chapter 10 in the book, A Future and a Hope
The Word to the Church in Pergamum
PERGAMUM : To exalt human leaders, be joined to the ways of the world,
where hirelings ‘devour’ the people and rule them harshly
… ultimately a spiritual environment that Jesus will destroy
August 2008
In 2008 the Lord gave me this word for a church in Hong Kong. After plainly confirming it to me, saying, “Oh, my word for this Church IS Pergamum! … and I’m SERIOUS!” Wow, he sounded very upset! So I took it seriously! Too bad no one else did!
But before I shared it with anyone, I felt I needed to learn more about it. Honestly, when I first heard the Lord give this word, I had absolutely no idea what it meant and had to do a lot of research regarding the historical symbolism and word meanings before I felt comfortable sharing it. I feel this is a fairly comprehensive treatment of the prophecy but I encourage you to check up yourself on my research in case you feel it is incorrect.
This is the relevant part of Scripture from The Book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ, with my emphasis in bold:
12. “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this: 13. ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14. ‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. 15. ‘So1 you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16. ‘Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war 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, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’
Considering the promises to overcomers, ‘hidden manna’ probably refers to a deep revelation of Christ that is not so easily searched out. A ‘white stone’ is probably a symbol of forgiveness, acquittal, and even can suggest a blessing of honor. ‘A new name’ can mean a new identify, a new nature and so a new or greater inheritance. I know Isaiah 61, the prophetic picture of Christ’s ministry and our new life in Him, speaks about doubling one’s inheritance, and Jesus spoke several parables about those having been given certain talents or minas, who would get double if they were found faithful: we’re not just talking about getting more wealth, in one case it suggests the faithful received ‘authority over cities,’ which I think signifies true spiritual authority over a geographical area.
Plainly, however, the ‘hidden manna,’ ‘white stone’ and ‘new name’ are only given to those in Pergamum who overcome the ways of Balaam and the Nicolaitans first. And note the warning in verse 16 where Jesus says He is coming quickly to YOU, meaning the whole Pergamum church, and when He does Jesus Christ himself wages war against THEM, meaning those who still hold onto the teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans. How will Jesus wage war or fight against them? With the Sword of His Mouth, which is His anointed word, and can suggest He will send His prophetic ministers as a forerunner, but this is not just a lecture, tongue lashing or angry tirade that He will wage war with. When the Lord speaks His word, regardless of how or through which vessel it is ministered, it means His purposes are being released in heaven and they begin to achieve His results with unquenchable fire on earth: His Word is a Fire; and with unstoppable force: His Word is a hammer. But the Lord is already even now releasing the Sword of His Mouth against Pergamum, which means His purposes have already been unleashed in the spiritual world … things certainly do not look optimistic for the Religious Spirit, the Control Spirits, the Spirits that Devour God’s people ….
We as people can either take His warning willingly, and change our ways, repenting from cooperating with these demonic powers, or remain mired in our previous ways and suffer the consequences when His Holiness manifests. The point is, the Lord is on the move and we need to act wisely. When the wise sees trouble coming, he hides himself—but the simple just keep right on walking. Let us be wise.
To truly repent from these sins, meaning to change our behavior, we need to first understand what Pergamum, Balaam and the Nicolaitans represent. The first obstacle in doing this is that the warning in this passage is very obscure, which makes it a little difficult to know what to repent of! I have researched this point and am offering my best presentation at this time as to what this word means. Again, please check my research if you feel you need to, and please do give me feedback if you’d like to help me improve this teaching.
First, a Framework of the Prophecy
In seeking to understand this passage, I think it is helpful to keep in mind the scope of this prophecy, and who it applies to.
First, the seven church prophecies in Revelations describe real churches in the first century.
Second they describe AN AGE of the church’s overall development over the last 2,000 years. So for several hundred years this passage identified the whole church. For example, today we are in the Laodicean Age, the last age of the church, where literally “the People’s Opinion” rules, or to read it another way, the Age where the “People are Judged.”
Third this passage could describe the spiritual condition of particular churches in existence during any given Age, but especially churches with ALL of these seven characteristic styles are around today.
PERGAMUM: To marry the world; to exalt an idol; to worship leaders as Divine, Infallible, or Untouchable
We first want to look at the plain meaning of the words used to describe the spiritual powers at work in this environment. We’ll define the literal meaning of Pergamum, Balaam and Nicolaitan, beginning with Pergamum.
Pergamum was a real Greek city now in modern day Turkey. The root word of “Pergamum” can literally mean two general things: First, it probably means “to marry.” Second it was used to mean “to exalt / lift up on high.”
