Sexual Sins in the Book of Revelation "Balaam and the Church of Pergamum"

The book of Revelation is the last book in the New Testament, and it was written by Saint John on the island of Patmos, where he was exiled because of his faith.[1] This was during the fierce persecution during the reign of the Domitian (81-96 AD)[2],[3],[4]. As we read in chapter 2 of Revelation, God unveils many realities to Saint John about the first bishops of the early Church, whom he calls “angels” of the respective churches. We find that the Lord was not too pleased with his bishops and declares His judgment about each one. The truer the Church is to Christ, the greater will be her tribulation. But, it is in the midst of this Church with all her faults and failings that the Lamb bears away sin. The Church is not made up of saints but of sinners who are trying to be saints. This was true of the bishops. These letters to the bishops as contained in Revelation may be seen as a recording of the historical condition of each bishop at the time or as a prophecy of the state of the bishops in the future—or even both.

St. John writes of the seven bishops of seven different churches—or dioceses—of what we now know as present-day Asia. Of these seven dioceses, the first mentioned is Ephesus: the bishop was zealous, orthodox, and a great organizer, but there was not love for God by the bishop. In Smyrna, the bishop was humble, dedicated to his flock, persecuted by the Jews, and approved. In Pergamum, the bishop was timid in the face of evil as well as compromising. In Thyatira, the bishop was good, but he failed to do anything about teachers of false religion. The bishop of Sardis was a pretender; he deceived himself. He called himself living, but he was dead spiritually. In the church of Philadelphia, the bishop was a good shepherd and kept his word. In Laodicea, the bishop was rich on the outside but poverty-stricken spiritually on the inside.[5] People tend to judge the Church by the quality of its bishops. However, as readers of Revelation, we shouldn’t focus on blaming the bishops but rather on our own sins and apply these letters to the bishops to our own lives.  

  In this article, we will focus on a church that suffered from sexual sins, Pergamum. Let’s start by reading the Lord’s message to the church of Pergamum as scribed by Saint John.

And to the angel of the church in Pergamos[6] write, ‘These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it”’ (Revelation 2:12–17).

We find that God praises the members of the church of Pergamum because they didn’t deny their faith even though the church existed where Satan’s throne is. The throne refers to the city of Pergamum as a seat for idol worship: Pergamum was the first city in Asia to build a temple dedicated to the worship of a living emperor.[7] Next, God honors Antipas, who was the bishop of Pergamum who was martyred by emperor Domitian in 92 AD by means of being burned alive.[8],[9] However, God follows up His praise of Antipas by blaming the church of Pergamum for holding to the teaching of Balaam so that they might eat the food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. As if that weren’t bad enough, some in the church at Pergamum hold to the false teachings of the promiscuous Nicolaitans. We will explain these teachings in detail later. God asks the church to repent or else He will come and wage war against them. The end of the letter conveys God’s blessing on those who conquer in spiritual warfare: He will give them hidden manna and a white stone with a new name written on it.

Let’s delve into the details now. This section of Revelation starts with a call to be disciplined and strict with ourselves. Verse 13 says “These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword.” The sharp two-edged sword refers to the word of the Gospel, which circumcises the heart and separates right from wrong, thereby removing evil. This sword should have an impact on our behavior by causing us to be decisive against evil and refuse to comply with social pressure, such as refusing to watch pornography even though “everyone does it.” Refusing to look at women in revealing clothing  even though “everyone looks.” Refusing to listen to any inappropriate talk even though “everyone does it.” Decisiveness is what Jesus meant when He said, “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell” (Matthew 5:29). In our fight against pornography, we need to be decisive and remove all evil from our lives. We need God’s two-edged sword to remove evil from our lives.

God starts by praising the church at Pergamum. Notice that this church was intensely loyal to Jesus despite a satanic tribulation. Even their bishop was a martyr. However, some in the church had given in to sexual immorality. Such a “small” mistake can undermine the testimony of the whole church. The lesson here to us is that we need to be consistent in our walk with Christ and make sure that ALL areas of our lives yield to His control. Ignoring even the smallest bad habit can lead to serious consequences. “Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes” (Song of Solomon 2:15). Many good people with great character and virtues let pornography slip into their lives, and that small, secret mistake is capable of ruining their lives. This hidden habit ends up controlling our lives and eventually ruining them, including through the unnoticed self-harm components of pornography (unnoticed by the pornography-addicted individual, because many addicted men don’t realize they are harming themselves).

