“‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo. ‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. And already, Frodo, our time is beginning to look black.”1That conversation takes place between Frodo and Gandalf in Tolkien’s first book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Gandolf has just told Frodo that the evil Lord, Sauron, has arisen and taken his place at the Tower of Mordor. And, Frodo, thinking sensibly says what all sensible people would say, “I wish it need not have happened in my time.”
And though it is a fictional story, this sentiment has been found in many people’s hearts throughout the ages. No doubt the Hebrew women who were pregnant when Pharaoh decreed the murder of all Hebrews boys thought more than once that they wished this hadn’t come about in their time. As the crazed Nero decided that Christians should be set on fire to serve as lights for his parties or be hunted in animal skins, there is no doubt that more than a few wished that he didn’t sit on the throne in their time. I am certain that as Hitler rose to power in Germany that many wished that hadn’t happened in their time. And we could go on, couldn’t we? Even in our lifetimes, we have no doubt thought at points that we wish certain things weren’t transpiring in our world, our nation, or our home in our time. We’ve probably wished we could be transported to a time when things (at least as we perceive them) were better.
But though Gandalf’s response to Frodo is right in that we do not decide what time and place we live in, it doesn’t mean that we are simply like driftwood, by chance floating around in the middle of the ocean. Rather, we have a sovereign Lord who appoints the times and places in which we live, as Paul mentioned on Mars Hill in Acts 17. And for his purposes, he sometimes appoints people to live in tumultuous times and troubling places. One such example is found in the letter that we will look at this morning in Revelation 2:12-17.
As Jesus writes to the church in Pergamum, he’s writing to a people who may well be living in as difficult a place and time as any for a believer. And it is in this context that Jesus addresses this letter to them. And what’s remarkable is that this letter follows very much the same form as the other letters. You’ll remember from a few weeks ago where I laid out the general form of these letters. The letters open with a description of Jesus, which we see in verse 12. This is followed by a word of commendation and a word of rebuke, which we see in verses 13-15. Then, there’s a call to repent, and a warning if they don’t repent, which is found in verse 16 of our letter. And finally, there is a call for all to hear and a word of blessing to the one who overcomes, which we see in verse 17. Thus, we might say, this is Jesus speaking to his people in the standard way he has established.
But what’s remarkable is that he’s talking to a people who are living (to use Jesus’ own words), “where Satan’s throne is” and “where Satan dwells.” We’ll look in more detail at what this means in a few seconds, but for our purposes now, it’s helpful to see that those living in such trying circumstances needed the same kind of word that the other churches needed as well. It’s a reminder to us as well, I think, that even when we find ourselves in extraordinary circumstances, perhaps going through extraordinarily difficult circumstances, that we need what we will always need: God’s Word. Therefore, this morning, I want to look at what Jesus says to this church which exists where Satan dwells and see what it is that Jesus says to them, trusting that we will find his words, rebukes, instructions, and promises helpful for us as well.
And as we look at the letter, we first see that:
I’ve already mentioned that Jesus speaks of them living in a challenging setting. Specifically he says in verse 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.”
What does Jesus mean by “Satan’s throne” and “where Satan dwells”? What I do not think he means is something like Satan has a certain locale where he resides as opposed to other places in the world, and that place is Pergamum. But what he does mean is not as easily determined. However, a look into the city gives us a bit of an idea. Most every commentator notes that Pergamum was a city of devotion to false gods. For example, there were numerous idols, altars, shrines, and temples throughout the city. There was one large altar to Zeus that towered over the city. The city was also the center of a cult for the god “Asklepios,” a god of healing, and there was a temple and medical college dedicated to this false god. And, finally, if that weren’t enough, the city was a center for the imperial cult, which centered on the worship of the emperor, with a temple dedicated to the Caesar as if he were a god.
Now, what does Jesus mean, then, by “Satan’s throne” or “where Satan dwells”? After all, it could be any of these references. Perhaps it is best, however, to consider that Jesus might not have been thinking of simply one of these. With Pergamum as a central place where mythical gods had altars and temples and where the worship of the emperor took place, perhaps Jesus is simply looking at all of it as the work of Satan himself. Thus, Pergamum is a great illustration of Satan’s activity in the world, and it is therefore fitting to refer to the city as Satan’s throne.