The “marriage” suggestion of this condition clearly refers to a mixture of the sacred with the profane. Constantine himself is the clearest example of this pollution as he combined leadership of church and state. We are talking about a marriage of God’s Truth with Human (or demonic) untruths or methods. Imagine winning converts with money payments, or the threat of death, etc.
The second meaning of the word “Pergamum” which is “to exalt and put on a pedestal,” comes from the nature of the city itself, since the city of Pergamum was a city built high on a promontory, a cliff overlooking the sea. So this word came to be used to mean “to exalt” and to worship something, and it was even used to refer to the idol pedestals themselves which were used to display idols of pagan deities in the home.
But additionally Pergamum as a city was known as the CENTER and most prominent stronghold of Ceasar Worship. It was where the human emperor was exalted and worshiped as a Divine Being—many Christians were killed in Pergamos (before the time of Constantine) most obviously for refusing to worship the current political ruler as Divine.
Concerning Pergamum being the center of emperor worship, the following excerpt on the history of Pergamum comes from the noted source—not a very good interpretation of Revelations, but it contains some commonly held views on Pergamum’s actual history.
In addition, the city was steeped in emperor worship, more intense than all the other cities. It was the first in Asia to have a temple devoted to the worship of Ceasar. (sic.) In other cities a Christian might be in danger on only one day a year when a pinch of incense had to be burned in worship of the emperor. In Pergamum, however, Christians were in danger every day for the same reason. With such multiplicity of paganism and idolatry, it is no wonder that Christ writes with empathy to the church in Pergamum: “I know where you live where Satan has his throne.” (2:13).
The commonly recognized “Era of Pergamum” is generally held to be from the start of the reign of Constantine. William Brehm, a church historian, suggests the Age of Pergamum lasted until the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire in 800 AD, a five hundred year span.
During this time there were several developments in general Christendom, some good others very bad.
The good included the end of the lengthy persecution of the Christian faith within the Roman Empire. The bad includes the mixture of secular government and the church as the roman leader became the de facto head of the church, and new rules that soon made EVERY citizen a de jure Christian (meaning, everyone had to go to church, and so basically become a Christian by law.). We also saw the separation of the common people from playing an active role in leadership with the creation of the clergy class, and later with the establishment of the Roman Papacy.
CONSTANTINE: An Unconverted Christian Who Was Also A Lifelong Pagan
Constantine was a pagan general who adopted Christianity without having a spiritual conversion experience of becoming ‘born again’ or repenting of his sins. He adopted Christianity as one may adopt a patron benefactor, or choose a favorite sporting team.
He did this when he supposedly saw a vision or a dream of a kind of odd cross in the sky before a victorious and decisive battle in Rome during a civil war.
It is noteworthy that HE DID NOT see a vision of Christ CAUSING HIM TO REPENT OF HIS SINS, or meet Jesus and experience conviction and A NEED FOR SALVATION, nor did he confess or repent of his sins, or even gave up any of his pagan practices, but in fact openly embraced and promoted paganism alongside Christianity.
Some accounts of his vision are devoid of having seen anything other than a slanted X. Others include the phrase “In Hoc Signo Vinces,” meaning “In this sign you shall conquer,” or a P with an X which was actually a spear across a bar, or “Chi-Rho” the first two letters of Christ …. The most ‘spiritual’ account of his revelation was seeing Christ, but who told him to paint a certain kind of warped cross symbol on his army’s shields to be victorious. The vision he claims was of Christ was at best lacking in any real spiritual significance of Christ’s divinity, power of salvation, or exclusivity as the ONLY TRUE GOD. So at best, if true, the vision is spiritually nearly meaningless!
At worst, this visionary experience was totally fabricated, as his previous vision of Apollo certainly was, which was used by him to shift the basis for his political legitimacy as a rising ruler within the turbulent Roman empire.
In his favour as a leader, Constantine was tolerant of Christians even during the Great Persecution under Diocletian, and when he came to power after this civil war he did establish the Edict of Milan granting general religious freedom to everyone, but not just Christians, everyone. Nevertheless this thankfully permanently ended the bitter open persecution of Christians within the empire, but it soon proved to be a catastrophe for the real church.
