When Are We Now?
The first of three studies of The Revelation of Jesus Christ by Paige Ramsey
The Church of Pergamos – Lesson 7
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Revelation 2:12-17 – “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write,
'These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”’
According to History, John was the pastor of Ephesus. Domitian was the ruler who took vengeance against the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ and began to take action against the pastors. He exiled John to the Isle of Patmos, taking everything familiar to him away from him, but he could not prevent the Lord from coming to John. He could not prevent the revealing from taking place. It is this revelation that completed God’s Word. In studying this comprehensive conclusion to the Word of God, the whole of God’s Word becomes clear, with purpose and direction. In persecuting John, Domitian paved the way for us to have our Sword perfected, sharpened, and polished.
We’re living in the Church Age. The Church Age began about 29 AD when Jesus paid the price for our sin, rose again, commissioned His Church, and then ascended to Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. Since that time, the Church has gone through various stages, and Bible scholars noticed that there seemed to be a correlation between the stages that the Church has gone through and the characteristics of the seven churches in Asia Minor that the Lord addressed in this final chapter. The first church, Ephesus is characterized by lovelessness. Individually, and as a church collectively, we need to remember our first love and keep it fresh. Smyrna is typified by longsuffering. As we go through persecution, trials, and troubles, we need to stay strong in the faith as did this example church. Now we come to Pergamos, which is branded by laxity…
(Refer back to the Table of the Seven Churches in lesson 4)
Pergamos is located north of Smyrna, 15 miles inland from the Agean Sea. There was little trade from the outside world in Pergamos. It had its own distinction: Pergamos was known for education in science & medicine. Hippocrates is thought to have studied at Cos and Galen at Pergamum.[i]
There were four magnificent Greek temples in Pergamos: One to honor Zeus – the “head god,” referred to as the “sovereign of all sovereigns”; another to honor Dionesius – the god of wine & drama; a third to honor Athena – the goddess of wisdom in art & war, and the fourth to honor Asclepius – the god of healing, symbolized by serpents.
Zeus was the god of the sky and ruler of the Olympian gods. Zeus overthrew his Father Cronus. He then drew lots with his brothers Poseidon and Hades. Zeus won the draw and became the supreme ruler of the gods. He is lord of the sky, the rain god. His weapon is a thunderbolt which he hurls at those who displease him. … He is represented as the god of justice and mercy, the protector of the weak, and the punisher of the wicked.[ii]
[Dionysus] invented wine and spread the art of tending grapes. He has a dual nature. On the one hand bringing joy and divine ecstasy. On the other brutal, unthinking, rage. Thus, reflecting both sides of wines nature. If he chooses, Dionysus can drive a man mad. No normal fetters can hold him or his followers.[iii]
Athena is the Greek virgin goddess of reason, intelligent activity, arts and literature. Athena is the daughter of Zeus. She sprang full grown in armour from his forehead, thus has no mother. … Her tree is the olive. The owl is her bird.[iv]
Asclepius was most probably a skilled physician who practiced in Greece around 1200 BC (and described in Homer's Iliad). Eventually through myth and legend he came to be worshipped as Asclepius, the (Greek) god of Healing.[v]
The word pergamos or pergamum means “married”. The church at Pergamos was married to the world. It held those who were teaching heretical doctrines, either not realizing it, or not seeing the importance of keeping the doctrine pure. It marketed the gospel by making it appealing to the world, promoting: “Christianity really isn’t that different.” During the Church Age it represents (312–500 AD), the Church married into the pagan world system.
The Church marketed the gospel by allowing people to keep their pagan practices and simply “convert” the idols and celebrations to “Christian” ones.
312 AD marks the year when Constantine embraced Christianity. As long as the Caesars were in control, persecution was high, but when Constantine made his vow in 312, the persecution, for the most part, ceased. The growth of Christianity had already been on the rise in the Roman Empire when Constantine proclaimed the Edict of Milan, in 313, granting religious freedom to all. This was a departure from previous emperor's persecutions of the Christians.[vi]
Constantine, trying to conquer the world, saw a vision of a cross in the sky with an inscription, “in this you will conquer.” He was going into battle at the Milvian Bridge, and vowed that if he was the victor, he would embrace Christianity. When he won that battle, he kept that vow and interpreted the vision to mean that he would be successful in his conquering all the world kingdoms. “Christianity became a state religion in 324 although paganism was not persecuted.”[vii] This led to the emperor becoming the head of the church and thus, the union of church and state.
