Pergamon – Seat of the Devil
“I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is…” (Rev.2:13).
In the seven letters to the seven churches, we see encouragement given to some churches noted, and yet very strong condemnation given to others. One of the most fear-inspiring phrases is the seat of Satan. How wicked must that place be? I’m loathe to even say (or type) his name; I don’t want to give any reverence whatsoever to him, so in most instances I will simply call him ‘the devil’, except where I’m quoting scripture directly.
I’ve been in many group (and individual) Bible studies and/or conversations pertaining to scripture. Sometimes this topic comes up: Revelation 2:12-16, the letter to the church in Pergamus. Often times people like to play ‘pin the tail on the antichrist’. And sometimes they will conclude that they believe the antichrist may come from (what is modern-day) Turkey. But I wonder if they realize that they may be lacking some key historical facts about this scripture.
Let’s take a look. The altar of ‘Zeus’ (originally located in Pergamus) is now located in modern- day Germany, and has been there for well over a century now. Why is this significant? Let’s take a short history lesson into account and see what we can glean.
The Pergamene Empire was founded around the third century BC (initially part of the Seleucid Empire of Attilus I, the nephew of Eumenes I). Those under Attilus I desired to show the world their construction of imposing buildings and art work. They gave reverence to many false ‘gods’ of Greek mythology.
The Pergamon altar to the false ‘god’, ‘Zeus’, was built sometime during that time period. They adorned many of their buildings and walls with sculptures and artwork depicting many of these false ‘gods’. While many were represented, they chose to revere ‘Zeus’ and his supposed daughter ‘Athena’ most often.
Imagine a first-century Christian living in Pergamon, how those imposing abominations erected to false ‘gods’ were still standing. John was given the Revelation, and one of the first topics noted are the seven letters to the seven churches.
Fast forward to the 7th century AD. Christianity had taken root in Pergamon. They had fortified their city against the Arabs, and had even used part of the Pergamon altar (and other structures) for their building materials in these city-wall fortifications.
The city finally fell to the Arabs around 716 AD, who temporarily inhabited it, then discarded and abandoned it. It lay in ruin, mostly uninhabited until around the 12th century AD; and by the 13th century AD Pergamon fell to the Turks, the beginning of the Ottoman Empire.
I wonder if the early Christians would have destroyed these evil altars and cast these ruinous pieces of idolatry away from them, IF (just maybe) the outcome would have been different when the Arabs eventually attacked and later destroyed them. I guess we will never know; just a point to ponder… Mixing the profane with the holy never works out well in any time period.
In researching this article, I also looked at numerous photos of these atrocities and even watched a few videos, which were narrated by two individuals who described the altar of ‘Zeus’, the panels adorning and surrounding it, and the steps (which were likely steps not just to the altar, but also steps to a temple for these false ‘gods’).
During the narration, they both spoke lovingly of this altar, giving much praise (and many suggestive adjectives) to the physical bodies depicted in the sculptures. They gushed on and on about how these (false) ‘gods’ showed such strength in their perfect bodies, etc. (worship of the physical body rather than HE, the One True God who creates physical bodies). They spoke of how ‘strong’ they believed these (false) ‘gods’ must have been to be shown depicted as slaying giants. It’s odd that they never once mentioned why there were SO MANY of these false ‘gods’ needed.
I paused the video several times (first because it was sickening, and second to reflect on God’s word); and it all became abundantly clear that these two narrators worshiped these false ‘gods’ every bit as much as those who manufactured them! Why? Because it goes against true Biblical scripture… it supplied an answer THEY felt comfortable with, rather than recognizing that ONE true God created even them and that they are accountable to Him!
Even more, the thought struck me (numerous times) how each part of Greek mythology was meant to ridicule God’s word and how the devil was at the heart of all of these myths, and all of these false ‘gods’.
For instance, in many of these panels and ‘artwork’ were shown various false ‘gods’ battling giants. Yet to WHOM does the Bible attribute the slaying of giants? Not just David slaying Goliath, but an entire population which had been inhabited by and contaminated by giants.
No matter what your take on Genesis 6 is, no matter who you think the giants (nephilim) were, noted in Gen.6:4, you must acknowledge that there WERE giants in those days, if you believe God’s word (as I do, and most readers here do as well).