During the few hundred years of persecution of Christianity, about 2 million suffered martyrdom, but the result was that by the time of Constantine, estimates range from ONE QUARTER up to ONE HALF the empire of 60 million followed Christ, (from 15 to 30 million within the Roman empire)—all this despite the ongoing persecution. It is clear that the shift from persecution to officially promoting Christianity was a change in the Enemy’s tactic because the persecution was not having the intended results. When the line between “believers” and “non-believers” was practically abolished as Christianity became the state religion, and people at times were even forced to attend church and be “Christians” by state force, the flood of unsaved members into the church caused a ruinous mixture of unholy, unsaved “members” within the community of true believers.
Also against Constantine, we see that even later in life he still was never exclusively a Christian but continued to offer oblation to several pagan deities, even holding the title of Pontifex Maximus his entire life, which was the title of the Head of the Pagan Priesthood—this term very much later morphed into a title of the Catholic popes, but at his time it only had and clearly had a pagan significance.
He also set himself up as the head of the entire church, the ultimate authority in Christendom, and was basically the first real pope—a leader who has both political and religious leadership roles over the whole religion, (although he was not considered to be infallible).
So while religious tolerance was a mark of his government, it was fairly clear that it was done as a means of political manoeuvring, and it was at the expense of allowing pagan mixture into the church—even having a secular government leader become de facto head of the Church, involving himself over ALL major church decisions, even those concerning doctrine.
Other Developments During the Age of Pergamum
Understandably, it was during this “age of Pergamum” when we first saw the clear separation of “clergy” from “laity,” which was the end of the real operation of the priesthood of all believers. The “clergy” seized power for themselves, chose their own new members, and dressed differently from the common people to show they were, as a class, above the common believers. It is also in this age, when we saw the establishment of what we now know as the Roman Papacy, an infallible human leader who presides unquestioned over the people of God, and other developments in this vein.
So this historical evidence clearly validates the prophetic symbolism of the City’s name itself, making it impossible to refer to Pergamum as a type without these connotations being strongly suggested: the exaltation of man, especially exalting leaders; and to mix or marry the church with political / secular power.
“The church in Pergamum” therefore carries with it a sense of this being the church where men in leadership are exalted and ‘worshipped,’ held to be above criticism, unquestioned, tending towards being infallible, and worthy of total loyalty and allegiance. This inherently means those who are “common people” would be excluded from meaningful participation in core church functions, especially such things as teaching, decision making, finances or meaningful leadership roles.
An elite group who control the whole community of the saints and do so with a religious / theocratic / divine claim to their exalted status and authority, are actually merely exercising carnal authority over others—a “marriage” of man’s ways and God’s ways. I say this because such a leadership spirit is clearly un-Christian, for true leaders being led by Christ’s Spirit are true servants, not elitists. Christian theology for the most part will be taught as normal in such an environment I am sure, but it will be done through leadership who exercise an ungodly controlling influence and who will twist the Scriptures and enforce practical measures to cultivate an exalting of the leadership roles they occupy.
This combination of factors coalesces to form the basis for much of the other prophetic symbolism in this prophecy in fact, as we consider the other elements of: this being the place where Satan has his throne (his seat of authority or rule), the martyrdom of Antipas (who resists the corruption of emperor worship), the presence of Balaam (a hireling who ‘devours the people’) and the Nicolaitans (who ‘rule the people like a tyrant’) … it seems like quite a LOT to overcome to find those rewards, but overcoming the power and deception of these demonic forces and human sin is the calling of all true saints, for it is what Christ himself overcame, and is a victory and freedom He wants his people to share and enjoy.
Satan’s Throne, Antipas
Then we come to verse 13, which reads:
13 ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
A “throne” is a reference to a seat of authority. This throne was first a physical shrine, which was probably the monument known as the Pergamon Altar removed to Berlin in the early 1900’s where it currently rests at the Pergamon Museum. However the idea of a seat of authority surely has a secondary, spiritual or prophetic meaning as well … this therefore plainly reads as the place where Satan’s style or spirit of authority is exercised—and exercised within the church in this case. This I think is a second confirmation that defines the overall nature of the spiritual condition that this prophecy stands for, a problem of misuse of authority and abuse by those in control.
Next we have “Antipas” who was martyred here, certainly for opposing the main problems in the Pergamum environment. In real life, Antipas was martyred in Pergamum by being burned inside a bull-shaped altar to Caesar. Symbolically, “Antipas in Pergamum” is martyred then for refusing to worship a single human as a supreme, divine or unquestionable leadership figure over the church. One way to read the name ‘Anti-pas’ could actually be “one who opposes the pope,” and I think this name was used to identify people who resisted the pope’s supreme authority during the Reformation. But I think it is wrong to suggest this is somehow only a problem within or against the Catholic denomination; in fact I think this problem of elitist control is just as prevalent within non-Catholic churches—the church I was given this word for was a modern non-denominational protestant church.
