But, there were other pagan gods—other gods that they worshipped, that they followed after, that they sacrificed to, and so on. For example, there was Dionysus, the “god of wine,” whose cult was wide-spread in the 1^st Century, including here at Pergamos. Then there was Asklepios, the “god of healing,” and his symbol was the wand with the coiled serpent, which remains even to this day as the world-wide emblem or symbol of the medical profession. So we have here a number of idols that were worshipped, a number of pagan gods that they worshipped, and even temples built to them.

But, in addition, Pergamos was the first city in Asia to establish emperor worship. They even built a temple that was dedicated to the divine Augustus, and the goddess Roma. Once again, this city became a center of emperor worship. It was during the reign of Domician, who reigned over the Roman Empire from AD 81 to AD 96, when emperor worship became a test of loyalty to those who lived in the empire. You were given a choice: you either worshipped and proclaimed Caesar as your lord and god or, if you did not do that, then you faced death. This is what was going on here in this ancient city.

We see many things that would have been deleterious [harmful to health or well-being; injurious], or would have made being a Christian and worshipping God very, very difficult! When you consider all of the pagan worship and when you consider, maybe most especially, emperor worship—you could get by with denying the pagan gods, but you couldn’t get by if you denied Caesar, the Emperor. Maybe it was all of this combined that caused the Lord to describe this city as being the place where “Satan’s throne” was [verse 13].

The Lord’s Self-Designation (verse 12)

The Lord describes Himself here as One Who has a “sharp two-edged sword” coming from His mouth.

Commendation (verse 13)

And we see that He commends the church here for holding fast to His Name and not denying the faith despite the place where they lived. We see that the Lord acknowledges, “I know where you dwell.” That may almost sound like a threatening statement—you know, someone says, “If you give me trouble, I know where you live!” No, the Lord is acknowledging here that this was a difficult place to be a Christian.

Thinking about this description or term of “Satan’s throne,” the term “throne” occurs 45 times in the Book of Revelation. When it is used in the New Testament, and also here in the book of Revelation, it is used to signify the “seat” or the “chair of state” for kings, for God, for Christ, for the 12 apostles as judges, and, in this instance, that Satan holds court here in Pergamos and is enthroned here. The fact that both Zeus and Asklepios bore the title of “savior,” in contrast to Jesus, would indicate just how strong paganism was here. As we said before, it was also the center of emperor worship, representing as “god” a ruler whose evil ways and persecuting policies were legion and were well-known at that time, and well-known even to today. The things that he did were devastating to the church. Again, the Lord knows and understands how difficult it was there for the church to live in this kind of environment. The test was made particularly poignant when “Antipas,” who the Lord describes as “My witness,” “My faithful one,” was killed. We don’t know who Antipas was. This is the only place where he is mentioned. We know that he was a faithful disciple; we know that he suffered the death of a “martyr,” as we might term it today. He gave his life for Christ, for his belief. And, notice, he is referred to by the Lord Himself and given a title that Jesus was also called—“the faithful witness,” Revelation 1, verse 5. Antipas’ death confirms that it was not an easy thing to be a Christian in Pergamum, with these strong pagan influences at the very seat of Satan’s power. Pressures must have been great upon these people to compromise themselves and to also tolerate such compromise.

Condemnation and Warning (verses 14-16)

All is good so far; however, the Lord says, “I have a few things against you.” While they resisted these pagans, while they held forth the Name of the Lord and they kept their faith, they entertained those who were called “Nicolaitans.” We can infer some things here. They were, perhaps, led by a “prophet” whom the Lord refers to as “Balaam.” Chances are his name was not “Balaam;” but, rather, the Lord here is making a parallel between what this leader was doing there within that church in Pergamum, and what the Balaam that we read about in Numbers, chapter 25, did with the children of Israel—he was the one who was responsible for teaching and urging Israel to engage in fornication and idolatry, and so on. This is, no doubt, the reason the Lord makes this parallel—these are the same things that the leader of the Nicolaitans is doing there among the Christians in Pergamum. They were being encouraged to eat at the table of gods, where they were compromising with the idolatry of the time. We know from Paul’s writings in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 10, verse 20, that God condemns such. Paul says you are not to have “fellowship with demons,” and he was making that statement in the context of those Christians in Corinth wanting to eat meat that had been sacrificed to these idols [“Observe Israel after the flesh: Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? 19 What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? 20 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons. 22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? 1 Corinthians 10:18-22].