[Chapter 2-6] Letter to The Church of Pergamos (Revelation 2:12-17)
(Revelation 2:12-17)
“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. 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. 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.’”
Exegesis
Verse 12: “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword:’”
Pergamos
was an administrative capital city in Asia Minor, whose inhabitants
worshiped many pagan gods. In particular, it was a center of emperor
worship. By “He who has the sharp two-edged sword,” it means that the
Lord fights against the enemies of God.
Verse
13: “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.”
While
Pergamos was a stronghold of emperor worship, it also was the place
where a servant of God named Antipas was martyred for refusing the
imperial idolatry to defend his faith in the Lord. The time will come
once again when the people will be coerced to worship the Antichrist,
but the saints and servants of God will defend their faith until the
end, just as Antipas had defended his faith with his own life. To have
such a bold faith, we must start to put our faith into our action now,
even if we begin with small steps. When the time of persecution comes,
the saints and servants of God must especially rely on the Holy Spirit.
They must trust in God and willingly embrace their martyrdom in hope, so
that they can give glory to God and receive the New Heaven and Earth
from Him.
Verse
14: “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.”
God
rebuked the Church of Pergamos because some of its members held the
doctrine of Balaam. Balaam was a false prophet who led the Israelites
away from God and made them commit idolatry by tempting them to have
relationships with the Gentile priestesses who worshipped idols. The
Lord rebuked those whose faith had left God. The people’s hearts had
left Him and instead worshiped the false idols. And the sin of idolatry
is the gravest sin before God.
Verse 15: “Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.”
The
words “Nicolaitan” and “Balaam” in the Bible are basically synonymous,
meaning “those who prevail over the people.” When God said that there
are “those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans,” this was another
way of saying that the church of God must reject “those who hold the
doctrine of Balaam.” Those who followed these doctrines of the
Nicolaitans and Balaam were those who pursued material gains and
idolatry. Such people must of course be driven out of the church of God.
Verse 16: “Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.”
God
therefore told the Church of Pergamos to leave from their worship of
false gods and their pursuit of the worldly gains and return to the
right faith, warning them that unless they repent, He would fight
against them with the sword of His mouth. This is, in other words, a
severe stricture in which God warned that He would punish those who do
not repent from following the doctrine of Balaam, even if they were
believers. Those who heard this warning of God and returned to Him were
to live, both physically and spiritually, but those who did not were to
brace themselves for their physical and spiritual destruction. For the
saints and servants of God to be blessed on this earth and beyond, they
must hear the Word of God and follow the Lord with their faith.
Verse
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 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.”
The
true saints will embrace even their own martyrdom. God tells us that to
those who are martyred in His name, He will give the foods of Heaven
and record their names in His Kingdom. For us to live physically and
spiritually, we must listen to what the Holy Spirit has said to the
church of God. To those who overcome—that is, those who win their battle
against the followers of Satan—God will give the righteousness of faith
that delivers them from sin, and, for their faith, He will write their
names into the Book of Life.
The
Bible tells us repeatedly in several different passages that those who
persevere until the end will receive salvation. The saints, in other
words, need to be patient in the end times, so that they can defend
their faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The names of the
born-again are written in the Book of Life. The believers must,
therefore, enter the Kingdom of God by not pursuing material and worldly
gains but overcoming them by faith, until the very day when they will
finally stand before God.
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