How many of you know the story of Balaam? A few, I’d say, but probably not the entire story. A few more might remember that there’s a talking donkey—yes, an honest to goodness talking donkey—in the Bible. This donkey is part of the story of Balaam. The entire affair can be read in Numbers chapters 22-25, and the first section of chapter 31. Much too long to discuss via blog, so I recommend reading the account for yourself.
But nutshell idea goes like this: the king of Moab freaks out because the Israelites are heading his way. As the Israelites march, their God decimates the armies that stand in their way. Naturally, Balak (king of Moab) is concerned. He remembers hearing that in Midian, there’s a guy named Balaam claiming to be a prophet. It is said that whoever Balaam blesses will be blessed and whoever he curses will be cursed. So Balak sends an entourage to Balaam and offers him a ton of money to come to Moab and curse the Israelites. Balaam asks God if it would be okay to do this and God says “No.” God goes on to say that the Israelites are blessed and that God Himself is the one who blessed them. Balaam tells Balak’s entourage this and they go back to their king. Balak sends the entourage back with offers of even more money and this repeats another two times. Eventually, God allows Balaam to go to the king, but to tell him in person that the Israelites cannot be cursed because God has blessed them.
In the end, after several attempts by Balaam to convince God to curse the Israelites, he gives up and heads back home to Midian. What we find out, however, in chapter 31 is that Balaam offered Balak a little piece of advice before he departed. He told the king that if he wanted the Israelites cursed, he would need to do something that would bring God’s wrath upon his own people and then, he suggested two ways to do it. We’ll get to those ways in a bit, but for now, I wanted to begin today’s Bible study with this story to set up what we’re going to talk about today. The Church of Pergamum, the Compromised Church of Asia.
1. Blade and the Battlefield
Revelation 2:12–13 (NKJV)
“And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
The Two-edged Sword
The first thing we notice when reading this passage is the reference of Jesus with a “sharp two-edged sword.”
This comes from Revelation 1:12–16 “Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.”
The question that probably immediately comes to mind to you upon reading this is, “What in the world is going on here? A sword coming out of Jesus’s mouth?” What is John seeing here? What did he put on his pizza before bedtime? Why a sword? Why is it coming from a mouth?
Short answer, because the sword is the Word of God!
Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV)
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The thing we forget—and the thing we should never forget—is that God’s word is an offensive weapon. We should not be surprised when it offends so many people. It encourages and uplifts, yes, but it also cuts deep. It slices away sin and bad attitudes. It impales the wicked. It hacks away at the filth of this world (important to remember in the coming verses).
You might say, “But that sounds awfully violent. Why use such imagery? Jesus was all about peace, right? He was all about love and unity? A sword is a weapon of war. Why use it as a symbol for God’s word?”
Matthew 10:34–39 (NKJV) ~ “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
And if that’s not enough of an answer to you, understand this…the church at Pergamum was in the heart of Satan’s kingdom…a spiritual battleground of epic proportions.
Satan’s Throne - The Battlefield
A little background on Pergamum: It was a major multicultural hub, teaming with temples of all kinds to various Greek/Roman gods, chief among them the temple of Zeus. Zeus’s temple was built on the summit of a large mountain overlooking the city. One of its world-renowned features was an enormous throne in the center of the structure.
But Pergamum wasn’t just a one-hit wonder. It had temples to all the usual deities of the Roman Empire, as well, including an extravagant one to Caesar. And if you remember what we discussed last time about the Caesar cult, the Romans didn’t really care whether someone worshipped their gods, but worshipping Caesar was a test of loyalty to Rome. It was mandatory.
Another feature many of these temples had were that they would have had regular rituals of animal sacrifice. And many of them would have boasted temple prostitution as a form of worship. Finally, in this city was a temples dedicated to Aesculapias Soter, the Roman god of medicine. This temple itself included a working hospital for the ill. The term ‘Soter’ was a title—the Greek word for ‘savior’. The Romans had given the title to Aesculapias, which would have been blasphemous to the first century Christians because they associated the word with Christ.
The point is, Pergamum was one of the most pagan cites of all the Roman Empire with hedonism practiced with absolute abandon.
