Revelation Chapter 2 Part 2– John Karmelich

1. My title for this lesson is "Christianity and compromise".

a) One of the great questions Christians ponder is where does one draw the line in terms of behavior? What is acceptable and unacceptable behavior for a believer?

b) While this lesson doesn't cover all the possible answers to that question, it does tackle the subject. The idea here is to give some guidelines as to how a Christian is supposed to live.

c) First, let's review where we left off and then tie it to the theme of this lesson: Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation are seven specific letters to seven specific churches in Asia Minor. Each church is in a different city. In my last lesson, we covered the first two letters. In this lesson, we cover the next two letters, which finishes Chapter 2.

i) Each of the seven letters reads like a "report card" to that church. It describes good and bad things they are doing. The application to us is that God's standards for these churches are also God's standards for you and I. We are to read these letters and understand that God judges our behavior the same way He judges the behavior of the Christians in those churches.

2. Let me give a brief over of the bible text of this lesson: This text is two specific letters written to two churches: One is to the church in Pergamum and the other is to the church in Thyatira. Both are cities that existed in what is today part of modern Turkey. Each church is told some good things, and then comes the "however". The negative issues are the key themes to each letter.

a) Understand that each of the seven letters have a theme. We also get the impression that each of the seven churches is unaware of their key point raised in each letter. The same way we may be naïve about our good and bad points, so are these believers.

b) Keep in mind that before and after each "report card" is other bible text. Prior to the report card is a word-picture that ties to Jesus. These word-pictures also tie to the theme of each letter. The report card is then followed up with a warning to all Christians in effect saying, "model what they are doing right and avoid what they are doing wrong".

c) To put it another way, in each letter Jesus is being described as the "judge" prior to the report card, and after the good and bad things written about each church. He gives some specific information to all Christians that tie to the theme of that particular letter.

3. This leads me back to the theme of this lesson: compromise. What these two letters have in common is compromises of their behavior so that their church became less effective.

a) In order to define the problem, first, let's define the goal: The goal for all Christians is to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ. The goal of every Christian should not only to be saved in the first place, but also to make a difference for Jesus. Our eternal rewards are based on our faithfulness to whatever God has called us to do.

i) Let me start by saying what is not the goal: We don’t get "points" based on every person we lead to Christ. We don’t get "points" based on the number of times we went to church in our lifetime.

ii) We are rewarded based on our commitment, which is the physical evidence of our faith. Our salvation depends upon our faith that Jesus is God and died for our sins. Our life should then naturally follow based on that belief.

iii) If we believe Jesus is the Lord of our lives, then we are to do what He says.

iv) If we believe Jesus is our Lord, then we study the commands of the bible and follow accordingly. A soldier may believe his commanding officer really "is" his commanding officer, but the evidence of that authority comes from obedience.

v) Our rewards in heaven come from our obedience to what God calls us to do. The specific’s are different for each individual. God gives each of us specific talents and gifts. The question then becomes, what have you done with those gifts?

4. A few more thoughts on the topic of "Christianity and Compromise":

a) Anytime a Christian is not focusing on his or her "goal" is the danger of compromise.

b) Let me explain what compromise is not: Going on a vacation trip and missing church one particular Sunday. Compromise is not missing a particular activity at church because one has some family commitments. A Christian still has to go to work, raise the kids and get the laundry done. Compromise is only behavior that is not God's will at that moment.

c) Compromise is when one turns from what God called them to do in order to fulfill our own desires. To put it another way, Jesus wants to be in charge of every aspect of our lives. The emphasis is on "every". If there is some aspect where our ego still wants to be in charge, we are in danger of compromise. If we go to church every Sunday and truly believe Jesus is Lord, yet there is still one sin we commit regularly and don’t want to change, we are in danger of compromise.

5. Before I get into the specifics of this chapter, it is important to talk a little about going to church.

a) One of the things to notice is Jesus’ emphasis on "group effort" as opposed to individual effort. The goal is for churches to be effective witnesses for Jesus. As I stated in the last lesson, God’s desire is not millions of solo efforts for Jesus. He desires group effort.

b) There is a concept in life where a "group" can accomplish more than that same number of individuals working alone. There is a synergy to a group effort. That tern "synergy" refers to the greater power generated by the combined group than each individual can generate. That same principal applies to churches as well. What we can accomplish for Jesus as a group has greater power than the individuals working separately.

c) Remember that one of Jesus’ commands is to have love for the fellow Christian. (Ref.: John 13:34, 15:12, and 15:17.) Well, it’s pretty hard to love each other if we’re not hanging around each other in the first place. ☺ There is no specific command given by Jesus in the Gospels that we must collectively get together in church groups, but it is pretty hard to show love to the fellow believer if we’re not gathering together on a regular basis.