In that chapter we then see that God destroyed mankind and beasts from the face of the earth (Gen.6:7). Yet He preserved Noah and his sons (Shem, Ham, Japheth) and each of their wives (as well as pairs of animals, a male and female each, as described in Gen.6:19-20).
In discussions on my own viewpoint of Genesis 6, I am often asked why there would still be giants AFTER the flood. My answer is this: NOAH found grace in God’s eyes (Gen.6:8) and was found perfect in HIS generations (Gen.6:9); BUT we note that God’s word did not say the same of Noah’s wife, nor of Noah’s sons and their wives. It may be that Noah’s wife’s lineage had at some point been genetically contaminated and that she had passed such contamination onto one (or more) of their three sons. Or it may be that Noah’s sons had married genetically contaminated women.
Regardless, we see giants again on the earth in David’s time and other notations of them as well in scripture. So is it any wonder that Greek mythology mocks God’s true word with their own made-up stories of false ‘gods’ who supposedly slew giants?
In fact, the entire premise of all these false ‘gods’ is the devil’s playground… he wants to create doubt in man’s mind of the truthfulness of God’s word. But even more? The devil wants to try to convince mankind to believe that THEY can be ‘as gods’. This is the exact same deceit he used on Eve in the garden (Gen.3:5).
This MAY be the same LIE he will feed the masses in the tribulation, and it MAY be that AI and nano-technology is used to facilitate this (but that is a topic for another article or another day).
As the narrators describing the altar to ‘Zeus’ continued on in their overt adoration of these false ‘gods’, what was most striking was that they noted the ‘artwork’ that depicted SERPENTS, which they claimed were the servants of the false ‘gods’. The narrators didn’t catch the connection whatsoever; they were too enthralled with the bodies depicted, and the notice they paid to the serpents was secondary.
Yet we know that the devil is showing himself even there; he wants them to think that these false ‘gods’ controlled the serpents. Yet they never once question if the serpent himself controlled not just these false ‘gods’ or the mere humans that represented them… but also their worshipers (and by extension, themselves), and that the serpent is still today using the same trickery he used in the garden. Only he is appealing to mankind in this generation with high tech and false science, rather than the flat out lie in the garden. Same lie, just a different method of presenting it.
Then the narrators toured onto the steps and into the actual altar of ‘Zeus’, where the fire would have been kept lit and the sacrifices would have kept flowing to this false ‘god’. One of the most interesting statements by these narrators was when one of them was speaking about how this entire huge exhibit (the altar, along with the panels and steps, etc.) was moved to Germany… AND how that Germany wanted to be “the new Rome.”
Let that sink in and marinate a few moments. The “New Rome” – in Germany?
While I won’t play ‘pin the tail on the antichrist’, I will say that those who think that “Satan’s seat” is still in Pergamos (Turkey) may have missed the fact that the altar of Zeus has been residing in Germany for over a century now.
We don’t have time to get into the atrocities committed by Hitler, nor do we have time to delve into Angela Merkel’s part in the destruction of modern-day Germany (most of you are already well aware of these things anyway). What I do hope you all get out of this is that Germany MAY be where “Satan’s seat” (Rev.2:12-16) now resides.
Yes, I DO believe there is a spirit behind this thing… is it tied to the land? Or tied to the altar where the blood was sacrificed to this false ‘god’?
It’s also worthy to note what else the Lord had to say to those in Pergamos (Rev.2:14) about the doctrine of Balaam (a stumblingblock to the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication). The false idols and false ‘gods’ all go back to ancient Babylon (and even further back to the serpent in the garden). Nimrod put himself in the place of Baal and required that the ancient Babylonians worship him as their (false) ‘god’.
What else is noteworthy? Rev.2:15 tells us that some held to the doctrines of the Nicolataines, a thing which the Lord hated! What did the Nicolaitanes do? They were a community who called themselves ‘Christian’ and yet they freely sinned. Just one of the many characteristics was that they believed men could have numerous wives.
Sadly, the Nicolaitanes omitted scripture as well as misunderstood much scripture. They rightly believed that we are under grace, not law, but where they went woefully wrong was that they embraced sin. They thought that since they were forgiven (at salvation) they were free to sin unfettered, basically.
This sounds like many modern-day churches… Pick and choose which scripture sounds good; do whatever feels good…, that false “prosperity gospel’ and other worldly teachings.
The Nicolaitanes made the mistake of taking God’s wonderful grace for granted. Yes, their sins were paid for at the cross, and yet that did not mean to continue on in sin. Yes, our sins are paid for, but God will not be mocked. Whatever we have sown, we reap. Sometimes the consequences of our sins do not come back upon us until decades after the sin was committed. Our sins are paid for, our salvation is eternal, but there are consequences when we sin.
God gave the 10 commandments to Israel (Exodus chapter 20, et al), and the law is a schoolmaster for us (Gal.3:24-25); it brings us to Christ. It brings us to the recognition of what some sins are and how we are not to commit them. Yes, we are forgiven (at salvation)… He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins when we confess them to Him (1 John 1:9). BUT that is not by any means a license to sin!
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” (Rom.6:14-15).
Paul spoke of people (similar to the Nicolaitanes) in Romans 3:8. In fact, the entire chapter deals with this topic. Verse 31 is particularly telling. Colossians 3:5-17 and Eph.2:10 would have also benefitted those Nicolaitanes (as would much other scripture).
What else did the Nicolaitanes do that was so evil, as if it weren’t already wicked enough? Besides their disdain for holier living and the fact that they held lewd, lascivious festivals of adultery and fornication… they also sacrificed to idols!
Exodus 20:4-5; 1 John 5:21; 2 Cor.6:16; and many others are just some of numerous times God’s word says not to worship idols, graven images, nor to bow down and serve them. They disregarded ALL of God’s word. They held only to salvation (or so they claimed) and threw out the rest!
“And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Cor.6:15-17).
And again, we can think of many modern-day churches today that are similar. Even worse than the Nicolaitanes, today some churches even deny Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose the third day! What does scripture call them? 1 John 2:22, 4:3 and 2 John 1:7 tell us they have the spirit of antichrist.
What does one think of when they think of Rome? Idolatry and worse. And yet Germany desired (and still desires) to become the ‘new Rome’.
“Satan’s seat,” brought from Pergamon, now resides in Germany (for over a century now). Is it any wonder that they’ve gone through many hardships? No, I am not (even in the least) calling all Germans evil. In fact, there are still some Christians remaining in Germany yet today, although far less than there once were. But the government? Evil to the core.
Many of the Germans were all for taking in as many immigrants as they could hold. They had believed that these immigrants just needed love, a hug, and some help. Yet once the immigrants got there, and after they got a taste of how evil Islam is, they changed their tune. But now it’s too late… the water has gone under the bridge.
German citizens cannot speak out against the crimes the immigrants commit, be it rape, theft, or even murder. Some German citizens were cast out of the very homes they worked all their lives to buy and maintain, only to have those homes given to immigrants who quickly trashed the residences, making them similar to the third-world mess they came from.
The police there do not uphold the citizens. The government is bought-out globalists. No more is there national sovereignty. And by the time the 10 kings/horns/toes emerge on the scene (and the antichrist rises up from the midst of them), the world will fall to globalism and the antichrist beast system.
Germany now has the altar to ‘Zeus’ in their museum, and they also have the ‘Ishtar Gate’ of ancient Babylon residing, and on display, in Germany as well. Time does not permit going into detail in regards to this particularly evil abomination, but we would be remiss not to consider that there are some very evil people in this world who STILL believe that both of these things (the altar to ‘Zeus’ and the ‘Ishtar’ gate) are portals or doorways for the (false) ‘gods’.
Some call these ‘Star-gates’. These physicists and scientists are spending their lives work on finding portals. Huge sums of money are being poured into these ventures. Sadly, even some so-called ‘Christians’ (cults) have bought into these myths, and not only seek these things out, but visit them and take pictures of each other walking under or through the archways, gateways, and altar entrances of false ‘gods’.
Some elites and particle physicists in Switzerland (and other parts of the world) have bought into the luciferian lies that they can be ‘gods’. They don’t want to hear that the devil can appear to them as a (false) angel of light (2 Cor.11:14) and that they themselves are his ministers (2 Cor.11:15). They think they have been ‘enlightened’, but what they’ve really been is duped by the devil.
