“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 (NLT)
Jesus message to the church in Pergamum begins with a commendation for remaining loyal under severe persecution, followed by a stern warning to repent of tolerating sexual sin and false theological teaching. The message ends with a promise of a reward for those who remain faithful.
Today the village of Bergama, Turkey covers part of the site of the ancient city of Pergamum. Ancient Pergamum was known as one of the most beautiful Greek cities with it’s buildings built on terraces of a steep mountain rising a thousand feet above the lower plain. It reached the high point of it existence under the reign of Eumenes II (197-159 AD). It was Eumenes II who erected the great altar of Zeus the Savior, which some scholars believe to be the “Throne of Satan” that the Apostle John uses to describe the atmosphere of the city toward Christians. Another plausible theory is that the “Satan’s Throne” title is in reference to Rome during the time when Pergamum was known as one of the oldest and most prominent centers of the imperial cult, which imagined Caesar to be divine and demanded subjects of Rome to worship Caesar. This obviously, would have presented early Christians with the dilemma of choosing to deny Christ by offering their worship to Caesar or to deny Caesar (often on penalty of death) by remaining true to Christ.
The principle of the message to the church in Pergamum remains the same for any church in any part of the world today. The message is to stand boldly in the face of persecution willing to lay one’s life down if and/or when necessary, and to reject false teaching and sexual immorality; two things which have continued to be problematic within the church throughout the ages, particularly in churches that have “lost their love” for Jesus and become complacent. “He who has ears…let him (or her) hear.”