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Here I Stood: Pergamum

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Jesus identified Pergamum as the location of Satan’s throne in his letter addressed to the church there (Rev. 2:13). On our visit to this site in 1993, our guide pointed out the ruins of various temples dedicated to certain Greek deities. There was a temple to Zeus, another to Athena, another to Hera, and one erected by the emperor Trajan! The people of Pergamum wanted to be certain not to leave out any deity and risk offending him or her. Thus, the city was adorned with temples.



All Greek cities had a theater as well as temples, and the theaters had religious significance as well. Priests would offer libations to the gods, usually Dionysius, before the plays began. Priests had special reserved seats on the front row and often acted as judges in competing plays. The Greeks knew well how to combine their religion and recreation! Greek theaters, different from Roman ones, were built on the side of a hill to allow the elevation to provide views of the stage in all rows, including the very back rows. They also were constructed so that the natural setting provided acoustics permitting theater-goers to hear the words of the actors all the way to the back. This theater in Pergamum had the distinction of being the steepest of known Greek theaters!



Jesus’ words to the church at Pergamum were mixed. He commended them for their faithful endurance in spite of persecution but criticized them for allowing false teachers to spread their heresy. As with the other six letters, Jesus includes a warning for disobedience and a promise for faithfulness: “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. 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.’ (Rev. 2:12-16)




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