THE SEVEN CHURCHES IN TIME AGES OF PROPHECY FULFILLMENT: CHURCH CANDLE 3 – THE AGE OF PERGAMOS

In the previous post, we discussed part two of the second church of the seven churches from the book of Revelation called Thyatira. As our present discussion is opened, let us return briefly to John’s vision of Jesus Christ dressed in the attire of the heavenly priesthood and standing in the midst of seven golden candlesticks. Immediately, Jesus instructs John to deliver seven letters to a certain seven churches in Asia. Note that the churches were not located in famous cities of the first century, such as Rome, Alexandria or Jerusalem. Ephesus is the only church of any notoriety, having received another New Testament epistle some years earlier from the hand of the Apostle Paul. To the average first-century reader, the churches may have appeared to be relatively unimportant – simply some local churches served by John. And yet, we must be aware that these letters are exclusively the words of the very Son of God, the last messages to come from the heart and mind of the Savior.

Theologians recognize the importance of the Sermon on the Mount and the parables of Christ, having read and studied them at length. But here we have the Lord’s last seven epistles and they are seldom studied. Are they not important enough to require the attention of God’s people? Dr. Joseph A. Seiss (1823-1904) wrote that the Church of England excluded the reading of these letters in public services: “

Archbishop Trench remarks that it is impossible, if the canons of the Church be followed, for these epistles ever to be read in public services.”

Archbishop Trench continued:

“It is very much to be regretted, that while every chapter of every other book of the New Testament is set forth to be read in the Church, and wherever there is daily service, is read in the Church, three times in the year, and some, or portions of some, oftener, while even of the Apocalypse itself two chapters and portions of others have been admitted into the service, under no circumstances whatever can the second and third chapters ever be heard in the congregation” (Epistles to the Seven Churches, page 10).

A Menorah Design

It is all the more important, therefore, that adequate attention be given to these outstanding prophetic epistles. The first two, Ephesus and Smyrna, have already been commented on in this series. As we approach the third letter, the letter to Pergamos, let us pause and take note of an emerging Menorah design in these seven letters to the seven churches symbolized by the candlesticks that Jesus is standing in the midst of in the Apostle John’s vision. To expound upon this Menorah design concept, let me briefly explain that the seven golden lamps were designed for a mirrored effect, with the three lamps on either side turned so as to face the center lamp. If one was standing before the Menorah, the three lamps on the left would be facing right, while the three lamps on the right would be facing left – as if each side were directing his attention toward the servant lamp in the center.

Such is the design of these seven letters to the seven churches of Revelation 2 & 3. For example, toward the conclusion of each of the first three letters, there is an injunction to “hear what the Spirit saith,” followed by a promise to “him that overcometh.” But in the final four letters to these churches, the process is reversed. The promise to the overcomer precedes the injunction to “hear what the Spirit saith.” This subtle shift in perspective should not be overlooked. The entire design draws our attention to the fourth and central epistle designated for the Church of Thyatira. From Ephesus where love was failing, to Laodicea where no fervor remained, the entire theme is one of general failure with few overcomers.

We have only to look at the past 2,000 years of Church history in order to conclude that Thyatira, the central letter corresponding to the servant (center) lamp of the Menorah, can only be descriptive of the Roman Catholic Church that emerged in the fourth century and brought disgrace to the Christian faith throughout the Dark Ages. Interestingly, the center servant lamp is the fourth lamp. This current study of the letter to Pergamos will correspond with the rise of the Roman Catholic institution under the imperial favor of the Roman state and it’s spiritual descent into the doctrines of Balaam and the cult of the Nicolaitanes. Thyatira, the next church in line after Pergamos, will further descend into the spiritual quagmires of Jezebel.

The Letter To Pergamos

In this installment, the letter to the church at Pergamos will be reviewed and will observe the spiritual descent of the early Church under the Imperial favor of the Roman state.

Jesus offers the following letter for John to deliver to Pergamos. I have highlighted certain terms and phrases for discussion …

“And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; 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. 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. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 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” (Revelation 2:12-17). 

The City of Pergamos

Greek explorers founded the city of Pergamos (modern Bergah) at least 500 years before the birth of Christ, and some two centuries before the Greek Empire was organized under Philip of Macedon and his son, Alexander the Great. Pergamos is located about fifteen miles east of the Aegean Sea and over a hundred miles southwest of the site of it’s once-contemporary community – ancient Troy. From Pergamos, one can look to the south and see the hills around Smyrna some fifty miles in the distance. Coins of ancient Pergamos found in excavations date back to 282 B.C. when Philetaerus rebelled against Lysimachus, one of the four generals who divided Alexander’s empire.

