1. Seven Letters: Pergamum Revelation 2:12-17
“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.”
(Revelation 2:17)

2. “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. 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. Nevertheless, 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. 

3. Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Whoever 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.” (Revelation 2:12-17)

4. Pergamum
Pergamum, a city some 100 km north of Smyrna along the Caicus River, was one of the most influential cities in the Roman Empire.
The people of Pergamum were known inventors and innovators.
Its library eventually became the second largest in the ancient world and was also a well-known center for the arts.

5. The city had three temples dedicated to the worship of the Roman emperor, another for the goddess Athena, and the Great Altar of Zeus, the king of the Greek gods.
The Asklepion: dedicated to the Greek serpent god was a cross between a hospital and a health spa, where patients could get everything from a mud bath to a major surgery and served as the world's first psychiatric hospital.
A night at the Asklepion would afford patents and opportunity to hear from Asklepios in their dreams and receive a diagnosis for their afflictions.

6. Christ is depicted as “him who has the sharp, double-edged sword”; the idea here is that Christ is the possessor or the embodiment of the word of God.
Throughout the Gospels there is a close connection between the word of God and divine judgment.
“There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.” (John 12:48)
Ultimately, we will be held responsible for our acceptance of God’s word and rejection of such leads to a less than pleasant result.
God’s word is a powerful weapon.

7. The church of Pergamum is known to exist in a hostile and difficult place – “where Satan has his throne”.
The force of the idea is that, pretty simply, Satan felt at home in Pergamum; it was his territory and he was the master of the house there; there was some significant spiritual opposition to the presence of a Christian community in Pergamum.
The Martyrdom of Antipas
Within the church of Pergamum we see a desire to remain faithful, as Christ commends them for remaining true to His name and not renouncing their faith in Him.

8. Christ indicates that He has a few things against the church at Pergamum: it would seem that there are two factions within the church of Pergamum – those who rejected false teaching and those who were seduced by it.
The Teaching of Balaam and the Nicolaitans
The church of Pergamum had withstood external persecution; however, an internal seduction had got the better of them.
What was this seduction?

9. Christ mentions two practices - eating food sacrificed to idols and committing sexual immorality.
In the ancient world, worship of gods was very often connected with both feasting and sexual activity. “Religious” holidays were really nothing more than excuses to eat and drink to excess and then to simply sate one’s more primal urges.
The early church recognized pull of the religious culture from which Gentiles were delivered and knew that boundaries needed to be provided for the protection of their infant faith.
The instruction? Uphold the edict of the early church and flee from both sexual immorality and food sacrificed to idols.

10. The two practices are meant to communicate a sort of compromise on behalf of the Christians of Pergamum. They were permitting the bedrock of Gentile paganism – idol sacrifices and sexual immorality - to exist alongside the foundation of the gospel of Christ.
To correct the circumstance, Jesus issues a very simple command – repent.
The Christians of Pergamum needed to turn fully away from the “throne of Satan” and, as Hebrews 12:2 encourages, fix their eyes on Jesus, who sits at the right hand of the throne of God.

11. Christ then issues two promises to the people of the church of Pergamum.
First, if repentance does not occur, Christ indicates that He will come and “fight against them with the sword of my mouth”. 
As important as it is to ponder the general words Christ speaks to all who follow him, it is specifically meaningful that the church at Pergamum apply the words spoken directly to them by Jesus Christ

12. Christ promises two very strange things to those who remain faithful – “hidden manna” and “a white stone with a new name written on it”.
The symbolism of the manna – reject food offered to idols and I will feed you spiritually, says Jesus.
“I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever”. (John 6:48-51)

13. Less agreement surrounds the second promise; however, perhaps the best meaning of the white stone probably has to do with the ancient Roman custom of awarding white stones to the victors of athletic games.
Jesus promises those who remain faithful entrance to the eternal victory celebration in heaven.

14. Am I remaining faithful to the word of Jesus by rejecting false teaching and spurning evil practices? I encourage you examine your life even in the deepest minutiae of your being and explore whether still there may be some things that need to be changed – some repenting, if you will.
Are you aware that, like the Christians of Pergamum, we exist in a place where Satan lives? When we remain alert of this reality, we find ourselves better prepared to reject teaching and practices that find their genesis in his schemes.

15. What is Christ saying to us as a church today?
Send a quick s to or write down what you are hearing and place it in my church mailbox.