And to the angel of the assembly in Pergamos write These things says he that has the sharp two-edged sword
The letter to Pergamum — Pergamos in older translations — opens with a weapon, not a word of comfort: Christ names Himself as the One holding a sharp two-edged sword. Why did this church need to meet Him armed?
Scripture uses more than one picture for God's word, and each picture does a different job.
We know from Hebrews 4:12 that the two-edged sword is a figure of the Word of God. The Psalmist can speak of the Word as a lamp to his feet. Here it is not viewed as a light for the Christian's path, but as a sword to deal with all that is contrary to the light. The word viewed as the sword is always judicial.
Christ never introduces Himself at random. The title He picks here points to something this church had lost.
What the sword is in the hands of man, so is the word that reveals God, searching out and cutting through all obstacles. The Lord applies this in power, and it decides every question that has to do with Him. There is always a great and beautiful connection between the way or title in which He presents Himself and the state of the church He is addressing. The word no longer had living energy to judge in the church. That is why the Lord Jesus takes care to prove that it had never lost its power in His hands.
Satan changed his method between the two cities, and the Lord's self-description changed with it.
In Smyrna Satan tried persecution, but it only stirred up a greater spirit of earnestness and devotion. In Pergamos he tried his tricks, and his worldly traps lulled the church into carelessness and indifference. What a change from the last letter! Smyrna was a people appointed to die. There the Lord makes Himself known as "the first and the last, who died and came to life." Here it is as the Judge carrying the sharp two-edged sword. In Smyrna He reveals Himself as having the power of life; here, as having the power of death.
The city's name itself carries a meaning that commentators tie to the sword.
Pergamos means "a marriage," implying that the Church virtually "married" the world though already promised to Christ (2 Cor. 11:2)... Many thought instead that Christianity had won a great victory by having the world recognise the Lord Jesus. They failed to see that this recognition was in word only and not in heart. Great numbers became "Christians" in a formal way while not knowing the reality of repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Believers and unbelievers were now mixed together. So the Lord speaks to Pergamos as the One who has the sword with two edges, who knows how to divide exactly between the Church and the world.
Commentators differ on the name's sense: one gives "marriage," another "elevation."
The sword is not confined to this letter.
His word is a word of penetrating and decisive judgment. It is with this two-edged sword that He later strikes the nations (Rev. 19), so there can be no question as to its meaning. And while it is of course true that it is not His own at Pergamos who are struck with it, yet it is those whom He charges them with having in their midst (Rev. 2:16).
Not every title Christ takes is permanent.
Pergamos, Elevation, is in a bad state. Once we are inside the little halo where this church and Christ stand, the first thing we see is the sharp sword with two edges coming from the mouth of Christ. He will never cease to be the first and the last, but, thank God, He will cease to be the One out of whose mouth goes the sharp sword.
- The sword is the Word. Hebrews 4:12 gives the meaning. Here the word is not a lamp for the path but a blade against everything opposed to the light.
- The Word turned on the church. Christ takes this title because the Word had stopped judging inside the assembly. He proves it never lost its edge in His own hand.
- The Word divides. Believers and unbelievers had blended together. The sword cuts an exact line between the church and the world she had married.
- The Word aims true. One day this sword strikes the nations (Rev. 19). Here it aims at those the church harbours among them, not at His faithful ones.
- The Word will finish its work. He remains the first and the last forever; the drawn sword belongs to a season that will end.
I know where thou dwellest, where the throne of Satan [is]; and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in the days in which Antipas my faithful witness [was], who was slain among you, where Satan dwells.
The Lord's word to Pergamum opens with an address. This church lives where Satan's throne stands. Yet in that same sentence the Lord finds something to praise, and He names one man, Antipas, who died there.
The Lord points to the world itself, and to a church that had stopped travelling through it.
Satan, we know, is the prince of this world, and his throne is where he rules. It is not in hell, as poets wrongly dream. His throne is where he reigns. It is not the place he will be sent to when his throne is crushed and his reigning time is over. Nor does he merely reign at Rome, or Pergamos. His throne is not local, it is the world. If the professing Church dwells in the place of Satan's throne, we may be sure of this. The Church has given up her pilgrim and stranger character and settled down in the world.
The word "dwell" carries the weight. No believer can avoid being in the world.
For "dwelling in the world" is another thing than being in it. We are in the world because we must be, and we are in no way responsible for that. But to be a dweller is a moral state: it is to be a citizen of the world.
Persecution had failed to break the church, so the enemy changed his method.