The dynasty of of Philetaerus lasted only 20 years, but the Kingdom of Pergamos continued until 133 B.C. The height of it’s glory came around 190 B.C. when the army of Pergamos won a decisive battle against the Syrian forces of Antiochus Epiphanes. In 133 B.C., Attalus 3 struck an alliance with Rome and brought political stability to the city. Over the next 250 years, Pergamos flourished as Rome’s official center in the region.

Satan’s Seat

In time, temples and public buildings were built to honor and worship the renowned rulers of the Roman Empire. This cult of Rome’s emperor worship was the subject of John’s letter – “where Satan’s seat is.” The first temple in Pergamos was built in 29 B.C., featuring a great throne-like altar established to promote the worship of Zeus. In time, a second temple was built in honor of the Roman emperor Trajan (A.D. 108), and a third to honor Severus (A.D. 192). However, only the first temple existed at the time of John’s letter.

The imagery of Christ as the one with “the sharp sword with two edges” alludes to the future return of Christ and his promise to bring judgment against the ruthless rule of Imperial Rome. The prophetic implication is that a future “Roman Empire” will rise in the last days and that the Antichrist will descend from the dynasty of one of Rome’s royal houses and their cult of emperor worship.

The subject of this letter highlights the conflict between Rome and the Christian religion during the time of great persecutions – ten of them – as has been previously noted. An example of the martyrdoms “wherin Antipas was my faithful martyr …” reminds us of the battle between Christianity and Satan’s throne throughout the Church Age. The martyrs will finally be avenged on the day of Christ’s Second Advent (Second Coming).

According to the Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible (volume 4, page 702), the significance of “Satan’s throne” became “… apparent since archaeology opened up a more detailed knowledge of the life of Pergamum [Pergamos] and the structure of it’s pagan cults. Paganism lay in three strata. There was an Anatolian substratum represented by the worship of Dionysus, the god of vegetation, and Asklepios, the god of healing. Snakes and the handling of reptiles were associated, as the Bacchae of Euripides shows, with the cult of Dionysus. Snakes were the symbol of Asklepios. A Pergamenian coin shows the emperor Caracalla standing with a spear in his hand before a great serpent twined around a bending sapling. He raises his right hand in the salute that Hitler’s Nazis brought back to another world.

Pausanias, who has left descriptions of his journeys in the Mediterranean lands, describes the same god enthroned with a staff in one hand, and the other on the head of a serpent. Christians must thus have found the cult of the god of healing and his serpent-infested temple, peculiarly revolting.

“Pausanias in his account of Pergamum (Pergamos) also describes a throne-like altar to Zeus on the top of the crag above the city. It was discovered in 1871 and taken to Germany, where it stands reconstructed today in the East Berlin Museum.

The structure, a perron of steps leading to a great altar, commemorated the defeat of a Gallic invasion two centuries before. The wondering Celts who reached Rome and Delphi in the era of their folk-wanderings also infiltrated Asia Minor. Pergamum, strong enough to drive them off, celebrated the deliverance with the altar to Zeus. It’s frieze represents the gods of Olympus battling with the giants shown in sculpture as a brood of muscular warriors with snake-like tails. The Zeus to whom the altar was dedicated was called Zeus the Savior, another offense to Christian minds.

“The second stratum in Pergamum’s religious history, represented by the Helenistic kingdom, shows the worship of Zeus and Athene. The third stratum represents the Roman period and the imperial cult. Perhaps Antipater, the Antipas of the letter, was the first to suffer martyrdom fo rejection of the cult. He died by burning in a brazen bull, says tradition, in Domitian’s day, and he must have been one of many in this place of pervading paganism.”

Pergamos was known for it’s library of 200,000 volumes, the invention of parchment, and a famous medical school where the god Asklepios was worshipped in the form of a serpent. This is one reason why the entwined serpent became the symbol of medicine.

The etymology of Pergamos stems from two Greek terms, perga meaning, “tower” and gamos meaning, “marriage.” The implication appears to be that of a “marriage” between the Christian religion and the Babylonian Mystery religion of the “tower.”

The Rise of Constantine

After ten successive persecutions, beginning with Nero in A.D. 67, through the tyranny of Diocletian in A.D. 303, the slaughter of Christians finally ended after the Edict of Toleration in A.D. 313. Constantine’s father, Constantius, had been installed as emperor of the Western half of the Roman Empire and Galerius over the Eastern half when Diocletian abdicated the throne. His short rule ended in death after only eighteen months and Constantine took his father’s place in A.D. 606, at the age of 32. It is said that Constantine’s father, Constantius, and his mother Helena, were Christians. Their testimonies were a constant witness to their son.

