The Church at Pergamum as the Abrahamic Covenant

 Shema 

Rev. 3:12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.

Historical Prologue 

13 “ ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 

• Antipas : Like a father/in the place of a father.    This refers to Noah, both literally & figuratively.  As the transitional prophet with whom Abraham would share root covenant administration during the transition between the Aegis & Patriarchal Covenants, Noah casts a long & deep shadow over this era.   

• This text also refers to the cycle memorialized in the story of the Tower of Babel.   

• “I know where you dwell (Babel), where Satan’s throne is (Babylonia/Assyria/Babylon/Media-Persia/Greece/the Seleucid Era/Rome…”

Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, 

• These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11 And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters. 12 When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah. 13 And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber. 15 And Shelah lived after he fathered Eber 403 years and had other sons and daughters. 16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg. 17 And Eber lived after he fathered Peleg 430 years and had other sons and daughters. 18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu. 19 And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu 209 years and had other sons and daughters.20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug. 21 And Reu lived after he fathered Serug 207 years and had other sons and daughters. 22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor. 23 And Serug lived after he fathered Nahor 200 years and had other sons and daughters.24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah. 25 And Nahor lived after he fathered Terah 119 years and had other sons and daughters. 26 When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

General & Specific Stipulations 

14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there 

• In Ur. Egypt, Canaan in general, & Sodom & Gomorrah in particular 

who hold teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. 

• We see this in Genesis 14, 18, & 19.   Beera seeks to draw Abraham into the ongoing drama that is the 5 Cities, two of which are Sodom & Gomorrah.   They already had their hooks into Lot. In Chapter 18, the LORD appears via theophany to Abraham & they share a meal that is not at all sacrificed to idols, after which Abraham intercedes for the Sodom & Gomorrah by dickering the LORD down to 10 righteous men.   In Chapter 19, the messengers share a meal with Lot that probably is sacrificed to idols, & if that didn’t happen in that particular house, it was most certainly happening just about everywhere else in the city. 
• Romans 1:18 - 32 & Jude are here parallel with respect to their description of what was going on. 
• Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.  26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.  28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

• Jude 6: And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. 

• The Patriarchal Covenant ends with Abraham’s progeny in Egypt.   Over time, as we see in Exodus, they capitulate to “the teaching of the Nicolaitans,” (the Egyptians & the goat “god,” referenced in Leviticus 17. 

Document Clause & Witnesses 

17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it

• Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.