The next church addressed in Revelation is the church in Pergamum. Pergamum was a cultural center in the early Roman empire, and Augustus even declared the city his capital in the province of Asia. Sitting atop the acropolis of Pergamum to this day are the ruins of the vaulted platform that held the temple to Caesar Augustus (later redone under the name of Tiberius and other later emperors). This temple to Caesar had an altar that doubled as a “throne” (very common in Greco-Roman altars; the altars were often shaped like thrones to communicate the rule and presence of the god). Some historians spoke of how you could see the shining temple atop the acropolis in Pergamum from miles out to sea.
Because of the political prominence of Pergamum, the city was also given what was known as poteste gladii, or “power of the sword.” The Romans had a double-edged sword known as the symbol of power. If a city or colony had the “power of the sword,” then they had been given the right to make decisions with the authority of Caesar. Their rulings were as true as if they had been uttered by Caesar himself.
But this wasn’t the only throne residing on Pergamum’s acropolis. In fact, decades ago, the gigantic altar to Zeus was moved to a museum in Berlin (you can see pictures of it by doing a Google image search for "pergamon altar of zeus"). This altar sat just a couple hundred yards away from the temple to Caesar. Covered in gold leaf, this “throne” stands 44 feet tall from the base of the stairs (which still sit in Pergamum), and would have been another attribute to make the acropolis visible from miles away.
But there aren’t only two thrones that sit in Pergamum. No, Pergamum also served as the neochorus (think “capital”) of Dionysius, the Greco-Roman god of wine and orgy. The temple to Dionysius served as the starting point for what was called “the Sacred Way,” and also warranted the construction of the tallest theatre in the ancient world, still an acoustic marvel to this day. The Sacred Way weaves its path down the acropolis and past some seventeen other temples to major Greco-Roman gods. Without a doubt, the pagan worship present in Pergamum was second to none. This Dionysian worship culminated in the annual festival to Dionysius every year where there would be consumption of raw meat, drinking of incredible amounts of wine, and indulgence in rampant sexual immorality. Local law stated that a woman was not free to marry in this pagan culture unless she had lost her virginity in the Dionysian festival. One of the stops I make with participants on my trips is at the ruins of a three-story storefront. The first floor had the remains of giant wine vats (used for serving, not for storage or selling), the third floor has tricliniums (the three-sided banquet table of the first century), and the second floor has large vats that are plumbed for drainage. The archaeological team that did the work there believes these storefronts, found on the Sacred Way, were used during the Dionysian festival to serve wine and raw meat to the public. They would dine and party until sick, at which point they would descend to the second floor and vomit into the vats.
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| The view from the Dionysian temple, looking towards the Asclepion |
And this wasn’t the only pagan worship that found itself centered in the city. Pergamum was also home to the largest Asclepion in the ancient world. Asclepius was the god of healing, and the Asclepion was their equivalent of a hospital. One could think of the Asclepion in Pergamum as the “Mayo Clinic” of their day — the best of the best medical treatment the pagan world had to offer. One would check in to the Asclepion, wash themselves for spiritual purity, make offerings and gifts to the gods, and proceed to treatment. The treatment was incredibly holistic and included education (each patient had to study their disease/condition in the massive library), entertainment (the drama of the Asclepius myth was displayed twice a day in the theatre on the grounds), medical diagnosis, and spa treatments at the bathhouse and mud treatment center. When patients were healed, they would return to write their name and their healed condition on one of the many white stone pillars that stood in the courtyard. In the center of this courtyard, to this day, sits a spring they plumbed throughout the facility in order to give the acoustic ambient sound of rushing water, which they believe was the voice of Asclepius himself and had healing properties.
We could easily write three times as much about the relevant context of Pergamum, but that should set the stage for us to look at the letter to Pergamum:
“To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 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, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.
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. Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, 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.”
“… who has the sharp, doubled-edged sword.” or “… fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” These are references to the poteste gladii that was present in Pergamum and a cross-reference to the power and authority of Christ. While we didn’t have time to unpack the temple and library of Athena that sits on the acropolis, as well, the “sword of my mouth” reference only gets juicier as we realize the power of words — or, more particularly, God’s Word.
“I know where you live — where Satan has his throne. … where Satan lives.” Whether this is a reference to one of those particular thrones we mentioned (Caesar, Zeus, Dionysius, or the myriad others), or a blanket reference to this incredibly pagan city, the cultural reference is unmistakable.
“…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.” John nails the message to the neochorus of Dionysius right on the head. This annual festival was steeped in idol meat and sexual immorality. To live in Pergamum would be to reject the daily temptation to give into the cultural narrative of your day.
“I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it…” This is a reference to the healing God offers and a subversive reclamation of the practice so prevalent in the local Asclepion.
By now we should be getting the idea that Revelation is deliberately playing off of the cultural context of its original audience. These aren’t vague references to future entities, but direct references the original audience completely understood without hesitation. But there is a new idea we need to introduce ourselves to, one likely to make our minds explode as we realize what John is doing in the writing of this incredible letter. It’s one thing to use the culture to brilliantly craft a teaching the audience needs to hear. We would call that clever.
John is doing so much more than that.
Besides culture, where is John pulling his material? While we hinted at this earlier in our discussion of Revelation, it’s time to bring it back and put it to work here in our study. John is getting all of his content from the Hebrew Scriptures. Everything John is writing about in his references to culture also comes from the Tanakh! And often, these references are coming from other pieces of apocalyptic literature — books like Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zechariah. This is almost impossible to grasp immediately, and I had to study this concept in Turkey for some time before it finally settled in my consciousness.
Here’s an example from Pergamum: Why does God choose to use Balaam as his reference to the people of Pergamum? Because the book of Numbers provides the contextual (think remez) material for the lesson John is trying to teach. As we mentioned in our study of Jude and 2 Peter, Jewish tradition teaches that Balaam was the one who told Balak to entice the Israelites into sexual sin (Numbers 25). By using Balaam as his reference to the Tanakh, John teaches an entire sermon without writing it down. Every Jew who hears that reference is going to understand that John is saying, “Hey! We’ve been here before! We can’t fall into temptation here in Pergamum!”
The same principle could be used for every reference. “Sword of my mouth” or “where Satan has his throne” or “a new name” written on a white stone. Where is John getting his material? Obviously from the culture, but each one of these references comes from the Old Testament!
Next we will take these principles and apply them to the letter written to Thyatira.
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