12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.
The Roman governor of Asia exercised the ius gladii, or right of the sword, in Pergamum. He often carried a sword with him to remind others of this power. So, in a Roman capital with the power to execute people, Jesus reminds the persecuted church that the power over life and death belongs to God. After my dad died, I remember how much comfort I received from the sermon E.V. Hill gave at his wife’s funeral: “The power of life and death is not in the hands of Satan.” True authority belongs to God; righteous justice and judgment comes from God. As Jesus told Pilate, “You would have no power if it were not given to you from above.” (John 19:11)
But also keep in mind that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God.[1]
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
In Revelation 1, 2:16, and 19, this sword is portrayed as coming from the mouth of Jesus – as you would expect if it were words and not a real sword.[2] This will be an important point when we get to the “illustrated” part of Revelation where it appears that Jesus returns and slaughters people (Revelation 19). It’s words, not steel. More on that in the weeks to come.
13 I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas {bishop of Pergamos}, my faithful martyr/witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.
Lots of speculation about why this is where Satan lives and why he has a throne there. It could be because of emperor worship, the huge statue of Zeus, or the cult of Asclepius.[3] I lean toward believing it primarily means that the dragon-inspired beast of Rome rules from there (the ius gladii atthe judgment bench in Pergamum) and it’s bad news for Christians.[4]
14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. 15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
That sword again: the word of God stands against the false teachers. The pesky Nicolaitans are back; here they are compared to Balaam, who advised the Midianites how to lead the Israelites astray through sexual sin and idolatry, which were likely related (Nu 25:1–2; 31:16; Jude 11; 2 Peter 2:15.) Balaam is the poster child for corrupt teachers who deceive believers into compromise with worldliness. The Nicolaitans are just recycling an infamous chapter in Jewish history.[5]
The question the Christians of Pergamum faced was that of witness. Will they remain true to the name of Jesus or will they follow the name of the Beast? Will they look like the Empire or look like Jesus? Will they have a mark of ownership from the Beast or the Lamb?
17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious[6], I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.[7]
HIDDEN MANNAH
Jewish tradition claimed that the ark of the covenant, which had a pot of manna among other things, was hidden by King Josiah when the Chaldeans took Jerusalem. It would be recovered when the Messiah arrived.[8] Here, it is promised to those who overcome. It’s Jesus, of course. Jesus Himself made the connection between the manna of Moses’ day and His own provision of salvation:
“I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. . . . This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever” (John 6:48–51, 58).[9]
THE WHITE STONE
Christ offered to the faithful a white stone, or tessera. A white stone had various uses in antiquity: a token of admission to things like banquets, a symbol of victory in the Games,[10] a Christian amulet, a sign of acquittal,[11] the writing surface for official edicts,[12] or something used in an initiation into the service of a god. No one is really sure which use John had in mind – or if it was all of them. No matter what, white stones are a good thing.[13]
Epictetus once tried to talk a man out of becoming a priest in the imperial cult. The man wanted his name used to mark his year of office in public documents, because, he said, then “my name will remain.” Epictetus responded, “Write it on a stone and it will remain.”
THE NEW (AND SECRET)[14] NAME
There is something very important about naming things properly.
Practically speaking, we have at times used the wheel of emotions in our house. It helps us accurately speak, which actually helps us accurately process what we are feeling. There is something about getting the words right that helps you get the world right.
Naming implies knowing (at least ideally); it acknowledges existence; it both puts boundaries around a thing (“chicken”) and possibly opens up the possibilities of a thing (Is it a bird, a plane…it’s SUPERMAN!?!?). When things are properly named and identified, it helps us make sense of the world by solidifying truth.
Throughout human history, the names of people have been a big deal.[15] Many cultures have attached tremendous meaning to the names of people, as if they are or will become what you call them. I remember as a kid finding out that “Anthony” meant “priceless,” and I thought it meant I didn’t have a price, as in I was worthless. Mom kindly corrected me.
Think of “names’ as either a calling out or an expression of character, personality and even destiny. There is a reason Caesar wanted to be called Augustus (majestic; venerable).
In the Bible, we see God change the names of people in a way that either identified who they were or signaled who they were becoming.