But it’s not just that these believers were living in a place with worship of the emperor and other false gods controlling the life of the city, there had been persecution to the point that at least one of their own, Antipas, had been killed for his faithfulness to Christ.
So, imagine for a second that you’re trying to figure out a place to live late in the first century, Pergamum is definitely not a place you would pick. It is filled with evil. Worship of Rome, worship of mythical gods, persecution of Christians, and all the sin and immorality that would characterize a people who would promote these things. This isn’t a place you’d want to raise a family. It isn’t a place, perhaps, where you’d even want to go outside.
But what’s notably absent from Jesus’ letter to the church at Pergamum is Jesus’ call to get out of the city. That is, there is no call from Jesus to these believers to abandon the city. There is no rebuke for living in this vile place. There is no plea to take up your children and run. There is nothing of the sort. Rather, Jesus commends them for being faithful witnesses to him, holding fast to his name, and not denying the faith as they live in this place.
If nothing else, one thing we can draw from this is that Jesus expects us to represent him in some really difficult settings. That has been a theme throughout these letters, but it perhaps rings throughout loudest in this one. So, there are a number of things that may surprise us in our lives as we strive to live as Christians, but one thing that should not surprise us is finding ourselves living in a place where temptation is great, persecution is severe, and trials abound. It is in the midst of great darkness where Jesus may well call us to shine as lights for the sake of his name.
But it’s not enough to say what I’ve said thus far. We can also affirm from this letter that:
You might expect that after Jesus acknowledges that they’re living in a city that can be termed Satan’s throne and have witnessed one of their own brothers die as a martyr that he wouldn’t bring up anything to rebuke them about. After all, it might seem like walking up to a woman who is trying to persevere when her husband has walked out the door and left her with every family burden and saying, “You know, I don’t think you’re disciplining your kids as faithfully as you should.”
We would want to respond to that, “Man, don’t you understand what this woman’s going through? Give her a break.” But that’s not Jesus’ response here, is it? He doesn’t follow up his acknowledgment of their difficulty and praise for their faithfulness by saying, “So, in light of your setting, I completely understand where you might choose to compromise in some ways.” No, he actually brings a rebuke.
To a people who have not denied the faith, realizing it may cost them their lives (as it already has cost Antipas his), Jesus says in verses 14-15, “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. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.”
Now, before diving into the application, let’s make sure we understand what’s going on. Most of us may recall the story of Balaam from the book of Numbers. Balak, king of Moab, was afraid of the Israelites, and he wanted God to curse them. So, he offered to pay Balaam a good sum of money to curse them. And Balaam was more than obliged to do so, since he was a lover of money (2 Peter 2:15). The problem is that God wouldn’t let him curse the Israelites. Every time he went to speak, the Lord would have him speak blessing.
And that is where the story stops in terms of Balaam being the main character in Numbers 22-24. However, beginning in Numbers 25, we read that some of the women of Moab came over to the Israelites and enticed them to commit sexual immorality with them. And they did. Nor was that all. They also went with these ladies to the sacrifices of their gods and “ate and bowed down to their gods” (Num. 25:2). So, the Lord burst forth in a just display of his wrath, having all the chiefs of the Israelites hanged and killing twenty-four thousand Israelites in a plague.
So, right after the story of Balaam, we read of this practice of the Israelites involving themselves in immorality and sacrifices to false gods with the Moabite women. And it seems like the two might be disconnected. However, we learn otherwise later in the book of Numbers. Later, as the Lord calls Israel to take vengeance on his enemies, the army allows the women involved in sexual immorality with the Israelite men to live. And Moses says, “Have you let all the women live? Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord” (Num. 31:15-16).
Did you see it there? The ladies enticed the Israelites to sexual immorality and offering worship and sacrifice to idols on Balaam’s advice. There isn’t a lot of space spent on it, but apparently after Balaam failed to speak a curse on the Lord’s people, he went back to Balaam and said something to the effect of, “I’ve got another tactic we can try. Let’s send over some ladies, entice them to commit immorality, invite them to offer sacrifices to idols, and the Lord will judge his people then.” And he was right.
