Revelation, the Series, Chapter 2:12-17

 

 

Paul's sermon to the church at Corinth wraps up a summary of the Gospel of Jesus Christ !

1 Cor 15:1-4.."Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"

 

 

Sage Advice given to you by His WORDS:  “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)

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Revelation is the only book in the bible that offers a blessing to those who read and understand its pages.  

“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” (Rev 1:3)

Revelation is the ancient Greek word apokalupsis (apocalypse).  The word simply means “a revealing, an unveiling.”. It is important to note that Revelation is singular and is NOT the Revelation of John but rather the unveiling of Jesus Christ.

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Revelation, the Series: Chapters 2: 12 - 17

Rev 2:12 - 17 (KJV)..”And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."

 

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Pergamos

Married to the World

Pergamos represents the church that was married to the world during Constantine’s era. This marriage brought the fledgling church to the status of a “STATE” church. The city as spoken of by God, are the ones that “dwell where Satan’s throne is.”² This church had allowed the evil doctrine of Balaam (monetary gain by compromise) and the doctrine the Nicolaitans (which means corruption of dele-gated authority)³ to come in.

Pergamos (Greek: Πέργαμος), was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Mysia, The acropolis of Pergamos stood 1000 feet above the city, hence its name meaning. It is located 26 kilometres (16 mi) from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus (modern-day Bakırçay) and northwest of the modern city of Bergama, Turkey. ⁴

Pergamos was the political capital of the Roman Province of Asia the Less. When John wrote, Pergamos had been the capital city of the region for more than three hundred years. The city was a noted center for culture and education, having one of the great libraries of the ancient world, with more than 200,000 volumes.⁵

This was also an extremely religious city. It had temples to the Greek and Roman gods Dionysus, Athena, Demeter, and Zeus. It also had three temples dedicated to the worship of the Roman Emperor. i. Some 50 years before Smyrna won the honor of building the first temple to Tiberius, the city of Pergamos won the right to build the first temple to worship Caesar Augustus in the province of Asia.⁶

Note: “Sufferers were allowed to spend the night in the darkness of the temple. In the temple there were tame snakes. In the night the sufferer might be touched by one of these tame and harmless snakes as it glided over the ground on which he lay. The touch of the snake was held to be the touch of the god himself, and the touch was held to bring health and healing.” (Barclay)

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The Seven parts of the Pergamos Letter

1. Name: “Unto the angel of the church of Pergamos (mixed marriage) write;” The meaning of Pergamos tells all about the city and the people within.

2. Title: “These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; “ We find a good description of this double edged sword in Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Could this sharp two-edged sword be used among many to separate the Christians from the pagans in Pergamos.

3. Commendations about the condition of the Church: “I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, “ Jesus know all about us, even to the point of where we live. “even where Satan's seat is:” This statement is controversial among scholars. Was it because Zeus was supposed to have been born in Pergamos. Was it because of the temple erected to the many gods such as Apollo, Asclepius, etc. or maybe it was the official Ceasar‘s Worship center? that gave it’s name sake. “ and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith,” Can you imagine living in a city of so much idolatry and corruption, yet being able to hold on to your faith in Jesus Christ? “even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, “ We know very little about Antipas except in short excerpts of history such as; “It is much no ecclesiastical history makes mention of this martyr Antipas, which argues him to have been a person but of obscure note in the world; but Christ seeth and taketh notice of those little ones who belong to him, though the world overlooks them.” (Poole)

The word Martyr is mentioned only two times in the NT and none in the OT.⁷ The first mention involves the death of Stephen. This puts Antipas in very good company.

Note: Martyr is the ancient Greek word martus. “Martus is a most interesting and suggestive word. In classical Greek martus never means a martyr in our sense of the term. It always means a witness. A martus was one who said: ‘This is true, and I know it.’ It is not until New Testament times that martus ever means martyr.” (Barclay)

“who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. “ There were many Christians who subjected themselves to the firey pits instead of losing their faith thus becoming martyrs. Jesus tell’s us Satan lived in Pergamos and most schollars agree the gigantic altar (the Great Altar) that stood above most heads of the city was considered Satan’s Throne.

4. Concerns: “ But I have a few things against thee,” It was not two phrases above that Jesus was recognizing those in the church for holding tight to their faith. Yet, as with many churches today, there are those whose faith has slipped. “because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.” ⁸

The stumlingblock of Balaam was not the cursing of the Israelites as this was prevented by the LORD...However, through advice to Balac, Balaam was responsible for corrupting the nation of Israel through the wiles and evils of the Midianites.⁹

5. Recommendation/warnings:(if any) “ So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.” Irenaeus, a Greek Bishop stated; “The Nicolaitanes are the followers of that Nicolas who was one of the seven first ordained to the diaconate by the apostles. They lead lives of unrestrained indulgence. The character of these men is very plainly pointed out in the Apocalypse of John, [when they are represented] as teaching that it is a matter of indifference to practise adultery, and to eat things sacrificed to idols.”¹⁰   These same Nicolaitanes were those that used their positions within the church to lead Christians away from the Gospel of Jesus.

“Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” This time Jesus did not warn those members that their name would be removed for the book of life as he did in Symrna but rather the wrath (His two edged sword) of His WORD would find them quickly.

6. Declaration/Command: “ He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; ” Jesus Christ is speaking to every one of us...Anyone who has an Ear..It is very Personal! LISTEN to what the Holy Spirit says to the church. Here is a glimpse at the Trinity, as Jesus is dictating the letter word for word to John yet, we are told the Holy Spirit is the one speaking to the churches. How many hear what Jesus is telling us in this letter to a somewhat faithful church.

7. To the Overcomer: “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna”,¹¹ “Angel’s Food “¹², The Overcomer will never again hunger. Manna was given to Israel during the time she was in the wilderness up until the time that Joshua crossed the Jordan. For those who take of the Manna,¹³ “This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.”. (John 6:58)

^“and will give him a white stone,” In ancient Greece, a white stone could be a ticket to a banquet, a sign of friendship, evidence of having been counted, or as a sign of acquittal in a court of law. ¹⁴ The very god the people of Pergamos worshipped was an Asiatic goddess whose temple symbol was black stone. The white stone of Jesus Christ does indeed contrast to this. In Issiah 28:16, Jesus tells us “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.”. ¹⁵ Jesus, is of course referring to himself, that He is the chief corner stone, the living stone with the only GOD that can provide man an eternal life of light.

“and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” Is it God’s name, or is it the believer’s name? Abram, became Abraham, Sari became Sarah and Jacob became Israel. I suspect that we too may find new names written on that white stone.

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A commentary on “to the overcomer”

The three churches mentioned, Ephesus, Symrna and Pergamos had the phrase “to the overcomer” placed outside of their letter’s body, after “He that hath an ear”.

Ehesus = “to eat of the tree of life”

Smyrna = “shall not be hurt of the second death”

Pergamos = “ eat of the hidden manna”, ‘given a White Stone’

During the next four letters to the churches, the structure of the letters change. The phrase; “To him that overcometh” changes from the end of the letter to the body of the letter. As the Bible is one integrated divinely written book, we should consider that every verse and placement of those verses have a divine reason to be there? Read carefully the last four letters starting in chapter 2:18 to 3:22

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*The next post will be about the Church of Thyatira, Rev 2: 18-29. I urge you to read all of chapters 2 and 3 and then try to outline each church. There are some surprises in store for you there.

“to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (Rev 1:6)

The Authorized King James Edition (1611, 1769) was used exclusively as other versions are somewhat different depending upon the year of their printing.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2Ti 3:16)

(Note: we have placed all scripture in RED for your convenience)

God is considered the author of all 66 books through 40 writers including those of Psalm 2 by the author of this blog.

Because none of us know when our eternity will begin and our time on this earth is at an end; it is paramount that you know exactly where you are in your walk with Jesus Christ. Since your justification/salvation is not determined by the church you attend, the amount of good work you do, your status in society, etc.; I urge you to make sure of your personal relationship with Jesus Christ in the privacy of your own mind, your own time.

Don’t put it off, Time is Short and there are no second chances after death!

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We welcome your comments, suggestions and questions.

Please -- keep them precise and clean!

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References:

1. A timely Challenge, Koinonia House

2. The Kingdom, Power & Glory, The Seven Churches of Revelation, Koinonia House

3. Numbers 31:16; Joshua 13:22; 2 Peter 2:15-16; Jude 11.

4. A Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and Turkey, Oxford University Press. (2003)

5. Pergamum – Drive Thru History®,

6. Ibid

7. Acts 22:20, Rev 2:13

8. Numbers 22-25, 31:8, 31:15-16

9. The Complete Works of Flavius Josephus, Chap VI

10. The Writings of Irenaeus, Chap XXVI

11. Pro 24:16, 1 John 1:9

12. Psalms 78:25

13. Joshua 5:12

14.The seven Letters to the Seven Churches, by Chuck Missler, ..pp. 733.

15. Eph 2:20, 1 Peter 2:3-5, Zec 3:9

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Sources:

1. Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

2. Blue Letter Bible

3. The King James Edition

4. Koinonia Haouse

5. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

6. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History

7. Drive Thru History®,https://drivethruhistory.com

8. The writings of Tertullian, apologist (A.D. 155-240)

9. The Writings of Irenaeus , 130-202 AD

10. The complete Works of Josephus, 98-100 AD