To me, this verse simply tells us that there is going to be conflict within this environment between the errant leadership and true followers of Christ in that church who will resist their error.
And it may be good to consider that “martyrdom” is not failure, but a precious sacrifice in the Lord’s eyes of a person’s “life,” meaning their comfort, opportunities and the benefits that acceptance within a system beings, all for the sake of standing for the Truth, all in order to help restore the people to walking the Lord’s true path. In Pergamum, “Antipas” will be passed over for promotion, ministry opportunities, financial support and endorsement from the leadership—which are all ways Christ’s true disciples suffer persecution from false leaders in the modern church—but of course incidents of actual physical abuse and martyrdom are still prevalent and are increasing in most parts of the world.
BALAAM—A Hireling Who Is “Devouring The People”
Verse 14 reads:
14. ‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.
“Balaam” has three or so possible sides, all of them bad. First, this name literally means, “to devour the people,” (very similar to the literal meaning of Nicolaitan actually.)
On one side of the possible interpretation of this spiritual demonic power, it was he who helped Israel’s enemies destroy her spiritual covering by luring the men into sexual immorality and unfaithfulness to the Lord (idol worship). Balaam knew this sinfulness would destroy God’s hedge of protection around them, and they would end up unprotected, or under God’s wrath, depending on how you see it. He taught the enemies of Israel to tempt the men in this way and so caused the deaths of many of God’s people—24,000 died in the plague. This was recorded in Numbers chapter 25. The men went after the women, and the women also led them to be “joined” to the idols of Peor. It was both a carnal and spiritual sin, or really a carnal enticement to then lead the men into a serious break of their spiritual covenant. It was an intentional enticement to destroy the people.
Balaam was very insightful to know these spiritual dynamics. He knew the Lord was protecting the people who followed him in righteousness (right behaviour). So leading them out of this protection by luring them into sin would cause their death.
So “Balaam” leads people into immorality, physical and spiritual. These teachers are IN THE CHURCH. How can this be!? What would cause ANYONE to do this? What could his motive possibly be? How can people in the modern church have this same motive?
Well, second, Balaam was a kind of spiritual teacher, a prophet in his day … but one who also did divination / sorcery … when he did not get what he wanted from the Lord. (Numbers 24:1). So the heart of Balaam was to serve God, but only to get what he wanted, and if God won’t give it to him, then he would not submit, sacrifice his desires, go without, suffer for doing good, or humble himself … no, he normally sought a way around the Lord’s refusal to give him what he wanted, even resorting to illegal spiritual practices (divination, witchcraft, New Age spiritualism in our context) just to satisfy himself—and this is what he is teaching to God’s people both directly and by example. At heart Balaam is not devoted to the Lord, he has another master, himself, his own appetites.
Third, what this reveals about him is that Balaam’s motivation was ultimately that of a HIRELING. He would do anything for his own interests, and especially for gaining money. This is how he is described in Jude 1:11, which is a warning that the church in our era (the end days) will be infiltrated by godless men who turn God’s grace into a license to sin, who have taken the way of Cain, “and have rushed FOR PROFIT into the error of Balaam.” He is one who “rushed into error for profit” or sinned for personal financial gain. No surprise really.
The second inspired insight from the New Testament about Balaam which helps to define his character and spiritual type more clearly is in 2 Peter 2:15 where we are warned that false teachers will infiltrate and infect the real church,
2 Peter 2:15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.
He’s clearly in it for the money.
These false teachers teach wrong doctrine, telling the people who pay their salaries (who give offerings) only what they want to hear, obviously to increase the offerings they receive. What is the most common thing people WANT to hear that is untrue, is probably what Jude mentioned as being a hallmark of false teachers, “turning God’s grace into a license to sin.” Grace is the empowerment of God to give us strength so we will resist and overcome sin. People commonly confuse it with God’s mercy to forgive when we have sinned, but grace or charis, it is not a permission to sin, but an empowerment against sin. Leading people to resist their carnal urges, to deny themselves, and DIE to find a new life, a spiritual life, a life hidden in Christ is FOOLISHNESS to carnally minded people. But regardless of the specific nature of false teachings under “Balaam,” they are going to be carnal and will make sense to the carnal mind, but will not be Christ’s truth.
