“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the one with the sharp two-edged sword: “I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to me. You refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan’s city. But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching. Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.
Revelation 2:12-17
Oh I do declare, it is getting more and more interesting! Don’t you agree? There is just so much to comment on. I will work my way systematically through the references beginning with the background to the city as with the other two cities. Pergamum lay approximately 80 km to the north from Smyrna and was an acropolis perched on a high outcrop overlooking the valley. Acropolis means in Greek a high city acting as a citadel on a natural rocky promontory. This city could be described as a pot-pourri of paganism. As with the other two cities, Pergamum had a temple to Emperor Augustus as well as one to Roma, the goddess of Rome. The leaders of this city took emperor worship seriously and added a second and third imperial temple to later emperors. The last one was built after John’s time to honour Trajan.
Pergamum has been described as the Lourdes of the Ancient world with the addition of the temple to Asclepius, the god of healing. People flocked to this city much like Lourdes in order to be healed. There were also temples to Zeus, Dionysius and Athene in Pergamum. Behind the city there was a high conical hill which became the site of multiple pagan temples to a collection of heathen religions, most of which offered food to the gods and encouraged the ‘faithful’ to indulge in sexual acts to the glory of the gods. But it was not just a spiritual centre, the asclepion (the place dedicated to Asclepius) housed a library which Plutarch claimed had 200,000 volumes which was second only to the library found in Alexandria. Galen achieved notoriety in becoming a famous doctor after studying in the library at Pergamum. In addition to this, the city was a culture centre with theatres, a stadium with sports and a medical school. The asclepion in Pergamum rivalled the asclepion built earlier in Corinth. The one here in Pergamum was built for the Province of Asia Minor but it was not minor in importance.
Christ’s comment over Pergamum is telling: “I know you live in the city where satan has his throne.” Many have commented on the significance of this statement in the context of all the pagan temples in the city. Some have specified the temples to Roma, Jupiter and Zeus as the likely site of Satan’s throne. Most think it was the Temple of Zeus that was the focus of Christ’s comment. The image below is a reconstruction of the Temple of Zeus housed in the Archaelogical Museum in Izmir (Smyrna).
The second image is the Throne of Satan which was housed in East Berlin and observed when David Pawson visited that city with the expressed purpose of seeing the throne. Pawson had heard the Russians have taken the throne after the war, first to Moscow and later had placed it in East Berlin where they reconstructed the staircase ascending to the throne as well. According to David Pawson, it is still located in Berlin. The second artefact to come from Pergamum is that which comes from the temple of Asclepius, the god of healing. The badge of the Royal Army Medical Corp is copied from the emblem of Asclepius.
There is one further substantive historical artefact which comes from Pergamum and that is parchment. The word parchment is derived from pergemene charta which was invented for the library of Pergamum in order to record the writings on something more easily stored than clay tablets.
I have covered all I want to say about the background to the city of Pergamum. There are a number of textual elements I want to draw your attention to before we move on in the next Gem. Antipas was the Bishop of Pergamum in John’s time at the end of the First Century AD. He was the first martyr in this city because he refused to bow to Caesar. We will look at this martyrdom in the next Gem as this one has already grown too long. Pay careful attention to the following words in the text of this passage.
- two edged sword
- where Satan has his throne
- Antipas, my faithful witness
- the teachings of Balaam
- the teachings of the Nicolaitans
- the hidden manna
- a white stone
- a new name
Let me know any questions you might have on these elements or others which arise from the introduction to the church in Pergamum. I will attempt to pull things together for Pergamum in the next Gem. But bear in mind also this circular letter was sent to the seven churches, so it goes without saying that what was said to one church applied to the others as well. I am sure it will come as no surprise to you that the letter was not only meant for these seven churches in John’s time. I have already told you other churches would have heard the message as well. There is a universal component to this message. We ought also to be considering where we fit and where our church fits. Just saying.
He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. [Missionary martyr at the hand of the Waorani in Ecuador.] Jim Elliot
The value that you place upon anything is immediately revealed by the price that you are willing to pay for it.
Robb Thompson
The difference between making a difference and making no difference is indifference.
Brian Houston
Peace doesn’t come from finding a lake with no storms. It comes from having Jesus in the boat.
John Ortberg
The manna hidden in heaven. I’ve never heard of this. The white stone should be good to see what you come up with as well.
Kev