Shortly after Constantine ascended the Roman imperial throne, Maxentius kept the capital city for himself and revolted. Maxentius withstood the army of Constantine and drew him into battle with an army of 180,000. Constantine had only 40,000 men. Though not a Christian at the time, Constantine felt that he should appeal to the God of his father and mother for support. While praying, he saw the symbol of a cross made of light in the southwestern sky above the evening sun along with the inscription “in hoc vinces,” meaning “by this sign shalt thou conquer.” It is said that this strange apparition was seen by his entire army. According to the historical account, Constantine dreamed that night that Christ appeared and told him to use the symbol of the cross to lead his army to victory.

On October 28, A.D. 312, with Constantine’s army approaching the city of Rome, Maxentius built a trap in the form of a bridge of boats that crossed the Tiber River. However, while standing there with a garrison of his troops, the bridge gave way, sending the rebel and his elite guard to their deaths in the river. Like mighty Pharoah’s army in the midst of the Red Sea, God miraculously put an end to the rebellious Maxentius and allowed Constantine to enter the city victorious. Rome was liberated at last. The people cheered their emperor, glad that the wicked Maxentius was dead.

Constantine’s brother-in-law, Licinius, was established as the ruler of the Eastern half of the Empire. Shortly thereafter, the two rulers jointly approved and issued the Edict of Toleration:

“I Constantine, the august, and I Licinius, the august, desirous of promoting in every way the public peace and prosperity, have deemed it one of our first duties to regulate the worship of deity. We do therefore grant to Christians and all others the liberty to embrace the Christian faith, or any religion to him may seem best.”

Constantine embraced the Christian faith, gave personal advisory positions to Church leaders, built elaborate church buildings, fed the poor, cared for orphans and widows and did those things that endeared himself to the people as a great leader throughout the empire.

It was not long, however, until Licinius began to persecute Christians and destroy their churches. Upon hearing that the man, to whom he had entrusted the Eastern half of the empire and had given the hand of his own sister in marriage, was persecuting Christians, the emperor summoned his troops and confronted his brother-in-law on the field of battle. Constantine easily won the conflict and executed Licinius. He freed the Christian prisoners, reunited families, restored lands and rebuilt churches. Once again, Christians could live in a peace and prosperity in every province of the empire. The persecution of Christians had finally come to an end. There would be no more government-sponsored persecution of Christians for several centuries.

“Thou Holdest Fast My Name And Hast Not Denied My Faith” 

Constantine would often convene the greatest theological minds in the kingdom, take off his royal robe, dismiss his guards, and sit unprotected as an equal with Christian ministers to discuss matters of theology. They strove to maintain the purity of Christian theology, just as the epistle to Pergamos predicted, “Thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith.” However, there were certain factions developing in Alexandria and Antioch that would challenge the deity of Christ.

Two opposing heretical views of Christology, Arianism and Sabellianism clashed about the year 318 or 320. Arianism denied the true deity of Christ and set forth the premise that Christ did not exist before he was begotten of the Father. Sebellianism taught that Jesus was mere human with divine power bestowed upon him.

Philip Schaff, in The History of the Christian Church (volume 3, page 478) writes, “Bishop rose against bishop, and province against province. The controversy soon involved, through the importance of the subject and the zeal of the parties, the entire Church, and transformed the whole Christian East into a theological battlefield.

Many heresies had been encountered and exposed since the deaths of the Apostles some two centuries before. Most heresies grew out of the philosophies of pagan idolatry – Egyptian, Greek and Roman mythologies. As Christianity flourished and spread into remote communities, true doctrinal teachings suffered. Christian theology suffered at the whims of the pagan philosophers, Platonists, Stoics, Pythagoreans and Gnostics.

Infighting among the theologians became as political and personal as any pagan society. Attempts to discredit opposing ministers fractured the fellowship of the Roman church. Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria opposed Arius, a presbyter in his congregation, for his views on Arianism. In retaliation, the Arians fabricated lies against the morality and personal integrity of Athanasius.

The Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) did not solve the controversy. Within a few years, a quarrel broke out between Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, and Eustathius, bishop of Antioch. Eustathius accused Eusebius of perverting the Nicene doctrines, while Eusebius denied the charge, and in turn, accused Eustathius of teaching the heretical views of Sabellianism.

True doctrine suffered as the Church developed ties with the Roman government. Political expediency and prestige took it’s toll on the integrity of the ministers. Over the next 500 years, Christianity yielded to some of the most obscene heresies. Some of them will be reviewed in this study of Thyatira.