When a man teaches the Bible or teaches about spiritual things, and has not been taught by the Lord, he cannot help but teach error. Man’s own carnal understanding is ignorant to God’s real ways … God’s real ways make no sense to him, and what does make sense is contrary to the Lord’s real ways.
1 Corinthians 2:14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
So such a person will teach a corrupted version of the gospel, of grace, of salvation and especially how you can make God answer your prayers and give you what you want—it will be doctrines of men and demons, and will be very similar to practices rooted in New Age witchcraft than in God’s Kingdom. The result is destruction of the people. They will be unprotected by God, since they will not be doing what they need to, to find Him, or they will be led to do things that the Lord hates, and come under his wrath. Several things people do and teach in modern churches come to mind actually.
Certainly leaders in Pergamum are hirelings, and don’t authentically lead because they care for the wellbeing of the sheep, but serve primarily for a salary, to have the sheep serve them, paying only token regard for their wellbeing. In this we are reminded of Ezekiel 34, a verse that we’ll look at more closely in the next section on the Nicolaitans.
I do want to say that not everyone who serves and gets a salary is “Balaam,” for in fact the ministers of the Gospel are SUPPOSED to be paid for their ministry work.
1 Corinthians 9:14 “In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.”
But there is a real difference between the sincere servant who has bills to pay, and the charlatan who hides his true selfishness behind a veil of propriety but who simply does not care to lead the wounded sheep of the Lord into his pastures of grace and peace … and teaches man’s understanding of God, since he does not know God in reality or understand Him correctly. Teaching unfaithfulness to the Lord, and this is what is being taught—can clearly be called both adultery and idolatry.
So in a nutshell, Balaam teaches error, for money, from a heart un-submitted to the Lord, which causes the people to fall into adultery, idolatry and so become devoured.
NICOLAITANS—“To Conquer The People”
Then we come to the “Nicolaitans” which has a very similar meaning to the name “Balaam.”
Excerpts from A.T. Robertson’s Word Pictures of the New Testament:
“Balaam” is seen as a derivative of the Hebrew bala’ ‘am, “destroyer of the people,” whereas the Greek “Nicolas” derives from nikos laos, “conqueror of the people” (Greek-English Lexicon).
The connective word that begins verse 15 is “So,” or “Therefore,” or even “Thus even thou.” So the verse really says, “You have Balaam …so you also have the Nicolaitans.” This suggests that there is some relationship between the operation of these two spiritual powers.
Nicolaitan reads literally as someone who “rules the people like a tyrant,” and so most clearly refers to an authoritarian control spirit where the class of leaders are likely to hold themselves to be immune to rebuke or correction, most especially by the “laity,” or “common people” and so lead with impunity more as overlords or CEO-type leaders than true servants of Christ. Those in the “laity” class of non-clergy or non-leaders are often intimidated and marginalized. Jesus also told me that a leadership “inner circle” will always exist, this is a group consisting of the people who are groomed to protect the leaders in exchange for perks and benefits, and who even one day hope to receive the leadership torch themselves. The problem is not an individual leader, but a class of leaders.
In this we hear the echo of Ezekiel 34:4
4“You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.”
A “Nicolaitan” spirit is clearly sinful and carnal.
This spiritual power is also mentioned in the prophecy to the Church in Ephesus in Revelations 2:6:
“But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”
‘Nicolaitan’ is a universally negative connotation; and we see that the plain meaning of “Nico – laitans” is practically exact same idea as “Pergamum” where leaders are exalted over the people and where Satan’s Throne (or seat of authority or leadership style) was literally established. To have such an exact duplication of symbolism between “Nicolaitan” and “Pergamum” has given me some confidence to define the whole church with this general indicator.
Note: Regarding Other Ways To Interpret “Nicolaitans”
Others hold to an alternative interpretation of “Nicolaitans,” believing that it refers to an early Gnostic, or extreme antinomian (anti-legalism) sect that believed Jesus was the Messiah, but also that his coming abolished God’s law of sin and death … sin no longer existed or could be held against mankind … so living holy lives was a non-issue. RECEIVING GRACE was DETACHED FROM REPENTANCE—Grace became a license to sin—in fact since they believed sin was abolished for mankind this group was commonly reputed to have had orgies in worship services to enjoy their freedom from sin—which was a common practice in several pagan religions already—such was true of Diana worship services, and NT-era Balaam cults! This kind of pagan practice was nearly wiped from the face of the earth by the spread of Christianity, and it seems very odd to even consider such extreme wickedness could ever be done under the name of the Lord.