· Abram (exalted father) to Abraham (father of a multitude)
· Sarai (princely) to Sarah (mother of princes)
· Jacob (cheater) to Israel (God’s people)
And then there is the way in which “name” is tied up with reputation. The builders of the Tower of Babel wanted to “make a name for themselves” (Genesis 11). No one else would assign it to them, thank you very much. I love the high point in the play The Crucible where John Proctor, whose reputation is on the line, begs, “Leave me my name!” It’s a biblical concern: “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” (Proverbs 22:1)
Names brings Identity – distinction from everything else. When God named his creation, it was as he separated it. Light is not dark. Land is not see. Animals are not humans. Adam is not Eve. Names bring Clarity – They or it is “this”, not “that.”
Naming shows authority - it makes a claim on something. We name our children. We name our cars. We name our pets. In fact, naming signals investment and relationship of some sort. My chickens to this day are numbers. My sons are not.
(And I should note, there is formal and informal naming. I’ve just been talking about formal naming. We do informal naming to: “Loser. Idiot. Lovely. Kind. Generous.” These things, to, are acts of authority because they shape the sense of identity of those around us.)
And here is Jesus giving His overcoming children a new name[16] because He has the authority to do that for His children, whose true identity he knows and speaks. (I think it is known only to those who receive it because there will be an experiential side to this that can’t be put into words. Maybe we get hints of that even now.)
First point: our “new name” is going to come from the one who knows how to make things new and name them accordingly.
‘If anyone be in Christ, they are a new creature. Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.’ (2 Corinthians 5:17)
We experience a foretaste of it now. God calls me His child now, and gives me a new family name now, and works on, in and through me now is amazing. He calls me child (John 1:11-13). He calls me friend (John 15:15). He calls me righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21), a holy temple (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). I didn’t earn any of those; God changed me; now he calls me not by who I was but by what I have become in Christ.
Yet though I am a new person, I don’t yet have the new name reserved for overcomers. I have new adjectives around my name; I have Holy Spirit power and direction on how to express my redemption and that will impact the reputation of my name. Jesus begins to show me the new Anthony that I am becoming – but I still have a name given and formed in the corruption of this world that longs for the day when I will be given a new me in which nothing is corruptible any longer. That, I think, is what John is pointing toward.
Second point: We all long for a name that will remain. We want a legacy so that our life is not a forgotten blip.
“I will give them, in My house and within My walls, a memorial and a name better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.” (Isaiah 56:5)
I have a lot of issues with the name Anthony. I don’t dislike the syllables and the phonetics of it. I think it’s a fine name linguistically, though I wish “Augustus” had been my middle name.
I have a lot of issues with the reputation associated with the name Anthony. There is history and baggage there. There’s good stuff, I get that. But if I could do life over again…. I still get embarrassed when I think of what I was like in high school, not to mention what I’m like now. There are soooooo many things I wish were better, more perfected, more majestic. I would settle for just not as flawed.
Those of you listening to this sermon who have known me for any amount of time have mixed emotions or feelings at any given moment coming from mixed experiences. Most days, there is some kind of reminder that any gold in my name is mixed with clay.
The idea that God is willing to wrap our corrupt names under his incorruptible reputation even now is sobering. That he would wrap our sin-soaked names in a cloak of glorious adjectives that we could never earn but that he first gives as he begins a good work[17] and empowers as we move toward their completion in eternity… amazing.
The idea that – to those who overcome by being faithful until death - God will not just restore a broken name but give us a new name in a New Heaven and a New Earth… This is a new incorruptible identity thanks to work of Jesus. This is new spotless reputation thanks to the grace of Jesus. This is us fully alive and ridiculously righteous because of the love of Jesus.
This is what we call hope. Even in the shadow of the throne of Satan, all is not lost. Hope springs eternal.
Hear what Jesus calls you even now: child, friend, righteous, a holy temple. Know that these descriptions are only a foretaste of who you will be in the world to come, thanks to the faithful, redemptive love of Jesus. Christ in you truly is the hope of glory.
#practicerighteousness
Let’s practice “naming others well” this week. By that, I mean let’s practice wrapping the names of those around us in beautiful adjectives.
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[1] Ephesians 6
[2] This is an important point to keep in mind when you get to the illustrated part of Revelation. Chapter 19 sounds like a brutal bloodbath, but it’s a symbolic illustration of the power of the word.
