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REVELATION - Behold, I am Coming Soon
Studies in the Book of Revelation
BOOK 1 - BEHOLD, I AM COMING QUICKLY! (REVELATION 1:1 - 3:22)
PART 1.2 THE FIRST VISION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES ON EARTH: THE APPEARING OF THE SON OF MAN TO SANCTIFY HIS CHURCHES (REVELATION 1:9 - 3:22)
PART 1.2.2 THE LETTERS OF JESUS CHRIST TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES IN ASIA MINOR (REVELATION 2:1 - 3:21)

3. The Letter of Jesus Christ to the Church Leader in Pergamos (Revelation 2:12-17)


But I Have a Few Things Against You: You Tolerate Members of Pagan Cults in Your Church: The church pastor was certainly very happy about Jesus’ praise, but he was shocked when the Lord was compelled to utter the small word “but” to him. Jesus saw through the earnestness of the courageous pastor and his congregation in the face of oppression and exposed a deadly sin and threat. This point of entry for the evil one needed to be quickly shut and destroyed.

What was the alarming, cancer-like sickness that became visible in the church of Pergamos? The Lord compared it to the advice of Balaam in the Old Testament (Numbers 31:16; 25:1-3). Balaam was a Midianite clairvoyant and necromancer. King Balak, ruler of the Midianites, called him, so that he could curse and destroy the approaching Israelites. However, the Angel of the Lord opposed the soothsayer and inspired him, instead, to bless Israel three times in increasing measure, and to prophesy of the coming Messiah as “Jacob’s Star”.

The angry ruler sent the seer on his way. Before leaving, however, this man advised the ruler not to attempt to conquer the Israelites with mere weapons, but rather through invitations to sumptuous feasts with amorous young women. By so doing the Israelites would intermingle in Midianite culture and lose their own distinct cultural identity. And indeed, many of the children of Jacob became entranced by the power of the spirit of Baal-Peor, who seduced them with wine, women, and feasting, as he drew them in under his spell.

Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and the Midianites, so that He destroyed all the multiculturalist Israelites first, and then the majority of the Midianites. The anger of the Lord burned similarly against the earnest church leader in Pergamos – despite his courageous witness for the name of Jesus – because he tolerated some church congregants, who claimed to believe in Jesus and yet did not want to break off their contact with their relatives and friends involved with the various pagan shrines. These members accepted invitations to opulent sacrificial feasts, ate with the others the meat that had been sacrificed to idols, drank with the intoxicated, and whored with the temple prostitutes. Jesus could tolerate this no longer, even though the inhabitants of the city had no qualms with the temple orgies. Fellowship with them was equal to a spiritual divorce with Jesus, who had bound Himself to them through Believers’ baptism. This spiritual divorce eventually led to actual divorce, for passion goes hand in hand with indecency (1 Corinthians 8:10; 10:14). Jesus demanded from the church leader that he end this multicultural adultery once and for all and immediately.

Perhaps the Greek Nicolaitans could be compared to those Hebrews who fell into Balaam’s trap. They allowed themselves to be drawn into a cultural mélange and thereby lost their distinct identity. Balaam’s idea was a heresy that crept into the church of Pergamos and spread like cancer, with seeming yet empty theological arguments, alternative worldviews and even actual sins being tolerated.

Repent, Or Else I Will Come to You Quickly And Will Fight Against You: Jesus did not judge and condemn the lost and guilty, but gave them time and space to repent. He uncovered their sins, so that they could recognize these as guilt and injustice. He then waited for heart-felt remorse and a willful decision to break with spiritual and physical sin once and for all! Jesus’ call to repentance was a clear command, not just a friendly recommendation. The Lord’s “no” to multicultural amalgamations should settle deep into Christian consciences and rouse within them the will to repent and renounce all sin.

Whoever does not end both his spiritual and actual adultery must experience firsthand that Jesus is the divine Judge who comes personally and chastens with words, “accidents”, and sicknesses. It was not the Lord’s intention to fight against the church leader at Pergamos personally, but rather against the permissiveness that abounds and seduces during every “golden age”, and that opens doors to rival attachments. Whoever does not enter into an exclusive relationship with the Lord but becomes a fool for other liberal worldviews will lose fellowship with Him and will come to view Him suddenly as an enemy standing before him! The Lord does not delight in the death of the wicked (Numbers 32:1-7); rather, it is His will that the sinner’s heart will soften and lead him to repentance. The Lord fights against the mutinous spirit found in the “tolerant” and seeks to drive it out of them, before this unclean spirit has a chance to complete its destruction in them and in the Church.