So this sect of followers of a “Nicolas” were led into obtuse sinfulness, even during worship services, to celebrate their belief that “grace ended sin.”
As a natural type, we’re talking about a group of Christians who literally live as a hippie free-love ashram but continue to call themselves a Christian church—and why I don’t believe we’re talking about this as a natural type as the right definition of “Nicolaitan” is because such a doctrine is hardly common in any modern church. I have NEVER seen this in real life in the natural, and this was certainly never the typical church habit of the whole Body during an entire age of its existence.
HOWEVER, when looking at the spiritual type, considering it may be those who teach “grace without repentance” and treating “grace” not as an empowerment to escape from sinfulness, but as a “license to sin” without repercussion, (which was how Balaam was introduced in Jude:1:11), then yes, we do quite often see this, and see if it very brazenly.
So it is very possible that this term refers to those who preach a fake gospel, which is no “gospel” at all, since the people never actually can enter the Kingdom of God, but simply believe “sin is no more” and end up never escaping the corruption of it. I cannot simply dismiss this interpretation especially since the text reads that since “Balaam” is there leading people into “immortality” “so you also have the teaching of the Nicolaitans.” And I think such teachers will teach that all “Christians” are under a “blanket exemption of sin” without ongoing repentance. This “cheap grace” message is validated by the undercurrent of the “teaching of Balaam.”
I still lean more towards understanding the Nicolaitans as a controlling, authoritarian leadership spirit, especially, since it is confirmed by so many of the other issues in “Pergamum” itself … and since that is also the literal meaning of the word. However, IT MAY SIMPLY MEAN BOTH!
People may balk at the idea that an authoritarian leadership culture would promote the popular message of “cheap-grace” but I think it makes sense, and I’ve actually seen it in practice. People are drawn by a message that itching ears want to hear preached, and once in are dominated by an elitist “clergy” who operate as a “benevolent dictator” over the people of God. That’s pretty much exactly what I saw in operation actually.
So Let’s Summarize the Symbolism So Far:
In Pergamum we have:
1. The exalting of leaders as divinely appointed, infallible, unquestionable, and untouchable, above the regular people;
2. A mixture of the sacred and the profane; carnal ways, secular goals, worldly motives and desires infect the community of saints and so are “married” to the spiritual administration of the church and the doctrines of Christ, preventing the operation of one without the other. It is systemic pollution, mixture, corruption;
3. The place where Satan has his throne, or seat of authority, or where his leadership style is in effect, which I think specifically refers to this combined environment of perversion in leadership—control and harsh rule over the sheep;
4. The place where opposition of Antipas is not tolerated, and such people are “martyred”;
5. Hirelings shepherd the people and “Balaam” them, devouring them as they are polluted and deceived and led into immorality, unfaithfulness, mixed practices, motivated by personal or financial gain, and idol worship—what idols? Surely first, the idols of the church brand itself! That was another vision God showed me of this particular church. They made their church brand an idol. They then will demand brand loyalty, unquestionable allegiance to the leaders and the organization, which beliefs are necessary to maintain such a system, but also the lure of wealth as the main goal of the community’s spiritual growth will surely be ever-present, and “cheap grace” to make carnal people feel at ease without letting them mature into true saints who would see through the sham. Doctrines can be idols as well;
6. The Nicolaitan control spirit of the clergy over the regular people … which similarly to the first indicator, means that the leaders are considered “lords” over the normal “un-ordained” members. Or the doctrines of “grace without repentance,” “blanket unconditional grace,” or more commonly “grace means forgiveness” which it does not, as grace actually means the anointing of God to empower you to overcome sin.
The existence of a leadership ‘inner circle’ of yes-men who defend the leadership class and promote the doctrines that defend their power is practically guaranteed—this is what Jesus told me—it is a class issue, more than an individual acting on his or her own. And the result is as Ezekiel 34 discloses, the leaders ruling the people harshly and not caring for them, healing them, drawing them back as a True Shepherd would.
What is the Fate of “Pergamum”?
The goal of this demonic strategy is to separate the decision makers from the protection of God, and the correction or real leading of Christ, which will often intentionally come from God through the humble, regular members of the Body in the ‘laity.’ As the leaders make such a power-grab, a hijacking of the community, and insulate themselves from hearing or being accountable to the voice of God telling them to repent, change direction, start a certain program, stop a certain program, all which is so often spoken by God through the normal people, such leaders will be doomed.
They may even come to believe their own deception, that they have a divine infallibility since they are the leaders God has chosen and appointed, and God wants to bless and prosper the church, so they cannot possibly make mistakes! And so will be led to make more and more reckless decisions, ultimately leading the people out of God’s protection and will.
