The Letter to the Church at Pergamum

[Originally preached: 9 February, 2003]

Revelation 2.12-17

Knowing the cultural and historical background of a text of Scriptures is very helpful, sometimes indispensable. This morning’s text is no different. We’ll need to know some things about this city of Pergamum if we are going to understand what Jesus is telling these saints. We’re also going to have to go back into our Old Testaments to understand the imagery included in this letter. But as we do these and other things it is my hope that we’ll understand our own situation better and that we’ll understand what it is that Jesus expects of us. I have been praying to that end this week, and I hope that you have also.

Jesus starts out, again, very directly. ‘I know where you live, where Satan’s throne is.’ Jesus is going to commend this congregation. And He does that because He knows where they live. Pergamum was no little village with a handful of country folk. It was a large, cosmopolitan city. For one thing, it was the seat of government for the region. The influence of the Roman Empire was written large here. Pergamum was also known for its library. It rivaled the still famous one in Alexandria. Now, that might not seem like a big deal to us moderns. Erie has a library also. Big deal. But remember that this is the age before the publishing industry with its multitude of books, and way before the era of free libraries. The existence of this library said something about the kind of people who lived there. And then, on top of all of this, it was a very religious city. There were temples everywhere. Pergamum was famous for its temple to the serpent god of healing, Asclepius. Then there was the massive temple dedicated to the worship of Zeus, situated on the large hill overseeing the city. Sacrifices were offered here all day long and through the night. And don’t forget the temple dedicated to the emperor and a host of other temples. So we have the power of an oppressive state, the influence of those educated in a way of thinking that was rooted in unbelief and the subtle evil of pagan religions. And in the midst of this, standing against it all, is a small outpost of Christian disciples. Is it any wonder that Jesus said, ‘I know where you live, where Satan’s throne is’?

But these believers in Pergamum were faithful. They persevered even in the face of persecution. And it was a persecution that was costly. One of there number, Antipas, had been killed. But even then they held on. Imagine one of our number being killed just because he or she was working at being a faithful Christian. That would shake us up pretty well, wouldn’t it? We’d feel the pressure to fold or at least to run. We’d be wondering if there might be another of us taken away to death. These believers felt the same fears and the same pressures the same worries that we would. And yet, they stood firm. And so, Jesus commends them. They hear His, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant,’ a little early. And that isn’t just a little thing. There is much that is good in this congregation. Their faith in Jesus and their faithfulness to Jesus showed when it counted.

‘But…’ There is a problem. Though they were praised by Jesus for their stand, He still had some things that needed to be dealt with.

But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. Revelation 2:14

Here, again, Jesus uses Old Testament imagery to get His point across. We’ve figured out what He meant by ‘where Satan’s throne is’. Now, we need to spend a little time taking a look at Balaam.

So, who was this fellow? I think that most of you know the story, or maybe I should say part of the story. Back when Israel was in the desert having left Egypt and on their way to the Promised Land, the nation of Moab was getting a little nervous. After all, here was this huge nation, Israel. Who knew what they might do? They might attack Moab. And it was clear that Israel was too strong for Moab to take on. So the king of Moab, a man named Balak, decided to hire this Balaam to curse Israel. He figured that after Israel was cursed Moab would be able to attack and destroy them. But there were problems. This is where we read about the angel standing in the way and Balaam’s donkey speaking to her master. And we know that Balaam didn’t curse Israel but rather blessed them. But that’s only part of the story. The children’s Bible storybooks don’t tell the rest. Listen to what happened later after the army of Israel returned from one of the wars during their days in the desert.

Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. Moses said to them, "Have you let all the women live? Behold, these, on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord." Numbers 31:13-16

What is this? Well, Balak’s ‘plan A’ didn’t work. Balaam was constrained by God to bless and not curse Israel. But it appears that Balaam really was interested in that payoff that Balak had offered. So, he offered ‘plan B’, a little advice that just might work. ‘Listen, king. Why don’t you send some of your sweet young things over to Israel’s camp and have them invite the men to a little party that you’re going to throw. You know how things get out of hand when people are feeling good. I think you'll find that your problems will be taken care of then.’ And what happened? Listen.

While Israel lived in Shittim, the people [of Israel] began to whore with the daughters of Moab. These invited the people [of Israel] to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people [of Israel] ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. Numbers 25:1-3

Do you see what happened? The king was all set for a frontal attack. Balaam would weaken Israel and then the armies of Moab would do the rest. But the frontal attack didn’t work. So, Balaam suggests using the back door. What the army could not do, the women almost succeeded in doing. Balaam’s advice to seduce instead of attack almost resulted in the destruction of Israel as the people of God. And for that, by the way, Balaam was killed by the soldiers of Israel. That’s the full story of Balaam.

Now, Jesus draws from this Old Testament event in His words to this church. Do you see how it fits? The church stood firm in the face of the frontal attack, the persecution. But there was some back door activity. There was some seducing going on. Now, it wasn’t physical seducing. But you know how the Scriptures use physical immorality to picture spiritual immorality. That’s why that text from Numbers 25 reads, ‘… the people [of Israel] began to whore with the daughters of Moab…’ It’s a matter of being unfaithful to their God. That’s what was going on in Pergamum. They were being seduced by the culture, drawn away from faithfulness to Christ. There were those in the church, wittingly or not, who were encouraging this. ‘…you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam…’

To feel the force of what is happening here we need to go back to Mt. Sinai. The key to the identity of the people of God throughout the ages is revealed there. Listen.

