbers 31:16). It’s like they were telling folks that they see they follow Jesus but add this or take away this (Galatians 1:6–9). We could name so many examples of this, but none of it is ok. If you are placing a stumbling block in front of people—placing something that is not biblically accurate—you are causing them to fall away (Romans 16:17; Matthew 18:6–7). I think that’s part of why James says that not everyone needs to be a teacher. You’ve got to be careful (James 3:1).
Keith:
It’s definitely why Jesus says you can’t serve two masters.
Jamie:
That’s correct. Especially when you’re teaching children. If you don’t know God’s Word and you’re not studying God’s Word, don’t teach children – don’t teach adults for that matter, but definitely don’t teach children.
Keith:
That’s another reason, and I know we said this in the first or second part of this study, if you don’t know, say, “I don’t know.” There’s no shame in saying that you have to look something up because you don’t want to cause somebody to stumble.
And I mean the issue here is you have two pictures. They could very well have that zeal of Phinehas—not saying go run people through with spears, but God Himself said that Phinehas was jealous with His jealousy (Numbers 25:10–13). You can dwell where Satan’s throne is. You can dwell where Satan dwells and hold fast to the name of Christ and not deny your faith even when people are getting killed (Revelation 2:13), or you can go the way of Balaam and go along to get along (Revelation 2:14; Numbers 31:16). I think there’s probably—and I’m definitely not welcoming terrible persecution—but when persecution sets in, those who have faith in Christ hold fast unto death, like we saw with Smyrna last week (Revelation 2:10), or they cut bait and fish. They either join the culture or go further into Christ. What he’s telling the church at Pergamum is that they have some folks playing with some stuff they don’t need to be playing with, telling them specifically to go back and test the Scriptures and see what happened to Balak and Balaam (Numbers 25:1–3; 2 Peter 2:15; Jude 11).
Jamie:
It didn’t work out so well. Specifically, what was going on during that time in Rome – to help make this understandable, is you’ve got – in order to join the guilds or unions like we were talking about in Smyrna, you would have the people in Rome and in Pergamum having to take a little pinch of incense and put it on the altar to affirm their loyalty to Caesar, the emperor. And that is spiritual fornication, obviously, because when you do that, you’re saying Caesar is lord. Then they would be able to have a job and things like that. So that’s what was specifically going on, but not only were they committing spiritual fornication, they were committing adultery, too. It says, “In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans” (v. 15), which we mentioned back in the letter to Ephesus was a group of people who believed in giving in to sensual pleasure, basically elevating what they want over anybody, anytime, whoever, whenever, type of thing – as long as it feels good to you, it’s good.
If it feels good, it’s good. That’s not the case because what feels good for 20-30 seconds is not always good for you. I think it’s pretty clear here that God has a design, God has a way, and specifically, God Himself – Jesus – is talking to these folks telling them that this is not they way He called them to be. Come to Him. Don’t go toward Balaam or Nicholas. Follow Him, not the world. You can’t serve both.
You start to notice a common thread here through these letters, and you’ll see it in the next one to Thyatira, is sexual immorality. Think about how this applies today with easy access to pornography. You know when I was coming up and computers first came out, we got one in our house, and I remember everybody at school saying you have to have a subscription to look at that type of stuff. They will talk about it. Now you just click on there and you can look at whatever you want. Pick your own category – whatever you like to see.
Keith:
At the time we are recording this, this is the week after Twitter, or X, decided to be a pro-porn platform, and the comment on that is, in the state of Mississippi as well in some other states in the United States, there’s been some legislature that was meant to make it more difficult for people to access porn so that people, especially in their formative years, aren’t building pathways in their brains looking at this stuff. Now, one of the big three social media platforms (out of the originals) is allowing people to be free to put porn on there. It is their right as American citizens – as part of their freedom of speech… but I guess the word from Jesus would be to those who have ears to hear would be to ask what rights do you have in Christ. It may be permitted by the government, but what honors Him? What glorifies Him?
This is the kind of crossroads they were at. It’s where we are right now.
Jamie:
That’s right, and there’s a lot more we could say on that. I guess we shall digress at this time.
Keith:
Because of the same opportunity that’s given to the church at Pergamum, if we’re going to talk about the things today, the same opportunity is offered to people today: repentance.
Jamie:
Exactly. That’s exactly what the next verse says. Repent! Man, if you’re addicted to sexual immorality type stuff, be it literally, physically, or just emotionally – whatever the case is, repent. Now does that mean that after you repent, you’ll never fall into that temptation again? No, it doesn’t. Then, you repent.