Now notice in Pergamos how Satan changes his tactics. If he cannot succeed by persecution (which only made Smyrna brighter in testimony, as nearer to Christ), he will try seduction. If he cannot be a lion, he will be a serpent. Here she has settled down to dwell where Satan has his "throne." It answers to the time of the emperor Constantine, when the empire took up the profession of Christianity and became the church's patron. So instead of being persecuted and despised by the world, she gained the world's friendship and patronage — and that was her ruin. … The world which her Lord and Master had refused from Satan's hands had attracted and overcome her (Matthew 4). She should have walked in His lowly footsteps.
The Lord gives two commendations here, and they do not weigh the same.
The name of Christ is generally the expression of the truth of what He is; but placed here alongside the faith, the meaning will be slightly different. It will probably mean holding fast the confession of the name of Christ. It means confessing Christ openly, though dwelling where Satan's throne was, and not denying the faith — that is, the truth concerning Christ. "Holding fast" is more positive than "not denying," so the first part of the commendation is stronger than the second.
They still defended the Person of Christ Himself.
They still maintained His name, and did not deny the faith which was given to the saints; but this was all. They held fast His personal glory, and did not deny what was revealed of Him because of flesh and blood. They believed of Him what eye had not seen — His Deity.
The title the Lord gives this man carries the weight.
The name of this noble witness for Christ, who sealed his testimony with his blood, has come down to all ages. We know nothing certain about Antipas except his name. Yet there is much wrapped up in that phrase, which another translation gives as "My faithful witness, My faithful one." What Christ was to God, that Antipas was to Christ.
Antipas and the church shared one address. The contrast is the sting.
The faithfulness of Antipas led him to a martyr's death. He was a bright witness to Christ in Satan's world. So he was a shining example of what the whole Church should have been here. By contrast, he was a condemnation of the Church in its low condition. … It is as if the Lord said to the Church, "You live where Satan dwells, but My faithful witness died where Satan dwells."
The name itself makes the verse personal.
Antipas means "against everybody." I would like to be an Antipas, if everyone else is giving up the truth, as was then the case about keeping separate from the world. Get hold of the Lord, and if everybody is against you, put your back against the rock and stand. Someone once said to Luther, "All the world is against you." His reply was, "God and I are a match for them."
- Dwelling. Satan's throne is the world he rules, not hell; to dwell there is to stop being a pilgrim and become a citizen.
- Seduction. When persecution failed, the enemy offered friendship instead — a serpent where he could not be a lion.
- Held. Even settled in the world, the church still confessed Christ's name and refused to deny His Deity; that much the Lord commends.
- Named. Antipas is otherwise unknown, yet Christ calls him "My faithful witness" — what Christ was to God, Antipas was to Christ.
- Contrast. They lived where Satan dwells; Antipas died there — the same address, two different answers.
But I have a few things against thee that thou hast there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a snare before the sons of Israel, to eat [of] idol sacrifices and commit fornication.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
So thou also hast those who hold the doctrine of Nicolaitanes in like manner.
Pergamos made room for two groups of error, not one: some held the teaching of Balaam, others that of the Nicolaitans. The question is not whether the church believed the error, but why it let the error stay.
The Lord's complaint here is plural. It falls on two separate sets of people, and the same assembly sheltered both.
Here the plural "things" points to more than one just cause of complaint. Those who held the teaching of Balaam were one class. Those who held the teaching of the Nicolaitans were another. The Pergamos assembly tolerated both.
Older Bibles end this verse with "which thing I hate." The true word is "likewise," and it ties the second group to the first.
The true reading of verse 15 is "likewise," instead of "which thing I hate," which was probably copied from Rev. 2:6. The sense is that there were some who held the Nicolaitan doctrine, as well as those who held that of Balaam.
The Nicolaitans appear at Ephesus too. What changed by Pergamos is how far the evil had gone.
The Lord commended Ephesus for hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans. But this is an advance in evil. After the "deeds" came a doctrine. It justified the deeds and taught on purpose the very things Christ hated. Satan moved with caution at Ephesus. At Pergamum the evil is let in and taught. There is nothing to show that the Nicolaitans were a sect that had separated from the flock… The Lord holds the assembly responsible for having them there. They had not separated as a sect, and the assembly had not put them away as evil persons.
Look at the verb the Lord uses: they hold the teaching.
The words used are very significant. It is not that the church has adopted the teaching. There are people inside who "hold" the doctrine. It seems they were allowed to hold it without being disturbed and without rebuke.
Commentators differ on what the Nicolaitans actually taught. One reading takes it as grace twisted into permission to sin.
The doctrine of the Nicolaitans seems to be an evil from within, while that of Balaam came from without… It was a corruption of grace, turning grace into licence to sin… Grace has set us completely free through Him who died and rose again. What claim does it not have on our hearts?… Even when we are certain of our deliverance, if the joy of it fades a little, we begin to use the Lord's grace just to serve ourselves. This, carried on without conscience, is Nicolaitanism.
