Revelation Chapter Two, Pergamos

Revelation 2:12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword:

Pergamos, or Pergamum, had a very storied history. Resting sixteen miles from the Aegean Sea (the sea where Patmos could be located), it is now the site of Bergama, Turkey. Subject first to Sparta and then Persia, it was also conquered by Alexander the Great.

Rome made Pergamos the capital of its Asian foothold over the civilized world until the city rebelled against their rule, the capital then being moved to Ephesus. Galen, the famous physician (129-216 AD) called the city home, and Pergamos boasted an immense library, dwarfed only by the library in Alexandria. Most interestingly for our future studies, excavation revealed temples to Zeus, Athena, and the Emperor Trajan, who reigned from 98-117 AD. Furthermore, it is said that Antipas, mentioned in Revelation 2:13, was killed in 92 AD under Domitian’s rule, and was burned alive on a bull-shaped altar.

The city ultimately suffered an earthquake around 262 AD and then an invasion by the Goths that greatly impaired its former affluence and cultural importance. It is in this city, at the end of the first century, that Jesus speaks to the church therein. To recap, Christ told Ephesus that He was the one who held the seven stars in His right hand and walked among the seven lampstands. To Smyrna He was the First and the Last, who was dead and came to life. Now He reveals Himself to Pergamos as He who has the sharp two-edged sword.

Two Scriptures immediately leap to mind when reading this verse. First, there is Ephesians 6:17, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” The second verse being Hebrews 4:12, which reads, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” 

The three verses align to reveal several salient truths. Paul explains in Ephesians that the sword of the Spirit which the Christian is to arm themselves with as a weapon against the enemy is Scripture itself. We are wrestling with spiritual wickedness in heavenly places, and the Bible is our weapon to do warfare. If we do not read or trust Scripture, we are effectively unarmed and incapable of proper military service under the Lord’s conscription. The only thing an unarmed soldier can do when thrust onto the battlefield would be to run, hide, or die.

Having confirmed that the word of God (the Bible) is the sword of the Spirit, the writer of Hebrews attests that this sword is sharper than any two-edged sword; capable of splitting the soul from the spirit, or marrow from the joint. It discerns man’s intentions. Not just what we do, but what compels us to do it.

Jesus, being the Author of Scripture, comes to Pergamos with His weapon in hand, as it were. He reminds the church that He authored Scripture and therefore wields it with infinite ease effectively. In short, intentions and thoughts are about to be discerned and excised. His exchange with Satan in the desert was an excellent example of Jesus disentangling the Devil’s lies about the word of God by putting His word in its proper place and context. He did it easily, effectively, and incontrovertibly, Matthew 4:1-11. The tempter, who first approached Eve and seduced her by twisting Scripture, was now himself utterly outclassed and shamed by Scripture’s Author.

Near the end of Revelation we see our Lord employ the sword against the armies of the Antichrist, Revelation 19:21. The word of God heralds judgment on the unsaved, just as much as it signifies salvation and comfort to the saints. The Lord speaks to Pergamos as the true wielder of this weapon, since He is the Word of God, John 1:1, 14.