6. Now let’s discuss Satan’s goals and then discuss how that effects compromise:

a) As we get into the latter chapters of Revelation, we will understand that Satan eventually gets sent to hell as the chief prisoner. Nobody knows that exact date and it is not written in the bible. What we do know is that the number of Christians is finite and not infinite. There are only "x" number of people in heaven. Therefore, Satan wants to delay "x" as long as possible. Since God uses people to spread the Gospel message, one of Satan’s goals is to make the Christian church as ineffective as possible. One method He uses is persecution. People who are scared due to persecution become ineffective witnesses. Satan's best method of attack is compromise. If Satan can get us to focus our lives on things other than God, we become ineffective witnesses. That is a key point of this lesson.

b) Probably the best teaching parable on this issue is Jesus and the "four soils". This is taught in Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8.

i) The basic idea is Jesus compares people to farming seeds living in 4 types of soil.

ii) One of the four types of seeds never becomes saved. I call it the "bad seed". They hear the gospel message and it doesn't take root. They don't believe it.

iii) The last of the four is the "good seed". The idea is that seed is on good soil and produces a bountiful crop. This is an effective witness for Christ.

iv) The second of the four types became ineffective because it was scorched by the sun. It represents being an ineffective witness due to persecution.

v) The third type of seed was ineffective, Jesus said, because of "but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful." (Matthew 13:22b NIV). That last sentence describes this lesson in a nutshell. People become ineffective witnesses for Jesus due to either 1) worries of this life and/or 2) deceit of wealth. Remember that money and material things are not evil of themselves. It is the love of them or the priority of them over God that causes the problem.

7. Which surprisingly leads us back to Chapter 2: The letters to Pergamum and Thyatira.

a) In each case, there were false teachers in the church.

b) In each case, there were people in the church blatantly sinning and turning against God.

c) In each case, there was compromise to a point where the church is becoming an ineffective witness for God.

d) Let me put it another way: In order for non-Christians to see the effectiveness of a church, outsiders have to see us as "different". If people in a church act no differently than non-Christians, what’s the point in joining the church in the first place?

e) People who have lived a long life will tell you of the futility of living an immoral lifestyle. It destroys both the physical body and the soul. God is saying to us both through His word and "instinctively" that living for pleasure and living for oneself leads to decay.

f) In summary, if a church is compromising with sin, it becomes an ineffective witness.

g) But doesn’t everybody sin? Don’t we all make mistakes? Of course. That shouldn’t stop of us for setting higher goals for ourselves. It means when someone in leadership commits some sort of serious sin, they lose that right of leadership for a while. When we do sin, and realize it is wrong, we confess that sin and work with each other to draw closer to God. All Christians are sinners. We draw upon God for the strength to live this lifestyle. We then help each other to live this life.

h) Confused? Good. ☺ Then its time to start. We’ll come back to this theme as we go along.

8. Verse 12: "To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.

a) Verse 12 gives the "to" and "from" of this letter in that order. Let’s start with the "to".

b) This letter is written to the angel city of Pergamum. The King James says, "Pergamos".

i) As stated in the last lesson, the term angel also means "messenger". It could be written to the messenger delivering this letter or the angelic being in charge of each of the specific churches.

c) The city of Pergamum was the government center of the eastern half of the Roman Empire. As one commentator put it, "If Ephesus was the New York City of the eastern half of the Roman Empire, Pergamum is the Washington D.C.". It was a prominent city.

d) In each of the seven letters, it is important to study what the name of the city means. It is a clue to remember what that letter means. The word Pergamum means "mixed marriage". If you break that word into parts, the key meaning is there.

i) The first syllable "perg" is the same root word that we get for "perjury". The idea is to be "mixed" or "thoroughly mixed". To commit perjury is to be lying on purpose. It is a mixed message. The second syllable "amum" (NIV) or "amos" (KJV) is tied to the word marriage. It is the same root wordy that we get bigamy, polygamy and monogamy. Again, the idea is that of marriage.

ii) Putting the two syllables together, we have "mixed marriage". The church at Pergamum (or Pergamos) is fine on the outside, but inside it is a mixed marriage as there is compromise involved. That is a key theme of this letter.

e) OK, onto the "from" of this letter: It is "him who has the sharp, double-edged sword".

i) We know that all of Chapters 2 and 3 are dictated letters from Jesus.

ii) This two chapter long speech started in the latter part of Chapter 1 and mentions the reference "was dead and is now alive" (1:18). That’s pretty Jesus like to me!"

iii) Chapter 1 gave a description of Jesus that was full of word pictures. One of those pictures was this sharp, double-edged sword.

iv) The idea of a double-edge sword is that it cuts both ways. The idea is that there is judgment of the nonbeliever for eternity, but there is also judgment for the believer. Christians may not lose their salvation, but they definitely can lose their effectiveness as witnesses for Christ. That is the "second edge" of the sword.

9. Verse 13: I know where you live--where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city--where Satan lives.

a) Verse 13 is the "good news" of this church. It describes the positive attributes of this church prior to getting into the negative attributes in Verses 14-15.

b) Let’s start with the Satan reference:

i) Verse 13 starts with "where Satan has his throne." It ends with "where Satan lives".

ii) One of the ideas to catch in this verse, and throughout the bible is that Satan is not omnipresent. He is not everywhere at once. (See also Job 1:7 and 2:2). You get the idea he can travel very fast. ☺ At the same time, he is not everywhere at once.

iii) It is said the two greatest mistakes a person can make about Satan is 1) He doesn’t exist and 2) He is everywhere. We as Christians tend to give the devil too much credit for our sins and not enough for our own sinful nature.

iv) Since Satan is not omnipresent, then he has a "headquarters" somewhere. Jesus is saying that at this time in history, it was in Pergamum. It doesn’t mean it always was there, and God knows where it is today, but at the time of this letter, Jesus is stating this was his headquarters as of the date of that letter.

v) So why here? Why not Rome or Jerusalem? The most likely answer goes back to Babylon. The bible can be compared to the "tale of the two cities", where Jerusalem is a center for true-God worship, and Babylon, going back to tower of Babel (Babylon) in Genesis 11 is associated with the worship of false gods and even Satan worship. There is strong archeological evidence that the Babylonian priests lived long after the fall of the Babylonian Empire. They eventually migrated and made Pergamum their headquarters. Many, if not most of the false gods of the Greek and Roman system have their roots in the Babylonian gods, albeit with different names. For example, Zeus is considered the greatest of all the Greek and Roman Gods. The main temple to Zeus is in Pergamum.

c) Getting back to the text, the reason all of this is mentioned is that this false god worship is in the "backyard" of the church in Pergamum. Jesus is saying in effect, "I know how hard it is for you to worship me with all of that stuff going on in your hometown".

i) To the Christian churches today in which Christianity is a small minority, this is a key letter. Christians in such situations are usually considered a "threat" to the other religions and are commonly persecuted. That is the scene in this city.

d) Let’s get back to Verse 13: The second sentence says, "Yet you remain true to my name".

i) You can imagine what the local residents of Pergamum said to the Christians. "Look, if you are going to live and work here, you have to honor the local gods. After all, Zeus’s headquarters are here. We don’t want to offend him. We can’t have this Christian stuff going on around here and get Zeus angry."

ii) I’ve always taken the view that people tolerate other religions unless it is a threat to their income or their lifestyle. Worshipping Greek gods often involved immoral sexual practices. They didn’t want "those Christians" making them feel guilty about what they did. If you want the main underlying reason today people won’t turn to God, it is because they don’t want to change their lifestyle.

iii) The first accommodation of this church is that Jesus said, "They are true to His name". That is a great compliment when it was (off and on) a death sentence to be a Christian. It’s easy to be “true to His name” for a Christian living in a country that is dominated by Christians. It is quite another when it is an illegal religion.

a) To live under such conditions, one would often wonder if it is worth it. Here is Jesus saying to them and us in effect, "I know you. I know what you are going through. I am proud of you."

e) The third sentence says, "You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city- where Satan lives".

i) This sentence mentions a guy named Antipas, who was put to death for the crime of being a Christian. We have no idea who this guy is. There are some theories, but that is about it. There are some writings going back to the 2^nd century with some traditional stories, but for the most part, this guy would have been lost in history if not for the biblical reference.

ii) Here’s the great part: If Jesus remembers by name someone as "trivial" as Antipas, then you and I can count on the fact Jesus is watching you and me. If Jesus is aware of the life and death of Antipas, He is very much aware of our life and death and is keeping tabs on our lives as witnesses for Him!

iii) You have to understand that tens of thousands and possibly millions were killed in the first few centuries for the crime of believing in Jesus. Here was this one guy, who essentially nobody heard of, and probably barely remembered was singled out. Take comfort in that. If God is aware of Antipas, He is aware of you and me.

iv) Whoever this guy was, he was probably made an example of by the local authorities in the hope of quenching the spread of Christianity. The exoneration was to the local church that survived that persecution.

v) This is a little off topic, but learn the Christian expression that says, “Dying for Jesus is relatively easy as compared to having to live a long life for Jesus!”

f) In this sentence, we also have this second reference to "where Satan lives". Since this was Satan’s "headquarters" at that time, a Christian church in his town was probably a prime target for persecution.

i) Wherever Satan’s headquarters is today, most likely, it is not your hometown or my hometown. If this church in Pergamum could survive with Satan having his headquarters in the same location, your church and my church can be an effective witness for Jesus. The point is, "If they could survive and thrive, so can us". We don’t have Satan in our backyard, and thus we should be more effective!

g) OK, time for the "nevertheless". ☺ You can just feel that pink slip coming!

10. Verse 14: Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality.

a) Let’s start with the phrase "You have people". In other words, this problem is not with everyone in the church in Pergamum, but with specific people in this church. Jesus is saying in effect, "There is a problem spreading in this church and I want it eliminated!"

b) OK, onto the specific problem being created by "these people". Jesus references the Old Testament story of Balaam and Balak. The text says these guys caused the Israelites to sin by "eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality".

c) Let’s review the story of Balaam and Balak:

i) Balak was the king of the Moabites (Numbers 22:4).

ii) Balaam was an independent, non-Jewish "wizard for hire". Whoever this guy was, he had the power to bless or curse people with his words. His power must have been legitimate or else King Balak wouldn’t have hired this guy in the first place.

iii) Balaam had the power to "channel God" and repeat His words. He would bless the Nation of Israel even though King Balak wanted him to curse the Israelites.

iv) The story of Balak and Balaam is told in Numbers Chapters 22 through 24.

v) Personally, whenever I read that story, I get Balak and Balaam mixed up. The way I remember who is who is that the word Balak is ends in a "k" in English. The letter "k" is the first letter in the word "king". Therefore, when I see the word "Balak", I think "king". Anyway, it helps me remember who is who in that story.

vi) In this story the Israelites, who were in the millions, left Egypt and are now wandering through the desert. King Balak is the leader of a nation of Moabites. With so many Israelites approaching his territory, this was a threat. As opposed to raising an army, it would be cheaper and save many lives if an effective "wizard" (for the lack of a better word) could curse them. Therefore, King Balak offered big bucks to Balaam the wizard to curse the Israelites.

vii) The problem is Balaam knew his source of power came from God. He didn’t want to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs, so no matter how much money King Balak offered him, Balaam only spoke whatever God said to speak. Balaam gave separate speeches reiterating what God said to him and blessed the nation of Israel. After the first blessing, King Balak offered this guy more money to change his mind. That didn’t work. After the second blessing, King Balak offered him even more money. That didn’t work. Again, Balaam understood the source of his power, and wouldn’t jeopardize that power for any amount of money.

viii) Then comes the key plot point that ties to Revelation: Balaam gave three speeches praising and blessing the Nation of Israel in Numbers Chapters 22-24.

a) The opening of Chapter 25 mentions Israelites taking Moabite women as wives and "before they knew it", were worshipping the Moabite gods. Remember Balak was a Moabite king.

b) What we don't discover until Numbers 31:16 is that it was Balaam's idea to persuade the Moabites to put their pretty women out where the Israelite men could see them and go downhill from there. ☺

c) Note that just because someone like Balaam is given a gift from God and even repeats God's words, he is not necessarily obedient to God's will!

d) Let me paraphrase what Balaam probably said to King Balak: Listen your highness, sorry about those Israelite blessings, but I can't go against the source of my power. Don't take it personal, its just good business. Still, you are a good customer, and you did bring your checkbook. ☺ Let me tell give you some advice: I know men. They may be Israelites, but they are still men. Attack them at their weakest point, right behind their zippers. Men are physically attracted to beautiful women. They may be happily married and go to church, but what is visually appealing is a human weakness. Now go get some young hot Moabite chicks. Let them parade near the edge of the Israelite camp. Before you know it, the Israelites will be praying to your gods. Problem solved. Don’t forget to make your check out to Balaam. That's with three a's." ☺

11. OK, the mini sermon on Balaam and Balak is done. Let's get back to Revelation:

a) Jesus said in this verse, "You have people there (in your church) who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. "

b) Jesus did not say Balaam was reincarnated and is now living in the Pergamum Church. Jesus said that the same type of teaching that Balaam did, is going on, here in this church.

c) Let me paraphrase what the "Balaam of the Pergamum Church" is saying to those Christians: God loves all of you and has forgiven all of your sins. Still, you're living in Pergamum and we want to be good witnesses to the local residents. You want to win them over to Jesus, don't you? As they say, "When in Rome, do like the Romans". What that means is to go participate in their parties and go to their religious events. After all, Jesus ate with sinners, didn't he? Go ahead and sacrifice to their gods. You don't have to mean it in your heart, just do it! That way they won't kill us and we’ll be loved by the local people. Maybe some will even come to church with us next Sunday!"

i) That's the way false teachings always come in: They mix some truth with lies.

ii) The mistake is trying to compromise on God’s commands and God’s truth in order to win others for Christ. It never works.

iii) The truth is God forgives our sins. The truth is Jesus "ate with sinners" which means He preached the Gospel message to nonbelievers. The truth is God loves all people. The lie is that it is acceptable to compromise (there's that word again!) one's behavior in order to be a witness for Jesus!

d) Now let's discuss the sin at hand: The verse says the specific sins were "eating food offered to idols" and "sexual immorality".

i) Animals were offered up to the pagan gods. The "leftovers" were then sold in the marketplace. Anyone could buy say, a steak that was part of an offering to Zeus. It was considered a good religious thing to share in that offering.

ii) When you study Paul's letters, he said in effect that pagan gods have no meaning and it is ok to eat such meat. The only exception is if other Christians around you believe one should not each such meat. In those cases, the Christian should refrain from eating it in order not to offend other Christians. (Ref: 1st Cor. Chapter 8).

iii) So, is this a contradiction? Jesus is saying here in Revelation that this churched sinned by eating food offered to idols and Paul says in effect it is "no big deal".

a) The answer is to read the verse again. The point isn't the food offered to idols. The point is Balaam's advice was wrong. The point is false teachers and false prophets teach that compromise with truth is acceptable.

iv) As to sexual immorality, this is a binding law for Christians, as taught in both the Old and New Testament. The idea is that a good marriage requires hard work and is a struggle at times, just like our relationship with God. Divorce is never listed as an unpardonable sin, but it is not encouraged either. Our loyalty to our spouse is a model of our loyalty to God. That is why adultery is a synonym for idolatry against God. In both cases, one is cheating upon their commitment vows.

e) Back to the big picture, what we Christians have to have a balance of love for each other, love for human beings, but at the same time, have zero tolerance for false teaching. Sin cannot be tolerated in the church. It is not about being perfect. It is about confessing sins when they are committed and helping each other live more like Jesus. That is how to avoid compromise in the church. It's the key point of this lesson.

f) Hey look, there are more verses in this chapter! ☺

12. Verse 15: Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

a) In the last lesson, I talked about what the Nicolaitans are. This is a transliterated Greek word that means "victory over the people". The idea is a group of false teachers that dominates the views of a particular church. There may have been a literal group called the Nicolaitans or it may refer to any false teacher that attempts to dominate that church.

b) In the previous verse, the issue at hand is that false teachers were like Balaam in that they taught how to entice the congregation in order to sin and compromise their faith. This person or group is like the Nicolaitans in that they had "victory over the people" by accomplishing their sinful goals.

c) Some argue that the Nicolaitans in Verse 15 is a separate problem from the Balaam-like temptations as described in Verse 14. If that’s the case, then the problem in both cases is the leaders of the church are acting in ways that compromise the church's faith.

13. Verse 16: Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

a) The first word I want you to notice is the word "them". Jesus says He will fight "them".

b) If you are one of Jesus' children or "sheep" to use another idiom, Jesus is the Good Shepherd that protects His flock. (Ref.: John 10:11, 10:14).

c) What Jesus is saying in effect is, "I'm trying to get my followers to mature in their faith. I want them to learn how to deal with problems themselves. I want to "let go of the bicycle handle bars and see if you can ride all by yourself". If you don't deal with these problems in your church, I'll come and deal with it myself." Jesus will judge them by their deeds.

d) Now notice the first word: "Repent". This means to change ones direction. It is the idea of admitting one's mistakes. It is to admit God was right and we are wrong. Jesus is saying the ideal solution is for the church to deal with the problem themselves. If Jesus has to step in, the problem will still be solved, but the church will become ineffective.

e) Now I want to backtrack a little to Verse 12: Jesus described himself as having a "two-edged" sword. The idea is that it cuts both ways. That sword is used against non-believers as a picture of enforcement of eternal judgment. The "other edge" is used to judge Christians. I take the view as long as one is committed to believing Jesus died for their sins and believes Jesus is the Lord of one' life, one cannot lose their salvation. At the same time, Jesus can still do some damage to Christians with that sword. ☺ This includes making one's church ineffective. That's the other side of the sword!

i) I bring this up here because Jesus says He "will fight against them with the sword of his mouth". This is the same double-edge sword as described in Verse 12.

f) Before I wrap up the letter to Pergamum, remember that most commentators also see a pattern by which each letter describes a specific period of the 2,000-year church history.

i) I could write many separate lessons on this topic alone. The focus of these lessons is how the bible affects our lives today, so I'm only going to briefly touch on this.

ii) There was a day when one particular Roman Emperor (Constantine) declared his allegiance to Christ. Historians debate the sincerity of that commitment, but that's another story. Beginning with Constantine, Christianity became the official religion as opposed to a persecuted religion. The church compromised Christian doctrine in order to get the masses to accept it. Pagan rituals were "Christianized" to gain public acceptance. Just as the Christians of this era compromised biblical teachings, so many see the letter to Pergamum as a description of this era of time.

14. Verse 17: 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. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.

a) Note that the word "churches" in Verse 17 is plural. Remember the each of the seven letters ends with a general warning to all Christians to read and study all seven letters. The idea is this letter is specifically to the church in Pergamum, but the same judgment standard applies to all Christians and their churches.

b) There are a couple of word-pictures that need to be briefly discussed in this verse. The first is "hidden manna". Back when the Israelites were wandering around the desert for forty years. A flaky white substance rained on the ground every night. The Hebrew word manna literally means, "What is it?" as they didn't know what else to call it. What ever it was, it was the main food to sustain the Israelites for forty years. (Ref.: Exodus 16)

i) So, what is "hidden manna"? There is no Old Testament reference to any manna being hidden, other than a jar of it being placed in the most sacred "box" in the Jewish Tabernacle, called the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 16:33).

ii) The most plausible theory is that it ties to Jesus calling himself the "bread of life". Some Israelites told Jesus how God provided their forefathers with manna and then asked in effect, "what will you provide?" Jesus responded with "I am the bread of life". (Ref.: John 6:30-35). The idea is Jesus is equivalent of the "hidden manna". It does not mean we cannibalize Jesus. It means we "digest" what He says and teaches. It is like when we say, "Let me chew on that for awhile".

iii) In other words, this is word-picture of hidden manna ties to the salvation of the believer. We will "partake" of Jesus, and be effective witnesses for Him if we continue in our faith and not fall to the compromising effects of false teaching.

c) The last reference is a "white stone". There are no "white stone" references anywhere in the bible and this appears to be a historical reference to that time era and culture.

i) In the Roman courts of that day, if one were found innocent, a judge would drop a white stone in a jar. If one is found guilty and gets a death sentence, a black stone is put in that jar. Another example is the Olympic games. The winners would receive a white stone that was the entrance ticket to a victory party. Either way, the white stone was symbolic of victory and freedom. The idea ties to one's salvation and victory over temptation and compromise of one's faith.