Others read the name itself as the clue, and find in it a clergy set over ordinary believers.
Nicolaitans is Greek; it is a compound. Nikao is a verb and means to have the upper hand, to domineer; laos means the people (our English "laity"). Nicolaitans means "the dominators of the people." A priestly class had grown up in the Church. It domineered over the rest of the people, the so-called laity… Ephesus rejected this evil, but Pergamos fully approves and tolerates it.
The man addressed in this letter was sound himself. That did not clear him.
To be sound himself was not enough. He should have allowed no compromise with evil. He was sound in himself, yet he let evil spread among them. The Lord could not rest satisfied with that state of things… They had authority to act. If they had used it, they would have found they had the power as well. But since they failed to act, the Lord Himself must fight the corrupters with the sword of His mouth. What a place then the assembly occupies, and what responsibility rests on it!
The Lord's answer to this state is a call to repentance. It reaches the whole assembly, and it reaches each believer in it.
To overcome here is not only to resist the teaching of these groups, and to resist it with success. It is also to listen to the call to repentance. The message comes to believers one by one, and each one is responsible to heed what is said. Even so, no believer can shake off responsibility for the state of the assembly… They must humble themselves before God, because these evils are tolerated, even if they are not accepted. They must mourn over the dishonour this brings on the Lord's name.
- Hated — at Ephesus the Nicolaitans showed up as deeds, and the Lord commended that church for hating them.
- Held — at Pergamos the deeds have hardened into a doctrine that defends them. People inside the church held it, and the church never put them away.
- Tolerated — the Lord does not accuse Pergamos of believing the error. He accuses it of housing those who do.
- Disputed — commentators differ on what they taught. Some read it as grace turned into licence to sin. Others read it as a priestly class ruling over ordinary believers.
- Repent — a sound personal creed is no cover for allowed evil. If the assembly will not judge it, the sword of His mouth will.
Repent therefore but if not, I come to thee quickly, and I will make war with them with the sword of my mouth.
The church at Pergamos was sound in what it believed, yet it let evil teaching run on among its members. This verse asks whether a church answers for evil it only tolerates, and what the Lord does when the church will not act.
(Note: the ESV says "soon" here. The older translations quoted below say "quickly.")
The Lord did not charge the angel of Pergamos — the one He holds responsible there — with false doctrine. He charged him with letting others hold it.
To be sound himself was not enough; he ought to have allowed no compromise with evil. Personal soundness, while allowing evil to be rife among them, was a state of things with which the Lord could not rest satisfied. So He must use the sharp two-edged sword out of His mouth (Rev. 1:16) against the evildoers, unless the angel repented. That same sword will one day judge the nations (Rev. 19:15). The effect of repentance would be the expulsion of the evil from among them.
The call to repent carries an offer with it, and it reaches back to how God dealt with Israel.
The warning to repent goes to the church. The Lord wants to rouse her to self-judgment for having tolerated this evil teaching among her own people. He will give her the chance to share His own mind about the evil. Then she may have the privilege of caring for the honour of His name. It was so in Israel. When evil and corruption spread, the LORD always called on His people to sanctify His great name. At the same time He warned them: if they failed to do it, He would take the matter in hand Himself and sanctify His own name.
This warning aims at cleansing, and mercy drives it.
The Lord does not say, "I will fight against you with the sword of My mouth," but "against them" (v. 16). It is true that the sword of judgment may act by taking them away in death. That is what happened to the Corinthian saints. The Lord judged them here below so that they would not be condemned later with the world. Christian discipline does not mean putting away those who are not Christians from those who are. It aims at purging out Christians who walk wrongly, to keep the honour and holiness of the Lord among them. Mercy is the great motive of discipline, next to maintaining Christ's character in the church.
The sword comes out of His mouth. That tells us what it is.
This is divine judgment carried out by the simple force of His Word. No one can ward that judgment off. The sword is two-edged, and that is the point of the picture. We never read of our Lord personally putting His hand on His enemies. He speaks, and it is done… The ungodly in the Church are the first to be threatened with judgment, which it is hopeless to escape unless they repent (Rev. 2:16).
The coming promised here is not the return Christians look for at the end of the book. It is a nearer visit, and it does not fall on everyone alike.
If no self-judgment followed the call to repent, the Lord threatens speedy judgment: "I come to you quickly." The present tense shows how near the judgment is, and so does the word "quickly"… This coming does not mean the personal return of the Lord, or what people call the second Advent. It points to an immediate dealing with the assembly by the Lord, who would visit it in judgment. To the angel He says, "I come to you," but to the still more guilty, "I will make war with them." So the Lord distinguishes. There are degrees of sin and, in proportion, of punishment.
The Lord leaves a space between the call and the blow.