Holding Fast to the Faith
So, after Jesus identifies Himself to this church, describes the sword coming from His mouth, and telling them that He knows where they live…in the city with the Throne of Satan…He goes on to commend them for holding (grasping) to faith in Christ. Remember, from chapter one, Jesus is walking among the seven lamp stands (churches). Jesus is always within our midst. He sees our struggles. He sees our successes and He sees our failures.
Despite the evil that thrived in this city, Jesus has seen that the church at Pergamum are ‘standing firm in my Faith’ even when their brother, Antipas, was martyred for Christ. They didn’t renounce Christ when this happened, which might have been easier to do when faced with that kind of decadence and hedonism. But they held onto their faith and they stood strong.
As for Antipas, we know nothing about him as a person or his martyrdom other than what’s mentioned here, but his death must have been public (probably in the arena as a gladiatorial spectacle) and most likely a result of some perceived slight against the Roman religious system. No matter who Antipas was or how he died, Jesus’s words to this church is a worthy commendation indeed.
The problem is, there were apparently ‘a few’ within their congregation that had compromised themselves in regards to righteousness, which brings us to point 2: Balaam and the Blockades.
2. Balaam and Blockades
Revelation 2:14–15 (NKJV)
But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
Notice the use of the phrase “you have there those who…” It implies that it’s not widespread. That it’s just a few of them who have fallen into Balaam’s trap. Or the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. But one or two germs are enough to infect the entire body.
So, what exactly are these ‘few’ doing? What are the doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitans? Well…
Balaam’s Doctrine
As mentioned at the story of this study, the story of Balaam can be found in Numbers chapters 22-25, and 31. Go and take a look for yourself. It’s worth the read through. But in discussing the doctrine of Balaam—or what I call ‘Balaam’s Trap’—it all boils down to the advice he gave King Balak after he finally gave up trying to curse the Israelites himself.
Once again, Balaam advised Balak to send a throng of harlots into the Israelite army’s camp and seduce the men. They did so and the men of Israel fell for it hook, line, and sinker. The women also got the men to eat sacrifices to Baal. And yes, God brought down a curse via a plague upon them because of it.
Numbers 31:16 (NKJV) ~ Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.
So, we can guess what the ‘few’ in Pergamum were most likely advocating given the Balaam’s doctrine reference and sexual immortality, along with the reference to eating things sacrificed to idols. At the very least, even if they weren’t actively participating in sexual immorality, they most likely weren’t speaking out against it. They might have been condoning it. Worse, the use of the word ‘doctrine’ here implies that someone in the church was most likely teaching that sexual immorality was okay. They might have been even advocating that temple prostitution was okay.
The question I have is: why? Why would we they do this? Why would they hold fast to ‘the faith’ only to turn around and participate in such activities? Well, it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to figure that out. All it requires is taking a look at modern churches to see that many of them are teaching Balaam’s doctrine today. They tell their congregations that it doesn’t matter who they’re with. Doesn’t matter what their sexual or gender identity is. For the sake of bringing more people into their specific church, they lower the bar for the way Christians are told to live. They strive to be more tolerant. Not tolerant of sinful people, mind you, but tolerant of sin itself! Even worse, I’m afraid many of the pastors and overseers are participating in such activity themselves and use their doctrine as an excuse for their behavior.
Still though, why? How does such false teaching happen? Well, I have a feeling it had something to do with the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.
The Nicolaitans and Antinomianism
We talked about the Nicolaitans when we were discussing the Ephesians. They apparently despised the ‘works of the Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:6)” and Jesus told them that He did to. When we talked about that, I told you no one really knows what those works were. That being said, given the context of this passage, along with the few second century documents regarding them, a picture begins to emerge that might give us a little insight.
The most likely view is that the Nicolaitans advocated for an antinomian viewpoint. Antinomian is just a fancy five-dollar word to describe a heretical view that stated that because salvation is by grace through faith alone, there is no need to be morally upright. Antinomians are extremely anti-legalistic in nature and feel that morality (or immorality) is immaterial and doesn’t matter to God at all. They most likely espoused that morality should be done because the individual desires to do so and not because of some outside influence.
