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Letter to the Church of Pergamum  

Thoughts on the Passage

Pergamum was the political and religious capital of the cities in this region. This meant that presence of a church here would face significantly higher pressure and persecution than other churches in the region faced. It also means that the church faced significant internal heresy issues – as people compromised politically and religiously. The pressure they faced resulted in the martyrdom of Antipas (the bishop of Pergamum) when he refused to worship Caesar. The church struggled with false teaching. The teaching of Balaam (people who compromised truth so that it led to idolatry and worshipping other gods) and the teaching of the Nicolaitans (people who said sinning is not a problem and God easily forgives). Jesus’ warning to these people is that He has a sword that He will use against them if they follow these evil practices.

Jesus has special promises for this church though. They are really amazing ones. He promised three things:
-- They would eat the hidden manna
-- They would have a white stone with their name written on it

-- The name would be a new name just for them

What is so special about these three promises? Well, they refer to things brought into His presence by the High Priest in the Old Testament temple. The manna was kept in His presence – they can come into His presence and be nourished at any time. The white stone is similar to the ones worn by the priest when he entered into the presence of God. Each stone had the name of one of the tribes of Israel. Their stone would have their new name – and Jesus (our High Priest) would always be in the presence of God carrying them, their stone and their name. These promises are unbelievable in the favor that Jesus promises to this church. 

When a church faces incredible pressure to compromise – and they stand firm, God has amazing promises of blessing for them. Remember that when we face severe challenges!

The video link gives a great history of Pergamum. It also describes some of the religious temples that caused the church to face incredible persecution from the religious people of the city and region.

Prayer

Father, first I pray for the people of Your Church that are facing incredible persecution and trouble right now. It is so difficult to keep being faithful in the face of this unrelenting pressure. Give them strength and courage. Keep their name ever before You and uphold them and strengthen them. Feed them with Your manna – nourish their spirit and their souls with Your blessing. Second, I pray for those who will be facing that pressure soon. They need to know that You prepare us for the times of challenge. You will guide us through them and never leave us. You allow us to go through them so that this world sees Jesus – through us. They often fight it, attack it, but they see Jesus in us. Keep us faithful to show our world what Jesus does. Finally, for those of us who do not face that, keep us faithful too. It is as hard to be faithful when things are easier as it is when things are harder because we find it easy to relax and forget what keeps us strong. So strengthen us today. I pray in Jesus' Name, Amen.