The angel was responsible to take steps to banish the evil, but he had not done it, so the Lord Himself would take it in hand. He calls first of all on the angel to repent. The Lord would allow a period of grace to give time for self-judgment. If the angel did not use it, the Lord Himself would come quickly. With the two-edged sword of the word of His mouth He would search through and through, and expose the state of those who were prominent in Pergamos. If we shut our eyes to what grieves the Spirit of God in ourselves or among the people of God, the Lord does not.
- Tolerated. Sound belief was not enough at Pergamos. The Lord was not satisfied while the church let evil run on inside it.
- Warned. The sword out of His mouth is His Word — judgment carried out by speech alone, and impossible to ward off.
- Given time. The call to repent opens a period of grace for self-judgment. It offers the church a share in the Lord's mind about the evil and a part in guarding the honour of His name.
- Targeted. He comes to the church, but He wars on the guiltier ones inside it. There are degrees of sin and, in proportion, of punishment.
- Answered. If the church will not judge the evil, the Lord comes and judges it Himself. Discipline shown in mercy now spares the church that search.
He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him that overcomes, to him will I give of the hidden manna; and I will give to him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he that receives [it].
Pergamos was a church settled down in the world, in the very place where Satan's throne stood, and some there held the teaching of Balaam. So the Lord promises no public position — He offers hidden food, a stone, and a name that only one person will ever read.
The promise follows a call to hear, and that call goes to one person at a time.
The fact of the church getting into the world at once isolated the faithful Christian... But if the word reached the one who had an ear to hear, it gave secret fellowship with Christ when the public position had become settled in what was false.
The Lord does not promise the daily manna. He promises the hidden manna.
The manna means the Son of God become man to give life to our souls. He entered in humiliation into all our circumstances. The manna is the provision for the daily walk through the wilderness... But what then is the hidden manna? The manna for Israel was spread around the camp, and they were to gather it daily for their food... But this is not the hidden manna. A golden pot of manna was to be laid up before God. When the Israelites reached the land, they would have the memorial of what they had enjoyed in the wilderness. So the hidden manna is the remembrance of a suffering Christ down here. It is the memory of what Christ was in the wilderness — a man, humbled and suffering, who is God's eternal delight in heaven. The one who has overcome has been faithful in separation with Christ from the world. In eternity he will share God's own delight in a once humbled Christ.
The promise fits the evil named earlier in the letter.
There is a very clear relation between the promise and the evil in Pergamos. The temptation was to eat things sacrificed to idols. The Lord says, "I will feed you with that which alone can satisfy." In this way He would encourage His own to resist the seductions and pleasures of the world.
The Lord's wording goes further than a memorial.
So the food of the wilderness remained, but remained only as a memorial, to be seen. But to the overcomer at Pergamos the promise is different. "I will give some of the hidden manna" — he shall share in it, not simply see it. Christ as enjoyed in the wilderness shall be enjoyed afresh in the glorious land we are going to.
The stone comes from everyday customs the first readers knew.
The ancients made much use of a white stone in social life and legal customs. A white stone marked days of celebration; a black stone marked days of disaster. A host showed his appreciation of a special guest by a white stone with a name or message written on it. A white stone meant acquittal; a black stone condemnation in the courts of justice... It is the expression of the Lord's personal delight in each one of the conquering company. It is in no way a public reward... The new name on the stone, known only to the overcomer, means Christ, then known in a special and personal way by each one — a reward beyond all price.
Commentators differ over whether the stone stays private. Others read it as open honour: it "may teach us that he is to be publicly and specially honoured before men."
Why give a reward no one else can see? Some joys between Christ and a soul are not meant to be shared.
There are public joys in heaven common to all, thousands upon thousands of voices in communion and praise... But He must have our individual affections as well as our shared ones. My own particular joy in Christ you can never know, nor can I ever taste yours... That name would have no meaning for anybody else but the one to whom it is given... We may have now in spirit this "white stone" from Christ. It is His secret expression of grace and love, which others cannot have for me... What a secret source of strength it is, even though all the world thinks me wrong.
- Hidden setting. The church had settled where Satan's throne was. So the Lord speaks past the crowd to whoever has an ear: faithfulness had become personal.
- Hidden food. Manna was Christ come down in humiliation. The jar kept before God holds the memory of that life, and the overcomer feeds on it.
- Hidden answer. Pergamos was tempted to eat at the world's table. The reply is not a rule but a meal: "I will feed you with that which alone can satisfy."
- Hidden approval. A white stone meant acquittal, and a host's welcome for a valued guest. Here it is Christ's own delight in one who stood alone, though commentators differ on whether that honour stays private.
- Hidden name. The name no one else can read is Christ known to that one person alone. Heaven's shared joy is not the whole story, and that secret strengthens a believer now, even when the world thinks him wrong.