This makes sense given that the doctrines of Balaam would give free license to sin all they want with the temple prostitutes or eating things sacrificed to the Roman gods.
But Jesus expects the church of Pergamum to repent. Just because there were only a “few” advocating for Balaam’s doctrine, the thing we have to understand is that the rest of the church were most likely aware of these trespasses and were doing nothing about it. In the context of a local church, it is essential to maintain a church’s integrity and purity. That’s why God has given us steps for church discipline. If we see someone (or multiple people) behaving or advocating behavior contrary to God’s will revealed in Scripture, the church has an obligation to lovingly put a stop to it for the sake of the church body. And for those who do repent, Jesus promises certain boons to those who overcome.
3. Benefits and Boons
Revelation 2:16–17 (NKJV)
Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. “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 to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”
In the context of a battlefield then, some of those within the Pergamum church were hanging out with the enemy and participating in fellowship with those in which they were to do battle. Although perhaps not outright traitors, they had compromised themselves to the point in which their loyalty and devotion could be questioned.
So many churches today have done the same thing. The ‘Come as you are’ churches. The ‘seeker-sensitive’ churches. Churches who tell their people it’s okay to love who you want as long as you love. There’s nothing wrong with with being sensitive to seekers as long as the truth of the gospel is always proclaimed. As long as the biblical Jesus is proclaimed.
As long as excuses for sin aren’t provided.
Excuses for sin are precisely the heresies of Balaam and the Nicolaitans.
Jesus calls the Pergumians to repent of these things. And if they don’t, what does he say He’ll do? He will ‘fight against them with the sword of My mouth.’ In a war, the last thing we’d want to be is an enemy of Christ. The Israelites found this out the hard way after falling for Balaam’s trap in Numbers when God sent a plague against those who consorted with the harlots. Balaam also found out in chapter 31 when God had the Israelites kill him along with everyone else in Midian.
And to those who do repent? To those who overcome? To those who win this battle in Pergamum…what does He say will happen?
First, He will give them Hidden Manna. As we know from Israel’s exodus out of Egypt, God provided manna (an unknown food substance that fell from the sky every morning. The food was sweet, like honey, and lasted for a single day. The next day, more manna would be provided. Therefore, for those who repent and overcome, Jesus promises to provide for all our needs.
Second, He will give them a white stone. A white stone? What in the world? What’s that? Well, remember last week when I told you that when someone was sentenced to die in the gladiator arena, it was legally required that they be incarcerated for at least ten days? I said that was to make sure there was enough time before death in case the Caesar or proconsul pardoned the convicted criminal. If they were acquitted, they would be awarded a white clay tablet with their name on it. This tablet was proof that their sentence had been rescinded. For those who repent and overcome, the death sentence intended for them is rescinded as well. The white stone is testimony to that. Isn’t that awesome? But here comes the best bit!
A new name given by God is written on that stone. This name is only known by two beings—the one who receives the stone and God, who created the name. This name was unique and specific to the individual. In ancient times, names had power. Know a full name of an individual and a witch could hex you. At the same time, names denoted a person’s essence. We get many of our surnames from aspects of our ancestors’ lives. Smith came from blacksmiths or metal smiths. Thatcher came from those who built roofs. You get the point. Names are important. And for those who repent and overcome, God will provide them with a brand new name completely unique…completely unknown to anyone else! Why? To provide unparalleled intimacy between us and the Creator of the Universe! Seriously. Imagine the intimacy of sharing a secret name with the one who made us!
Ever share a secret with a best friend? You and that friend are the only two people who know it. What did that feel like? Didn’t it make your relationship all the more special? That’s what God is doing here with this brand new name.
And that, my friends, is something to praise God for! So watch out for the Trap of Balaam in your church. Watch out for the teachings of the Nicolaitans. If you see these things being practiced within your congregation, speak out. Hold people accountable…even your pastor if necessary (but only out of love and only by following the steps of proper church discipline as laid out in Scripture). Maintain your church’s integrity. And while we’re at it, let’s ensure our own integrity is properly tended and maintained as well.
