Revelation 2:12-17--To the Church in Pergamum

Revelation 2:12-17
English Standard Version

To the Church in Pergamum
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.’

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Jesus gives a message to the pastor of the church at Pergamum to tell them He is "The One who has the sharp, two-edged sowed."  This is an expression used in the Bible to speak of the spoken and written Word of God.  It is a sharp, two-edged sword that is able to "cut both ways."  It doesn't have a sharp side and a dull side--both sides are sharp and cuts going in and cuts coming out.  This points back to part of the image that John saw in chapter 1, specifically Revelation 1:16 which says, "In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength."  Jesus stands ready to make war with the nations and to defend the Church (especially the pastors of the churches that He holds in His right hand), and to bring judgment (we'll see Him as the Judge of the Living and the Dead in the book of Revelation on several occasions, but this time He stands ready to bring judgment against the Church--see 1 Peter 4:17)

The city of Pergamum was known for its Satanism and was called "The throne/seat of Satan," so Jesus saying "I know where the throne of Satan is" is to say, "I know where you live, and I know where he lives, and I am in control of both."  Even though they are surrounded on all sides by enemies, they hold fast to the name of the Lord and they do not recant or deny their faith.  Some among them, like the famous Antipas, was killed for his faith.  "Church tradition says that Antipas was a physician suspected of secretly propagating Christianity. The Aesculapians (members of the medical guild) accused Antipas of disloyalty to Caesar. Upon being condemned to death, Antipas was placed inside a copper bull, which was then heated over a fire until it was red-hot."  (What was Jesus’ message to the church in Pergamum in Revelation? | GotQuestions.org).

Though they, for the most part, are holding to the name of Christ, there are a few among them who are being tolerated who have given into the sin of Balaam and Balak (to engage in sexual immorality and other kinds of behavior which the Lord cannot bless and causes His judgment instead of His blessing to come upon His covenant people).  The sin here is slightly different than that in the book of Numbers.  Here Jesus identifies that there is a group of people encouraging Christians to violate their consciences by eating food that has been sacrificed to idols and to engage in the sexually immoral practices of the pagan culture around them.  This is probably some kind of "hyper-grace" false gospel that claimed it didn't matter what they did because Jesus would forgive all sin anyways so they could continue in sin with no consequences.  Jesus stands ready to bring the consequences and to cut off the branches bearing bad and diseased fruit from the sake of the entire vine (the Church).

The Nicolaitans are again mentioned here, but this time it is not praise for this local church opposing them, but condemnation for some of the members of this church going along with their heretical teachings.  These heretics are told repent quickly before judgment comes upon them.  This judgment will be the work of Jesus Himself as He will come swiftly to make war against them with the sword of His mouth.

The is not just a message for this church but for all the churches as we are told "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."  See how this was a message specifically for one, but generally to all?  We too are to be careful about living like the world and letting false teachers and their teachings creep in among us.  We should recognize them by their failure to recognize the authority of the Word of God over their lives--especially when it comes to issues of money and sexual purity.

Even though there is much warning in this passage, there is also a promise of reward for those who overcome and persevere to the end.  To that person, Jesus will give them some of the hidden manna (probably alluding to the portion that was hidden in the Ark of the Covenant).  The white stone with our name on it could represent an invitation necessary for entry (this was an ancient way of permitting entrance to special events in that day) or possibly to the white stone on the breastplate of the high priest that was used to cast lots with white representing "yes" and black representing "no"--this later interpretation would say that we will never ask for anything that He isn't willing to answer "Yes" to.  The new name is something we have seen throughout the Bible when God radically changes someone's path in life, He gives them a new name with a new identity.  This is a name that will be just for us that no one will know except for us when we receive our stone that has our name written on it (I believe this means that we will share a name with no one else--God has a unique name for each of us).