Revelation 2

12 Pergamum was the capital of the Roman province of Asia; it was thus the residence of the Roman governor. The governor had the authority to put people to death; that is, he had the “power of the sword.” But Christ here reminds the church at Pergamum that He has a more powerful sword than the governor has: Christ has the sharp, double-edged sword (see Revelation 1:16); He has the final authority over both death and life. Christ not only has the power to condemn people to eternal death; He also has the power to give them eternal life.

13 Pergamum, being the capital of the province, was the center of the Roman emperor’s authority. Therefore, Christ says here that Pergamum is where Satan has his throne—that is, it was where the emperor (and his governors) sat in authority. In John’s day, the Christians regarded the Roman emperor and his governors as representatives of Satan.

Antipas is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. He was a citizen of Pergamum, who was put to death because of his faith in Christ. Christ here gives Antipas the same name He gave Himself in Revelation 1:5—namely, faithful witness.

14 After praising the church at Pergamum, Christ now points out their shortcomings. They have tolerated the false teaching of Balaam; they have let his teaching come into their church. Balaam was an Old Testament prophet who helped Balak, king of Moab, oppose the Israelites (the Jews). Balaam’s method of weakening the Jews was to entice [them] to sin. He advised Balak to have the women of his kingdom entice the Jewish men to eat food sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality (Numbers 25:1-3; 31:15-16). Therefore, we can understand that the teaching of Balaam is any teaching which leads people to disobey God and to follow after the false gods and immoral desires of the world.

15 The teaching of the Nicolaitans was similar to the teaching of Balaam (see verse 7).

16 Christ says that He will oppose all such false teaching with the sword of my mouth (see Revelation 1:16 and comment). False teachers will be punished not only on the final day of judgment but in this life as well.

Although only a few members of the church at Pergamum followed such false teaching, they were nonetheless all guilty, because they had not expelled the false teachers from their midst; they had tolerated them. They had thus allowed impurity to take root in their church. Their sin was the opposite of the Ephesian church’s sin. On the one hand, the Ephesian Christians did not tolerate false teaching; they were very strict and pure. But they had lost their love. On the other hand, the Pergamum Christians had not lost their love; they had lost their purity. From reading these seven letters, we can see that every church has its own special strengths and weaknesses. Let us think of our own church: What are its special strengths and weaknesses? What would Christ write to our church today?

17 To the one who overcomes, Christ will give the hidden manna ¹⁰—that is, spiritual “bread” (see John 6:48-51 and comment). If we give up the food of idols in this world, we shall get to eat the food of Christ in heaven.

The white stone mentioned here refers to an Old Testament custom according to which a white stone was given to those invited to a feast or ceremony; the stone thus served as a token or proof of their invitation. Therefore, Christ’s meaning here is that those who receive a white stone with their name written on it are invited to the feast of the hidden manna in heaven.

18-19 Thyatira was a prosperous commercial center (Acts 16:14). The situation at Thyatira was as follows. Each type of business had its own special god; in order to be successful in a particular business, one had to worship the god of that business. Thus great pressure was put upon the Christian businessmen of Thyatira to worship these gods; they were under great temptation. If they refused to worship these gods, others in the city would abuse them and, as a result, they would lose much business.

Jesus here introduces Himself according to the description given in Revelation 1:1415. And as He has in the other letters, Jesus first praises the believers of Thyatira.

20 But now Jesus points out their fault: They have tolerated that woman Jezebel. It is probable that Jezebel was a prominent woman of their church. ¹¹ At that time, the Roman temples were filled with prostitutes; therefore, whenever the men of Thyatira went to a temple to worship, they would fornicate with the prostitutes there and partake of a feast in honor of the idol of that temple. Perhaps this Jezebel taught that, because idols were nothing, it was therefore all right to worship at their temples; in other words, there could be no sin in worshiping “nothing” (1 Corinthians 6:12-13,15; 8:4,7).

21-23 Because of Jezebel’s refusal to repent, she will be cast upon a bed of suffering (verse 22). But her followers still have time to repent. Those who do not repent will be afflicted with illness and death. God often sends various diseases or death to men as a punishment for sin (see Psalm 62:12; Jeremiah 17:10; Matthew 16:27; Romans 2:6 and comments).

24-25 To those who have not followed after Jezebel and Satan’s so-called deep secrets (verse 24), Christ gives both encouragement and a challenge: Only hold on to what you have until I come (see 1 Timothy 6:13-14,20; 2 Timothy 1:13-14). Christ gives the Christians of Thyatira no other burden or command: only this, that they remain separate from the immorality and idolatry of Jezebel (see Acts 15:28-29).

26-27 The person who overcomes is the one who does [Christ’s] will to the end. Christ will give him authority over the nations (see Psalm 2:8-9; Matthew19:28).

28-29 The meaning of the morning star mentioned here is uncertain. According to Revelation 22:16, the morning star is Christ Himself. If that is the meaning here, then this verse says: Those who receive the “morning star” receive Christ; that is, they receive in full measure His fellowship, His love, and His Spirit.