2:12 Continuing north up the coastline of the Aegean Sea, then moving inland, brings one to Pergamum, the capital of the Asian province. The city was built around a great acropolis on which the first temple of the imperial cult was built to Augustus in 29 B.C. For Christians, Pergamum symbolized secular power and civil religion; indeed, Christ identifies it as the city “where Satan has his throne … where Satan lives” (2:13).

The Lord possesses the sharp, double-edged sword, again repeating what John had seen in his earlier vision of Christ (1:16). This is yet another image of Christ’s lordship, clarified later as “the sword of my mouth” (2:16) that will “fight against” the false teachings and sexual immoralities sponsored by the Nicolaitans (2:15; cf. 2:6). The sword symbolizes the eschat…