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Exodus 19:5-6

What’s a holy nation? The basic idea of being holy is not, first and foremost, a kind of behavior. Being holy is being separated from what is common. God is saying that He will separate Israel from all the other nations. They will be in a different category from all the other nations. God bestows a different kind of status to His Church here. But that also means that His Church needs to live up to that status. Here is where the matter of behavior shows up. Because of this different status before God, His Church needs to act differently from all the other nations. As you look at the dietary laws of the Old Testament, the point wasn’t hygiene or health benefits, as so many suggest. The Church of the Old Testament ate in a way that was different from the other nations so that it would be reminded that it was different from the other nations. It was in a different category from the rest. It was God’s holy nation. And that’s why the incident with the Moabite women was so terrible. The people of God weren’t living up to their status as different from the rest, as God’s holy nation. They were acting just like the Moabites.

Now, Jesus takes all of that and applies it to the church in Pergamum. It was falling into the same trap. But they missed this because it was hard to see. From one perspective, the people of God in Pergamum were standing firm. ‘Jesus is Lord, not Caesar or Zeus or anyone else.’ And they were willing to die for that. Yet from another perspective, they weren’t standing firm at all. They were compromising with the culture so that, in important though subtle ways, they began to look just like the rest of the citizens of Pergamum. They weren’t maintaining their status as a holy, different, nation.

The issue here is the problem of being seduced by the culture, seduced into compromise even while there is the appearance of maintaining the truths of the Gospel. Jesus saw this and He was not happy about it. And so, He commissioned John to write this letter to let the church in Pergamum know that He was expecting change. They were called to be God’s holy nation. That status was being compromised. And that was unacceptable.

The message to the church at Pergamum is one that we, the Church of today, need to heed. We live in a time where the culture has enjoyed a great measure of success in seducing churches into compromise. You can find evangelical churches that are quick to announce that they hold to the old truths of the Gospel: salvation by faith in Jesus, the authority of the Bible, the resurrection. Yet, in too many cases, it is clear that the Moabite women have already been around. They have done their work and are being successful. The compromises have begun.

Now, this will mean nothing to you unless I point out some examples. So, let’s start with a simple one. According to what I understand, the divorce rate within the evangelical church is not so very different from that in the general culture. About the same percentage of marriages in the Church end in divorce as in the general culture. And the same kind of thing is true when it comes to teenage pregnancy rates. The percentages aren’t all that different. What does that say about our being that holy nation?

But in many respects that is a shallow analysis. Let’s go more deeply. Consider a big topic in many churches today: worship styles. Some churches opt for the contemporary style and all that goes with it. Then there are other churches that maintain the traditional style. And then there are the churches that try for the middle and have either blended services or multiple services, each with its own style. The point that I’m getting to here is not which way is right. We’ll leave that for another time. I want to go beyond that question to this: How do you even decide which style to adopt? What do you look to as the basis for an answer to the question about worship style? In this most churches are actually the same, even if they answer the question differently. ‘We worship in the way that we do because we like it that way.’ But that is exactly the problem. In this, so many churches have already compromised. God’s authority out there in the world has long been ignored. People do what they do out in the world because they feel like doing it that way. But that the Church has adopted the same mentality shows that we have been seduced by the ways of that world. When it comes to worship the question is not, ‘What style do we like? What do we think works for us?’ When it comes to worship the question is always, ‘What style does God want?’ But that is rarely the question being raised when a church looks at its worship style. In this the Moabite women have succeeded. The Church has been seduced and it doesn’t even know it.

But the most damning evidence is yet to come. Go back to that basic key to the identity to being the people of God. What was it? Being a holy nation, being separate, being different at heart, being Christian. And what should a church expect if it is true to that identity while in a culture that is based in unbelief? There will be one of two responses to a faithful church. Unbelievers will react against that church. They will hate it and what it stands for. And, sooner or later, that reaction will result in persecution of some sort. The church’s being different, being holy, being Christian, will draw forth a reaction. Remember what Jesus said.

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. John 3:19-20

That is one response to our being the holy nation of God in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. But there is another. Our neighbors could be drawn to the Church. These hear the message of the Gospel. They see it lived out by the members of the Church. They see the beauty of the possibility that sinners can be forgiven of their sins. They see in the lives of the people of God what it means to have God as Father, Jesus as older Brother, the Spirit as the ever-present Paraclete. They hear and see what it means to be a holy nation and are drawn to it.

These are two very possible responses to a church that is being faithful to its calling and living up to its status. But what does it say about the Church when there is neither response, neither a reaction against nor an attraction toward? It says that the Church has been assimilated into the general culture. It says that that Church and its members are so similar to all the rest of the people in that community that their Christianity isn’t even noticed. It says that there is no difference, not really. The Moabite women have come and succeeded. And that is where the modern Church is. Whatever difference there may theoretically be between us and them is so hard to detect that the world out there doesn’t even notice it. To all intents and purposes, we are just like they are. We may not worship Zeus, or say ‘Caesar is Lord’, but where it counts, they can’t really see any difference. This what the problem in Pergamum and this is the problem in the Church today.

So, what do we do? I think that the first thing that we do is mourn. The Church is failing. The Gospel is being ignored. Jesus is being mocked. And those who love Jesus deeply will mourn deeply. Then we need to pray. First, we pray David's prayer.

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
Psalm 139:23-24

We start by asking God to point out things that we are doing - or not doing - that contribute to this situation. As the Spirit points them out we need to repent of them, asking for grace so we might be changed. But we also need to pray for our brothers and sisters in the Church at large who might have been seduced. We need to pray that God would be merciful toward them even as He has been merciful toward us. And then, we need to pray that God’s Holy Spirit would once again move among His people, that we might be renewed to our calling to be a holy nation, to be different, to be Christian, so that the world would see the difference once again. That might mean persecution, but it will most certainly mean conversions. Either way, Jesus and the Gospel that He brought will become an issue again. The difference will become obvious. And in this way He will be honored.