Watching pornography is a sign of great hypocrisy for Christians. By watching pornography, we support an evil industry that exploits women and forces them to perform sexual acts against their will. Approximately 30 million women annually are being trafficked and coerced into this evil industry to keep up with the demand for more pornographic content.[10] Major pornographic websites receive as many as 42 billion visits annually.[11] There is simply no legal way for pornographers to keep up with the demand. The least we can do is not participate in this sin because a lack of demand will lead to a lower supply and fewer women being exploited. As believers, we should abstain from this evil industry that exploits women for the pleasure of men. Women aren’t tools for men’s pleasure. Women are “helpers comparable to” men (Genesis 2:18). It’s a sin to passively accept the idea that women are lesser than men. Remember, when you watch pornography, you implicitly accept the exploitation of women for the pleasure of men. The only solution is to abstain, and, we can hope, lack of demand will stop this industry: “to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).

Next, the letter talks about the doctrine of Balaam. The word “Balaam” means “not of the people, that is, foreigner”[12] (Strong’s number H1109). The implication of this name is that we have to be careful  with anything foreign and not from our tradition. This exhortation is against the current culture, in which we are constantly looking for everything new. Of course, it really depends on what is new. Technology to help boost our productivity? There’s nothing wrong in that. But new values and principles that undermine our values? That’s a definite no.  

If we follow the word “Balaam” in the Bible, we find that it first appears in the book of Numbers, in chapter 22, when Balak, the king of Moab, summoned the prophet Balaam to come and curse the people of Israel so that Balak might be able to defeat them in war. Remember, Satan is waging war against Christians and aiming to enslave them to sin. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world” (1 Peter 5:8–9). Balak hiring a prophet to curse the Israelites so he could defeat them in war also shows how much Balak was afraid of the Israelites. Similarly, when you are well rooted in Christ, Satan is afraid of you. In the book of Acts we read about unclean spirits coming out of many people. These unclean spirits were crying because they were scared of the apostles. Similarly, if we are well rooted in Christ, we shouldn’t be afraid of Satan, but he is scared of us. “For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed” (Acts 8:7).  

Angle blocking Balaam from cursing Israelites same today as God's angles protect us from the pornography

After Balak asked Balaam to curse the Israelites, God told Balaam not to do it. But, under the pressure of Balak and the desire to gain money, Balaam complied with Balak anyway. Then we read about the story of the donkey that spoke to Balaam to deter him from cursing Israel. In spite of this, Balak insisted that Balaam should curse Israel. Unfortunately, the lust for money controlled Balaam so much that he advised Balak to entice the Israelites into sexual sins so that they would lose God’s grace and able to be defeated in war. We read that Balaam’s advice worked momentarily as the Israelites committed fornication with the daughters of Moab. The same thing is sadly happening today as many Christians are addicted to pornography. However, this sin of the Israelites was quickly stopped through the action of Phinehas. The detailed story of Balaam and Balak can be found in the appendix of this article.

We really see in this story how obstinate Balaam was. God spoke clearly to Balaam not to curse the Israelites nor to cooperate with Balak. However, he ignored these warnings and tried to curse Israel. Many times in our lives, we receive warnings or clear messages from God, but we ignore them. Take God’s messages to you seriously, and don’t be obstinate like Balaam. “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion” (Hebrews 3:15).

Saint Peter Chrysologus said the following: The soothsayer Balaam set up a scandal for the people of Israel when he went to meet their warriors, not with men in armor but with women arrayed in all their finery. He hoped to make the men drop their arms for debauchery, change their triumph into disgrace, bring the avengers of guilt into guilt themselves and—to put it briefly—to profane all their holiness into depravity. As a result of it all, when Moses was meting out punishment, he sentenced Balaam thus: “Kill Balaam the soothsayer, because he set up a stumbling block before the children of Israel.” [13]

Balaam’s tactic to entice believers into sexual sins was implemented with many saints so that they would lose their strength. Saint Samuel the Confessor was tied with a steel chain to a female servant to force him to have sex with her and lose his virginity, but God saved him.[14] Even in the present day, ensnaring Christians in sexual sins so that they lose their hope and strength is a very common tactic. Nothing breaks you from the inside and keeps you hopeless like sexual sin.

As Saint Ambrose said "God is neither unjust nor is his judgment changeable. For God laid hold of Balaam’s mind and the secrets of his heart. For that reason, he tested him as a diviner; he did not elect him as a prophet. And certainly, he ought to have been converted by the grace of such great oracles and the sublimity of the revelations. But his soul, full of vileness, put forth words, but it did not bring forth faith. He desired to undermine by his counsel what he announced would happen. Since he was not able to give the lie to the oracles, he proposed fraudulent counsels. By these counsels the fickle people of Israel were indeed tested, but they were not overcome. For by the justice of one man, a priest, every plan of that villainous man was undone. It is much more amazing that the multitude of our fathers could be freed through one man than be deceived through one man." [15] 

We further read about Balaam in 2 Peter, chapter 2, where Balaam is mentioned in the context of being aware of false teachers. “They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet” (2 Peter 2:15–16). Saint Hilary of Arles said: “The donkey spoke with a human voice so that Balaam would understand what God was saying to him. He had become a madman because of his disobedience to the commandments of God, and dumb animals are wiser than that, since they observe the law of nature.” [16] Sin makes you lose your mind. Sin is never rational. Sin is never smart. There’s nothing rational about watching pornography; it’s mainly an emotional, impulsive act in response to a stimulus.

In the same chapter of 2 Peter, we further read an accurate description of people who choose to follow Balaam’s doctrine: “Having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children” (2 Peter 2:14). Let’s focus here on “enticing unstable souls.” The porn industry is exploiting people’s pain and emotional distress to gain money. A striking example was when pornography sites offered free access for 30 days during the COVID pandemic to help relieve people’s stress.[17] Unfortunately, people seek relief from pain, anxiety, and stress in pornography and abandon the true source of relief. The COVID pandemic caused a huge spike in porn use because people were seeking pleasure as a relief from the dire situation,[18] while true relief is found in Jesus. “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13). Porn is a broken cistern that holds no water; there’s never enough porn, and people find themselves always looking for more pleasure to momentarily relieve their pain. Pornhub’s generous offer was not motivated by love; they were simply taking advantage of the right moment to seduce more people. There’s no pain relief in porn. True pain relief is found in Jesus: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). 

Balaam was also mentioned in the book of Jude: "Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots" (Jude 1:11–12).

The commentary on this passage by Saint Andrew of Caesarea reads as follows. “These people are even fratricides [a person who kills a brother or sister], because what they teach kills the souls of those who are deceived by them. Look how he describes their outrageous ungodliness. He is not content to compare them with Cain but adds Balaam and Korah as well. Cain, we understand from the above. Balaam he adds because Balaam went out to curse God’s people for the sake of money, even if God later turned his tongue around to the point where he blessed them instead. Korah is mentioned because he seized a teaching authority which God had not granted to him.” [19]

It is very true that pornography kills the soul and leaves it enslaved to sin. It destroys you from the inside. Indeed, the creators of pornography are fratricides because their work kills the souls of their fellow brothers and sisters. If you think about it, it’s very peculiar that people pay to watch porn. They are paying for others to kill their own souls. People actually pay for others to hurt them. Truly, sin makes you lose your mind.

Similar to the doctrine of Balaam are the promiscuous Nicolaitans. As Saint Bede explained, The Nicolaitans received their name from the deacon, Nicolaus, of whom Clement reports that, when he was reproached for jealousy of his very beautiful wife, he responded that whoever wanted might take her as wife. On account of this, the faithless taught that the apostles had permitted to everyone a promiscuous and communal intercourse with women. In addition, the Nicolaitans are said to have proclaimed certain fabulous and virtually pagan ideas concerning the beginning of the world and not to have kept their foods separate from those which had been offered to idols. [20]

In summary, the church of Pergamum was plagued with tolerating Balaam and Nicolaitans. Likewise, in our modern days, pornography and promiscuity are attacking our churches and rendering our youth weak and defeated. We should always warn our youth of the devastating consequences of pornography. We should encourage our youth to reject pornography and promiscuity and grow in holiness and chastity. There’s no freedom in pornography; it’s all slavery. More importantly, we should reject pornography because it’s hypocrisy. As Saint Tyconiussaid, These two things are the chief things that hypocrites contend should be enjoyed, to eat and to fornicate, as the Lord says: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence” (Matthew 23:25) but also every evil work is idolatry and spiritual fornication.[21]

Pornography is the plague of our time, and we should patiently endure temptation. Through patience we will bear spiritual fruits. As we read in the Parable of the Sower, “But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15). We also read in the book of James that our perfection is through patience: “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:4). Saint Andrew of Caesarea said about patience that “accepting the faithful is on account of their patience in temptations.” [22] In the same context, he stressed that our patience should be armed with God’s “two-edged sword” (Revelation 2:13), which “either means the word of the Gospel which he says circumcises the heart, separating the faithful and the unbelievers, or the sharp decision against the impious.” So, remember patience and God’s two-edged sword.

Appendix: Balaam’s Story in Detail

After the Israelites defeated the Amorites, the king of Moab (Balak) was afraid the Israelites would destroy his nation as well. Balak asked a prophet named Balaam to curse the Israelites. As Balaam determined in his heart to curse the Israelites, he rode his donkey and travelled along the road. Therefore, God sent an angel to block the path of the donkey. When the donkey saw the angel, it stopped walking. Balaam, unaware of the situation, started beating the donkey to get it to move. God miraculously caused the donkey to talk to Balaam. Finally, Balaam saw the angel and realized what had happened. After the donkey incident, Balaam ended up blessing the Israelites instead of cursing them. Nevertheless, Balak kept pressuring Balaam to curse Israel. Four times, Balaam (Numbers chapters 23 and 24) built altars and sacrificed animals to the Lord, but he wasn't able to curse Israel. He would bless them instead.

In the next chapter (Numbers 25), we read about Israelites committing fornication with the daughters of Moab. How can they do that with their enemies? Sin makes you lose your mind and become stupid; sin is illogical. We see the same pattern of insanity and audacity in the same chapter when a man brought in a Midianite woman in sight of Moses, not respecting Moses or fearing God. Remarkably, Moses wept in front of the tabernacle because of the people’s sins. Only Phinehas’s zeal saved the Israelites as he went and killed both the man and the Midianite woman. We also read that Phinehas’s action stopped a plague that was most likely a sexually transmitted disease spreading among the Israelites.

Israel’s fornication with the daughters of Moab seems out of context. Later in Numbers chapter 31, we learn that Israel’s fornication with the daughters of Moab was through a counsel of Balaam to Balak. But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, with the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, who had come from the battle. And Moses said to them: “Have you kept all the women alive? Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord (Numbers 31:14–16). Balaam knew that if he enticed the Israelites into sexual sin, they would lose God’s grace and protection. Thankfully, this didn’t happen, as we read in Numbers chapter 25.

References

[1] Thomas Nelson, The Orthodox Study Bible: Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today’s World (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Incorporated, 2008).

[2] “Bashons 16 : Lives of Saints : Synaxarium - CopticChurch.Net.”

[3] “Toba 4 : Lives of Saints : Synaxarium - CopticChurch.Net.”

[4] “Feast of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist.”

[5] Barron, The Word on Fire Bible (Volume 2).

[6] Same as Pergamum, transliteration for the Greek word Πέργαμος. Strong number G4010. Thomas and Wilkins, New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.

[7] Thomas Nelson, The Orthodox Study Bible.

[8] Currid and Chapman, ESV Archaeology Study Bible.

[9] “The Martyrdom of St. Antipas, Bishop of Pergamos - 16 Baramoudah - Baramoda Month - Coptic Synaxarium.”

[10] United Nations: Office on Drugs and Crime, “UNODC Report on Human Trafficking Exposes Modern Form of Slavery,” n.d., //www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/unodc-report-on-human-trafficking-exposes-modern-form-of-slavery-.html.

[11] Peters, “Pornography & Sex Trafficking.”

[12] Robert L. Thomas and W. Don Wilkins, New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible/Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries (Anaheim, Calif.: Foundation Publications, 1998).

[13] William Carl Weinrich and Thomas C. Oden, Revelation: Volume 12 Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2005).

[14] Kiahk 8 : Lives of Saints : Synaxarium - CopticChurch.Net, n.d., https://www.copticchurch.net/synaxarium/4_8.html#4.

[15] Weinrich and Oden, Revelation: Volume 12 Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture.

[16] Gerald Bray, ed., James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. New Testament 11 (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, 20).

[17] Amber Milne, “Porn Site’s Free Service during Coronavirus Raises Sex Trafficking Fears,” Reuters, 27 March 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/business/porn-sites-free-service-during-coronavirus-raises-sex-trafficking-fears-idUSL8N2BK415/.

[18] Joshua B. Grubbs, “Porn Use Is Up, Thanks to the Pandemic,” The Conversation, 8 April 2020, http://theconversation.com/porn-use-is-up-thanks-to-the-pandemic-134972.

[19] Bray, James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude.

[20] Weinrich and Oden, Revelation: Volume 12 Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture.

[21] Tyconius, translated by Francis X. Gumerlock, Exposition of the Apocalypse, The Fathers of the Church, a New Translation, Volume 134 (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2017).

[22] Andrew and Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, Commentary on the Apocalypse, The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation, Volume 123 (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2012).