The unsaved world is looking for any way to bypass Christ (which cannot be done) so that they won’t have to deal with sin. They are relying on their own righteousness (which, at its best, is filthy rags – Isaiah 64:6). They have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God (Rom. 10:3), but instead are making up the rules as they go… what THEY consider to be righteous or not. Many of them determine this by comparing themselves to others (2 Cor.10:12) rather than recognizing that we are ALL sinners, separated from God by our sins (Rom.3:23, 3:10; Isaiah 59:2, et al).
We are ALL sinners, born in sin, headed for hell (Rom.6:23)… and there is only ONE way to deal with the sin issue and be reconciled to the Father! (Rom.5:10; 2 Cor.5:17-19; Eph.2:16; Col.1:20-22; John 14:6.) There is NO other way (Acts 4:12). Jesus came to save sinners! (1 Tim.1:15; John 3:16-18; Eph.2:4-5; Rom.5:8, et al).
We cannot do enough good works to ever pay for our own sins (Eph.2:8-9).
Jesus was and is the only ONE acceptable propitiation for our sins (Rom.3:25; 1 John 4:10). His blood washes away our sins; He completely removes them from us (Rev.1:5, 1 John 1:7-9). He has already completely paid for YOUR sin. Yet He gave us all free will to choose whether (or not) we will accept His free gift of salvation.
Each individual must make that choice themselves. There is no riding the fence. If a person claims they haven’t made a decision, they actually HAVE made a decision to reject/deny Christ (John 3:18).
How does one come to Christ?
Recognize that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose (resurrected) the third day (1 Cor.15:1-4). Believe in your heart, and confess with your mouth (Rom.10:9-10). Call upon His name for salvation (Rom.10:13). You cannot ‘clean up your act’ to come to Christ. He will give the indwelling and sealing of the Holy Spirit to believers upon salvation. We are then led of Him away from sin and towards holier living.
We grieve the Holy Spirit when we sin, as we grieve the Lord as well when we sin. We need to make a conscious decision to repent from sin, and only HE gives us the strength to flee from sin (James 1:13-14; James 4:7; 1 Cor.10:13) IF we are willing to obey His direction.
Bible prophecy (foretold thousands of years ago) is aligning, with precision and accuracy, exactly as foretold. Just as Jesus fulfilled hundreds of Bible prophecies at His first advent, so too will all Bible prophecy pertaining to the future be fulfilled. While we cannot set a date for the rapture, we recognize the rapture is imminent. We also recognize that much of Bible prophecy pertaining to events to occur in the seven-year tribulation period are also aligning. So we (believers) have much hope in the nearness of the pre-trib rapture.
But, for unbelievers, the tribulation will catch them totally off guard and woefully unprepared. There is no way a person could save up enough food, water, and provisions to make it even partway through the seven years of God’s wrath on this evil, God-mocking, and Christ-rejecting world. There is no way to prepare for the tribulation. The only way to BE prepared is to be prepared to avoid it entirely.
Salvation in Christ alone is the only preparation we need. Jesus has promised believers that He has delivered us from the wrath to come (1 Thes.1:10; Rom.5:9; 1 Thes.5:9, et al). This wrath begins the moment Christ (the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, Jesus Himself) opens the first of the 7 seals of wrath in Revelation chapter 6 and continues on throughout the 7 trumpets of wrath, and the final 7 vials of wrath.
Horrific things are soon to befall the earth-dwellers. Revelation chapters 6–18 gives an overview of these things to come. Much of OT prophecy gives more information as well. We find in Dan.9:27 that the 7 years begins its countdown when the antichrist confirms a covenant with Israel. There is so vast an array of prophecy written about the foretold tribulation period that even 20 articles couldn’t contain all the information.
But the bottom line? YOU don’t want to go through ANY of it. And YOU don’t have to! Come to Christ NOW, prior to the rapture (and be included in the rapture: 1 Cor.15:49-53; 1 Thes.4:13-18; Phil.3:20-21; 1 John 3:2; Titus 2:13, et al).
This is not a sales pitch. A person either will humble themselves before the Lord, recognizing they are a sinner in need of salvation, believing on Christ and accepting His gift of salvation, or they won’t. Pride is the usual culprit for why mankind rejects so great a salvation. I could beg and implore the unbelievers to come to Christ (as I often have in the past); yet, nothing I can say will change their minds. So now we shout out the warning to the world… Time is short! Get right or be left behind.
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
Maranatha!