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Revelation 2:17 ESV
17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.
What strange gifts to receive if you are a faithful follower of Christ who perseveres through such strong persecution and conquers! Scholars have many interpretive possibilities, but in short, they are symbols connected to the messianic feast of the end times and refer to the eternal bliss of heaven.[1]
Since Scripture interprets Scripture, let’s read Jesus’ words about manna here:
John 6:31-35, 47-58 ESV
31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
Jesus is our sustenance, and He is our provider of all things needed to overcome.
According to scholar G. R. Osborne, “Like Pergamum, we face great pressure to weaken our faith and our walk with Christ. All too often we are guilty of watering down our Christian theology (all too many Christians are turned off to theology and want a “feel-good” religion) … we need to repent and develop overcomers as much as the church of Pergamum did.”[2]
[1] Osborne, G. R. (2002). Revelation (p. 147). Baker Academic.
[2] Osborne, G. R. (2002). Revelation (p. 150). Baker Academic.