Keith:
What did John the Baptist tell the Pharisees? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:8)?
Jamie:
That’s right. It’s constant vigilance. That’s part of sanctification, becoming more like Christ. He tells them repent or else He will come to them quickly and fight against them with the sword of His mouth. Look again, fight against them with the sword of His mouth. We just read in Revelation 19 where basically He just speaks a word.
Keith:
The ESV says, “war against them.” That word is what we’re alluding to.
Jamie:
One word and they’re done. That’s how serious it is. Repent. Otherwise, if you don’t, this is what is going to happen. Jesus is going to come quickly and take them out. I mean, there’s no nice way to say that, but it’s exactly what He’s saying here. And if there’s ever been anything to fear, it would be Jesus with a sword out of His mouth.
Keith:
He’s very effective in His warfare.
Jamie:
He is. 100% accuracy. And that’s real warfare, not video game warfare. It’s real life.
Keith:
This isn’t figurative. We’ve been talking about not being able to serve two masters. What Jesus is telling them – and us – is that you’re either of His Kingdom or of the kingdom of the world. That doesn’t mean anyone is going to lose their salvation, but sometimes we have these warnings from God’s Word that show us that it takes more than saying some words or “making a decision” or an emotional response and not confessing Jesus as Lord. Jesus being Lord means endure unto death. It doesn’t mean sinless perfection. It does mean bearing fruit in keeping with repentance. This is where the church at Pergamum was. They were at a crossroads. They either keep heading toward the throne of Satan, the side he is dwelling on or change. We’ll see when we get to Revelation 19 and 20…I think the words of the hymn by Martin Luther, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”: “one little word will fell him”. When Jesus speaks – that is when He says it is finished, nothing can stay His sword.
Jamie:
That’s heavy. Heavy.
So, after this admonition, we get the universal admonition: Let anyone who has ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. We asked at the beginning what the Spirit is saying to you now. Remember these letters are to us now as well as to these churches. Where are you at? Have we allowed stuff to come in that shouldn’t be there? Do we need to clean house, so to speak? And if you do, man, repent. Don’t be embarrassed of it. Don’t let your feelings of guilt hold you back. Repent.
Keith:
That’s right. There’s no condemnation on the other side of repentance, but only condemnation without it.
Jamie:
So then we get to our final promise to the one who conquers. Remember 1 John 5:4-5 there. The one who conquers being those who are saved.
He says He will give some of the hidden manna. What’s He talking about there? John 6:35 – Jesus declares Himself the Bread of Life. He gives salvation. He says He will also give the one who conquers a white stone with a new name inscribed on it that no one knows but the one who receives it. That’s cool. Now I’m going to tell you guys really quick that what the stone that has a new name that nobody knows. No, I’m not. It says nobody knows it. So again, if the Bible doesn’t give the answer, we’re probably not meant to know the answer.
Keith:
The one who receives it. I just think about the beautiful picture there of the new beginning, that clean slate – literally, in this case. And the God who saves is the God who adopts and the things that came before are done away with. He has borne the wrath we deserve. He bore our sin on the cross that we deserved. He adopts us and gives us a new name. We’re His.
Jamie:
Amen. And that white stone, I want to point out really quick. They used to hold the games in Pergamum back then, so win athletes would win, they would be given a white stone as part of the prize. That white stone was their admission ticket, so to speak, to the winner’s celebration after the games were over. So, you know, whether that is what Jesus is what Jesus is referencing here or not – I don’t know. Historically speaking, it’s possible. I just want to point out how cool it is. If you think about this, put together, if He’s giving us a white stone with a new name that no one knows but the one who receives it, that’s our admission ticket – our ticket to get into eternity with Him. He gives us salvation. He gives us eternal life with Him. He’s going to adopt us in like you said – as His children, as co-heirs with Christ. That is awesome. That is good news. And I like ending on good news because this letter did not have a whole lot of good news in it except in the end when Jesus told them that despite all the bad, they could repent and spend eternity with Him. That. Is. Good. News.
Keith:
Amen.
Well, we will continue this next time with the letter to the church at Thyatira. I hope that this has been fruitful for you and given you more than food for thought. Again, just to reiterate, admonitions are painful and uncomfortable, but the admonition to repent, just as Jamie said, is good news. Dear Sojourner, we leave you. Have a good week and God bless!
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Re 2:12–17.
[2] Jamie – unless he states otherwise – uses the Christian Standard Bible (copyright © 2018 by Holman Bible Publishers).
Just Keith Harris 