Series: “To the Angel of the Church in Ormond Beach:
Christ’s Message for His Church Today”
#3: “The Seduction of False Teaching”
2 Timothy 4:1-4 and Revelation 2:12-17 (NRSV)
By John Gill ~ January 26, 2025
How many of you think you understand this passage? If so, maybe you could come up here and explain it to the rest of us!
Some passages in the Bible are harder to interpret than others – and this is one of them! As I was preparing this sermon, I have to confess that I struggled quite a bit. It’s one of those passages that challenges me to my core. I’d love to avoid it – but here it is, the third of the seven letters from the Heavenly Christ to the seven churches of Asia Minor. We’ve got to deal with it.
This text contains lots of odd symbolism, plus a reference to an obscure Old Testament story none of us ever studied in Sunday School. There is so much to “unpack” in these few verses that we really need more than one sermon to fully understand what’s going on here. But from the reading, we can get a hint of what is happening in this church.
It seems that the Christians at Pergamum were experiencing persecution at the hands of their neighbors, and they had reacted in one of two ways. The Heavenly Christ has a different message to each group: to some members of that church, the Heavenly Christ offers words of commendation and praise, to the other members, words of condemnation. Christ is pleased with those who are standing firm under persecution, especially a brave believer named Antipas who had been martyred for his faith. But Christ is angry with another group within the church for caving in to the pressures of pagan society – those who (as the Heavenly Christ says) “hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the people of Israel, so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and practice fornication.”
To understand this text from Revelation, we must first become familiar with the Old Testament story it refers to. What is this “teaching of Balaam” which makes Christ so angry that he would “go to war”? Who is this Balaam guy, anyway? If you remember anything at all about Balaam, it is probably his conversation with a talking donkey in Numbers, chapter 22 . . . yes, there IS a talking donkey in the Bible – look it up! But the episode our text is referring to happens after that – and it’s not a pretty story.
Balaam was a soothsayer in the land of Moab, who was known far and wide for his ability to put curses on others. The story goes like this: After their Exodus from Egypt, the Israelites had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years waiting their chance to finally enter the Promised Land – but the country of Moab lay in their way. Balak, the king of Moab, was frightened to have such a large number of foreigners passing through his land, so he called on Balaam to put a curse on the Israelites. But, God spoke to Balaam, instructing him to bless Israel, rather than curse them, and this is exactly what Balaam did.
Now, if the story ended there, Balaam would be seen as one of the heroes of the Bible. But instead, Balaam suggests to King Balak another way to defeat Israel – not by a curse, not by war, but by subversion. He instructed the women of Moab to lure the Israelite men, inviting them to attend pagan feasts that included ritual sexual acts in honor of the Canaanite fertility god, Baal. The seductive bait was set, and the Hebrew men fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. (It seems like we men never learn!)
As you can imagine, this made God very angry – so enraged in fact that he instructed Moses to execute any Israelite men who had taken part, and the Bible tells us that 24,000 Israelite men were executed! Then, Israel and Moab went to war. According to the Bible, all the men of Moab are killed (including Balaam, himself), and all the women and children are captured. When Moses discovered that the women had been spared, he asked, “Why let the women live?” and gave orders that all the females who were not virgins, and all the boys of Moab should also be killed – which they were. With that awful bloodbath, it was believed that the sin that had caused all the trouble in the first place was purged. (Sounds a little like the evening news, doesn’t it?)
I told you it wasn’t a pretty story (and I even spared you the goriest details)! - - It’s certainly not one to read to your children as a bedtime story – unless of course, you want to give them nightmares!
Now you know why we seldom preach on this text! But, THIS is the very story the Heavenly Christ refers to in accusing the Church at Pergamum, so we had better try to understand it! What on earth does Christ mean by: “the teachings of Balaam?”
It appears to be this: Because of Balaam’s influence, the Israelites sinned by worshiping other gods. They broke several of the Ten Commandments that God had just recently given them. They compromised their faith – and that resulted in many sins, most especially idol worship. It was a direct affront to God, and Israel paid an awful price (but not as high a price as their enemies paid, of course). I guess the message is that there are serious consequences to be paid when we give devotion to anyone or anything other than the Almighty God.
But let’s not be too quick to pass judgment on the men of Israel who were lured by the women of Moab to sin. Those men may have had very good reasons for doing what they did – after all, as you and I know from personal experience, many of our sins start from the best of intentions.
Try to put yourself in their place. You have spent your entire life camping out in the wilderness, wandering for 40 years, waiting for the right moment to cross over into the Promised Land. But there is a problem. The Land of Moab stands between you and your destination – and the King of Moab refuses to allow you to pass.
So, what are your options? Do you go to war? No one wants a fight. Or, do you try accommodation? Isn’t peaceful coexistence a better alternative? Why not build bridges of understanding with your neighbors? Wouldn’t it be wise to try to get to know them? What’s wrong with accepting an invitation to visit them – to build relationships – even to join in their festivals? Sounds like a reasonable plan of action to me!
Now, there is nothing wrong with developing good will with non-believing friends and neighbors, so long as you don’t compromise your own beliefs while you are doing so!
