Rev 13:11-17 (Steve’s lesson starts at 13:17
To the Church in Pergamum 313 A.D. -600 A.D
2:12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write the following: “This is the solemn pronouncement of the one who has the sharp double-edged sword:
The Greek word for "pergamum" is Πέργαμος (pergamos), meaning "thoroughly married.” This church represents the joining of church and state. This merging between church and state began when the Emperor Constantine became a Christian. Once Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, everyone in the empire began to join, even if they were not a Christian.
From 313-600 A.D., religion and state joined together, which created many problems. Many of the priests were involved in the mysterious religious systems of Babylon. When Christianity became the official religion, then these priests simply kept their paganism and merged them into the Christian church. They changed the names, the festivals, and the holidays to fit that of their paganism system. Passover became Easter. The Winter Solace became Christmas. The Day of the Dead became All Saints Day (Halloween).
Christ is identified as carrying a two-edged sword in His mouth. He has the power and authority to defend His church with the Word of God, especially from the paganism that was about to intermarry into the church.
2:13 ‘I know where you live – where Satan’s throne is. Yet you continue to cling to my name and you have not denied your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed in your city where Satan lives.
Pergamum was the center of Satan worship. Many pagans in this city worshipped Satan and demons. This satanic worship brought tremendous opposition against true believers. Many of them were called to deny the faith. Antipas refused to do so and was martyred. The name "Antipas" means "against all," meaning that he may have been against all kinds of Satan worship . There is nothing known about Antipas outside of Scripture. He was a faithful witness who was martyred by Satan in this city of Satanism. Those in Pergamum were commended for standing up for the truth and not denying the faith.
2:14 But I have a few things against you: You have some people there who follow the teaching of Balaam, who instructed Balak to put a stumbling block before the people of Israel so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.
Those in Pergamum received two condemnations. The first condemnation dealt with the spirit of Balaamism. Many of them followed the teaching of Balaam. Balaam was a Mesopotamian occultist who was hired by King Balak of the Moabites in Numbers 22-24. Balaam was hired to curse Israel. He found this impossible to do, because no one can curse whom God has blessed. He tried four times, but God used his tongue to bless Israel instead of curse them. However, Balaam did not want to lose his profit so he came up with a contingency plan. He had all the pretty Moabite girls dance around the fire outside of the camps of Israel. The pretty Moabite girls seduced the young Jewish boys into intermarriage with them on the condition that they would worship the Moabites’ gods. The Jewish boys fell for this trick. This caused God Himself to curse the Jewish camp, because idolatry was one of the conditions of the Mosaic Covenant which would bring curses upon Israel.
Once Constantine converted to Christianity, then entire pagan cities would enter the church by mass water baptisms. There were so many people being water baptized into the faith, that sprinkling was introduced as an alternative to water baptism. Many pagans entered the church, not by faith alone in Christ alone, but by water baptism. All of these pagans brought their pagan rituals into the church as well. The Pergamum church had intermarried with paganism, which is spiritual adultery.
2:15 In the same way, there are also some among you who follow the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
The second condemnation of the Pergamum church was that they did what the Ephesians would not do. They followed the teaching of the Nicolaitans. This synchronism caused the clergy to rule over the laity. This was a violation of New Testament doctrine in which each believer was to be a priest for his own family.
2:16 Therefore, repent! If not, I will come against you quickly and make war against those people with the sword of my mouth.
The Church of Pergamum was told to repent, meaning to change their attitudes about tolerating these two types of spiritual fornication into their church. If they refused to repent, then Christ would come against them with the sword in His mouth. He would come against them with the Word of God.
17-18 is Steve’s
2:17 The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give him some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on that stone will be written a new name that no one can understand except the one who receives it.’
In church history, the church had more tares than wheat. Those who have "an ear to hear" were the wheat, or the believers, who were in the visible church. If they conquer and do not follow the teachings of Balaam or the Nicolaitans, then they will receive hidden manna and a white stone. God fed the Israelites in the wilderness with manna. God is telling the Church of Pergamum that even though they will go hungry for standing against these two groups, He will feed them hidden manna.
There were two uses of the white stone. One was in a court of law. Whenever a person went to court, if he was found guilty, then the judge gave him a black stone and he was sentenced to death or punishment. If the person was given a white stone, then he was innocent and set free. Those who stood up against these two groups would be innocent of spiritual adultery.
The white stone was also used by guilds and secret-clubs. Once one was accepted into a guild or secret-club, he was given a white stone. Those in Pergamum who would stand up to these two false teaching systems would be admitted into God's club.