Therefore, when we turn back to Revelation 2:14-15, Jesus is saying that there is a group holding to this same teaching of Balaam, perhaps telling people that it’s okay to gather with those as they worship their false gods through offering sacrifices and committing sexual immorality. And it may be another group, the Nicolaitans, holding to a similar teaching or the Nicolaitans could be this very group that is described as holding to the teaching of Balaam. Verse 15 could be read either way.
Either way, what you have going on are some people in the church who are engaging in sexual immorality and going down to the temple and joining with those offering sacrifices to idols. And I think we’re safe to say they’re joining with those offering sacrifices to idols even though the text simply mentions eating “food sacrificed to idols” because Paul says in 1 Corinthians that it’s okay to eat meat sold in the marketplace that might have been sacrificed to an idol. He notes that there’s no god in the meat, and if you’re conscience is okay eating it, then eat away. However, he expressly forbids them from joining in with those eating in the sacrificial gatherings themselves. This is joining in idolatrous worship. So, that seems to be what’s going on. There are some in the church committing immorality and joining in the idolatrous worship of false gods in the city.
And Jesus condemns the church for even allowing these individuals to be part of the church. I’ll look at the call to discipline in a second, but right now, I simply want to note that life would have been much easier in Pergamum with a few compromises like those promoted by the ones holding to the teaching of Balaam. In Pergamum, if you’d engage in sexual immorality and gather at the worship of false gods, your chances of persecution would go way down, you’d probably be seen as acceptable to the people, and you wouldn’t be the object of scorn and ridicule by the rest of the people joining in immorality and idolatrous worship. You might even get a better, higher-paying job in the city.
But what we hear loud and clear in this letter is that Jesus’ standards do not change simply because of the settings in which we live. Jesus doesn’t say, “Practice sexual purity, unless everyone around you is not practicing purity and you can’t even think of one person fighting for purity as you are.” Jesus doesn’t say that homosexuality is sinful unless people in your culture are claiming that you should think otherwise. Jesus doesn’t say, “Be faithful in marriage, unless your spouse is just not easy to live with.” He doesn’t say, “Children, obey your parents, unless your parents are a lot more strict than your neighbors’ parents.” He simply gives commands.
And there will always be voices, every time culture takes a turn toward rebellion against God’s decrees, that says to the church, “Unless you get on board with this stance from the culture around you, you’ll die.” And the reality is just the opposite. The reality is that Jesus threatens death to those churches that refuse to obey his commands, as expressed in his Word. Europe, for example, is filled with empty cathedrals where professing believers once heralded, “We better start saying the same thing those in the world are saying.”
So, to sum up, though those rebelling against Christ will change the way they’re manifesting their rebellion against Christ a thousand different ways, and though there will be constant cries to move away from Christ’s clear commands and standards in the Scripture if we’re going to survive in our trying setting, Jesus’ standards do not change just because of the difficulty of our settings. Jesus teaches us in the Great Commission to make disciples by teaching them to obey everything that he has commanded, and he mentions no exceptions if people find themselves in a place or time in which obedience is hard.
But we shouldn’t miss one specific command Jesus is issuing to the church at Pergamum. We also see in this text that:
What’s interesting is that Jesus’ focus isn’t squarely on those committing immorality, worshiping idols, or teaching that it’s okay. His focus is on the church allowing these people to exist among them as if all is okay. There are some in the church obviously spreading the teaching of Balaam and the teaching of the Nicolaitans, and the church is doing nothing about it. They’re not disciplining this group. Therefore, the Lord says to them that they need to do something about these people or Jesus himself will do something with them.
He says in verse 16, “Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.” He is talking to “you” (the church) about “them” (the false teachers about purity). He wants the church to discipline these false teachers, and if the church doesn’t, then Jesus will come and deal with the false teachers himself. And the implication is that they don’t want to know what that looks like when Jesus comes to exercise discipline in the church.
You see, there can be numerous temptations in difficult times to pull back from the exercise of church discipline. Perhaps in a culture that is promoting love as accepting everyone and everything, it simply feels unloving to remove an unrepentant professing believer from the church. The church can feel tempted to sympathize with the person’s struggles, maybe thinking, “I know she shouldn’t be leaving her husband and the kids, but her husband really is not the greatest of guys.” Whatever the reason, Jesus says that even in trying circumstances and settings, he still expects the church to exercise discipline for the sake of the purity of the church.