The most common word for the People of God in the New Testament is the Greek word, “hagios,” a word that means “holy” or “ones who have been set apart.” The men of Israel forgot that they had been set apart to be a holy people. They forgot who they were, and whose they were – with disastrous results.
NOW are you beginning to understand what was going on in Pergamum? The Christians who were experiencing persecution had two options (the same two options the people of Israel had): They could either 1) stand firm in their faith and their allegiance to God, in spite of vicious persecution, even if it means death (as Antipas had done); or they could 2) follow the “teachings of Balaam” (which Christ equates with the Nicolatian-heretics who were leading the Church at Pergamum astray). Both Balaam and the Nicolatians encouraged believers to compromise with the world. They suggested that it was better to sell-out your faith if that’s what it took to survive, even if it meant turning your back on God.
The Nicolatian-heretics at Pergamum saw nothing wrong with accommodating to the world’s standards. What’s the problem with a little pagan worship along with the worship of God, if that will keep the peace? They believed that the activities they had become involved in were not “sins,” but just “harmless indulgences” that had no impact on their faith. To the contrary, according to our text from Revelation, the Heavenly Christ who bears the two-edged sword says that overlooking sin is never harmless! (By the way, that strange image of the two-edged sword dangling from the mouth of the Heavenly Christ is from John’s vision in Chapter 1 of Revelation – meaning, the words of Jesus “cut both ways” – To some they bring words of grace, to others words of judgment.)
These men of Pergamum (and those men of Israel so many centuries before) had a lot in common – the same kind of attitude – the same kind of sins – the same kind of rationalization of sin – leading to the same kind of devastating results.
Does any of this sound contemporary? It should! Do we have any Balaams today tempting US to compromise our faith? - telling us that it’s OK to fudge a little on religion? - that we can stretch God’s rules so they aren’t quite so hard to follow? - offering us watered down-religion, with few demands, and no sacrifices? - a “lowest common denominator” religion that conforms with the trends of our society, rather than striving to transform our society so that it conforms to Biblical values?
Yes, this is a very timely passage – it’s difficult and uncomfortable because it hits so close to home. Balaam is alive and well! False teaching is all around us – throughout popular culture, and even among those who claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Yes, the church today also struggles with the temptation to worship something other than God alone. We have Christians on both the Christian-right and the Christian-left who, in their own ways, are following the “teaching of Balaam!” How so? (And here is the “sword” that cuts both ways.) A word of warning: I hope you wore your steel-toed boots this morning because I’m about to step on the toes of every person here today – in one way or another – just as the Heavenly Christ “stepped on the toes” of those in the Pergamum congregation. (In one of my congregations, one of the men as he shook my hand going out of the Sanctuary would grin and say, “You bloodied my toes this morning, preacher!” And he meant it as a compliment. So, if you hear something that makes you disturbed and thing I’m picking on you – just wait a moment. I’ll pick on your neighbor, as well. So here it goes:
In the Christian community today, there are those on the Right who have compromised their devotion to the One True God by conflating the worship of America or a political ideology with the Christian faith – they confuse allegiance to an earthly kingdom with allegiance to God (don’t worry, I’m not proposing removing the American flag!) And when some other Christians believe America is in the wrong and raise a prophetic voice to call America to act justly and compassionately in the world, many on the Christian Right call them “woke” or traitors, or even unchristian. Yes, even today, Balaam tempts many to place their ultimate loyalty in something other than God.
Then there are Balaam worshipers on the other extreme – the Christian Left, who have compromised, not so much with worldly powers, but with our worldly culture – even to the extent that they reject the historic teachings of the Church. They may do it out of the good intention of making the Christian faith more appealing and accessible to secular people in order to bring them into their congregation. But, in doing so, some now deny that salvation is only available through Jesus Christ, arguing that Jesus is simply one of many other equally-valid paths to God. Others do not believe that Scripture contains all that is needed in matters of faith and practice, but require of their congregants more – or less than – the biblical witness. Because they divide their worship between both God and culture, they sometimes maintain positions on issues that cannot be supported by Scripture, and may even be contrary to the Biblical witness. I’ll let you decide what those positions may be…. Indeed, Balaam is enticing many Christians today to compromise with the world rather than to rely on God’s Word. (Have I bloodied everyone’s toes yet?)
Yes, false teaching is all around us – and it pulls at us from many directions. I’m afraid the prophecy in 2 Timothy has now come to pass: “For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away into myths.”
NOW I know why I had to struggle so much with this text this week – maybe it is causing you to squirm, as well.
You see, I am one who is torn (maybe you are, too?), tempted by the siren-song of those on both sides of the religious divide, who in their zealotry would each lead us away from the truth. In one sense, I am conservative, and appreciate the call to hold fast to the historic teachings of the faith. For example: I am very patriotic and, while I do not believe in “Christion Nationalism,” I do believe that America was founded on Christian principles, and when America follows those principles of grace, mercy, and justice, she is within the will of God. I am also one who holds to a very high understanding of Scripture, and consider myself to be orthodox in my understanding of the Christian faith. I consider myself a loyal American AND a loyal disciple of Christ. I feel that, when properly understood, the historic teachings of the faith, and patriotism go hand-in-hand (and that’s why I am leaving flags in the sanctuary), even as you have heard me warn over and over about the dangers of “Christian Nationalism” as a perversion of our American and religious heritage. That being said, I must admit that the Christian Right’s call to resist those who advocate for conforming to the world does strike a chord with me.
