Halal Food (4) Pergamum

Jesus words to the Church at Pergamum were not a warning about being enticed into sin, not a warning about eating meat.

You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating meat sacrificed to idols and committing sexual immorality (Rev 2:14).

The problem was that Balaam was able to entice the Israelites to sin. Numbers 25:1-3 describes how this happened. The Moabite women invited the men of Israel to join them in their sacrifices. There was nothing wrong in talking and eating with the Moabites. Talking is not a sin. The problem was that while talking, the people “bowed down before these idols” and worshipped Baal Peor. This caused the anger of the Lord to burn against them.

The key word in the passage is “entice” (the NASB translates this as “stumbling block”). The passage is not saying that talking and eating meat is sinful. The problem was that the Israelites led themselves into a place of temptation, where they were not strong enough to resist going further and worshiping idols.

Pergamum was a strong church. However, even strong Christians must be careful, about entering into a place of temptation, where they could be enticed into and sin. This is the meaning of Jesus warning. Christians must avoid situations of compromise, where they can be tempted into sin.

Consider a modern example. Having a massage is probably not sinful, but having a massage in a Massage Parlour would be foolish, because it could lead into sin. Similarly, television is not evil; it is just a communication system. However, some television programs can produce sinful thoughts that eventually lead to sin.

Pergamum was said to be close to “Satan’s throne”. The passage does not say what the Christians in the city were doing, but they must have been doing going somewhere involving food and idols that was very tempting and placing them in danger of falling into sin. Jesus warned against stumbling blocks that could cause strong Christians to fall.