The character of these men is very plainly pointed out in the Apocalypse of John,

Teaching that it is a matter of indifference to practice adultery, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. Wherefore the Word has also spoken of them thus: “But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate” (Rv 2:6) (1994:352).Tertullian, a North African Christian apologist writing around AD 200, in his On Prescription Against Heretics, chapter 33, associates a form of the Nicolaitan error with “meat offered to idols” and fornication (1994:259). Dr. Thomas takes the kai (“also”) in verse 15 as a comparison between two groups within the church and that both held similar false doctrines. He renders verse 15 as “You have also [in addition to those who hold the teaching of Balaam] those who hold in like manner [to the way the Balaamites hold their teaching] the leaching of the Nicolaitans” (1992:194). The two groups “arrived at the same goal, that of eating meal sacrificed to idols and fornication, but they followed different paths to get there”(1992:194).Funerary stela from Pergamum. This funerary stela depicts a memorial meal for the dead. The dead man is reclining on the bed. His wife is seated to the left. The three legged table with food on it is in the center.In order to understand the “doctrine of Balaam” one must go back to the account found in Nm 22–25, 31. Balaam, a prophet of the LORD (Nm 22:18), was invited by Balak, the king of Moab, to curse the nation of Israel. At first, Balaam refused to go to Moab, but later went to Balak. He went, however, with strict instructions from the Lord to say only what the Lord told him to say. Each time Balak asked Balaam to curse the Israelites, he turned around and blessed Israel (23:7–10, 18–24; 24:3–9, 15–19; cf. Gn 12:1–3).But what is the “doctrine of Balaam”? The doctrine of Balaam is the same as the counsel of Balaam (Nm 31:16). Apparently what happened was Balaam told Balak he could only bless the nation of Israel but not curse it. As he departed, he counseled Balak on how to get the God of Israel angry with His people. The plan was quite simple: get the Moabite women to commit harlotry with the men of Israel (Nm 25:1-3).How does this incident relate to the “meat offered to idols” and sexual immorality as well as the Nicolaitans in the church at Pergamum? The books of Numbers and the Psalms give us the answer. In Numbers 25:2, the Moabites invited the people of Israel to “the sacrifice of their gods”. The psalmist reflects on the incident in Numbers 25 by saying. “They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices made to the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds, and the plague broke out among them” (Ps 106:28, 29). Kennedy observes that M. Dahood translates this as “banquet of the dead,” and the “sacrifices of their gods” in Numbers 25:2 isthe idolatrous meals introduced to the Israelites by the Moabite women. These meals were apparently funeral banquets in honor of their ancestors. The dead are described as gods in 1 Sm 28:13 and Is 8:19, two situations where men wish to know about the future and seek out the dead for answers. In a text from Ugarit, Anat addresses her deceased brother Baal with these words: “Your comrades are the gods, the dead your comrades.” Since Baal was already a god in life, the change of status brought about by his death put him in a new company of gods, the dead.The Lord Jesus commands the church to repent of their tolerance for those in the church that followed the doctrine of Balaam as well as the Nicolaitans. If they did not, He said He would come quickly and light against them with the sword of His mouth (Rv 2:16), Tin’s sword may have a dual reference. First, to the Word of God, and second, to the sword of judgment. In the Balaam account, the Angel of the LORD appears before Balaam with a drawn sword (Nm 22:23, 31). In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Angel of the LORD is a theophany, or a pre-incarnate appearance, of the Lord Jesus Christ (Walvoord 1969:51–54). After the sin at Baal Peor, Moses commanded the judges of Israel to kill all those involved in the sin (Nm 25:5). Eventually, Balaam was killed with the sword (Nm 31:8).The message to the church at Pergamum was clear, if you do not take care of the sins caused by those that followed the “doctrine of Balaam” and the Nicolaitans, the Lord would judge the church very severely, even to the point of death. The book of Hebrews, quoting Proverb 3:11, 12, warns of God’s chastening of His children (Heb 12:5, 6). Elsewhere, the New Testament demonstrates that God’s chastening of His children can be very severe, even to the point of death (1 Jn 5:16).The Apostle Paul wrote that many believers “sleep” in Corinth because they abused the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:30). Earlier in the same context concerning “meat offered to idols.” Paul uses the event at Baal Peor as an example of God’s chastening and an admonition to the Church (1 Cor 10:8–11). Paul goes on to admonish the individual believer concerning temptation (1 Cor 10:12. 13).There were some people in the church at Pergamum that did not engage in the memorial meals to the dead. For them, the Overcomers, the Lord promised He would “give some of the hidden manna to eat” (2:17). The contrast is quite obvious. Those in the church who were not walking according to the Word of God were eating at the banquets for the dead and enjoying the “pleasures of sin for a season” (Heb 11:25). The Overcomers “disciplined” their bodies and “brought it into subjection” so that they could “win the prize” (1 Cor 9:24–27). In the context of the letter, the prize would be the “manna” and the “white stone” on which would be written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it (Rv 2:17). Those who followed the “doctrine of Balaam” and the Nicolaitans would be “disqualified” from the race (1 Cor 9:27).The “hidden manna” is most likely the manna that is in the Ark of the Covenant in Heaven (Rv 11:19, cf. Ex 16:32–34) and refers to a Banquet in the Kingdom. This manna will be the reward for the Overcomers, in contrast to the unhallowed food at the memorial meal for the dead. An interesting observation is that whenever the Bible records the Children of Israel eating something other than the manna during the 40 years, death by plague resulted (quail—Nm 11:31–34; Ps 106:14, 15; cf 1 Cor 10:6; sacrifice to the dead at Shittim—Nm 25:1–3; cf. 1 Cor 10:8). The manna did not stop until they entered the Land (Ex 16:35; Jos 5:12; Neh 9:20, 21).The other promise to the Overcomer was a “while stone” with their new name written on it. This is probably an allusion to the victor’s name placed on a monument of while marble, in contrast to the Pergamum granite, placed around the gymnasiums or Pergamum (Sauer 1956:63–65; Hemer 1986:102). The athletic victors were afforded a special banquet (Thomas 1992:201; cf. Rv 19:9).Funerary Meals in Thyatira (Rv 2:20)The church at Thyatira had the same problem as the church at Pergamum. Hemer notes that this is the “longest and most difficult of the seven letters [and] is addressed to the least known, least important and least remarkable of the cities.” He goes on to say, “the letter was not obscure to the church at Thyatira: the problem lies in our remoteness from the contemporary facts” (2001:106).Most commentaries, when discussing the “meat offered to idols” and sexual immorality in the church at Thyatira, attribute the practices to the membership rites of the local trade guilds (trade unions). Each guild had a patron deity and banquets with food offered to that deity as well as immoral activity. In order to have a position in the guild, the Christian would have had to participate in such activities. In the case of the church at Thyatira.

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