Constantine also contributed greatly to the building of great church buildings. Magnificent church buildings were erected in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Constantinople and other places. The churches got bigger and better, greater and grander.[viii]
Julian in 361–363 AD, had tried to revive the pagan religions.[ix] But it wasn’t until 392 AD that Christianity was forced upon all Roman subjects.
Forced conversion was a major means in the Christianization of the Roman Empire. In 392 A.D. the
emperor Theodosius I instituted a law making Christianity the only legal religion of the empire, and
forbidding Pagan practices by law as a means to stabilize the declining empire:
It is Our will that all the peoples who are ruled by the administration of Our Clemency shall practice
that religion which the divine Peter the Apostle transmitted to the Romans....The rest, whom
We adjudge demented and insane, shall sustain the infamy of heretical dogmas, their meeting places
shall not receive the name of churches, and they shall be smitten first by divine vengeance and
secondly by the retribution of Our own initiative" (Codex Theodosianus XVI 1.2.).[1]
This law led to the destruction of most pagan temples in the empire.[x]
To make this massive conversion easier, the government acknowledged some of the pagan practices as “Christian.”
Thousands of unsaved pagans became baptized and started calling themselves "Christians." Did water
baptism make them true Christians? The church gained in QUANTITY but it lost in QUALITY. There
was a massive growth in numbers but no growth in purity. The church was becoming more and more
worldly and corrupt. The host of hypocrites and pretenders that was entering the church was
multiplying beyond control.
As you can well imagine, many heathen customs and practices crept into the church. The pagan
images and statues were still honored, but they were given "Christian" names such as Peter or Mary.
Artemis (Diana) worship was changed to Mary worship. Also Isis, the Egyptian goddess was easily
transformed into Mary. Worshippers of Isis called her "the Great Virgin" and "Mother of the God".
Some surviving images of Isis holding the child Horus are in a pose very similar to that of some early
Christian Madonnas (showing Mary holding the infant Jesus). Heathen temples were consecrated and
changed into churches. Heathen feasts were given Christian names. It was just the same old
paganism or heathenism under a new name! The church had not conquered the world. THE
WORLD HAD CONQUERED THE CHURCH! Paganism had put on new clothes but it was the same old
paganism.[xi]
Do we see paganism in our world today? _______ Do we see it in our churches? _______ Name some pagan practices that are seen in our Christian homes or churches:
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Let’s look closer at the letter Jesus dictated to John for the church at Pergamos:
Verse 12: “He who has the sharp two edged sword” – This sword is identified in two places. In Ephesians 6:17 (the armor of God), the Sword is the Word of God, and in Hebrews 4:12 (the Word of God is sharper than any two edged sword). The sword needed to have two sharpened sides to take care of the heresy in the church at Pergamos. Truth exposes error.[xii]
Verse 13: “I know your works and where you dwell” – The Pergamos church was in the world and becoming like the world!
"even where Satan’s Seat (Throne) is” – Satan has many thrones on this earth. Some cities are notorious for the amount of evil they seem to produce. Satan is the god of this world, a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Satan is very real. Satan is not God. He is not omniscient. He cannot do whatever he wants to do.[xiii]
Daniel 10:12-14 – Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your
heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have
come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one
days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there
with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in
the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.”
He had a throne in Pergamos – when you went into Pergamos, you could feel the presence of Satan. I have heard people say that when they enter the city of Houston, they feel an evil presence. When Gene went into Calcutta, India, he said the presence of evil was suffocatingly heavy. Many of us enjoy living in an area inhabited by a number of Christians, in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. But, in Pergamos, where pagan science and medicine education was flourishing, the number of Christians were few. Satan sat upon his throne in Pergamos.
Can you think of cities where Satan has a throne? ________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
“…you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells” – The Lord Jesus acknowledges their faithfulness. There isn’t much information about Antipas, only that he apparently was a Christian in Pergamos who was martyred.
