John recorded a letter to Pergamos given to him directly by Jesus.
The Book of Revelation presents the climax of GOD’S plan for man, it is the consummation of all things!
John, the Beloved Disciple begins in chapter 1:
1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants-things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,
2 who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.
3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the Words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
This is the only Book in the Bible which promises a special blessing to those of us who will read AND hear! Who gave this revelation? FATHER. To whom? Jesus, Who in turn gave It to John to record. The word signify means to make known something, either by signs or words.
The Beloved Disciple recorded what Jesus spoke in Revelation chapter 2:
12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘These things says He Who has the sharp two-edged sword:
13 “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My Name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
15 Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
16 Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My Mouth.
17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”‘
Jesus spoke concerning the past, present, and future:
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
These churches were all local churches. We are admonished by Jesus to study the condition of all seven churches, not just a subset. Today churches have elements of each of the seven churches referenced. If you have an ear, then hear and understand what the Holy Spirit is revealing to each of us. These seven churches also provide a prophetic picture of the history of the church age.
Pergamos was the great religious center and is identified as “the city of the serpent”. The Caduceus was the official emblem of the city. The Greek god Hermes (the god of commerce), who served as herald and messenger to the other gods, carried a winged staff entwined with two snakes. The staff of Aesculapius, the god of healing, had one snake and no wings. The word caduceus, from Latin, is a modification of Greek karykeion, from karyx, meaning “herald.” Strictly speaking, caduceus should refer only to the staff of the herald-god Hermes (Mercury to the Romans), but in practice the word is often applied to the one-snake staff as well. You might logically expect the staff of Aesculapius to be the symbol of the medical profession—and indeed, that is the symbol used by the American Medical Association. But you will also quite frequently see the true caduceus used as a medical symbol.
Pergamos was known as the compromising church. You can see the infiltration of the serpent and his throne was literally depicted by a large statue of Zeus above the city. Notice there are two serpents on the pole, a counterfeit to the serpent on the pole in Numbers 21. A serpent on a brass pole is a symbol of sin being judged.
The word Pergamos means mixed, objectionable marriage. Jesus described Himself as the One with the two-edged Sword… the Word of GOD.
Jesus mentions Balaam in this passage. Balaam is a soothsayer, not a prophet of GOD. He was hired by Balak, the king of Moab, to curse Israel (Num 22-24,31). Balaam did not curse Israel but instead taught the king how to defeat Israel. How? By enticing the men of Israel to commit fornication with Moabite women… prohibited in the Torah. This brought judgment on the land. We are warned not to compromise with the world! The doctrine of Balaam is spiritual unchastity; marriage with the world. The “way of Balaam” is making a market for his gift. Peter referred to this as he wrote by The Holy Spirit in 2nd Peter chapter 2:
15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
This is why Servias makes no “market” for its writings, etc. We have no payroll and rely solely on contributions to perpetuate this ministry. If HE is not in it, then neither am I! There is a fine line in urging people to give versus using guilt to get their money. My wife and I give to Servias and other ministries knowing that FATHER will continue to bless us in what we set our hands to for HIS Kingdom. Let us be counted among the wise virgins in being led by The Holy Spirit and not be taken in by those marketing their gifts.
The error of Balaam was sacrificing Eternal riches for temporal gain (Jude 11).
What is the promise to the overcomer? The hidden manna is Jesus: the Bread of Life in John chapter 6. The white stone with your name on it is not fully disclosed but had to do with our identification of purity and access.
What was Jesus’ admonition to us? We are to protect our spiritual morality and not allow ourselves to be compromised by the world. Once again,
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying.”