Strong
Church/Weak Church 13
Pergamos, although located in western
Turkey, had its roots in Greece. Like
many Greek city states it was essentially
its own kingdom at one point several hundred years before Christ. It was known
in its own day as the headquarters for the worship of Aesculapius, the Roman
god of medicine, whose symbol was the familiar-to-us staff and snake of modern
medicine. In the temple, which was also a hospital, snakes crawled
freely along the floors. Pergamos is known in academic circles for containing
what was perhaps the second-best library in the ancient world after Alexandria,
Egypt. About a century before Christ, it transferred suzerainty to the Roman
Empire, along with the rest of the petty kingdoms in the area. It still exists
today, now known as Bergama, and has a population of about 55,000, give or
take.
The remains of a Roman theater on a hillside overlooking modern Bergama, Turkey |
The Scripture passage that describes
this church is found, as with many others in this series, in Revelation.
Revelation 2:12–17
12 And to the
angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the
sharp sword with two edges;
13 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.
14 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.
15 So hast thou
also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
16 Repent; or else
I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my
mouth.
17 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.
I see three things here: one strength
and two weaknesses. Because this diagnosis is shorter than some, I will put the
entirety of it within one blog post.
On the strength side, this church
handled persecution without denying Christ. 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. I have already
discussed this in some detail in reference to both Ephesus and Smyrna, so I shall
simply note it and move on. I will say that history tells us that like Polycarp
in Smyrna, Antipas was the pastor of the church at Pergamos. He, too, was
ordained by John but his martyrdom came much earlier than Polycarp’s by some
sixty years. Regardless, this church stood strong through it all, and John
unhesitatingly commended them for it.
On the weakness side of the discussion
I find two, one already discussed in some detail in reference to Ephesus,
namely this: they had begun attempting to lord it over other local churches. So hast thou also them that hold the
doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate (Revelation 2.15). I dealt with this extensively a couple of weeks ago and I am not going to repeat
it all here. Suffice it to say, Pergamos was on the other side of the equation
from Ephesus, and God was highly aggravated with them about it. He uses very
strong language here.
The second weakness was a bit more
obscure. I will follow my statement with an explanation, but here is the statement
first: they were a sensual church.
One of the two things God specifically
says He has against this church relates somehow to the Old Testament prophet,
Balaam. 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 (Revelation 2.14). So, what is the doctrine of Balaam?
Coastal Landscape with Balaam and the Ass by Bartholomeus Breenburgh, 1636 |
Balaam was one of the non-Jewish
prophets of the Old Testament. He was asked by the local Midian king, Balak, to
call down God’s disfavor on the Israelites, to curse them. Balak had heard of
what happened in Egypt, and was fearful of Israel. Motivated by greed, Balaam
determined to accept Balak’s offer even though God specifically forbad it. When
Balaam went to Balak anyway, God got angry with Balaam, and sent an angel to
punish him. Balaam did not see the angel but his donkey did, causing Balaam and
his donkey to engage in their famous argument. Balaam repents, but God informs
him he is free to meet Balak at this point provided he is careful to only
prophesy that which God tells him to say. Three times Balak takes Balaam to a
high place in an effort to get Balaam to pronounce a curse on Israel. Three
times Balaam opens his mouth to comply, only to have a blessing come out.
Unpaid, and apparently unable to curse Israel, Balaam comes up with a new plan.
Since he cannot prophetically curse God’s people, he advises Balak on how to
ensnare them instead. Essentially, this plan involved sending Midian’s
prettiest young women into Israel’s camp to seduce Israel’s young men to join
them in the sexual excesses of their pagan religious rites. God’s response was
to send a plague that killed 24,000 Jews (Numbers 25). Later, after
Israel had won a war against Midian, Moses demanded that these women be killed.
Numbers 31:15–17
15 And Moses said
unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?
16 Behold, these
caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit
trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among
the congregation of the LORD.
17 Now therefore
kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man
by lying with him.
Back then to the question, what was
the doctrine of Balaam? It was Balaam’s teaching to Balak to seduce God’s
people via a sex cult away from Jehovah toward Baal. In some sense, then, the
church at Pergamos had become similar to many of the pagan Roman cults of its
day, one that intertwined sexuality with worship of the divine. That is a harsh
conclusion, but a justified one, if I understand the Word of God.
Such an unholy thing in a church
rightly draws God’s harsh condemnation. A church is to be different than the
world around it, holy where they are unholy. We are specifically called to be a
morally pure institution. Any sexual activity outside the bonds of matrimony is
not to be tolerated amongst God’s people; especially in some twisted concept of
pleasing God by so doing. And a church, any church, that goes easy on such
loose living, on such open immorality is heading down an appalling road.
He is pure.
We are His people.
Let us be pure.
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