Simply put, Pergamum was risking its witness if it did not stand against sexual immorality and idolatrous worship in the midst of a city filled with it. And if they were unwilling to discipline those in the church saying immorality and idol worship was okay, then they were not standing against immorality and idol worship.
Now, I don’t say this to us because we have been unwilling to practice discipline. We actually have had to do this on some occasions, and I commend you for it. We’ve done it with tears, and we’ve done it knowing that it is the only way to love both the one unwilling to repent as well as the rest of the church. But just because we’ve practiced this, I don’t want to ignore a text that commands us to do it. And the reason why is because church discipline used to be a standard practice in Baptist churches not too many years ago. So, I don’t want to risk just assuming we see the command to discipline and losing grasp of this Scriptural command in the next generation.
It’s interesting that many have acknowledged that persecution against believers is becoming more and more likely even in our own nation as time goes by. And there is, rightly, I think, an expectation that persecution can do some good for the church as a whole. For one, it’s hard to think of how the health and wealth message can flourish in a time of great persecution. However, don’t think that persecution is some key that promises holiness. Even if persecution breaks out tomorrow and we feel that most of the world is against us, Jesus still demands holiness, and he still demands that we uphold the purity of the church’s witness before the world through the exercise of disciplining professing believers in our churches who refuse to repent.
When Jesus calls the church to repent in Pergamum, therefore, he is calling them to exercise church discipline, even in the midst of the difficult circumstances in which they live. However, he does not leave them without a note of blessing.
In verse 17 Jesus promises eternal life to those who obey him. He says, “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.”
Let me first show that I think these references to hidden manna and a white stone are metaphors for eternal life. In the wilderness, the Lord provided sustenance for his people by having manna come down from heaven. Since then, manna has been used as a reference for heavenly sustenance. Therefore, when the Lord promises hidden manna, I think he is simply promising that which will sustain them for eternity with him, a food that is hidden now but will be theirs in eternity. In the same way, white rocks were used for everything it seems in the ancient world. White rocks were used for invitations, they were given to those who were acquitted in trial, they were given to gladiators when they were honorably discharged from service, and on and on. It’s nearly impossible to determine the precise reference.
However, it seems that the important thing for us is the fact that this stone will have a new name on it. And though it’s hard to determine whether the name is the name of Christ (which is not known to anyone else as referenced in Revelation 19) or our new name (which the Lord gives Abram, Sarai, Simon, and Saul, for example, naming them Abraham, Sarah, Peter, and Paul), the point seems to be the same. Whether it is our new name or the Lord’s name given to us, both express the Lord’s claim on us. That is, when he promises this white stone, it is his way of saying, “I will claim you as my own.” Therefore, the promise is eternal life with Christ as his own for those who conquer.
But I’ve said, “Jesus promises eternal life to those who obey him.” Why? I think that’s fair to say because Jesus is promising eternal life to those who repent and obey his call, in this context, to exercise discipline in the church. Earlier he’s promised eternal life to those who love and do the works they first did or hold fast to the faith to the point of death. But in each case we can sum it up by saying he’s promising eternal life to those obey.
This isn’t to be understand, however, as saying that we obey and therefore merit eternal life. Rather, we’re saying that eternal life is given to the one who believes in the one who lived, died, and was raised for our salvation. However, the one who believers is marked by obedience. Believers are not characterized by perfect obedience but by repentance. Those in Pergamum had sinned. They had not exercised church discipline. But they could show their faith in the Lord if they would repent.
I don’t know each situation of those in the service this morning. Perhaps the Lord has put you in a very difficult circumstance and you’ve reasoned to yourself that your sin is okay because of your setting. Well, this morning, the Lord is calling you to repent. You may not have chosen the time in which you live, but Jesus commands repentance of his people in all times in which they live. Therefore, repent this morning, turn to Christ in faith, realize your forgiveness, and come to the table. Maybe you’ve been like some in Pergamum, unwilling to confront a professing believer who is openly rebelling against the Lord’s commands. Maybe today you need to repent and go to them in love and grace, calling them to repent. Whatever the case, may we be found faithfully obedient in whatever circumstance we find ourselves, laboring for the holy witness of the church, looking to the hope of eternal life that is ours in Christ. Amen.