“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
I left you with a list of the key points we need to cover from what Jesus said in the introduction to letter for the church in Pergamum. In the last Gem I concentrated on the problem of Paganism (Read the teaching of the Nicolaitans, Balaam and Jezebel) then and now. Now we are left with the following matters from the letter to address.
- two edged sword
- where Satan has his throne
- Antipas, my faithful witness
- the hidden manna
- a white stone
- a new name
I have hinted already to the fact that Jesus chose different ways to indicate who He is for each church mentioned. I am of the opinion the descriptions of Christ for each church are carefully crafted to match each church situation. I think the way Christ described himself was perfectly tailored to remind them of something related to what He had to say to them given each situation they faced. In the case of Pergamum Jesus chose to describe himself as the One with the sharp, two edged sword. The Roman Proconsul held the power of the sword to administer the judgement of death without needing to consult with Rome. Jesus describes himself as the one who has the sharp two edged sword to administer summary judgement. With an allusion to Hebrews 4:12 Christ is the One who divides between soul and spirit and exposes the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Be very careful of the One who administers ultimate judgement.
I believe you have a clearer idea of how bad things must have been in Pergamum for it to be described as the city where Satan lives. Just imagine what it must have been like to have pagan temples all over the conical hill behind the city and Roman temples in other places. If you were a Christian in that city your faith would constantly be challenged, more over your financial security challenged if you didn’t take part in giving offerings to the gods for your well being. If you didn’t participate as expected, you would be ostracised from the guild. Your life would be threatened each time you failed to bow before Caesar passing by or on the day when he was remembered as Caesar and a god. It is in a situation like that we encounter Antipas, Christ’s faithful witness.
Antipas was the Bishop of Pergamum. Can you imagine being the Bishop in a city like Pergamum? The first to claim Antipas was the Bishop of Pergamum was the Byzantine historian Simeon Metaphrastes who was born around 900 AD in Istanbul in Turkey, which is just 285 kms from Pergamum. There are many others who have made this claim subsequently. But so too are there just as many who say we know no more about Antipas than what we can read in the text of John’s letter. I have found seven commentators who state that Antipas was the Bishop of Pergamum and one who suggests he was an influential church leader in Pergamum. He is reported to have been martyred during Domitian’s reign as Caesar, who was emperor of Rome between 81 to 96 AD. There is an account which comes from Simeon Metaphrastes which states that Antipas was put to death by being burned inside a brazen bull filled with oil, that is, he was boiled in oil. There are those who refute this story claiming there is no record of that method of martyrdom ever being used in the Roman Empire. Others claim it may not have been the Romans who killed him; it is more likely he was killed by a murderous mob who were protecting the honour of Aesclepius. Still others claim Antipas was likely a name derived from Antipater, Antipapas or Antipappas, i.e. one who was opposed to the papacy. However this claim is wildly anachronistic given the fact that the papacy and the church of Rome arose after the time of Constantine.
You can see there is guesswork over the name Antipas, but again it is after all Christ himself who is telling us Antipas was His faithful witness. In the end you decide how the story goes. I have given you all I know. Well, even that is not true. Most claim Antipas was the only person to be martyred in Pergamum. However A D Robertson claims there were four others who followed Antipas through martyrdom: Agathonice, Attalus, Carpus and Polybus. Now you have all I have found.
Time now for us to ponder the meaning of Jesus’ reference to giving those who are victorious “some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven” [2:17]. Why is the manna hidden and in what way is it hidden? Hidden from sight or hidden in terms of meaning or significance? The original Ark of the Covenant was lost in 586 BC. The manna was kept in the Ark so I guess in that sense the manna is hidden. There is a Jewish tradition which holds that when the temple was destroyed, Jeremiah or an angel rescued the contents of the Ark of the Covenant and hid all three somewhere in the earth. These items are to be restored at the time of the Messiah and in time for the marriage supper of the Lamb. Hence, it is indeed hidden manna, bread from heaven, which we will partake of at the Marriage Feast. Another take on hidden manna is that it represents the hidden treasures at the Sod (Hidden) level which reveal the true depth of the Word of God. I assume it could be either: manna which we can physically eat as the Israelites did in terms of physical food in the wilderness. Or manna which is the related to the depth of the Word of God to be revealed at the time of the end. I look forward to both alternatives.
What is the meaning of the white stone? There are three options for the significance of the white stone.
- related to the fact that the manna in the wilderness was white like coriander seed (Exodus 16:31). This leads us to conclude that it is like manna physically and therefore edible or it is like manna figuratively and more in accord with the hidden manna in the paragraph above. Hence signifying the deeper meaning or significance in the word of God which we have missed.
- related to the use of the white and black stone when a judgement was to be passed on whether the person before the court was innocent or guilty. If the white stone was presented by one of the judges the verdict was “innocent”. If on the other hand the stone presented was black the verdict was “guilty”. Hence announcing heaven’s verdict concerning your eternal state.
- related to the white stones given to the victor which became their admission to public feasts and festivals. Hence also signalling both access and right to eat at the ‘marriage feast of the Lamb’. Ponder that: it contrasts well with food sacrificed to idols and indulgence in the pagan sexual activity – exclusion rather than a right of admission. I am left thinking there is a strong contrast here between the two.
Lastly we come to the matter of a new name. To everyone who is victorious 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. This is an allusion to:
The nations will see your righteousness. World leaders will be blinded by your glory. And you will be given a new name by the LORD’s own mouth.
Isaiah 62:2
I am sure I don’t need to spell out the significance of this. The times when God himself changed the name of a redeemed individual once they had had an encounter with Him. Yes everyone who perseveres to the end will be given a new name by Christ Himself. I can’t wait! Surely it is a challenge to us all to persevere until the end to claim the prize of the Life of the Age to Come. I will remind you of just one person who I think demonstrates this principle the best. Gideon whose name meant “shattered into little pieces”. But God’s angel called him Gibeor which means “mighty warrior”. The one who was shattered into little pieces became a mighty warrior because he persevered and abandoned his excuses as to why he couldn’t save Israel from the Midianites.
All of these examples are challenges to persevere until the end: Antipas the martyr, the hidden manna, a white stone and new name.
Ian
You can either indulge in eating food sacrificed to idols or hang in there and dine at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb and His Bride.
Ian
Gideon, the one “shattered in little pieces” became Gibeor, the “mighty warrior”. What will your new name be?
Ian
I would suggest you take another look at the Gem Series https://www.bereaninsights.org/category/running-the-race-of-life/