The Doctrine of Balaam

The basic heresies cited in Christ’s letters to Pergamos and Thyatira through the Apostle John addressed two basic problems – eating meat offered to idols and fornication. These were said to be the basic tenets in the doctrine of Balaam, the cult of the Nicolaitanes, and in the teachings of Jezebel. Just how widespread this problem became is not fully known, but this injunction was the subject of a letter sent to all Gentile congregations after the first council in Jerusalem. James, the moderator of the meeting, explained that the tenets of Judaism should not be forced upon Gentile Christianity, but only that they “abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication” (Acts 15:29).

During the years of Roman persecution, this became the “litmus test” for executing Christians. The men had to offer sacrifices to the Roman pantheon of gods and the women had to submit to prostitution. In fact, this was the method used by Licinius during the final persecution of Christians.

In The Life of Constantine by Eusebius, we are told that Licinius “drove from his house every Christian … Then he commanded that the soldiers in the cities should be cashiered and stripped of their rank unless they chose to sacrifice to the demons.”

Eusebius tells how Licinius treated “… men of noble birth and high reputation whose young wives he snatched from them and consigned to certain baser fellows of his own, to be shamefully abused by them, and the many married women and virgins upon whom he gratified his passions.”

In every persecution against the Church, Christians refused to offer sacrifices to idols and their wives refused to submit to moral violations. Perhaps these injunctions against Balaam and the cult of the Nicolaitanes were prophetic of the faithfulness required during the coming persecutions.

The Cult of the Nicolaitanes

The modern view of the Nicolaitanes is that they promoted the concept of a priestly class ruling over the assemblies of believers. The etymology of the Greek term stems from two words, nicao meaning, “to conquer” and laity referring to “the people.”

Early historical writings maintain that Nicolaus was one of seven deacons appointed in Jerusalem (Acts 6:1-7), and that his followers became known as the Nicolaitanes.

In the Epistle of Ignatius (A.D. 30-107) to the Trailians, he writes, “Flee also the impure Nicolaitanes, falsely so called, who are lovers of pleasure, and given to calumnious speeches.”

Again, in his Epistle to the Philadelphians, Ignatius warns that “if anyone …affirms that the unlawful unions are a good thing, and places the highest happiness in pleasure, as does the man who is falsely called a Nicolaitane, this person can neither be a lover of God, nor a lover of Christ, but is a corrupter of his own flesh, and therefore, void of the Holy Spirit, and a stranger to Christ.”

Irenaeus (A.D. 120-202) also addressed the subject of the Nicolaitanes. In Irenaeus Against Heresies, he wrote, “The Nicolaitanes are the followers of that Nicolas who was one of the seven first ordained to the deaconate by the apostles. They led lives of unrestrained indulgence. The character of these men is very plainly pointed out in the Apocalypse of John, [when they are represented] as teaching that it is a matter of indifference to practice adultery, and to eat things sacrificed to idols.”

Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 153-217) says that Nicolas was a faithful husband, and brought up his children in purity, but that his disciples misunderstood his saying (which he attributes also to the Apostle Matthias), “that we must fight against the flesh and abuse it.”

Hippolytus (A.D. 170- 236) wrote several volumes entitled, The Refutation of All Heresies, in which he states that Nicolaus was the Bishop of Samaria and that he “departed from correct doctrine, and was in the habit of inculcating indifferency of both life and food. And when the disciples (of Nicolaus) continued to offer insult to the Holy Spirit, John reproved them in the Apocalypse as fornicators and eaters of things offered unto idols.”

Victorinus (d. 303), in his Commentary on the Apocalypse of John, writes: “This thou hast also, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes.” But because thou thyself hated those who hold the doctrines of the Nicolaitanes, thou expectest praise. Moreover, to hate the works of the Nicolaitanes, which he himself also hated, this tends to praise. But the works of the Nicolaitanes were in that time were false and troublesome men, who, as ministers under the name of Nicolaus, had made for themselves a heresy, to the effect that what had been offered to idols might be exorcised and eaten, and that whoever should have committed fornication might receive piece on the eighth day.”

Philip Schaff, author of The History of the Christian Church (volume 2, page 363), writes:

“They claimed as their founder Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch and one of the seven deacons of the congregation of Jerusalem (Acts 6:5). He is supposed to have apostasized from the true faith, and taught the dangerous principle that the flesh must be abused, that is, at least as understood by his disciples, one must make the whole round of sensuality, to become it’s perfect master.”