The pastor in Pergamos needed to repent, because he had grown too generous and lenient towards a tolerant church member. He needed to learn how to subordinate all humanistic cultural standards to the Cross of Christ and the Holy Spirit.

In several churches in Morocco, only those converts are considered genuine Christians who do not fast during Ramadan but purposefully eat, even though eating in public during this time carries the legal penalty of jail for up to six months. Many Christian believers feel that fasting during this time represents hypocrisy and sin, for those who go along with this Islamic custom are in danger of making their freedom in Christ an occasion to sin (1 Peter 2:16).

Christ cannot approve of the cultures of America, Europe, Africa, or Asia; but rather, only His own culture, which is full of truth, love, humility, and justice. Christians should be strangers in this world, for they are neither in this world nor of it, and they should not conform to those who are dead in sins.

The third word of Christ regarding His coming is again a threat, which has as its goal the purification of the Church from multicultural influences.

He Who Has an Ear, Let Him Hear What the Spirit Says to the Churches: The letter of Christ – initially laudatory – to the elders of the church in Pergamos contains a decisive warning to all church leaders on all continents: Jesus does not tolerate an unclean spirit or faith in gods, spirits, kings or tyrants – especially not in the serpent of old. Jesus seeks to separate all congregations from the idea of a God-redeemed socialism or capitalism. Even natural scientists, peace promoters, and philanthropists are a source of annoyance to the Lord if they live without a complete surrender and dedication of their very selves to Him. Every worldview is an error – a spiritual seduction and something wholly unreal – if it bypasses the Son of God and does not lead to a spiritual rebirth of the Spirit by way of the Cross and Resurrection.

The Holy Spirit discerns, sanctifies comforts, strengthens, protects, and guides the followers of Christ in safety through their journey in the desert of life.

The Hidden Manna and the White Stones: Jesus challenges the church leader to fight against the satanic spirit in his church until he is victorious. Overcoming is not just a matter of self-denial and gaining victory over the temptations in our own selves; rather, it is primarily a matter of implementing the lordship of Jesus Christ in the territory of the prince of this world. Satan must be bound, cast out, and overcome in Jesus’ name. No Christian can do this in and of himself. However, if we live in full fellowship with Jesus and dependence on Him, He will let us triumph through our faith and love. “This is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith” (1 John 5:4). This principle applies also in Pergamos, where Satan has his seat. What Paul had written to the church in Rome was to occur in Pergamos, too: “… the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly” (Romans 16:20).

At the end of His letter, Jesus promises spiritual gifts of eternal value for overcoming Satan. If Christians deny themselves the meat that has been sacrificed to the gods in the presence of Satan, they will eat manna, the bread of heaven, in the presence of God. This food, similar to the tree of life, points to their abiding and fullness in God’s own eternal life. Whoever comes to Him and remains in Him will no longer hunger, and he who believes in Him and courts no other gods will never thirst (John 6:35-40).

The promised white stone pointed to the honoring of victors during the Olympic Games in ancient Greece. There, the victors were given a small marble slab as a prize, upon which their name was engraved. This was the legal confirmation of their victory, and it was acknowledged by all officials and authorities.

Overcoming spiritually in the power of Jesus Christ is no black stone, as Muslims claim; rather, it is a white, pure stone that possess eternal worth. The Muslims’ black stone was a meteor that fell from heaven; the animists worshipped it as a fossilized spirit. Even today, Muslims gather around this stone in order to be filled with its radiating power and to confirm themselves in their Islamic faith. After the pilgrimage, many Muslims’ faces appear as stone.

The white stone of Christians contains a secret that only the Lord and His chosen ones know - their new name, which points to a new creation, a new gifting, and a new orientation. Those who are born again and sanctified receive it from their Lord and Judge. This new name glorifies the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and not the overcomer himself.

PRAYER: Holy Lord and Judge, please don't let anyone of Your followers play a double game, worshipping You and joining unclean parties at one time. You are against swinging between truth and evil and you severely and violently cleanse your churches from syncretism. Help us to sort what is essential from what is untrue in our churches and to continue with the faithful taking up Your cross to the end.

QUESTION:

  1. Why was Christ angry back then and even today?

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