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Sir W. Ramsay (Letters, p. 420). At present Smyrna has about 250,000 inhabitants, nearly half of whom belong to the Russo-Greek Church; with the exception of a few Catholics, the rest are Mohammedans, and the place now belongs to the Turks.

PERGAMOS.

12. Καὶ τῷ αγγέλῳ τῆς ἐν Περγάμῳ ἐκκλησίας γράψον, Τάδε λέγει ὁ ἔχων τὴν ῥομφαίαν τὴν δίστομον τὴν ὀξείαν.

12. And to the angel of the church of Pergamos write; These things saith he that hath the sharp two-edged sword.

Pergamos was situated about thirty miles north of Smyrna on the great Roman road. There is no record of its conversion to Christianity. Missionaries, pushing north from Smyrna, probably evangelised it. There was no "angel" there in the year 67, known to history.

The Speaker identifies Himself, as "he that hath the sharp two-edged sword," taken from R. i. 16. It is a threatening introduction. The threat recurs at R. ii. 16.

The third age of the Church, called Pergamos, extended from the edict of Milan, A.D. 313, to the fall of the Roman Empire in the beginning of the sixth century. Exact dates are out of the question, but Pergamos ended, according to this Book, with the millennium, when Satan was chained up for a thousand

years.

The word "Pergamos" means "the dividing of the horns." Horns are O.T. symbols of kingdoms opposed to each other. Constantine the Great gave two horns to the Church. He ambitioned a new Rome on the Bosphorus, which should bear his name, and be the metropolis of the spiritual and temporal powers of the Empire. At the feast of dedication of the city, a column of marble was erected by Constantine, inscribed with the title "New Rome" (Zozom I. ii. 2). In the third age of the Church the Greek Patriarchate became so great as to threaten the primacy of Rome. At one time it governed more Churches than Rome, because there were in early days more Churches in the East than in the West. Professor Vailhé Siméon says:

"In any case, if a superior jurisdiction over these twentyeight provinces did not belong de jure to the Bishops of Constantinople from 381 to 457, it is quite certain that de facto they exercised such jurisdiction" ("Cath. Encyc." vol. 6, p. 757). The rivalry of the Greek Church led it to doctrinal independence.

Great heresies were enkindled in the East, and gradually extinguished in the West (see p. 82). There is no reference to heresy in this message, because the message is addressed to the Angel of the Church of Rome, and that Church has never been guilty of heresy. The Church is "the pillar and the ground of the truth" (1 Tim. iii. 15).

13. Οἶδα που κατοικεῖς, ὅπου ὁ θρόνος τοῦ σατανᾶ· καὶ κρατεῖς τὸ ὄνομά μου, καὶ οὐκ ἠρνήσω τὴν πίστιν μου καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις εν αἷς ̓Αντιπας, ὁ μάρτυς μου ὁ πιστός, ὃς ἀπεκτάνθη παρ ὑμῖν, ὅπου ὁ σατανᾶς κατοικεῖ.

13. I know where thou dwellest, where the seat of satan is; and thou holdest fast my name and hast not denied my faith. Even in those days when Antipas was my faithful witness, who was slain among you, where satan dwelleth.

(S. omits ev als and writes ó TIσTÓS μov. Vg., Et in diebus illis Antipas, testis meus fidelis.)

It is significant that God, who knows all things, should begin His revelation to the third Church thus: "I know where thou dwellest." The meaning of it is that He wishes all to know where the Angel of His Church dwelt in the third age, and calls attention to it. "Where the seat of Satan is." The seat of idolatry was the seat of Satan. Rome was the headquarters of idolatry, therefore Rome was the seat of Satan. The Revelation shows Rome, and Satan, and the Beast, allied together in defence of Cæsar worship. Rome was " the mother of fornications and abominations of the earth" (R. xvii. 5). "And thou holdest fast my name and hast not denied my faith," is another indication of Rome. The faith was assailed by many heresies of the East, but especially by the Arian heresy, which denied that Jesus Christ was God. Arius was a Greek. He was helped by the sons of Constantine. His heresy was widespread. The Ostrogoths, the Visigoths, the Vandals, and the Suevi, were all, for a time, Arians, and persecuted the Church for holding fast the Divinity of Jesus Christ. The Angel, or Bishop of Rome, is praised for holding fast the faith in the midst of heresies and persecutions.

But it is important that there should be no mistake as to the seat of God's Church. A witness is called. "Antipas, my faithful witness, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth." Antipas is mentioned in connection with the Seat of Satan, to identify it. So at R. xi. 8, where there is question of Jerusalem, we read, "the great city which is spiritually called

Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified," to identify that great city with Jerusalem. Antipas is assumed by the Speaker to be well known to the Servants of God, as a martyr of Rome. There was no persecution in or before the year 67, except that of Nero, at Rome. Therefore Antipas was slain at Rome in Nero's persecution. We are in this difficulty that no man of that name is known to have been slain at Rome in the first, or any other, persecution.

That seems strange, for Antipas was evidently a well known man. He is picked out as the chief witness to the faith in the first persecution. He is held up to the veneration of posterity in the Book of Revelation. But the names of persons and places in the Book are carefully concealed by symbols. We must not expect the ordinary name of this great witness to appear, for one such real name might reveal too much to the Roman authorities.

