Permagos-Satan's Throne

I want to share some thoughts with you today about the country of Turkey and bible prophecy. I have posted earlier studies of why I believe the anti-christ will arise out of Turkey, today I want to talk about the city of Permagos. Permagos was one of the seven churches which Christ delivered seven special messages to in Revelation 2:12-17. The city of Permagos (Pergamum) today lies in the country of Turkey.

Let's go back to the time when Christ wrote the seven letters, to the seven churches, and capture a view of this city Pergamum. The city lay about 65 miles north of Smyrna, spread along the valley of the Caicus River. The city was not as commerically important as Ephesus or Smyrna, because of it's location and having no major roads passing through it. Pergamum did hold the official honor of being the provincial capital of Roman Asia. It was a city of great beauty and wealth, with a library of reaching almost 200,000 volumes. Pergamum was a city filled with temples to Dionysus, Athena, Asclepius and Demeter, the three temples to the emperor cult, a great altar to Zeus and its many palaces. The city had 2 dominant religions, the worship of Dionysus-the god of the royal kings (symbolized by a bull) and Asclepius-the god of healing (symbolized by the snake). It is said that the temples of Asclepius were filled with these serpents. A Greek traveller, Pausanias of Lydia, wrote of Asclepios as "sitting on a throne with...his...hand upon the head of a serpent". The serpent was in fact a totem of the god, but harmless varieties of these snakes had free run of the shrines. A christian living in this time, would have found himself confronted not only with cults, but by the symbol of satan--the snake, at every turn.

Pergamum was a city plagued with idolatry, statues and idols being widespread. The city celebrated a victory over the Celtic tribes by building an altar to Zeus, then a temple. It stood high upon the hill of Acropolis, and was visible to almost all the city and for miles away. The altar has been reported being 36m square with a height of 15m. (A meter is roughly 3 feet). This altar was engraved with the gods of Olympus battling giants who had snake-like tails. Again, the symbol of satan presents itself.

Pergamum is said to have exceeded all other cities at that time in wickedness. Its pagan inhabitants lived in luxury, but were steeped in great vice. It at this time, probably had in it more idols than any other place in Asia. In Rev. 2:13, Jesus said something very interesting in His Words to the Church at Pergamum (Pergamos). Jesus said, "And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth."

Here, Jesus states that satan has a throne, in the city Pergamum. Satan had his throne set in a city where he felt most comfortable, where most of the citizens were worshipping him. If satan had a throne, in a city, then--would he not still have a throne, in a city, today. Satan is the god of this world, this we already know from scripture and surely today, he stills sits on a throne of some type. In my earlier studies, I linked the anti-christ to the country of Turkey. There is no doubt that in Permagos, there was a great evil and that satan ruled from there. I believe that this same evil exists today, and will be that which brings the anti-christ into power, as he is raised up in the end-times. I believe the city of Pergamos will play a vital role in the rise of the anti-christ as well. Until the next time--God Bless.