Context No. 2920 of 4322 · Revelation
Context · Reflection
Revelation 2:13-17: in context
13“I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. You hold firmly to my name, and didn’t deny my faith in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. 15So also you likewise have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16Repent therefore, or else I am coming to you quickly and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth. 17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows but he who receives it.
Christ writes to the church at Pergamum, a place he calls the very seat of Satan's throne. He commends them: you hold fast to my name and did not deny my faith, even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was killed among you. But then a complaint: you tolerate some who hold the teaching of Balaam and of the Nicolaitans, drawing people into idolatry and immorality. Repent, or I will come and war against them with the sword of my mouth.
Pergamum is praised for enduring outward persecution; they held firm even when one of their own was martyred. But they are rebuked for tolerating false teaching within. It is a sober warning that a church can be brave against attack from outside and yet dangerously lax about corruption inside its own walls. Faithfulness under pressure does not excuse compromise in doctrine and life. And the promise to the one who overcomes is intimate: hidden manna, and a white stone bearing a new name known only to the one who receives it.
Am I vigilant against compromise within, not only pressure from without, and do I long for the intimate new name Christ gives to those who overcome?
Sources
- Revelation 2:13: "You hold firmly to my name, and didn't deny my faith in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one."
- Revelation 2:17: "To him who overcomes... I will give a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows but he who receives it."
- 1 Corinthians 10:21: "You can't both partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons."