(3) The Epistle to the Church in Pergamus(337), Ch. 2:12‐17
The epistle to the church in Pergamus is Christ’s message to an _impure_ church, a church which had some that held the teaching of Balaam, and others the teaching of the Nicolaitans:—“Repent ... or else I come with the sword”. To this church Christ is “he that hath the sharp two‐edged sword”, i. e. who wields the instrument of rebuke and punishment. The location of Satan’s throne in Pergamus denotes that the city was under his dominion, and may refer to the newly introduced worship of the Emperor in which that city was recognized as an important center;(338) while the death of Antipas, an otherwise unknown martyr, called “my witness, my faithful one”, and also the presence of those holding the teaching of Balaam,(339) the symbolic name for a doctrine akin to the Nicolaitans, serve to show that it was truly a place “where Satan dwelleth”. The aptness of the name lies in the similarity of Balaam’s method of seducing the Israelites by licentiousness, and that of the false teachers who were introducing Antinomianism (cf. Num. 25:1‐2; and 31:16). The hidden manna represents the true bread of life, and is doubtless an allusion to the pot of manna laid up before the Lord in the hidden recesses of the holy place in the tabernacle (Ex. 16:33f.). There may also be a reference to the Jewish tradition that Jeremiah had hidden the ark with its contents in a cave of Sinai until the advent of the Messiah (_II Macc._ 2.1), when it was be restored. The white stone is probably the jade, which has been held in high esteem in the East from the earliest times,(340) although some think it refers to the diamond. White stands as the emblem of purity, but the exact symbolism of the stone in this connection is obscure, though clear enough to the first readers of the epistle. The figure may possibly have been drawn from the Jewish sacred use of precious stones, especially of the mysterious Urim and Thummim kept in the pouch of the breastplate of the high priest, which according to Jewish tradition were inscribed with a name known only to the priest himself.(341) The gift would then imply the conferring of high‐priestly privileges on those who overcome. Some, however, find in it a reference to the white pebble of acquittal used in courts of justice, or in casting the lot; others a reference to the _tessera_, or ticket, which admitted the victor in the Olympic games to the public tables, and entitled him to the awards of his city; still others a reference to the common use of amulets and charms with a secret name or pass‐word on them, in that case the white stone conferring the real power which the charm was assumed to have.(342) But more probably the reference is to a stone engraved as a seal, with the name of Christ upon it, the gift of which like the signet of a king (Gen. 41:42 and Est. 8:2f.) is regarded as bestowing something of the royal authority of Christ upon the recipient. Precious stones of different shapes were commonly used for seals, and were often unmounted and hung by a cord about the neck; and the name of the owner and of the deity whom he specially worshipped were engraved upon them.(343) Every man of rank and wealth in the East from time immemorial had his own seal; and among the Babylonians so constant and imperative were its uses that it was generally placed with his body in his coffin.(344) In all these interpretations the gift carries with it special privilege or advantage, though the chief virtue of the stone apparently lies in the name written upon it. The “new name” is not probably a new designation for the believer, but the new name of Christ (ch. 3:12) which is expressive of the new and more perfect revelation of him in heaven that only the redeemed can know (ch. 14:1). Many, however, regard the new name as the heavenly name of the individual Christian,(345) and this would be quite as appropriate for a seal as the name of Christ. Pergamus was about a hundred miles north of Ephesus, and less than fifteen from the sea. It was at that time the official capital of the Province of Asia, and the seat of official authority. It ranked with Ephesus and Smyrna as one of the great cities of proconsular Asia, and though it is now chiefly “a city of magnificent ruins”, it still continues to exist under the name of Bergama at the present day.