[3] In addition to emperor worship, the cults to Asclepius and Zeus were also endemic. The symbol of the former was a serpent, and Pausanias describes his cult image “with a staff in one hand and the other on the head of a serpent.” Pergamenian coins illustrate the importance that the community attached to this cult. Caracalla is shown on one coin, saluting a serpent twined round a bending sapling. On the crag above Pergamum was a thronelike altar to Zeus (cf. Rev. 2:13). It commemorated a defeat of a Gallic inroad and was decorated with a representation of the conflict of the gods and the giants, the latter shown as monsters with snakelike tails. To deepen Christian horror at Pergamum’s obsession with the serpent-image, Zeus was called in this context “Zeus the Savior.” (Zondervan All-In-One Bible Reference)
[4] Look how this is illustrated in Revelation 12: “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time.13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman (Mary/the church) which brought forth the man child (Jesus)... 17 And the dragon was angry with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her descendants, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
[5] Ramsay describes the situation: “In both Pergamum and Thyatira some of the Christians still clung to their membership of the pagan associations and shared in the fellowship of the ritual meal.” Eating food sacrificed to idols is one of the four practices from which the Jerusalem council asks Gentile believers to abstain (Acts 15:29; 21:25). The raging conflict that tore apart congregations in the early decades of the Gentile churches later appears resolved. Around A.D. 100 the command is simply “keep strictly away from meat sacrificed to idols, for it involves the worship of dead gods” (Didache 6:3).
[6] The temple to Athena Nikephoros (“Victory-Bearer”) was the most important in the city. These temples were situated on a spectacular acropolis that towered a thousand feet over the lower city.
[7] Just like Jesus in Revelation 19
[8] Further tradition claimed that either Isaiah or Jeremiah rescued the ark with its pot of manna and hid it until God would regather his people (2 Macc. 2:4–8) Some thought that an angel hid it and guarded it until the end times (2 Bar. 6:8).
[9] Maclaren summarizes well: “Now the first thing that it plainly suggests to us is the absolute satisfaction of all the hunger of the heart… there will be no painful sense of vacuity, and no clamoring of the unsubdued heart for good that is beyond its reach…we - ‘shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more…’ To us who know what it is to try to tame down the hungering, yelping wishes and longings of our souls - to us who have so often spent our ‘money for that which is not bread, and our labour for that which satisfieth not,’ it ought to be a Gospel: ‘I will give him to eat of the hidden manna.’” (MacLaren’s Expositions)
[10] These were called tesserae among the Romans, and of these there were several kinds.
1. Tesserae conviviales, which answered exactly to our cards of invitation, or tickets of admission to a public feast or banquet; tesserae inscribed with different kinds of things, such as provisions, garments, gold or silver vessels, horses, mares, and slaves; Tesserae frumentariae, or tickets to receive grain in the public distributions; and tesserae hospitales, which were given as badges of friendship and alliance, and on which some device was engraved, as a testimony that a contract of friendship had been made between the parties. (Adam Clarke)
[11] “There is an allusion here to the custom observed by judges in ancient times, who were accustomed to give their suffrages by white and black pebbles; those who gave the former were for absolving the culprit, those who gave the latter were for his condemnation. This is mentioned by Ovid, "A custom was of old, and still remains, Which life or death by suffrages ordains: White stones and black within an urn are cast, The first absolve, but fate is in the last." (Adam Clarke)
[12] One such relevant decree was issued in 9 B.C. by Paulus Fabius Maximus, the governor of Asia. It decreed that Augustus’s birthday should be made an official holiday. It was written in Latin and Greek on a white stone.
[13] I favor the idea that it’s an invitation to the eternal banquet, because that’s what the illustrations reference: “And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb.’ (Revelation 19:9, 12)
[14] The Secret: “For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous.” (Proverbs 3:32)“The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.” (Psalm 25:14) I think the ‘secret’ is the knowledge of covenantal life in Christ personally experienced. The redeemed and victorious understand what it means to belong to God and to be rewarded by him.
[15] Throughout human history, the true name of the gods have been a big deal too. The ancient Egyptians believed that Isis plotted to learn the secret name of Ra to gain his power. The one who knew the hidden name would receive the power and status of the god who revealed it. This kind of story is not unusual in mythology.
[16] It’s going to be connected to Jesus. We know this from the illustration part of Revelation. “His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself…” (Revelation 19:12,13)
[17] Philippians 1:6)