Has the new covenant church replaced the nation of Israel?

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. – Galatians 3:28-29 

No, rather this is a theology of ‘replacement’ or ‘supersessionism’ that has been floated around by Bible heretics of the past and now picking up friction among Jewish hating Christian communities. The promises of God to Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3 still test true and are on no basis declared void. The new covenant church of Jesus Christ is a continuation of God’s redemptive work for the world, now manifested through a people chosen by grace and not merely ethnicity (Romans 11:5-6). Reading the entire passage of Romans 11 would dispel every doubt on this essential truth. There is no Jew nor Gentile in God’s eyes, but one church being built solely through faith in Jesus Christ in whom there is no condemnation (Romans 8:1).

The message to the church of Pergamum, which is the northernmost of the seven churches, and was located about 96 kms (60 miles) north of Smyrna. Pergamum was an acropolis (fortified-high city) at over 1000 feet above sea-level, with cliffs in three-directions making it a strategic location for empires of the past. The name Pergamum literally means height or elevation. The Lord begins His message by identifying Himself in Revelation 2:12 as: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword, and this is inline with His warning later found in v16:…I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. The two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12) and the sword of My mouth (Revelation 19:15) are both a clear reference to the Word of God, the Logos. The location of this church is crucial and is important in deciphering the Lord’s message to this church, since it also uniquely begins in v13 with I know where you dwell…The historical background of the city of Pergamum, reveals a deep-rooted paganism and idolatry right from the time of the Greeks to the Roman empire, at the time of the letter. With altars to Greek gods, like Zeus and Athena, excavated from this site. And further being the center of the Roman-state religion (the Imperial cult), with Caesar’s statue and a temple dedicated to his worship. This city, the people and the culture was steeped in idols and idol-worship. And maybe this is why the letter holds something very spiritually profound in Revelation 2:13: I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. This being the only place in the entire Bible which makes any mention of Satan’s throne. Now since the book of Revelation is spoken of using the language of divine signs and symbols as Revelation 1:1 reads ..and [signified] communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John…The word signified in the Greek translates to give a sign. The usage of this word is best explained in John 21:18-19, which tells us of Peter’s death while not explicitly revealing it in the present, as Peter indeed was finally girded (bound) in both his hands and led as a captive to his martyrdom. So the statement where Satan’s throne is, is not to be taken literally to its geographical location of Pergamum. But merely a sign to us to be warned of that in such places of widespread, generational idolatry and witchcraft, is where spiritual strongholds and throne of Satan exists even today.

Revelation 2:13 continues saying: …and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. This reveals to us the nature of Satan’s plan to trouble the believers in such places of strongholds – his main mode of attack being against the faith of the believer. Now the church of Pergamum withstood this storm through perseverance (hold fast). And we can be assured that when a circumstance present in our lives similarly challenges our faith in Christ – there is a throne of Satan set against us and our faith. Now the nature of how the believers at Pergamum fought their spiritual battles though not mentioned, the Bible does offer us certain examples to study. We would look specifically at the example from Exodus 32, which is the rebellion through the worship of the golden calf. The main source of this rebellion, we understand stemmed from the weak leadership of Aaron as opposed to the strong leadership of Moses (Exodus 32:1-4). Aaron caved in to the whims and fancies of the people and was not stern in exercising his God-given authority over the Israelite community and even cowardly placed the blame on the people finally when confronted (Exodus 32:21-24). And Satan even today similarly uses such cowardly people in the position of leadership of churches, who are more concerned with pleasing the congregation than leading the congregation to derail faith through compromises that seemingly start small. What is the solution? We need strong leaders – like Moses, to rise and uncompromising believers who will follow (like the Levites), and those who are as zealous to weed out all compromises from within their congregation (Exodus 32:25-28). And the result? We never hear of the sin of idolatry again, through the rest of the 40 years in the wilderness! Moses wasn’t just a stern-faced leader in the public but also a weeping-intercessor for the people in the secret place before God (Exodus 32:30-33). The faithful witness Antipas was probably such a leader like Moses, who was said to be the bishop of Pergamum church and was burnt alive by the anti-Christian Emperor, Nero, for publicly resisting the pagan religions in the name of Christ.

In Revelation 2:14-15, the Lord reveals the few things He holds against some of them. And these phrases are unique to only this letter, which reveals that it was some and not all in the church who were compromising. And the place of compromise came through conformance to the pagan culture around them – food offered unto idols and sexual immorality. We see the mention of Nicolaitans and a clear picture of their doctrine and deeds here, as mentioned only by name in the first message to Ephesus. Though there are only two mentions of this sect in the entire Bible and both are found in this chapter, the importance of knowing the principles of their deceptions cannot be stated more emphatically. Firstly, we see this sect was not alien to the church but arose from within the church, probably through a deacon of the first church (Acts 6:5). The subtlety of this deception allowed it to thrive among some (Ephesians 4:14), even in a much persecuted church like Pergamum which had previously withstood even “greater” enemies of faith. Secondly, the lack of pervasiveness of this doctrinal problem in the church and how only some fell can also be attributed to the void of strong leadership, in the wake of the martyrdom of its bishop Antipas in 92 A.D. (some 3 years before apostle John’s letter to them). The importance of measuring every teaching/doctrine of the church with the Word of God, like the Bereans did (Acts 17:11-12), safeguards us from falling into the pit of deception leading to corruption. Finally, the warning is spoken to those who have followed the way of compromise of the Nicolaitans in v16: Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches (v17). A rhetorical statement He who has an ear precedes the call to hear the Spirit of God. The emphasis on hearing (obedience) is further stressed through this rhetoric (Matthew 13:14-15). The eternal promise of divine life and a new identity found in our victory through Calvary is promised to the one who is victorious.