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S. Peter was the chief witness for Christ in the first persecution, and there are several important clues which go to identify him with Antipas. First, the date. According to Dr. Swete, εν ταῖς ἡμέραις, throws the time of the martyrdom of Antipas back some years before the writing of the Apocalypse (op. cit. p. 35). S. Peter was slain by Nero in the year 64, three years before this message was written. Second, the place. S. Peter was slain at Rome, "where the seat of Satan is." Third, the cause. He was slain for the testimony of Jesus, that is implied in o μáprus μov. Fourth, his rank. Our Saviour calls Antipas “ ὁ μάρτυς μου ὁ πιστός.” He is Himself ὁ μάρτυς Ó TOTÓS, at R. i. 5 and iii. 14. He gives Antipas his own title of "faithful and true," qualifying it by "my;" evidently a man specially dear to God. S. Peter was our Lord's chosen witness. "Jesus saith to them, 'But whom do you say that I am?' Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus answering said to him, 'Blessed art thou, Simon-Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father, who is in heaven'" (Matt. xvi. 15 f.). Fifth, symbolism. Antipas in this connection is a symbol. It was the abbreviated name of Herod Antipatros, frequently used by Josephus. S. Peter's name and the fame of his death at Rome were so well known, that to mention his name would be equivalent to calling Rome by its proper name. Hence the name of Peter must be cloaked in a familiar symbol. Besides leaders of persecuted movements have generally a code name concealing their identity. Sixth, the name itself, Antipas. There was a custom amongst the Jews of calling men by the name of the district to which they belonged. S. Peter was a Galilæan of the tetrarchy of Antipas. He could not be called "the

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Galilæan," for that name was given to our Lord. There remained the name of his tetrarchy, Antipas. James and John were called Boanerges, showing the use of familiar names amongst the Apostles. Judas Iscariot-Ish-Karyoth—means Judas of Karyoth; Simon the Cananean (Matt. x. 4). Thomas, one of the Twelve, called Didymus (Jhn. xx. 24). Seventh, there is an evident assumption that the name of Antipas conveyed its meaning to "the Servants" of God, who were of the Apostolic class, as of the name of one belonging to that class. If we assume, as we have every reason to do, that Antipas was a Christian martyr, and that Rome was the Seat of Satan, it seems probable that S. Peter is the witness referred to. His martyrdom at Rome, in the year 64, was known to the Brethren. In the Roman theme of Revelation, the dragon (Satan) is said to give the Beast (the Cæsars), his own throne-ròv Opóvov AUTOÛ (R. xiii. 2). Here our Lord says "I know where thou dwellestὅπου ὁ θρόνος τοῦ σατανᾶ—where the seat of Satan is.” These two verses are linked together epexegetically. The object of this sentence is to place the angel of the third age of the Church at Rome. The Angel, or Bishop, of the Church of Rome is held responsible for the state of the Churches in the third age. Notwithstanding the some-time preponderance of the Churches under the jurisdiction of Constantinople, the primacy is given by God to Rome in this prediction.

14. Αλλ' ἔχω κατὰ σοῦ ὀλίγα, ὅτι ἔχεις ἐκεῖ κρατοῦντας τὴν διδαχὴν Βαλαάμ, ὃς ἐδίδασκεν τῷ Βαλὰκ βαλεῖν σκάν δαλον ἐνώπιον τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ, φαγεῖν εἰδωλόθυτα καὶ πορνεῦσαι.

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 and to commit fornication.

15. Οὕτως ἔχεις καὶ σὺ κρατοῦντας τὴν διδαχὴν Νικολαϊτῶν ὁμοίως.

15. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaites.

These two passages may well be taken together. It has been pointed out that the Hebrew and Greek words, Balaam and Nikolaos, have one and the same meaning, and relate to the soul-destroying sin of lust (see R. ii. 6, notes). Also that in the Apocalypse Hebrew words are often explained by their Greek

equivalents. We know from Num. xxiv. 1-2, and xxxi. 16, what were the sins of the Balaamites. Balaam advised Balac to ensnare the children of Israel by tempting them with Moabite and Midianite women. By this means the Jews were led into the idolatrous customs of the Moabites-fornication and the eating of things offered to idols. The third Church, freed from the persecution of the Cæsars and corrupted by wealth, fell into sensuality. "Eidwλóovтa Kai Tорveûσai" were specifically con“Εἰδωλόθυτα καὶ πορνεῦσαι demned at the Council of Jerusalem-“ εἰδωλοθύτων . . . καὶ Toрveías" (Acts xv. 29). The phraseology of St. John's age is naturally used with reference to the things of the third age of the Church. Holzhauser writes:

"When the tribulations of the Gentiles and of the pagans ceased, the Church was at rest. From that time by the munificence of Constantine the Great, and other benefactors, the priests enjoyed considerable revenues from endowments. But the Church becoming thus enriched abandoned her creator, God, and neglected her salvation. Many of her members gave themselves up to a life of voluptuousness with women." (L'Apoc. I. 137.)

Holzhauser seems to hold that these judgments were aimed at the hierarchy. He says that in those days of repeated falls into heresy and schism, the morality of the hierarchy of the Greek Church, especially, was at a low ebb (op. cit. I., 147).

16. Μετανόησον· εἰ δὲ μή, ἔρχομαί σοι ταχύ, καὶ πολεμήσω μετ ̓ αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ ῥομφαίᾳ τοῦ στόματός μου.

16. In like manner do penance; or else I will come to thee quickly, and will fight against thee with the sword of my mouth.

(S. puts οὖν after Μετανόησον.)

Πολεμήσω μετ' αὐτῶν means " I will fight against them i.e. the sinners, not the Angel of the Church.

These threats are predictions which were fulfilled. The twoedged sword has a cutting edge as well as a judgment edge. In the vision of our Lord riding forth to overthrow the Roman Empire we are told "with justice he judgeth and fighteth," "and out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp two-edged sword that with it he may strike the Gentiles" (R. xix. 11, 15). The third or Pergamon age was the age of General Councils in which heresies were condemned and Heresiarchs and their impure following were excommunicated. In this age also the Goths, the Visigoths, the Huns, and the Vandals swept over

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