Such leaders operating in this deception of legitimacy rule for themselves, by themselves, for their own comfort and privilege, to establish their own dynasty and protect their own heritage … doing whatever they need to, to pay lip-service to the needs and goals of the people and Christ, but it is not done in sincerity and truth—the result is a certainty that they will shipwreck themselves and the community, spiritually, financially, ethically, etc., leading them over a cliff—certainly not into the Kingdom of Heaven.
This is why the Bible says the blind lead the blind who follow them and they all fall into a pit! (Matthew 15:14). We have an obligation to see this error, and not follow it. But the people who discern and correct such errant leaders are often ostracized and “martyred” within it, like Antipas.
But also, note that the promise that God WILL AVENGE the error of Pergamum is very strong!
He says He WILL attack Pergamum, fighting against unrepentant usurpers “with the sword of His Mouth,” meaning the prophetic word surely, but also the Living Word of God which will DO what God has THREATENED and bring justice and freedom! It is not a harsh tongue-lashing that Pergamum will endure but the living, active proclamation of Divine wrath, energized by the Spirit of Indignation. God’s church WILL BE PURE when He comes for it. And so “Antipas” will be vindicated, and rewarded, and the errant system will suffer defeat.
On the other hand people do throw off its deception, as Christ wants, and the promises to the overcomers of Pergamum are clear and wonderful: All the promises to the churches in Revelations are actually given to ALL overcomers, but here what is specifically mentioned is: hidden manna—deep personal revelation of Christ, probably specifically referring to a deep personal revelation of Christ’s true leadership (meaning his servant-like nature); and a “white stone” with a “new name”—probably a reference to a greater degree of the “new identity,” meaning walking in an increased dimension of the “new self” which is our new regenerated character, or a greater degree of Christ’s character in us.
Colossians 3:10 … and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator;
Ephesians 4:24 … and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
And you may say this is a very clear picture of what ails such traditional churches as the Catholic church, the Eastern Church (Greek Orthodox), or other tightly controlled communities; Yes, I agree, but I would like to stress that it can be present in other non-denominational, protestant, independent and locally autonomous churches! We really do need to judge by what we hear the Lord say, not merely by what we see and understand with our own natural faculties.
Christ’s Leadership Model—the Spirit of YES!
And one reason why I am explaining this at such length is because this Pergamum church is pretty much THE EXACT OPPOSITE PICTURE of how real leadership functions in the Holy Spirit.
‘Hidden manna’ a ‘white stone’ and ‘a new name’ are promised those in Pergamum who overcome the ways of Balaam and the Nicolaitans. They will do this by tearing their hearts in true godly sorrow, and actually changing their ways. The fall of the powers in Pergamum, elitism, control, exalting man, will allow the operation of a biblical model of shared leadership among those with multiple gifts and callings to emerge, commonly called the Five Fold ministry as expressed in Ephesians 4, (but also considering the diversity of gifts and callings in Romans 12, and 1 Corinthians 12). This will blossom when the autocratic, top-heavy leadership model of the “clergy” hierarchy is abandoned. The actual emergence of the true Priesthood of Believers, will occur when the stranglehold of the elitist priesthood of the clergy falls.
I’ve previously shared the Lord’s teaching to me about the difference between the spirit of the world’s leadership (the spirit of ‘No’) and the spirit of the Lord’s Kingdom, (the spirit of ‘Yes’), but let me say it again here.
I remember Him saying, “Let me explain the style of leadership in the world to you,” which I understood could be called the ‘spirit of No!’ and is where the leaders stand on top of the organizational pyramid looking down on the people in the organization telling the people things like, “No, you can’t come up here! No, you can’t have a raise. You don’t deserve it. I’m the boss, not YOU!! The answer to you is NO!”
Jesus went on to explain the nature of leadership in the Kingdom, and said, “Let me now show you the way leadership is in my Kingdom, which can be called the spirit of Yes!”
I saw Jesus standing UNDER the organizational pyramid, which was upside down, the point facing down. And at the very bottom, where the point was, was Jesus, the leader who was under everyone and telling them things like, “Yes! Yes, you can do it! You can achieve your calling. You can achieve that goal. In fact, I’ll help you—and together YOU WILL SUCCEED. The answer to you is Yes!”
