The Church at Pergamum
The Church that Chose Compromise – Part 1
Revelation 2:12-17
Let’s now begin to look at the 3rd church Jesus deals with while John is exiled on the island of Patmos – Pergamum. From all that we can deduce, this church was likely started by Paul when he passed through Mysia, as Pergamum was located in Mysia…Acts 16:6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.
The City
By the writing of the book of Revelation, Pergamum had been the capital city of Asia Minor for almost 250 years. It was similar to Ephesus and Smyrna in that it was also a very striking city in its beauty. The city was built on terraces and it was known for a number of significant things like politics, medicine, fashion, religion and education. It was a very influential city.
The Commerce of Pergamum
The city was known for a number of things, but one of the significant things contributions they made to the world at that time was parchment. Before this invention, papyrus (made of reeds) had been the writing material of the world, but now that parchment (made of animal skins) was around, it transform man’s ability to write so many more things. It was stronger and lasted longer.
The Education in Pergamum
With the immergence parchment, it naturally influenced the education system in the city. At one time, the city had a 200,000 volume library which was 2nd only to the library in Egypt at Alexandria. In regard to history, when Marc Antony fell in love with Cleopatra in Egypt, he sent the whole library from Pergamum to her to join the collection of books in the library there.
The Influence of Medicine
The city was also a great influencer in the realm of medicine. They developed something called the Asklepieion, which was a first century center of advanced medicine. Asclepius, the Greek god of healing was a snake, and the modern symbol is still around to this day and can be traced all the way back to Pergamum. Here is a picture we may have all seen called the Rod of Asclepius…
The Religion of Pergamum
Pagan religion dominated all of these 1st Century cities and held influence upon the peoples daily lives who were Roman citizens. You will find this exciting and repulsive at the same time, for the Romans practiced this in the city…in the temple to the Askelpios were non-venomous snakes and when a person needed healing, they would go into that temple, lie down on the floor and spend the night there in hopes that a snake crawled across them during the night and if they were touched by a snake, they thought they would be healed by that touch.
Let’s touch on Emperor worship in Pergamum now. The city had 3 temples that were solely designed for the worship of the emperor, and this is where this kind of worship began in Asia Minor. Each year, every Roman citizen was by law required to enter on the temples, put incense on an altar and out loud say “Caesar is lord”. Christ-followers refused to do this in the 1st century and it brought about much persecution in their lives as they refused to say this ever.
Zeus played a role in the religious life of Pergamum, so outside of the city they dedicated a huge altar for the worship of Zeus, who they believed was the sovereign and supreme leader of the gods.
It is in this city where the Apostle Paul likely stepped into, proclaimed Jesus and started a church. As we will see in the next blog post, it will begin with these words from Jesus to the Christians living in Pergamum… Revelation 2:12b write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.
As Jesus addresses the 7 churches individually, He uses a picture or title of himself from Revelation 1 that is different each time with each individual church.
Jesus gives them the picture of himself that of a judge who will judge them with the Word/Sword as they allowed evil to thrive in their midst.
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