SEVEN CHURCHES (3): PERGAMUM (REVELATION 2:12-17)
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Revelation
a) John wrote Revelation while a prisoner on the Island of Patmos, approximately 85-95 A.D. Its purpose is to give encouragement and hope for all Christians to continue watching for the return and triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ. It also is to warn of the Final Judgment that nonbelievers will endure on that Last Day.
b) John wrote that Revelation is special because,“Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Revelation 1:3).
c) A brief view of the Book of Revelation. It gives you some basic understanding of the book of Revelation.
2. Message To Pergamum
Revelation 2:12-17
12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:
13 ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. 15 So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make 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 him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’
3. From Christ To The Pergamenes
Revelation 2:12-17
12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:
13 ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. 15 So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make 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 him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’
3. From Christ To The Pergamenesa) Pergamum (Pergamos)
i) The northernmost of the circle of seven cities. Some ruins remain. A town dedicated to Zeus, other gods, and emperor worship.
b) The One who
i) Jesus calls himself here "the one who has the sharp two-edged sword." That so word, we have seen, is "the word of God and the testimony of Jesus" (Revelation 1:9 Ephesians 6:17). The main problem at Pergamum was false doctrine, and they had to be called back to the sword of the word.
4. The Exhortations
a) Where Satan dwells
i) Pergamum appears to have been a center for idolatry and thus for the immorality that goes with it. It is pictured as the city "where Satan's throne is". The Christians in Pergamum not only had to put up with the presence of this evil, but of its persecution against them. They had seen one of their number Antipas killed for his faith and his witness for Jesus.
b) Teaching of Balaam
i) This is a reference to the Balaam and Balak of the book of Numbers chapters 22-24. In pergamum, the enemy without, namely the idolatrous religions, were being helped by the enemy within, the false prophets who were introducing idolatry and its immorality into the church.
c) Nicolaitans
i) This appears (as noted at verse 6) to be a sect whose deeds and doctrines were abhorrent to Jesus. Unlike the Ephesians who hated the doctrine, the Pergamum church tolerated it.
d) Sword
i) The sword, as we have seen, is the true gospel, and it is Christ's weapon of war against false doctrine.
5. The Promise
a) Hidden manna
i) The promise to the faithful is "the hidden manna... a white stone... a new name".
ii) The hidden manna stands for eternal life. Manna gave life to the Israelites in the wilderness. Eternal life is not something you can presently see. It is real, but it is hidden. We see it only by faith. But we have a share in it.
iii) The white stone, a symbol of immortality, has "a new name written" on it, which in Isaiah is called "an everlasting name which shall not be cut off". This is the name which Jesus has (Revelation 19:12; Philippians 2:9). The name is secret only in the same sense that the manna is hidden. We cannot see the glory and power of Jesus represented by the "name" he holds. But we believe in it and live by it.
Comments
Post a Comment