<p>2:16- see on Rev. 1:20.</p><p><em>Therefore repent, or else I will come to you quickly, and I will make war against those with the sword of my mouth</em>- As noted on :12, the language of latter day judgment is applied to situations now. The Lord judges now; His coming quickly or suddenly can refer to His coming in judgment, rather than His second coming. Even the final word of Revelation 22:12 that the Lord is coming quickly can be read as a connection back to this statement here. For the first recipients of Revelation, the Lord's coming was going to be sudden in that like a thief in the night, He would come in judgment in ways they did not expect. The reference may be to the events of AD70, although these would not have unduly affected Jewish Christian groups in places like Pergamos. Perhaps rather the reference may be to Nero's sudden announcement of persecution against Christians. Or to some unrecorded intervention of the Lord in judging them.</p><p>Again we must emphasize that the language of making war (19:11) with the sword of His mouth is all appropriate to His second coming. But the essence of that judgment is now. There are clear connections between the rod of final judgment and the word / mouth of God. Ez. 21:9,10 equates the sword with the rod of the Lord Jesus Christ: &quot;A sword is sharpened... it is the rod of My Son&quot; (AVmg.). The sword is a clear symbol of the word of God's judgment (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12; Rev. 19:21). Is. 11:4 confirms this link between the judgment word of the Lord Jesus and His rod: &quot;He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked&quot;. Ps. 2:9 shows the power of this word / rod: &quot;You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel&quot;. Ps. 110:2 describes the rod of Christ's strength being sent out of Zion to enable Him to rule the world; Is. 2:3 envisages the judgment word of the Lord Jesus going out from Zion. However, in all these cases the rod does not just mean spoken words and mental understanding, but also refers to the physical punishments to be seen in the last days. Thus Micah pleads with Israel to see that God's Hand was behind their present distresses, which were effectively God's word spoken to them: &quot;The Lord's voice cries unto the city... <em>hear</em> the rod, and who has appointed it&quot; (Mic. 6:9). And so here the Lord warned Pergamos that unless they repented- i.e. obeyed His word- He would come and fight against them.</p><p>There is a significant amount of language used in the letters of Rev. 2 and 3 which has unmistakable reference to the final&nbsp; 'coming' of the Lord. This must have some application to the second coming, and/or A.D. 70.&nbsp;This means that the letters must also be indicative of the state of the latter-day ecclesias.&nbsp; No less than a significant seven times in the letters do we read of Christ 'coming' to the believers (Rev. 2:5,16,25; 3:3, 10,11,20).&nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;I will come unto you quickly... I will give unto every one of you according to your works&quot; (2:5,23) is language found in Mt. 16:27 and Rev. 22:12, also concerning the second coming:&nbsp; &quot;I come quickly... to give every man according as his work shall be&rdquo;.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Lord's coming &quot;unto you quickly&quot; has particular aptness when this is understood as being addressed to believers living on the brink of the second coming.</p>