What I understand is that this is the only way the spirit of Christ leads within his Kingdom, as the spirit of Yes, to serve the needs, callings and lives of the people! Godly authority is only used to set people free and empower them to achieve their destiny–not to control, manipulate or harness their energies and resources to benefit man’s religious agendas.
I want to add some more ways we will see this new understanding play out.
The scripture in 1 Corinthians 12:28 says that apostles are “first,” and many feel this being “first” means they will be the bosses, on top of the pile, in charge. And while that would be true under the world’s spirit of ‘No,’ really, being ‘first’ in the Kingdom would mean apostles are on the bottom, serving all, bearing everyone’s burdens. This is why Paul also said the apostles and prophets are the foundation, the bottom, (Ephesians 2:20) and he even said being an apostle was like being last in line, as ones condemned to die. (1 Corinthians 4:9) If we follow the Spirit of Christ we will see leadership this way, as serving, but if we follow the spirit of ‘No’ we will be like Diotrephes who John said “loved to be first” (in the worldly sense) and would have nothing to do with the real believers. (3 John 1:9)
Another doctrine teaches “Prophets and Apostles don’t submit to pastors.” This is a plain contradiction of scripture and evidence of the same worldly spirit at work in such “apostles and prophets.” Why are we arguing about who submits to whom? Why are we jockeying for position of dominance in the Body? Do you know why? Because such people are under the same spirit of the world that crucified Jesus and they want to exalt themselves. In fact, all the Bible really says about this church hierarchy is that we all ought to submit one to another. (Ephesians 5:21) And we do so in fear or reverence of Christ, not by promoting ourselves out of personal ambition. Spiritual authority is not an excuse to dominate and ‘lord it over people,’ and it has nothing to do with title, gifts, calling or positions. We submit to each other, and we follow Christ as the head, the only one who can “pull rank,” yet never would do so, because that is only how the spirit of the world acts to control and dominate.
In Luke 9:46, and Mark 9:34, the disciples were arguing about who was on top and what did Jesus say? If you want to be first, you have to be what? Last, and the servant of all! On bottom. That’s right! How can people teach that the Lord is doing away with the old system of control because it is based on the wrong spirit, only to replace it with a new system of new titles … but the same corrupt worldly spirit of control!?
Church Leadership is often considered an “administrative” issue and not “doctrinal” so people feel safe implementing modern worldly methods of organizational leadership and business management. But in fact, this kind of organizational practice or leadership style in Pergamum will literally SHUT or CLOSE the Kingdom, first in people’s hearts, and then in the community.
Matthew 23:11-13 11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. 13“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”
“Church” may very well go on for years unabated I am sure, but the blessings of the Kingdom will be far from them.
And notice that much of what we are talking about is NOT doctrines or core beliefs of the Christian faith. The problem is not so much a matter of theology of God’s deity, Christ’s atonement, the validity of the Bible, the major End Times events, doctrinal positions on social issues or general morality, baptisms or spiritual manifestations.
The problem with Pergamum is more subtle than that! More devious! It is the way the leaders see themselves, see their role, act in leadership, treat others “under” them, and the way they operate to administer the ministry they think is advancing Christ’s Kingdom. But it is not! Their leadership pollution is a yeast that has infected and ruined the entire church—sometimes entire denominations. So our methods of administration and leadership are also a part of the Gospel! Who knew!?
So it is the hearts of those who claim to shepherd the people on Christ’s behalf that is the root of the error. God sees the hearts and it is through the hearts of leaders that the “Kingdom” manifests in a community, so doctrines aside the personal experience of knowing God is going to be blocked from manifesting freely in such a community especially when ‘leaders’ treat the people harshly and brutally and pay nothing but lip service to help them, heal them, empower them and rescue them from a hopeless dark world.
God dealing with this situation makes me think of the ending of the parable of the Tares as well, Matthew 13:24-43, the key parts are here:
39b … “The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”
I already mentioned the other verse that comes to mind when talking about this kind of church, which is Ezekiel 34, God’s judgment against the false shepherds, and even between the sheep, judging between the ‘fat’ and ‘lean.’ God WILL remove abusive leadership, especially now during the “fullness of time” where the harvest is becoming ripe, which is what the parable of the Wheat and the Tares is all about.
We cannot achieve the Lord’s goals if we continue to insist on doing it ‘our way.’ But following God’s way will result in more people maturing into the fullness of the stature of Christ, more people equipped to serve, and more sent out accomplishing the real work of the ministry of Jesus Christ.
This is part of the crown overcomers receive, part of the hidden manna, part of the white stone with a new name those who defeat the spiritual powers of Pergamum receive.