Pergamon: The Church During Early Catholicism [313-538 AD]
Revelation 2:12-17
12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;
13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.
16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
The Pergamon age of church history began in 313 AD when the Edict of Milan legalized Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. This event, along with Constantine’s efforts to convert the entire empire with him, led to the creation of the Mystery Babylon Catholic Church—a hybrid pagan-Christian false church that has deceived billions of people throughout history.
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The alignment of this era with the city of Pergamon is itself significant. Pergamon is the city where the pagan sun cult migrated after the Babylonian revolts of 484 BC. For this reason, Jesus told the Pergamene Christians that their city was “where Satan’s seat is.” The fusion of the Babylonian sun cult and Christianity during this church age is why Pergamon was the city chosen to represent it.
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Jesus’ condemnation of the Pergamene church draws upon an anecdote from the Old Testament book of Numbers. In the story, a devious prophet named Balaam was offered a bribe by a Moabite king named Balac to curse his fellow Israelites. God permitted Balaam to meet with Balac under the condition that he only said what God told him to. When the king expected Balaam to issue a curse against the Israelites, he instead blessed them. Balac tried to extract a curse from Balaam six more times, and each time, Balaam blessed Israel. But the greedy Balaam still wanted his bribe to be paid. With God still refusing to allow him to curse his people, the prophet tried a new strategy. Rather than cursing Israel, he betrayed them. Balaam told Balac how to get the Israelites to sin, causing them to bring God’s anger on themselves.[i]
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The stumblingblock metaphor in Revelation 2:14 alludes to how Balaam and Balac used idol worship to cause the Israelites to sin before God. Balaam caused the Israelites to stumble in their faith, just as Roman Catholicism has caused parishioners to stumble with iconography. While Balaam was greedy and wicked, he did hear from God and was used by him. Balaam was both a prophet of God and evil—a religious hybrid—the perfect metaphor for this period of church history.
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[i] Num. 22-24 (KJV).