However, in many ways I am also progressive in my views. While holding to the teaching of Scripture, I hope that I am not so rigid in my beliefs that I become like the legalistic Pharisees Jesus criticized so often. I do want to be as open-minded and accepting as Jesus was, loving and welcoming all people as Jesus did. So, in some ways, I may be considered liberal.
For instance, I understand that the Bible was written in a very different era of history and that there are things in scripture that no longer apply to our day and time. We must constantly reevaluate our interpretation of Scripture as we encounter it in each generation. For example, I don’t think children who disrespect their elders should be stoned to death, as the Bible instructs parents to do; nor do I believe that divorced people who remarry should be considered adulterers and sinners, even though the words of Jesus clearly says they are. And, while there are a handful of verses that have been interpreted to condemn homosexuality, Jesus never said a negative word about the subject, and even seems to acknowledge the reality of those whose sexual orientation is different than the norm (check out Jesus’s teaching on divorce and marriage in Matthew 19:10-12, where Jesus acknowledges that some people – whom he calls eunuchs, “are born with” their sexual identity and shouldn’t be expected to conform to the cultural expectations.) Or, another example – Most Christians no longer observe the dietary laws and customs laid out in scripture, nor do we worship on the Sabbath – Saturday – even though the 10 Commandments requires it. Many Christians make a big deal about posting the 10 Commandments, when they technically break one of the 10 every week.
You see, as a follower of Jesus, I believe that grace trumps legalism in the practice of our faith every time. EVERY SINGLE TIME. This “liberal” side of me recognizes that the world is constantly changing and that, as the world changes, every generation has to find ways to apply the Christian faith to their day and time – ways that conform with the spirit of the Scriptures, if not the “letter” of the Scriptures – just exactly the way Jesus reinterpreted the sacred writing of Jewish Scripture of his day – and was constantly getting in trouble with the literalists of his time – even being put to death for doing so! So, even though I am sometimes a Conservative, the graciousness and openness of the Christian Left also resonates with me.
Friends, every one of us must struggle to figure out what it means to live faithfully in our day and time. Like the people of Pergamum, or the men of Israel, loyalty and faithfulness to God is not as easy to figure out as it may first seem.
Whether we like it or not, we all have to wrestle with thorny questions in determining the most godly position to take: For instance, the debate that has divided our beloved denomination - What is the faithful way for the church to address the reality of gay people in our culture who want to be followers of Jesus? – who what to live together in a committed relationship? – who want to marry? How should we relate to the people of many cultures and religions who are now our neighbors, especially those who are of the Muslim faith? What is the proper Christian response to undocumented foreigners in our country, in light of the clear biblical command to provide for the strangers living in the land? How should the church relate to people who have come out of prisons, or those mentally ill living on our streets? How shall we deal with women believers who have opted for an abortion? What role should the church play in defending creation from those who, out of greed, are destroying the forests, the oceans, and the groundwater? What does it mean to be a Christian in a democracy when neither the Republicans nor Democrats have a corner on morality – when both parties have in their platforms some positions that are not in accord with the Biblical witness?
You see, being a Christian within a culture is easy - in theory, but complicated - in practice. So we had better have some humility in passing judgment on those who have tried, but failed, to get it right…because, you and I are also those who try – and fail miserably.
So - how shall we, as Christians, deal with those we believe are “following the teachings of Balaam,” - those who we believe are leading us away from God? As one who believes in Grace, my inclination has always been – to forgive those Christians who hold positions contrary to mine, even those who I believe are following “the teachings of Balaam” – I see them as well-intentioned, but mistaken. To avoid being judgmental, I give them a “pass,” even as I try in loving ways to encourage them to change. But most of all, I pray for them - that they might seek God’s direction for their lives. To my way of thinking, this is how Christ would do it.
So, yes, I’ve struggled mightily with this text from Revelation. In all things, I passionately want to err on the side of grace and acceptance of all people. I know God’s grace is available to all, no matter who they are or what they have done. I insist that all people are welcome in our church, and I bend over backwards not to pass judgment on anyone, but love them as God loves them.
But, even as we try to be a church that is relevant and welcoming, we need to heed these strong words of the Risen Christ to the Church at Pergamum: Be gracious and welcoming, yes, but hold fast to what you have been taught. I hope and pray that as our contemporary Church struggles to negotiate what it means to remain faithful to God in our culture in 2025, we will hear this letter to the believers at Pergamum as a word of caution - a siren sounding the alarm, and a call to repentance – or we will face the judgment of Christ himself, and hear him say to us: “Repent… if not, I will come to you soon and make war against them with the sword of my mouth.” But “To everyone who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name…”
“Let anyone who has an ear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches!”
© 2025 by John B. Gill, III