In volume 4 (page 251), Schaff writes that Bruno, bishop of Toul, was chosen to occupy the papal chair in 1048. Upon his arrival in Rome, he discovered an ecclesiastical organization filled with “Nicolaitism or the carnal sins of the clergy, including marriage, concubinage and unnatural vices …”

Whatever else Balaam may have taught, idolatry and immorality were his two chief weapons against the saints. The Nicolaitanes fell upon these very temptations. They have been the tools of Satan against Christianity down through the centuries.

The age of Pergamos was to be characterized by the pitfalls of imperial favor. Most churches and their leaders failed to keep focused on the need to preach the Gospel. Instead, they prided themselves on trivial matters – government-sponsored building programs and insignificant discussions of doctrines whose tenets were too deep for human minds to comprehend in the first place.

Like other followers of the Gnostic traditions, the Nicolaitanes sought hidden spiritual knowledge through mystical experiences. They believed that this knowledge alone was perfectly sufficient for salvation. In verse 14, we read of the stumbling block of “eating things sacrificed to idols” and “committing fornication” in the same line of thought. This strongly implies that God’s issue against them was “spiritual fornication.” When eating things sacrificed to idols, one should think of the act of spiritual adultery or worship of other gods. Often, and in most commentaries, emphasis is always placed on the physical act of fornication as being the sum of the rebuke in this passage to Pergamos, but in reality, it seems to imply more of a spiritual fornication. Although the physical act itself may be a part of the spiritual adultery as an act of invoking the evil power within the spiritual adultery, we would do well to emphasize the spiritual aspect of the fornication. This implies the spiritual condition of the human soul of those within this particular church who hold this doctrine – the doctrine of Balaam.

If we want to be pin-point accurate in what this passage of scripture is telling us, it becomes necessary to focus upon the key point that Jesus makes to this church when saying “… thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith …” (verse 13). By definition, those who do not hold fast his name and deny his faith are those who are not saved and do not know Christ, therefore, are committing spiritual fornication whose souls are damned. The doctrine of Balaam reveals the spiritual fornication aspect of God’s issue with Pergamos for tolerating those in their midst who held this doctrine. Most importantly, it reveals their lost and unsaved condition. Not everyone who calls themselves Christian are really true, born again believing Christians who have a saving faith – the faith that God requires for entrance into Heaven. It is supreme folly to assume that every person spoken of within the churches of Revelation 2-3 was a saved, born again believer on their way to Heaven. This is simply not true. 

All too often in commentaries on the Seven Churches of Asia, the focus upon the word “fornication” is misplaced for the simple reason that the moral sensibilities of Christians kick into overdrive and feel obligated to emphasize physical fornication, as though this is what this particular passage is speaking about. It is not, although physical fornication may have been a part of it. Remember, as stated earlier in this article, the etymology of the word “Pergamos” stems from two Greek terms, perga meaning, “tower” and gamos meaning, “marriage.” The implication appears to be that of a “marriage” between the Christian “religion” (not true saving faith) and the Babylonian Mystery religion of the “tower.” This is the “fornication” Jesus spoke of in this letter to Pergamos.   

  

“Hidden Manna” and The “White Stone”

There were some overcomers during the Age of Pergamos. These were humble and faithful servants of God who, though destined like their contemporaries to enter centuries of “wilderness” wanderings, were fed with “hidden manna.” These were the faithful remnant who served God while others were busy playing politics with the gospel.

Spiritual food – the quest for biblical knowledge – was hidden from most theologians during those early years. Even today, the “hidden manna” of biblical theology is only given to a few who seek it.

The “white stone” may have been used in Judaism by the priesthood. Some say that a pouch containing a white stone and a black stone was kept behind the breastplate of the High Priest and consulted on occasion to determine the mind of God. It may have had something to do with the Urim and Thummim. Nevertheless, the overcomer in the Apostle John’s Revelation letter to Pergamos is promised the “white stone” of affirmation along with a new name. These two items hearken back to Israel’s wilderness journey and may be prophetic of the Church Age depicted in the epistle to Pergamos.

The events of history of what befell the church during the time of Pergamos and the rise of Constantine most certainly fit the description of Christ’s prophecy written to Pergamos through the Apostle John. As we can see, the events and general theme of Pergamos in history occurred largely over a specific period of time before falling into another theme defined by the next successive church. It shows yet more strong evidence that the Seven Churches are not just physical churches of the past that have a message for all church ages within the Dispensation of Grace, or Church Age, but also a prophesied space of time that each church represents.

In the next installment, this discussion of Church history will be continued through the letter of Thyatira. Link below.

THE SEVEN CHURCHES IN TIME AGES OF PROPHECY FULFILLMENT: CHURCH CANDLE 4 – THE AGE OF THYATIRA

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