Verse 14 – “you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.” What is the doctrine of Balaam? Balaam was a false prophet hired to curse Israel. But, Balaam could not curse them – every time he opened his mouth to curse the Hebrews, blessings came out. Numbers 22-24 It is referenced again in 2 Peter 2:15 – “following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness” and again in Jude 1:11 – “Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward” It seems that the doctrine of
Balaam is that it is perfectly alright to make a living or to get gain from something that is unrighteous. People sometimes think because they have to make a living, that if they make their money doing something that isn’t Godly, it’s “just business” and doesn’t count in the realm of their Christian obligations. They promote ungodly video games, movies, music, even teaching falsehoods, all in the name of “livelihood”.
Have you ever felt like you had to do something the Lord wouldn’t normally want you to do because “it was your job”? ______ What did you do?
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___________________________________________________________________ Would you do the same thing again if the situation ever arises?______
“you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate”
The Nicolaitan doctrine – Nicholas was a deacon who abused his place in the church to gain authority over the church. He taught a doctrine of compromise with the world. Joining paganism with Christianity seemed favorable to him because it made Christianity more appealing to those in pagainism. We can’t forget that God hates this doctrine! We should stay far away from it! What about the pagan celebration of Halloween? What about the Christmas tree? What about Santa Claus? Valentine’s Day? Are we so endoctrinated in paganism that we don’t even recognize it?
Matthew 16:18 tells us, “upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” – we will not be conquered from any power coming from the outside of our churches, but we must carefully guard what we allow to transpire on the inside.
Pergamos was guilty of three sins: idolatry, immorality, and infidelity[xiv]
Verse 17 – “To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat.” And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.
The hidden manna – When the Ark of the Covenant, was constructed three things were put into it: The Law of God (first five books of the Bible – also known as the Pentateuch), Aaron’s rod that budded, and a golden pot of manna. That manna signified none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life.
The white stone – There are many symbolic references for white stones. The Grecians used to mark good or lucky days with white stones – this could apply with the understanding that good days ahead will be rewarded. White stones were also given to the conquerors in the Olympic games, with their names upon them, and the value of the prize they won; and, here applied, may respect the crown of life and glory given to them who are more than conquerors through Christ, with their right and title to it, and the excellency of it. The Romans in judgment used to give their suffrages for condemnation by casting black stones into the urn, and for absolution white stones…[xv] In Christ, we’ve been absolved – released from our condemnation!
A new name that no one knows – God has always put significance on names. He has changed names of people so that they might reflect His purpose. Abram was changed to Abraham, Jacob was changed to Israel, etc. This new name that God will give to us, whatever it may be, will reflect His purpose in us. It will be a name to cherish!
[i] Asclepius the Healing God, http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/asclepius/a/Asclepius.htm.
[ii] http://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Zeus/zeus.html.
[iii] http://www.greekmythology.com/Other_Gods/Dionysus/dionysus.html.
[iv] http://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Athena/athena.html.
[v] Blayney, Keith, The Caduceus vs the Staff of Asclepius, http://www. drblayney.com/Asclepius.html, 9/2002, revised 10/2005.
[vi] Gill, N.S., Constantine the Great, http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/people/p/constantine.htm.
[vii] Kreis, Stephen. Constantine the Great, c.274-337, © 2000 http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/constantine.html, revised 10/11/2006
[viii]Parsons, George. If You Cannot Beat Them, Join Them! http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/churchhi/church6.htm.
[ix] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valens, last modified on 22 June 2013.
[x] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_conversion, last modified on 14 June 2013.
[xi] Parsons, George. If You Cannot Beat Them, Join Them! http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/churchhi/church6.htm.
[xii] Cozart, Dan W., DDS. Sermon: The Church of Pergamos, June 14, 2009.
[xiii] Cozart, Dan W., DDS. Sermon: The Church of Pergamos, June 14, 2009.
[xiv] Cozart, Dan W., DDS. Sermon: The Church of Pergamos, June 14, 2009.
[xv] Gill, John, Dr. Exposition of the Entire Bible, Rev. 2:17.